Off the Tracks

Chapter 116- Should we dive in deep?

Riley nervously made her way down Arthur's hallway after having dinner with Susan. The silence was loud, other than Riley's small steps that tapped along the carpeted floors. She texted Arthur a few minutes after she had left the restaurant, just letting him know she would be turning up soon.

She stood outside the closed door with the room number Arthur had texted her hours earlier. Riley knocked on it quietly, knowing this could either be the end or the beginning for the both of them. She felt like this was a weird hookup arrangement with how secretive this 'meeting' was, the middle of the night, no one else around, just the two of them in his hotel room. She heard his footsteps walk across the large suite he was staying in before the lock on the door started to turn.

Arthur opened the door, feeling the exact same as Riley. He let her inside instantly, nervously sliding his hand onto her waist as he closed the door behind them. Arthur followed her into the living space of the room, a space that was just before the closed doors of the bedroom.

"How was dinner?" He asked Riley as she moved away from the warm touch of his hand.

"It was good" Riley sat down on the couch across from Arthur, looking around the room for a moment. "The rooms nice" She said, pointing around them.

"Are we going to make awkward small talk first?" Arthur said with a laugh, pulling his legs onto the couch and placing them next to hers, "We never had to before"

"We've also never had to have a conversation like this" Riley sighed, resting her arm on the cushions next to her while she looked at Arthur.

"You understand why I was upset right?" Riley asked, just wanting to make sure they were on the same page. 

"I am very clear on that"

"I have a history with drugs" She said, the only thing keeping her voice from breaking was that Arthur was giving her his full attention, listening to every word she had to say. "You know that, with Jonah and everything"

Not everything, but enough.

"I fucked up Riley" He said, "I was drunk, upset about losing the contract, it just happened"

"Why didn't you tell me about the contract" Riley asked him, sitting up more. "I said you could call me,"

"I didn't want you to worry" He told her, wishing he had just called her. "And you were still with Liam, it just wasn't the right time"

"Arthur I was far over Liam when you told me you didn't know about your contact" Riley told him, "That entire day, from the beach, lunch, the ride home, in the music room"

"You're joking"

"I'm not" She said, "If you had just waited 3 more seconds to tell me you wanted to be 'just friends' you would've known" She laughed lightly, watching Arthur's jaw drop slowly. "And I don't think Liam's ever stopped you before so"

"So we could've been together this whole time?" He asked her, about to move closer to her, but he waited.

"Well," She paused, "I was always going to break up with Liam first, so right about now was the timing I had in mind"

Riley watched the small smirk start to play on Arthur's face.

"Wait" Riley laughed, pulling her legs closer to her core, knowing he was going to use them to move her directly next to him. "And you went to him after and told him what I said" She said with a scrunched nose, "I don't want you to rub this in his face, it's not fair"

"Yeah well," He shrugged, "Him not showing up for you wasn't fair"

"Me being alone with you continuously wasn't fair to him" Riley emphasized, motioning to the space between them. Referring to how she was borderline cheating on Liam with Arthur throughout their relationship emotionally. "Especially after I told him I wouldn't be"