Dangerous (Riley McDonough)

Chapter Twelve

The emptiness of the bed is what woke me up the next morning. My eyes slowly opened and I looked around, Riley not anywhere in sight. I then sighed and stood up before walking out into the living room, seeing Riley looking down at his phone, his face straight and angry.

"Hey, you all right?" I asked as I leaned up against the wall, his eyes meeting mine.

He shook his head before shoving his phone back in his pocket. "Yeah, I'm fine."

My eyes narrowed before I crossed my arms over my chest. "No you're not."

He shifted before walking into the kitchen. "Avery, I am, really. It's just," he sighed before I followed him. "My brother, Connor, just tried to contact me."

"You have a brother?" I asked in disbelief, wondering why he hadn't told me something so big.

"Two, actually." He rested his hands on the counter before shaking his head, his dark hair brushing his forehead lightly. "I just don't want to talk about them, okay?"

"Why not?"

"Avery," he turned around to look at me, his eyes dark. "Drop it." He then walked past me, his shoulder brushing mine lightly, before he went into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

I groaned before walking over to the couch and sitting down, anger instantly flaring up inside of me. He never told me anything about his past, or anything about his family. And it bothered me a lot, too much. The only thing I knew was about his sister, and how she had died. But, other than that, he hadn't been very open. I brought my knees to my chest before hearing the bathroom door open once more and seeing his tall figure standing in the hallway. He sighed before sitting next to me and wrapping his arm around my shoudlers, pulling me closer to him.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled before I lied my head on his shoulder. "It's just something that happened in the past, that's all. I haven't talked to them for over two years, and I don't plan on talking to them any time soon."

I nodded before wrapping my arms around his torso. "It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." I then straddled his lap before resting my head on his chest, his hand rubbing my back slowly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He nodded before I kissed his chest lightly and closed my eyes, enjoying the quietness before his phone went off. He cussed under his breath before pulling his phone out of his pocket and looking down at the caller ID, his eyes narrowing. He then ignored it before setting his hands on my hips and picking me up, setting me on the side. "I think I'm gonna get a shower." He mumbled before standing up and going to the bathroom, the door closing behind him.

Once I heard the shower running, I stood up and quickly walked to the bathroom and slowly opened the door, seeing his phone sitting on the counter by the sink. I slowly reached in and snatched his phone before closing the door quietly and walking into the kitchen, going through his contacts. When I finally found Connor, I pressed call and hesitated before holding the phone up to my ear, my whole body shaking.

"Hello?"

My breathed hitched in my throat before I said, "Hi, Connor."

"Riley?"

"No, this is his girlfriend, Avery." He didn't speak for a couple of seconds so I cleared my throat before speaking again. "I just found out about you today, Connor. And Riley seems really upset about you trying to contact him. I don't know you that well, but I need you to do something for me, alright?"

"Yeah, anything."

I grinned before saying, "I need you to do anything in your power to try and contact him. He seems pained that he hasn't talked to you in a while, and I need you to try your hardest to call him and try to talk to him. Try to hang out with him, do anything."

I didn't hear anything for a while before he spoke up, he words shaking. "You care about him a lot, don't you?"

"More than anything."

I could hear the smile in his voice before he said, "Okay, I'll try my hardest."

The line then went dead and I turned around to go to the bathroom, but was met by the furious eyes of Riley. "What do you think you're doing!?" He screamed, snatching his phone out of my hand. "You can't just invade my privacy like that!"

I swallowed and it felt like I was frozen, like I couldn't move. He then took my shoulders in his hands and shook them quickly before I choked out, "I just wanted to help."

"Well stop helping!" His hands fell from my shoulders and tears welled up in my eyes. "You are always trying to get in my business, Avery! And I'm tired of it!"

Tears spilled down my cheeks as I screamed, "then why don't you just leave already!? If you are so annoyed then leave! I was just trying to help!"

The anger then vanished from his eyes and he looked at me, his hands resting on my waist. "Avery, you know I didn't-"

"No, Riley." I quickly wiped the tears from my face before walking into my bedroom and going inside my bag, ruffling throguh it before pulling out my notebook and walking back out to the living room, where I saw Riley standing there, an expressionless look on his face. "Maybe if you read this, you would see how much I care about you and you wouldn't yell at me all the time." I shoved the notebook into his chest before he took it into his hands, inspecting it closely.

"Why did you give me your notebook?"

"Read it." I mumbled before sitting on the couch, crossing my arms over my chest. He sat next to me and I scooted away a little, pulling my knees to my chest.

He opened it before his eyes scanned over the pages, his eyes widening. When he started reading it out loud, a grin stretched across my face. "She would wait for him every day. She would look out the window and wait for his dark figure to walk in the door and talk to her for a couple of minutes like he usually did. He was rebellious, and dark, and dangerous, but she didn't care what people said. She was falling for the dangerous, even though she knew that she shouldn't." He glanced over at me before turning the page, reading over the words. "He talked to her today, and his voice was like silk. He would speak to her with such kindness, but then tell her to leave. That she didn't belong with him. But she couldn't stay away, he was like a drug that she needed. Like a bottle of pills that helped her through the day." He voice shook before he turned page after page, reading over each page until he read the latest entry. "Today, they made love. Their bodies fit together perfectly, and they loved each other deeply. He doesn't know what he means to her, how whenever she's feeling down, he always cheers her up. He's her air, and without him, she can't breath. He was gentle with her, telling her that it would hurt, but only for a little while. That everything would be okay. But what he didn't know, is that everything would be okay as long as he was there with her, as long as he didn't leave."

He let out a shaking breath before closing the notebook and looking over at me, his eyes twinkling. "I'm so sorry." He mumbled before taking me in his arms and embracing me in a hug, letting me know that he'll never leave. "I'm sorry, Avery."

I nodded before taking his hand in mine and placing it above my heart, and he nodded before hugging me once more, just keeping me against his chest.

-Riley-

Avery was against my chest, her small arms wrapped around my body as mine were wrapped around hers. Our bodies fit perfectly together, and I hope she knew that as long as she wanted me here, I would stay.

There as then a knock on the door and I looked down at her before standing up and walking ot the door, Avery following behind me. She was fumbling with her hands nervously and I looked at her, confusion crossing my face.

I placed my hand on the doorknob but she stopped me, her hand resting on mine. "Before you open the door, just promise me one thing." I nodded before narrowing my eyebrows. "Promise me that you won't get mad." When I didn't say anything, she shifted. "Please, Riley."

"I promise," I whispered before opening the door, my eyes going wide from shock.

In front of me were the only two people that I had dreaded to see. My brothers.