Prove Me Wrong

Part Thirty One

"Well, then what am I supposed to do?" Riley asks, standing at the door with her hands on her hips.

"You run ten miles a day, and I go on a scooter next to you to make sure you don't get hurt," I tell Riley and she rolls her eyes.

"Fine, whatever, can we go now?" She begs, and I shake my head. "Why the fuck not?" She angrily asks.

"Because it's two in the morning and we arrived at the dorm room two minutes ago," I remind her, and Riley pouts, defeated.

"You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?" Riley flops down on her bed, and tosses her sneakers over by the door.

"I'm aware," I reply. "We just got back from a trip to Paris where I had to rescue you, from a kidnapper, and we have school in five and a half hours. Running is not a good use of your time."

"Whatever. You're just being mean! I'm going to bed. Night," Riley sighs, rolling over on top of her covers. "Michelle?"

"Yeah Riley?" I respond, rolling ver in my bed so I'm staring straight ahead at her.

"What's going to happen?" She asks, her voice in a quiet whisper.

"To Ellie?" I ask and Riley nods her head. "Well, she's being charged with kidnapping, and there will be a restraining order against her from coming anywhere near you. All of the evidence is in your favor. She isn't going to hurt you anymore."

Riley stays silent for a long time. Pulling her legs up into a fetal position, she wraps her arms around her legs, as though she is trying to comfort herself.

"But what about her fans?" Riley asks, so quiet that I can only make out a few words.

"Huh? Can you repeat that?"

"But what about her fans?" Riley speaks just as loud as before, but I hear it much better since I was ready for it. Well, ready for her words, not the question they formed.

"What about them?" I ask slowly, trying to buy myself time.

"Ellie can't hurt me. But she has millions of fans, a good deal of them would want to hurt me. A good deal of them already did want to hurt me, and one did. I can't be all 'From now on, people come NOWHERE NEAR ME!' because that's too many people. What am I expected to do?" Riley replies, and I sigh.

"Honestly? I don't know. But I'm going to protect you, I swear." I respond.

"Promise?" She asks.

"Promise." I smile.

*Flash forward*

"I'd come to regret those words, one day. Not because the responsibility became more than I could deal with, but because in the end, I couldn't.

"People come into your life that change it forever. Kids, siblings, friends, lovers. But there isn't a single thing I wouldn't give up for Riley, and I had every intent of protecting her with my life, if it came down to it. I couldn't imagine living without her, because part of me always knew that she is the girl I want to spend forever with.

"I wish I was a lucky one. I wish that she fell in love with me, never left, and we'd be planning and spending our lives together. But I'm not," I glance over at Riley's empty chair, and tears well up in my eyes.

"Honestly, though, as much as I need that, I need her back in my life. And I'd give anything to have that."

Oh my god, I got so emotional writing this. 'But Sarah, you always get emotional so it doesn't count' Yeah well all I had to do was think and I got emotional so, yeah. It does count.

Like, comment, enjoy!

-S