The Story of Us • Riven

Ch 39: Paper Rings

"I like shiny things but I'd marry you with paper rings"

I levitated the sign above the door as Riven made sure it was even.

"Is it good?" I asked.

"A little to the left" he said.

I moved it, turning my head as he nodded in approval. I pushed my hands out a little bit as the sign set onto the nails. I smiled as Riven hugged me from behind.

"I'm still surprised Silva is letting us stay here" Riven said. "How did you even know about it?"

"He bought this place about ten years ago. He wanted to retire here.. with my mum" I said.

"And you know this how?" He asked.

"My mum was able to keep me out of her head but not out of Silva's" I said. "I mean, c'mon, anybody with eyes could see how much he loved her. I noticed it when I was ten."

"You think they're doing okay? And not lying to us" he said.

"Now don't freak out, but, I think they're..." I said.

"No way" he said. "I thought Millie was.. um.. gay?"

"No, she's bi" I said. "Florence was her first girl but we both know how that worked out. I mean it does kind of make sense that they are right? Bloom and Gwen are gone and so are we, alls they have is each other."

"What about Stella?" He said.

"Mills hates her for one and two I know her and Sky have this weird kind of friendship but I'm pretty sure she went home" I said. "So, they're spending a lot of time together. Word on the street is that Sky has been training with Millie."

"Let's change the subject" he said. "How about we do something else?"

"Like?" I said.

He scooped me into his arms, walking up the stairs. He placed a kiss on my lips as he opened the door to our room.

He set me onto the bed as he took his shirt off. I watched as he was about to take his pants off when the someone knocked on the front door. He groaned as I bit my lip, trying not to laugh.

"You should probably go get that" I said.

I got off the bed, walking down the stairs as I listened of Riven talking to one of the neighbors.

"Good afternoon, Briar!" Adam said.

He was an older man, probably mid sixties, he lived two houses down with his wife and two sons. He came over to ask Riven for an extra hand on some furniture they were moving into their house.

"I'm sorry, Adam, we're still trying to get everything in order" Riven said.

"It'll be like half hour" Adam said.

"It's fine, Riv" I said. "I can start on the rest of the stuff. They're mainly small things anyway."

He walked towards me, placing a kiss on my cheek before walking back to the front door. I walked to the empty backyard. There wasn't much besides a small patio table and four chairs. I tried growing a little garden on the other side where the fence started but bunnies kept getting in and eating everything. I had given up after two weeks.

It was odd, I hadn't really used my magic in the past two weeks. Besides using it for small things like changing the light bulbs and painting the walls.

Silva gave us a good chunk of money as we settled in. He did require check ins everyday which I was going to do anyways. He wasn't big on phone calls so normally we exchanged texts for a couple minutes until the next day. 

About an hour later Riven came back, dripping in sweat. He went straight to the fridge and downed an entire bottle of water. 

"I'm guessing it was more than he said?" I said. 

"Oh yeah" he said. 

"You're such a gentleman, helping an elderly man" I said. 

"Speaking of gentleman" he said. 

He walked out of the kitchen and came back with a small box in his hand. My heart stopped beating as he walked towards me. He slowly opened the box, revealing a small ring with green diamonds. 

"Holy shit" I whispered. 

"A promise ring" he said. "Because I promise to always stand by your side, and one day replace it with a different ring."

"Riv" I said. "It's beautiful but you didn't have to, you could've used a paper ring."

"Paper ring?" He smirked. 

"Mhm" I said. "I like shiny things but I'd take a paper ring any day of the week if it meant we stayed together."

I grabbed his face, crashing my lips onto his as he laughed. He grabbed the ring before taking my hand. He placed the ring on my ring finger as I held back tears of joy. 

"I love you" he said. "Forever and always."

I kissed his cheek over and over again before he went to take a shower. I went to one of the boxes in the living room, taking out a small vase. I filled it up with soil before placing the flower seeds in it and feeding it some water. 

I walked to the kitchen, vase in hand when I got an odd feeling. Something was wrong but I couldn't figure out what. I shook my head as I set down the vase on the counter. I took out some strawberries from the fridge, washing them before placing them on the cutting board I took out from the cupboard. 

I grabbed a knife and began cutting the strawberries into halves. I shook the feeling off, humming to myself. The moment of peace lasted for a couple minutes when I felt uneasy again. Without a second thought I threw the knife over my shoulder, holding my hand out as the knife levitated inches away from an unknown woman. 

"Who are you?" I asked. 

"I can help you find your birth parents, Briar" she said. 

"I will not ask again, who are you?" I asked. 

"I am your god mother" she said. 

I slowly let my hand fall to my side as the knife dropped to the ground.