Broken Heart

Chapter 25 : Together

Chapter 25

Later...

Riker POV

"Paige, this folder says Smith on it."

I handed the folder to Paige. She started looking through it.

"This is interesting..."

"What?"

"I always thought that maybe my parents were their lawyers, and lost the case. But it's actually the opposite. My parents weren't their lawyers. They were fighting against them, and we won..."

"So they're mad because your parents won the case, and they lost?"

"Maybe. I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess... Wait. What was the case on?"

"Um... Hold on... Well... Apparently Carly had been doing some bad things as a kid... Like crimes... And the case was on, do they put her in jail or not. This was a bunch of years ago. So... She was put in jail from age 15 until 20."

"Well then maybe the whole drunk driving thing was a mistake. Maybe she just wanted to have a little fun. I mean, you can't really go after someone when you're drunk. You can't think clearly."

"Riker?"

"What?"

"This says the day she was admitted to prison. 5 years and 1 day later is when my parents died. I think she wanted revenge."

"Well... That does sort of make sense."

"I want to go talk to them," Paige said, getting up.

"Paige, wait! What the heck do you think you're doing!?"

"I want answers, Riker!"

"It's dangerous!"

"I don't care! I want to know why they died!"

"Paige!"

She went down the attic stairs.

"Paige, this is stupid! We need to plan this out first and think about what we're going to do! Otherwise something bad could happen!"

I grabbed her arm, and turned her around so she was facing me. She was crying.

"Paige..."

"I just miss them!"

I pulled her to my chest in a tight hug. She cried into my chest.

"I know you miss them. I don't know what I'd do without my parents. But you can get through this. We will go talk to them. But we'll plan it out so it's safe. I think we should tell my parents about this and stuff. And then we can see what they think."

Paige nodded against my chest. I bent down a little, wrapped my arms around her waist, and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around my middle, and I started walking back to my house. Once I got there, I sat down in the living room since that's where dad was. I had Paige on my lap. Her head was against my chest, and she was still crying. She had her arms around my neck too.

"Dad, we have something to tell you," I said, kind of nervous.

Dad just looked at me weird.

"What?" I asked.

"Please tell me you didn't get her pregnant."

"What!? No! Um... This is about her parents and Macy and all them."

Later...

Riker POV

We'd given dad the file about Carly, and he went to the police station with it. He was going to tell them everything we thought was going on. Right now we were at my house in my bedroom. Paige was in my bed, quietly crying into my pillow.

I went downstairs and got her a glass of water. I sat down on the edge of my bed, and handed it to her. She sat up a little, and drank some of it. And then she handed it back. I put it on my nightstand.

"You feeling better?" I asked as she wiped her tears.

"No..."

"Why not? My dad's going to tell the police. And I'm sure they're out looking for Carly. Macy is moving away, and I haven't heard from Ashley. Everything's ok right now."

"It's just not fair..."

"What's not fair?"

"They were just lawyers. They were hired to do their job. It's not their fault, and I shouldn't have gotten my parents taken away from me like that!" She said, crying again.

"Hey... I know you're upset... But they wouldn't want you to cry. They'd want you to be happy."

"How can I be happy!?"

I moved so I was beside her.

"Well you've got me. And I care about you. I want to do anything to make you feel better."

"That's only because you have feelings for me."

"No... It's because I love you. As a friend. Or like a sister. Yeah I have feelings for you, but that's not why I want to make you feel better. I'm not trying to make you fall in love with me. I just hate seeing you cry, and knowing I can't do anything to help. I can't control what happened 2 years ago. And I don't know what to do to make you feel better."

Paige laid down, took my hand, and pulled me down next to her. She intertwined our fingers tightly.

"You've changed, you know..." Paige said, quietly.

"I've changed?"

"You're not so scared anymore. You're braver, and you keep trying to protect me when anything happens, even though I know you're still scared."

"Because I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend, and I don't know what I'd do without you. You're the person I tell everything to. I trust you completely. And I don't want you to get hurt. I'd rather be the one to get hurt."

"You changed," Paige said, looking at me.

I just sort of looked back at her.

"You're not being overprotective. You're just being protective. You're not jealous. And you trust me. This is the Riker I fell in love with," Paige whispered.

"What?"

"You might've been a little more scared back then, but I found him again," she whispered.

It felt like my heart was about to pound right out of my chest.

"S-so what d-does this m-mean?" I asked, softly.

"It means I love you."

Her lips met mine, and it felt like a million butterflies in my stomach. Paige pulled away, and we just sort of stared into each other's eyes.

"Why didn't you just tell me this is how you wanted me to be before?"

"Because you would've pretended you were something you weren't. You needed time to change for yourself. If I had told you, you'd be acting fake."

I sighed, and wrapped my arms around her. She cuddled into my chest.

"Does this mean we're together again?" I asked, quietly.

"If you want..."

"Yes. I've been waiting so long... My heart's finally unbroken."