A Fine Romance

Chapter 5

Brendon was true to his word. They got to know each other over the next couple of months or so. They had outings and hung out with their friends. On the odd occasion, they would make out. Bobby was still hanging around, but Riley only had eyes for one man now. She realised that she was head over heels in love with Brendon. Every now and again, she would catch him looking at her and vice versa. Brendon knew how Riley felt about him without her saying a word.
Linda and Spencer had really hit it off and were officially a couple.
Riley was so happy for them both
She had gotten to know Spencer as well as Brendon, and he was such a lovely guy.
Brendon was working on lyrics for a new album. So he was busy with that. Riley saw a bit less of him. Work was picking up because people wanted events planned for the 4th of July weekend. Riley was looking forward to it, just for a break! After a busy day with clients who were very particular about what they wanted, Riley drove home. She got through her front door, and there were yellow roses in her living room. There was a card with them. It said,
'To the woman I want to love for the rest of my life. I love you, x'
Riley couldn't stop smiling. She had had a shitty stressful day, and Brendon had made it completely turn around. Riley went in her bag to find her phone. She called Brendon.
"Hey Ry. You good?" Brendon asked
"I am now, thank you. I was having an awful day. I just wanted to call and say thank you for the flowers. They are my favourite." There was a pause on the other end of the line. It was such a long pause that Riley thought that the connection had been lost.
"Bren? Are you there?" She asked.
"Yea, listen,l didn't send you any flowers." He replied.
"Y-you didn't?" Riley was starting to panic.
"No. Are you OK?" Brendon asked. Riley was having a full-blown panic attack now. "Riley? Stay on the line with me, babe. I am on my way over, ok?" Riley couldn't answer. She heard Brendon leave his house and get into his car. He must have gone hands-free because the phone got really echoey.
"Riley? Baby?" Brendon said, sounding so worried. Riley was trying to get her breathing under control, but it wasn't happening. Rileys door opened, and it was Linda.
"Jesus! Riley!" Linda sat on the kitchen floor with Riley trying to get her to do the breathing techniques that normally helped her to calm down. Riley was starting to get lightheaded and laid down on the floor. The cool tiles of the kitchen floor were welcome against her cheek. Somewhere, Riley heard her door open again. It was Brendon, but he sounded really far away. He spoke to Linda, and she made a call.
Brendon was saying Rileys name, but she felt like she was too far away from Brendon to respond.
Then she could sirens and 2 more people came into her home. They were EMTs. They put an oxygen mask on Rileys face. She started to feel a bit better. A bit more aware. Riley blinked and moved her head.
"Lin? Bren?" She called out. They were both there with her. They hadn't gone anywhere.
"Ry baby. It's ok." Brendon said. Linda was making another call to someone. Brendon stroked Rileys hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. The more oxygen Riley got into her body, the better she felt. Once Rileys sats were back to normal, she felt a lot better. She took the oxygen mask off. The EMTs wanted Riley to get checked out. Riley refused to go to the hospital, and she signed paperwork to say that.
Brendon said that he would stay overnight with Riley. Linda had to go. She had a client dinner to get to. Linda did the same job that Riley did, just with a different company.

Brendon got into bed with Riley and held her close to him.
"You are ringing in sick tomorrow." Brendon said to her. Riley nodded her head in agreement.
Chaos had meant that who sent the flowers had been forgotten about. Whoever it was knew where the spare key was kept. That meant there was a handful of people it could have been.
Brendon, Linda, Bobby. Oh, and the maid that cleaned Rileys house once a week. The number one suspect was Bobby, of course.
Riley laid there awake, in the dark worrying about who had been in her house. It made her feel so unsafe. Brendon was holding her and stroking her head.
"I need to change the locks." Riley said quietly. Brendon nodded in agreement.
"Maybe get keys cut for who you want to have them rather than just keeping a spare." Brendon suggested.
"I will do." Riley said. She snuggled into Brendon and had a restless night.

The following morning, Riley woke up and called work to tell them what had happened. She also called the police and they came out to see her. Riley gave a statement and contacted a locksmith to get all her locks changed. Brendon had to go to the studio for a couple of hours, so after everyone had left, Riley decided to have a lie down. Her head was thumping with pain because of all the stress.
As Riley drifted off, she heard the front door open. She assumed it was Brendon.

Brendon was talking with Jake, one of the producers, about what sound he was thinking about for Panics! new album. It didn't even have a title yet. They were both bouncing ideas off each other. Brendon had a melody for one of the songs.
"Dancing dancing, not a crime...." Brendon kept singing. He couldn't think what could come next. He figured that he had some writers block. Maybe a walk would help, so that's what he did. Brendon left his phone and went walking towards a local park. He needed to get the chorus down at the very least. Brendon walked around the park for about 45 minutes and then decided to head back to the studio.
As he came back in, Jake called him over.
"Yea?" Brendon asked.
"Dude, your phones blowing up. Someone called Linda has left you a bunch of missed calls."
"Thanks, Jake. Oh, and I have written down a few lyrics to try with the line." Brendon said and picked his phone up. He called Linda back, but it went straight to voicemail. Brendon tried a couple more times but voicemail again. Brendon shrugged and was about to put his phone back down when Spencer called.
"Dude!" Brendon said.
"Brendon? Thank goodness!" It was Linda.
"Linda, I tried to call you back. I went for a walk and left my phone here."
"Yea, my phones battery ran out. Anyway you need to come to the hospital." Linda explained.
"Hospital? What's wrong? Is it Spence?" Brendon could feel himself starting to spiral.
"Brendon, no, it's not Spencer." Linda said calmly. She was terrified herself, so it took strength to keep her voice calm, and even. "Bren, it's Riley."