Swallow

Chapter 1.68:

Riley told me to leave.

I stood there frozen like a cement statue as she turned and ran up the stairs towards her room.

I didn't know what I thought would happen, but this definitely wasn't the open-armed welcome I had hoped for. I had waited forever to see Riley and even gave her some space like JD suggested to Anna.

JD's advice fucking sucked.

Why didn't anything I do to convince her that Mia wasn't in the picture work for me? I texted and called Riley every day when I woke up. Before getting a shower, going to work, during my breaks, when I got off work, when I got home, and every half hour before going to bed too. All the planning, calculating, and pining I did was for nothing.

She didn't care how much I was suffering without her. The only thing Riley said to me was, "just go". There was no "I miss you" or "I'm sorry" or even her running to jump in my arms with a smile on her face.

The pain in my chest was crippling and almost took me down to the ground. I didn't understand how it could hurt so bad. My hand flew to the wall to hold the weight of my body up as I watched the blue tips of Riley's hair bounce with every step she took. My vision went in and out of focus the further she moved away.

I couldn't hold my broken self together any longer. The worst part about it was that I didn't have the faintest clue what was happening to me. I felt so hollow. Everything was screaming at me in my head, telling me I wouldn't survive this.

The sound of a tiny sob echoed off the walls. It rebounded around my head and snapped me out of my collapse. There was a second one that sounded a few seconds later.

My girl was crying at the top of the stairs.

Riley didn't mean what she said. There was no way she would be this upset if she wanted me gone. Riley could have forced me out of the house and slammed the door in my face. She wouldn't have left me standing inside her house.

A drop of water splashed against the back of my hand. I raised my eyes towards the ceiling to see where the leak was coming from. There were no off-color spots on the super-bright, immaculate white paint.

Another trail of moisture began sliding down my cheek as I looked up. The water was from my eyes. My shoulders began to shake involuntarily. I was crying out for her too.

I missed Riley Davis so damn much.

My hand went to the banister to help support my wobbly legs as I walked slowly up the stairs. The little voice of reason that I never listened to told me what I was doing was wrong. It told me to walk out the door, but my body was in control and decided it knew better. The two parts of me never agreed on anything when Riley was involved.

When I hit the top step, I paused to listen for any other sounds in the house. There was nothing but silence until the sound of a shower being kicked on and rang out through the hall.

Riley and I were completely alone.

I was relieved I didn't have to contend with a parental encounter of any sort. I had no explanation for what I was doing and there was no logical way to defend my actions. Her mom or dad would have kicked me out by now if they heard me creeping around the house to chase after their crying daughter.

I tiptoed down the hall until I reached the door to Riley's bedroom. The door handle jiggled in my hand as I turned the knob slowly. It was a bit of a shock to feel it twist and hear the click of it unlatching.

Riley didn't lock me out of her room which had to mean something. If I needed a final sign to validate that she wanted me to stay, then this was it.

I pushed open the door and expected to be greeted by Riley's wide, green eyes staring at me with regret. But, instead, I was confused when I threw the door completely open and her room was empty. Except for a small pile of her work clothes near a door in the back corner of her room, it was like she never even came in here.