jiley | one shots

01 | three months

three months.

it's been three months since riley and james have actually seen each other in person for the last time. because three months ago james left to go to an english dance competition which left riley alone, very stressed and very confused.

at the beginning they would call or text about the tiniest things and just make sure everything was okay but the timeszones were really getting to them.

when james would text her she would be asleep and once she'd be awake and answer james would be rehearsing for the competition, when he would finish and text her again she'd be in her office and once she finished and answered he'd be asleep and so forth. it was a never ending circle and calling each other was almost impossible.

but the problem was that riley is a very unsure and dependent person who needed support as the studio head since she couldn't do it on her own. and since she would barley talk to james and there was this guy at the studio who actually got her and supported her the way james would, she spent a lot of time with him. long story short; they kissed.

riley has never regretted anything more since she loves james with all her heart but she just couldn't tell him. she just wanted to forget about it like i never happened since he wouldn't find out anyways and she could just try to avoid alfie for the rest of her life. but as we all know the universe doesn't play that way so his little sister found out and forced riley to tell him for obvious reasons.

well, enough backstory. james, who doesn't know anything about everything that has been happening at the studio, lost the competition with his boys but instead of telling riley he just flew back home and decided to surprise her. he brought couldn't wait to see her face once she sees him.

so then, right after bringing his suitcase and stuff at home and greeting his parents again he drove to the studio. his parents told him that riley should be there since rehearsals just finished and riley always stays longer to finish the paperwork.

piper would be at home too but she and her studio friends had some kind of sleepover and since she doesn't know james is home she didn't bother to go home and just texted her mom she'd stay over at cassie's house.

since james cant qait to finally hold his girlfriend in his arms again he quickly makes his way to the studio. right when he parks his car in the parking lot in front of the studio his phone starts beeping. when he sees it's riley calling he chuckles. what a coincidence.

when he picks up he tries his best not to ruin the surprise for riley, who locked herself into her office and holds the phone while shaking and knows nothing about her boyfriend only being a few meters away. and that's on the other side what james doesn't know.

"hey babe," he said with a big grin on his face. he just couldn't help it, she really is his happiness.

"james, we need to talk," riley says gently but determined. if she doesn't tell him now the guilt will eat her from the inside and her relationship will be completely destroyed because piper tells him which is even worse. this way she might at least not make him hate her.

james raises and eyebrow, surprised about her seriousness and nods even though she obviously can't see it. he stops right in front of the opening to the building and leans against the wall. "yeah, sure."

"okay so -. ever since you're gone i felt really lonely," she starts but interrupts herself immediately. she doesn't want to play the victim. no more sugar coating, she thinks to herself.

james meanwhile continues his walk to her office again. if she really felt that alone he needs to see her right now and make it up to her. "im sorry riles, really. but i'm clos-"

"no. james you don't understand. i did something horrible while you were gone." the last part was only a whisper but james still heard it clearly.

once again he stops, now right before the office and listens curiously. "whatever it is, it can't be that bad. we'll make it through it, just tell me."

the way he still tries to comfort her makes riley feel even worse. she doesn't deserve it, in her opinion. "no, shut up. don't do this to me. don't be the supporting boyfriend." she now starts crying and is a complete mess. she knows it makes no sense to him since he doesn't know what happened but she just doesn't know how to say it.

it will ruin everything they have built up for years, these few words will break james heart and it's all her fault. it's probably the hardest thing she has ever done. breaking the heart of the person she loves more than anyone else on this entier planet.

"i cheated on you."

then a lot of things happen at the same time. tears start streaming down rileys cheek, she hears a bang which sounds like something falling and the office door opens ; james smile disappears completely, his phone falls out of his hand in disbelieve and he throws the door open.

and in that second their two worlds collided again. it's actually kind of ironic how they were physically miles away but so close mentally and now they are literally in the same room but never felt further apart.

"you what?"

"james, what are you doing here? you weren't supposed to come back until in three weeks, i thought-," riley rambles and feels so many things at the same time.

"you actually cheated on me? i was gone for three months for fucks sake, couldn't you wait three fucking months?"

"there's nothing i regret more i promise, i'll do anything so you can forgive me i swear i-"

once again she gets interrupted. this time by a laughter. "forgive you? are you serious? riley i thought we had it all. i did everything for you and this is what i get back? i'm so done with you."

he feels a lot of things but the strongest feeling is disappointment. and riley can clearly hear and see that which makes her feel even worse. she wanted him to be mad or sad but not disappointed, it just shows her how much of an awful human being she is.

instead of answering she stays quite and just looks down, tears streaming down her face. she knows james has a harsh history and he tends to having anger issues which is one of the reasons why she never wanted to tell him. god knows what he's going to do next. so the best thing is to stay quite and wait till he calmed down to explain everything, if he would even give her a chance to. but then again she had no explanation and she literally just cheated on him, there's no way to sugar coat it. and she felt like she deserved all of this.

james doesn't even know how to control his anger anymore and punches the wall next to him. that calms him down a little and he reminds himself to breath in a regular pattern.

"who is it?," he asks, his voice quite and exhausted.

"alfie," she whispers and she's glad he already left the studio just like the other dancers.

"alfie? the guy you've met three months ago?," he says more to himself than to her.

once again riley feels like he just hit her heart with a knife and she could slap herself. she threw the love of her life away for a random guy she doesn't even know.

"i'm done with you."
with those words he leaves the office and runs back to his car, closing the door with a loud bang and then punching against the steering wheel. "fuck," he screams from the top of his loungs. he just lost the love of his life because she found someone else in only three months. because he got replaced. and as much as he hates her for that, he still loves her with everything he has.

at the same time riley is in the corner of her office crying her heart out and feeling beyond awful. she literally broke his heart and all the things he said were true in her opinion. she just lost the love of her life because of one huge mistake. and even though she knows he might never speak to her again, she still loves him with all her heart.

//
i wanted to do it realistically at first but honestly tns sucks way too much to actually make it dramatic as fuck like i imagine it lmao and i wanted to include james anger issues bc it's such a great au