coffin kisses » jason dilaurentis

thirteen: riley has feelings, too.

2010

"Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown, everybody's watching to see the fallout."

Though she was more than aware of what had happened the night before, it wasn't something she was sure she wanted to come to terms with. It was a nasty, little word—overdose. Yet, the effects were much nastier than the eight powerful letters themselves.

There were gaps in her memory, little specs of black emptiness, but Jo was welcoming to the feeling. She'd known so many nights that couldn't be recalled the following morning that she'd become a professional at stitching together what she could to make the story. She was with Jason, that much had been absolute. She went to the park. She was hungry. But after that first drink, it was as spotted as a Dalmation.

Mixing alcohol was her mistake. A deadly one, even. Had she been drunk enough to forget she'd taken the pills and taken more, the end would've been as simple as falling asleep. She'd known many southside friends to have fallen victim to that. She didn't want to add her name to the list. Especially since her body was going through Hell to fix what it couldn't during the seventeen hours she'd been unconscious.

"If we want to help Spencer, we have to find out what Caleb knows." Emily cooed, trying her hardest to coax Hanna into complying. The heartache she felt was obvious as they gathered for dinner at the Apple Rose Grille.

Jo picked at the plate of cold and untouched fries before her. She'd ordered it knowing she needed to fill her stomach if she was to get any better but the nauseousness in her gut kept her from chewing. She pulled the napkin from her lap, giving up, and tossed it over her plate. Leaning back in her seat, she pretended to give a damn about what her friends were conversing.

Spencer squinted her eyes across the street. "Guys, there is someone out there. Look on that bench."

Jo glanced up at the figure on the bench, face blacked out where the street light couldn't reach it. She studied it curiously, finding something familiar about it.

"Josie, no. What are you doing?" Spencer panicked as she watched her friend stand from her seat and approach the door. "Don't go out there."

She hugged her mustard-colored sweater closer to her frame as a chilling gust of wind blew across her skin. Jo checked both sides of the street before crossing and catching sight of the person. "Riley?"

He was hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his head hung low. Riley's dark hair fell over his eyes and covered his face like a gentle curtain from the world. He peeked up at her for a second, quickly turning his gaze back to the sidewalk beneath his shoes. "Hey, JoJo."

"What are you doing out here in the dark?"

"Sitting."

She scoffed as she plopped down beside him, slinging an arm around his neck. "Obviously, jackass."

He didn't find her funny, nor did he shoot back a comment as equally foul. He just sat quietly in his sad little pose as his younger cousin felt the alarms go off in her head: He was having another episode.

"It's that time, again." Riley breathed after some time. "Fourteen years come tomorrow."

She finally understood, stiffening when she realized the situation. "Has it been that long already?"