Jiley Oneshots

Always and Forever (pt.1)

Season 3

Riley's POV: 

I finish clearing up the music room once the usual Saturday baby ballet class is finished after having to teach a class to pay-off the cost of the trophy. Several sequins and glitter had spread all over the grey floorboards after having fallen off the girls' sparkly tutus, so I was currently crouching down on the floor and sweeping them up with a dustpan and brush. One air-pod remained occupied in my ear whilst I listened to the songs we were planning to use for Internationals, and each time the song of a dance I'm in came on, I would partially mark the moves for it, to get it stuck in my head.

I hadn't spoken to James all week, despite the times I had seen him either at school or the studio, and the one time I did see him, we made eye-contact but completely blocked each other out, walking past one another without a single word being said. I stand back up after sweeping up the dust from a particular spot and then I empty the rubbish into a black bag, lip-syncing the words to a familiar song, though I forgot the name of it and couldn't be asked to take my phone out of my bag to check.

I tied the knot of the rubbish bag and then dumped it onto the floor again before walking over to the ballet barre where I begin to slowly and carefully push it up against the wall instead of having it in the centre of the room. When I struggle to push it, I lean down a little and push it from the bottom rather than the top, but along the way, the weight of it gets lighter and I begin to find it easier, as it was almost moving by itself. It's when I stand back up again that I realize why, and I sigh, standing there rather awkwardly, whilst I watch James continue to move it into place for me.

"Thanks," I mumble when he's done as I take out my air-pod and keep it held in my palm.

"Nah, it's no problem." He shrugs his shoulders and puts his hands back into the pockets of his grey joggers afterwards. Despite me looking down slightly, my eyes still manage to examine his chest through his dark tank top, even though it wasn't exactly transparent. I'd seen his abs before, so it wasn't too-hard for me to visualize them. But when I find that he's staring at me just as much as I was to him, he asks: "You okay?" I don't know if it was an act but his voice was soft enough to sound like the same caring guy I fell in love with three years ago; not like the voice of the stern boy I had met a few weeks prior to this moment.

"Yeah," I quietly answer his question. "You?" I watch him shift from one foot to the other as his neck cranes slightly to the side.

"Could be better," he eventually says. 

His eyes stare me down again, and it's then that I begin to worry about what he could be thinking. Does he know I've been crying? Can he tell what I'm thinking? Is my hair a mess? Do I look like I haven't slept in days? I sure hope not. 

"Uh, Ri, you've got a little something . . ." he says slowly before taking two or three steps towards me. His left hand gets pulled out of his pocket and then he reaches forward to press a finger to the corner of my lips where they meet, and he wipes something away. "Just a crumb," he states. "Nothing drastic."

I nod my head, unsure of what to say to that.

"How was band?" I ask, trying to drift away from the feeling of his finger touching my lips. But the new subject I had brought up wasn't exactly the best anyway, considering it only made me think about everything that was currently going on between us both. I swallow after saying it, and he looks down slightly, shoving his hand back where it had been originally.

"Same old," he mumbles. I nod again. Then it goes awkwardly silent. Too-silent. It's never like this between us. Most of the time he's smirking and I'm giggling, or he's complimenting me and I'm telling him to 'shut up', or we're kissing and making-out. It's never just the two of us stood opposite each other in pure silence, barely able to even make eye-contact. Clearly, James feels the same as he clears his throat and then reaches his hand out in front of him to place it on my forearm. "What's going on with us, Ri?" he sighs. I shake my head, breathing out slightly, not sure what to say myself.

"I don't know anymore," I tell him. He looks at me and I do the same, our eyes darting around each other's pupils before he draws his fingers down my arm up until he reaches and decides to lightly hold my hand.

"I do love you, you know," he says. The tender sound of those words makes my heart skip a beat. 

"I love you, too," I respond lightly. He smiles a little, even though it lasts less than two seconds.

"So . . ." he says slowly, causing me to lick my bottom lip a little. "This is awkward," he finishes. I chuckle a bit and nod.

"I agree," I say humorously. His grin returns and it makes the atmosphere that much more lively again. I look down at our linked hands to distract myself and then notice how he was rubbing his thumb over our hands. How he was tracing his thumb over my ring every now and again. How that ring was the one he had got me on our three-year anniversary. How the ring had the first letter of each of our names engraved on it. And how it was a promise that we would always love each other.

He follows my gaze so that we are both staring down at the piece of jewellery, and when our eyes lift up to meet each other's, he takes a miniscule step towards me before letting go of my hand. It was sudden but wholesome as he removes his other hand from out of his pocket so he could cup both of my cheeks and smash his lips against my own for several moments. It was so passionate that I'd begun to kiss him back myself, and very shortly our tongues were introduced as we search each other's mouths for those sweet spots that we know the other person loves. I moan slightly, and that's when James finally agrees we had to pull away - either that or we wouldn't have been able to breathe - and when we do, we both smile.

"Do you wanna go to the movies tonight?" he asks with a smile. "Just me and you?"

"Okay," I say with a smile. "What time?"

"Depends what movie you want to watch."

"So I get to choose, huh?" I inquire. He smirks and nods.

"You're the girlfriend I'm trying to win back. What kind of job would I be doing if I didn't let you choose, babe?" he chuckles. I roll my eyes.

"Fine. But don't push it," I scold, pointing a finger at him. He grins. "We're watching a rom-com."

"Cool, which one?"

"I don't know, whichever one's showing."

"Okay, fine. But you're paying."

"James!" I whine and gasp at the same time. He smirks at the look on my face, so I nudge him in the chest. "I hate you," I murmur.

"We both know that's not true, sweetheart," he mumbles above my hair as he takes my shove as an excuse to cuddle me, but I don't complain, and instead, I give in and rest my head to the side, letting myself loose in his gentle touch.

. . .

a/n: sorry this is short but part 2 should be up tomorrow :)