Three Perfect Months ~Riley McDonough Story~

Chapter Nine

Peyton's POV

"Peyton," Riley said, his lips to my ear as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. I gasped from surprise. I had been standing here in the venue, taking pictures of the guys as they did the soundcheck hours before the VIP soundcheck.

"Can we talk?" He continued. Riley began to sway us from side to side, and I couldn't help but laugh. With his face in the crook of my neck, I could feel the smile spread across his face as well.

"What's up?" I asked coolly as he continued to sway us.

Riley moved his head so his chin rested on my shoulder as he spoke. "You're right. There is something I haven't told you about my ex girlfriend-"

"Starting with her name." I interrupted. On stage a couple feet away, Alex began to play Therapy on his acoustic.

"Right, her name was Kylie." Riley chuckled.

I began to laugh even though I probably shouldn't have, and it was against my own will. It was just really funny. I mean, Riley and Kylie? Who wouldn't laugh at that? But then I began to sober up as I realized how cute it actually was. And how much better it sounded rather than Riley and Peyton. And then I remembered that it didn't matter how our names sounded together, this was only for a couple of months.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want." Riley said. "A lot of people used to."

I nodded. "Okay, so, what haven't you told me about you and Kylie?" Saying her name felt weird.

"To start off-and I'm not saying this to be mean, I'm just saying this because it's where I want to start-she was beautiful. She had hair like yours actually, but a little darker. And her eyes were this shocking green color that I didn't even think were possible to have. And she had this laugh that she hated, and honestly I would have hated it, too if it were mine. But it would always brighten up my day when I heard that laugh."

There was a part of me that thought that maybe I should have been jealous, or hurt that he felt this way. Or maybe even a little angry, but I wasn't. I merely smiled as he spoke because he spoke of her with such admiration.

"We were together for about ten months, none of the fans knew about it. I kept it a secret because it was when we were first starting out and getting big, I didn't want her to feel pressure. And I didn't want to feel pressured either, so we both agreed to keep it quiet from the fans. We didn't hide it very well though, and I know a lot of them suspected, but it never really came up...

"And then, once when I came back from a tour with," Riley chuckled slightly, "our first tour with these guys actually," he pointed to the stage, where Alex was just finishing the last verse to Therapy, "that I came home and I didn't know where she was. I got worried because I thought she would be at my house. And she wasn't picking up her phone. So I went over and I found her crying in her bed. I hugged her and I asked her why she was crying and she sat and kissed me and then gave me a really serious look. She said she missed me, and she loved me, but that she couldn't handle it anymore, and that we needed to break up."

Riley pasued for a second. "That was when I noticed the cuts on her arms." My eyes went wide and I froze, the swaying stopped.

"She said they were nothing," Riley continued, "but I knew they weren't nothing. I knew she did it because of me. Because I left her alone for so long. Kylie's parents never got along, they always fought and when they did, Kylie would come to me. She would stay with me until she absolutely had to go back home. And I left her all by herself."

"Riley..."

"I told her that I agreed, and that we shouldn't be together because I didn't want to hurt her anymore. And then I made her promise not to hurt herself, and that if she ever needed me, I was here. She promised and I left. Then, two weeks later, she came over. She looked happy, really happy. And healthy. It was hard to believe that the girl who was standing in front of me was the crumpled up mess I saw just a while back. She said she wanted us to be nonexclusive because it would hurt her less. And that she was ready to try again, and that she was sorry. But I had to say no. Because I wanted to protect her."