Bound to You

Chapter 20: Today

“Riker, we can’t.” She whispered, fearing that someone in the house may overhear. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure they were still alone. Riker leaned in dangerously close. His lips were less than an inch away from hers. “Yes we can. Darcy…” He breathed. His breath lightly fluttered across her face. It sent a trail of goose bumps down her arms. His lips grew closer, closer…almost as though he were teasing her. “Just kiss me.” She said quietly. “DARCY!” Darcy immediately jumped and sat upright in her seat. She deliriously looked around her. The plane was empty. Rydel was leaned over the seat in front of hers staring at her curiously. “Dang, you were out!” she laughed. Darcy smiled tiredly and stretched. “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep last night.” She mumbled. Rydel smiled as she began pulling her carry-on bag down from the shelves above their heads. “Excited about the trip?” she questioned. Darcy nodded and stood as well. She was excited about returning to New York, that part was true. But the real source of her sleepless nights over the past week hadn’t been the trip; it had been Riker. Following the party he’d gone back to acting completely and totally normal around her, as though nothing had happened. To be fair, nothing had happened. But something could have happened. She’d felt it. And she knew he had too. But if he wasn’t going to bring up what happened, or could have happened, that night then neither was she.  She followed Rydel down the aisle and off of the plane. Ever since that night at the birthday party she hadn’t been able to turn her thoughts away from Riker. Her dreams even. She couldn’t count the number of times she’d accidentally caught herself staring at his lips over the past few days. After they’d been so temptingly close to hers at the party it seemed as though nothing would satisfy her urge to feel them beneath her own. Except the obvious… She quickly shook the thoughts away as she pulled her suitcase off of the conveyor belt. There was no time to think about Riker; she had a job to do. R5 was appearing on the Today show for both an interview and a performance in just a few hours. She would be joining them for the second half of the interview. It was the biggest test that ‘Rarcy’ had faced so far; would they be able to convince the entire nation, on live TV, that they were a real thing? She felt her stomach knot up with both fear and anxiety. Sean had assured her that so long as she did her job correctly he wouldn’t lay a hand on her. She despised him, but she also oddly trusted his word. On that matter at least. The only times he’d laid a hand on her so far were the times when she’d, as he had put it, ‘failed him.’ Although she didn’t agree with, or care for, his methods, she had no other choice. She had to do her best to keep him satisfied over the next year so she could return home safely. So she’d HAVE a home to return safely to. She jumped slightly when a familiar pair of muscled arms reached around her and pulled her suitcase from her hands. “I’ve got it.” Riker said quietly in her ear. She turned around and smiled gratefully up at him. “Thank you.” He smiled in return. His smile quickly turned to a slight frown as he lifted her suitcase off of the ground. “Dang! What do you have in here?” he questioned. She giggled as she followed him and the rest of the band towards the large, glass-paned exit doors. “Well your mom said she wouldn’t know what colors you guys were wearing until she got to the set so I had to pack about twenty different possible outfits. Blame her.” She said defensively. “I heard that!” Stormie piped up from behind. Darcy laughed and then squealed when she felt someone quickly grasp her left hand. She glanced over to see Ross suddenly walking beside her. “Well hello.” She greeted him confusedly. Ross grinned apologetically and nodded towards the doors. “There’s a hoard of fans outside.” He explained. Darcy frowned and turned to look at the glass-walled exit they were approaching. “This early in the morning?” she asked incredulously. Ross half-smiled. “You’d be surprised.” He said quietly. She glanced over at Riker out of the corner of her eye. He had his gaze fixed steadily ahead. His expression was unreadable. She turned her gaze forward as well and quickly faked a smile as Mark pushed the doors open. It wasn’t time to worry about Riker; it was show-time. She heard the squeals of a few teenage girls as they stepped through the doors and onto the sidewalk. “Ross over here!” “Riker, Riker!” “ROCKY, I LOVE YOU!” The shrill voices overlapped as each girl attempted to drown out the next. Ross stopped beside a few girls and began politely signing the pictures they held out towards him. “Morning, ladies. You coming to the show?” He questioned as he autographed one photo after another. Riker came to stand beside him and began signing as well. Darcy politely stood a few feet away to give the fans some space. She noticed one girl in particular staring at her out of the corner of her eye. It wasn’t the curious stare many girls had given her early on, or even the dreamily jealous stare girls typically gave her as of late. It was…cold. Hateful. She tensed up as the girl slowly approached her. “Darcy?” she asked flatly as she stopped beside her. Darcy turned around to face her and smiled happily. “That’s me!” she replied brightly. The girl curled her upper lip in disgust and gave Darcy the once-over. “Well. You’re certainly nothing to be envious over.” She replied cruelly. Darcy’s jaw dropped slightly. She hadn’t encountered any rude fans before. She wasn’t particularly hurt or upset. She was…angry. This girl actually had the nerve to approach her so harshly when she didn’t even know her. “Excuse me?” she asked incredulously. The girl grinned wickedly. “It’s pretty sad that you have to go after a guy so much younger than you. What? Couldn’t find anyone your own age? You’re just a sad, pathetic cougar.” She snapped. “Hey!” A male voice spoke up suddenly. Darcy was surprised to find that it wasn’t Ross jumping to her defense, but Riker. “Don’t talk to her like that.” He growled. The girl turned to look at Riker with a smug smirk on her lips. “And why do you care?” she challenged. Riker glowered angrily at her. “Because she’s my brother’s girlfriend and one of my best friends. He doesn’t want to see her get hurt and neither do I.” He paused hesitantly. “He loves her.” He finished quietly. Darcy felt her entire body go numb. Somehow, she knew Riker wasn’t referring to Ross with that last comment. She felt an arm snake tightly around her waist; Ross had come to join her and Riker. “Anyone who’s going to disrespect the people I care about doesn’t deserve to call themselves a fan.” He said coldly. The girl scoffed and turned away to leave. “And I don’t care what you tell the press either!” He called after her, knowing that her next stop would more than likely be to whine to a reporter about how Ross Lynch had been rude to her.  A few of the other girls standing around were staring after Darcy’s assailant with disgusted scowls on their faces. “That was rude.” One of them muttered. Another shook her head disappointedly and turned back to Darcy. “Darcy, ignore her. We all think you’re perfect with Ross.” She assured her with a happy smile across her face. Darcy smiled genuinely in return. The kindness of many of the R5 fans made her feel a bit guilty about lying to them. Then again, the rude behavior from that one particular girl made her feel a little less guilty.