Forever •BWS•

17.

•Riley's PoV•

Today was Christmas Eve Eve. You know, the day before Christmas Eve. Normally I would be as excited as a 5 year old, but with all the tension in the house right now, no one was in the Christmas spirit. Me and Brad hadn't spoken two words to each other since he got back from LA, which caused a lot of tension, and now Tris and James, and Ari and Jess weren't talking to each other either. So Connor and Mia were the only two out of the tension.

"And then he moved my cup to the very top shelf because he knows I can't reach it!" I whined as I sat on Connors bed, having a rant about Brad. "Con? Are you even listening?"

"Not really no"

"Wow thanks"

"Well I'm sorry Riles, but I'm sick of being stuck in the middle of everyone. First you and Brad, and now everyone else. But especially with you and Brad. Do you have any idea how hard this is for any of us? It's like we're having to chose between family" He said.

"I never really thought about that" I mumbled.

"I never expected you think about how it effects others, but maybe now you will" he replied, placing his laptop to the side. "I'm not saying I want you to forgive him, but can't you at least just be civil?"

"But he cheated on me Connor!"

"I'm well aware of that, but I'm thinking of tour. Riley you're going to be travelling the world with him for at least a good 4 months, hating him and being awkward around him will impact everyone on that tour, not just you"

I had never thought about it like that, and I knew he was right. I knew I had to at least be civil with Brad for the sake of tour.

"Thank you for letting me rant" I said, hugging him softly.

"Anytime" He said, kissing my cheek before I left his room.

"Riley! Brad! Come here please!" I heard Joe shout from downstairs.

That's weird, he never wants to see as at the same time. So in that case I thought it must've been important to want us both at the same time.

"What's up?" Brad said as we both reached Joe at the same time, sharing a second of awkward eye contact for a moment before I looked away.

But while we made that eye contact, I noticed that he had a black eye and a couple cuts on his lip and cheek, and they looked fairly new.

"Follow me" He said, and started towards the corridor that took you to the studio room.

But he past that. How long does this corridor go on for? He stopped at a white door shortly after the studio room, and gestures for us to go inside, so we did. There wasn't much in that room. 2 sofa's, an old arcade machine that looked like it didn't work and some bottles of water. It was the slam and lock of the door that brought me from my thoughts.

"Joe, what're you doing?!" I said, banging on the door.

"You two are gonna talk things out, and I'm not letting you out until you make up. I don't care if you become friends or not but this stupid tension is getting in the way of celebrating Christmas, and if it carries on then it'll be on tour and I'm not allowing that. Work it out" He said before I heard his footsteps fade away.

I groaned and flopped onto one of the sofas, the one that Brad hadn't occupied. I sighed as I remembered that I had left my phone in my room, so now I really was alone with him.

"Riles?" He said, barely above a whisper.

"Don't call me that" I snapped.

And then it was silent again. He knew that I didn't want to be anywhere near him. But then I started thinking about what Connor said, how hard this is becoming for everyone else, so I guessed I should try and make an effort.

"What happened to your face?" I asked quietly.

"Got in a fight this morning.....over you"

"Over me?"

He nodded. "Some guy in Waitrose was saying all these things about how close he was gonna try to get with you now that I was out of the picture and that you wouldn't care because you sleep with everyone and......I don't know, I just couldn't stand people talking about you like that"

I didn't know what to say, so I simply nodded. And then his phone rung, and he put it on speaker.

"Hey baby!" Lauren's voice rung through my ears, and I winced at what she had just called Brad.

"What do you want Lauren, I'm in the middle of something"

"It's okay this won't take long. I just think we should break up"

"Sure, cool"

"Is that it? You're not gonna beg for me to stay or anything?"

"Nope. Bye" He said and hung up.

I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing. I've always had a natural grudge against her, as she is one of my competition, and now I have even more of a reason to dislike her.

"Riley?"

"Hmm"

"Will you please let me explain everything?" He asked, getting up and sitting next to me.

"I don't really have much of a choice since we're locked in here" I sighed.

"I never meant to hurt you Riley. And this whole 'relationship' with her is all fake. She said she liked me and Joe said to say that I liked her too and to fake date her, although she thought it was real, to get more publicity for the band"

"I don't care about that part, you kissed her Brad, and you didn't seem to care"

"Of course I cared Riley! And I never kissed her back. I know it looks like it but I didn't, I swear" he said softly. "Everything was fake Riley. You're the only girl in the world I want to be with, period. And I know I messed things up by fake dating her, I just hope you can forgive my stupid mistake"

His chocolate brown eyes were a warmer shade than usual, and that's how I knew he was being sincere. And it was when I was looking in his eyes that I realised how much I had missed him. I couldn't let something as small as a fake relationship fir publicity come between us. It was only seconds before I had lost control of my mind, and I had smashed my lips onto his. He was obviously shocked but he kissed me back, pulling me into his lap as he rested his hands on my hips. We had gotten so into the moment that we hadn't even heard the door opening, or Joe walking in. He coughed, making us jump apart instantly.

"Well.......you two have clearly made up then".........