Answer Me

Chapter 12

In a couple of weeks, the band would go to LA for song-writing and I would be left alone with no one to talk to. Riley promised that he would try to text or call whenever he was free. He should stop doing all of these, which I assumed, sweet things and made me breathe normally. Anyway, he was the one who lifted me up at the moment. I hadn't started on any writings yet but, Riley did show his effort to help me with the ideas. So far, he should stick to writing song-lyrics rather than a novel.

Connor and Toby were told about me and they gladly accepted me as their friend, too. I had never met them but, that was what Riley told me. I freaked out at first, afraid that he would spill my stories to them but, Riley being Riley, he would never tell it anyway. Ann and Ali noticed my subtle change. I was getting ready to the McDonoughs' house since the boys invited me for a small family dinner that evening when Ann spoke out.

"Going somewhere?" she asked.

"Yeah. I might be back a bit late but, I'll bring my key."

"Wait, Erin. You seem... more cheerful these days. Do you, um, have a boyfriend?" she divined. She shot me a teasing smile.

"No. Of course not. Who in the world wants to make me their girlfriend?" I laughed her away. I was combing my curly hair and it was really tangled I had to struggle to get my comb through it. I grunted a bit every time the comb stuck.

Ann didn't stop asking. "Are you sure you are telling me the truth?" I nodded hard. "Liar. So who are you going to go out with tonight?"

"Some old friend from high school," I lied. Imagine telling her about Riley. She would freak out too even though she wasn't a fangirl. She narrowed her eyes in disbelief at me but, I ignored her.

"Never mind then. Have fun."

"Thanks." I put on a pair of clean black jeans and a brown flannel which I thought decent enough for a family dinner. I was quite jittery to meet the boys' parents although I knew they were very nice from what I had seen on my all-time favorite social media. My heart could not stay calm at the thought of meeting them. How would I react? What I should I speak? Did I look good enough?

Riley had already waited at the compound in his car, windows rolled up. What if they found out that he was here? It might be a pandemonium down here. Girls which I had no idea of their fangirling activities might just came out and there would be a mass of fangirl armada around his car just to get a low-quality selfie and his autograph.

"Hey, nice flannel. Thought you only wear black," he said, grinning.

"Says the one who only has blacks in his wardrobe in the European tour update video." The car shook with our laughter. The journey was quite long. When we reached the house, it was quite big but what captured me the most was how warm and inviting it looked like. Joan and Mark were waiting at the front door when we arrived. Connor and Toby, as usual, were already at the dining table, prepared for an attack on the food.

All my jitters faded away when the whole family treated me not like a guest but like one of them. Joan and Mark always had things to be shared. Connor was the dorkiest though. Toby with his spontaneous jokes lit up the atmosphere at the dining table. I saw Riley in his happiest state just like how he was on stage. He caught me looking at him and our eyes met. He grinned at me before sinking back into the conversation on which McDonough had the most epic childhood. The food was so nice and I had never tasted this kind of delicacy since the last time I went back home. I missed Mom's cooking.

The three brothers brought me to their favorite part of the house, the swing where they spent time playing acoustic guitar. I had always seen it on Twitter. The surroundings were so calm and nice. Connor said at evenings, it would sometimes be very breezy and it was so good to just lie down on the swing and indulge ourselves with the catharsis. We spent our post-dinner with the boys singing and playing guitar together, choosing random songs, singing their hearts out without caring about the right tune. Their parents joined us and to be honest, Mark was a rather good singer.