Let A Damn Good Woman Leave // Riley Green

C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N

A/N: I am soooooo sorry I left this story hanging, but I have gained inspiration again and I won't be giving up on it this time!!

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When I wake, I feel disoriented. I can feel how puffy my eyes are and my throat is burning. When I check my phone, I see that it's 7 A.M. Perfect. No one will be up this early.

I quickly remove myself from my bunk and head into the tiny bathroom we all share. Oh, God. The view staring back at me does a number on my already low confidence. My hair is sticking up in the back, my eyes are bloodshot and puffed up. I quickly wash my face, hoping that will help my appearance.

I'm so frustrated with myself. I've lived with Riley on this bus for months now and I never once cared what he thought about me. Now, his impression of me is all-consuming in my mind.

I let out a groan and lightly slap myself with cold water, hoping it will knock myself out of this.

Realizing it's not going to work, I decide to spend the rest of my morning holed up in my bunk until we get to our location. I'm hoping no one will bother me or they'll assume I'm sleeping.

When I open the bathroom door, I run smack dab into someone's chest. I know that chest anywhere. Rolling my eyes, I don't look up at him and continue on to my bunk. I'm glad he didn't try to stop me. If he did, I don't know how I would've handled it.

I immediately roll over, facing away from my curtain. If he does try to talk to me, I can play like I'm asleep. I don't want to discuss the issue any further. We talked about my insecurities in the hotel room, we talked about them last night on the bus, I'm done talking about how much I dislike myself. It's exhausting.

I spoke too soon. A gush of cold air sweeps through the bunk as my curtain opens.

"Delta," Riley whispers, careful to not wake anyone else up.

I don't say anything. I don't move a muscle. I don't want him to know I'm awake. I want him to think I fell back asleep.

"Hey," He lightly shakes my shoulder.

My patience is already too thin, I've had enough. I violently shrug him off of me, "What do you want?" I snap.

"Baby, can we please talk?" He sounds desperate.

Without replying, I roll my eyes and shuffle out of my bed. I brush past him, heading for his bedroom door.

"If you want to talk, then talk," I mutter as I sit on the edge of his bed, arms crossed.

He takes a deep breath as he paces back and forth in front of me. "I need you to talk to me. Like, genuinely talk to me. It's so frustrating when you do this. I'm not the type to keep things bottled up. If I'm pissed, I'll let you know. If I'm happy, I'll let you know. So I don't get this whole game you're playing."

"I just don't think it's worth the fight. You feel how you feel and I feel how I feel. There's no changing it, so why do I have to fight with you about it?" I sigh. I don't want to scream and yell with him today.

"But that's where you're wrong, Delta. I don't know how you feel, so my feelings might change if you let me in and tell me what the fuck is going on."

"That's the problem, Riley. I've told you multiple times how I feel and you're not grasping it! I told you over and over again how insecure I am and how much getting intimate with you scares me! I've let you know that. I thought I had made myself pretty fucking clear!" I can't help it, my voice begins to raise.

Riley doesn't say anything, he just sighs, running his fingers through his hair.

The room stays quiet for what seems like minutes. Riley is the first one to break the silence between us, "I'm sorry."