Then Came Blue_ girlxgirl.

Chapter 17

I'm standing outside Blue's door at around 7:30pm on a random Wednesday evening. I came on a Wednesday and at this time because I know she's most likely to be there around this time but then here I am unable to bring myself to knock. All that determination and confidence to get my girl back seem to have stayed back in Lou's room seeing as it took me all of three days to work up the courage to show up at her door and now I can't even knock.
What if she doesn't want to see me? What if she doesn't want to talk to me? Maybe she no longer wants to be friends, maybe I'm too late, what if she has another girl in there? Oh my God what if she already got another Riley? That last thought has me ready to turn on my heels and go back but I don't. I have to try, I need to try, for me, for Blue, for us. So I raise my hand and knock. I knock thrice before the door swings open revealing a half dressed Skylar. She's in checkered boxer shorts and a white vest. If this were a movie I'd probably turn around and run back home in tears which I want to do but I will myself to stay. I want to ask Skylar why she's here at this hour in her under garments, and then I want her to put on her clothes and leave or maybe just go to the part where I claw her eyes out or punch her teeth in so I can wipe that smug look off her face but I can't. Blue doesn't belong to me anymore and I just want to trust that there's another reasonable explanation. Blue can't be in bed with Skylar again. Can she?
"Well look who it is, little miss closet case," she says looking at me with both amusement and disdain. She leans casually against the door but blocking the entrance.
I know she's trying to get a rise out if me but I have no fight in me and I'm already nervous as it is without adding angry. "Hi Skylar," I say instead. "Is Blue here?"
"Oh yeah she's in. We've been in for hours, alone, together." She says tauntingly, the smirk on her face growing with every second. I know what she's insinuating but I don't buy it and I won't buy it until I've talked to Blue myself.
"Anha," I say, nodding just to humour her , "so can I see her?"
"Remember what I told you? I told you you'd be gone one day and I'd be there waiting, I told you_"
"Skylar can I talk to Blue!?" I know my voice was a bit raised there but she's testing my patience. Yes I remember but I don't want to. I don't want to think about it, I don't want to imagine it, I don't want to know if she acted on her promise, I don't want to know how Blue cried on her shoulder, I don't want to know. I really want to turn around and leave but I will not give Skylar the satisfaction. I know that's what she wants and so I will not. I'm here to talk to Blue and I will not leave without doing so.
Before Skylar comes up with her next reply Blue appears over her shoulder. "Who is it?" She asks before her eyes fall on me standing on her threshold and they about fall out of their sockets.
"Riley?!" She gasps my name in surprise, her hand going to her hair to smoothen it and then her clothes before she shoves Skylar out of the way to stand where Skylar was originally standing. Skylar rolls her eyes at her but moves away from the door scowling at us.
Blue's dressed exactly the same as Skylar only her vest isn't skin tight. She looks disheveled and sleep rumpled but she's still the most beautiful person to me. She's still as beautiful, her eyes still as sinfully pale and intoxicating. She's wearing that cute little timid smile that softens her eyes and I still want her as much. My body still reacts the same way to her, the butterflies, the erratic beating of my heart, the sweaty palms, the rush of blood in my veins... I'm still as gone for this girl as I ever was.
"Hi," I say, my voice coming out a bit breathy and shaky. My legs are shaking so bad.
"Hi," she replies. And then we just stand there looking at each other foolishly without saying anything. My surroundings fade away and its just me and her and my erratically beating heart.
"Aagghh, oh my God you two are hopeless!" Skylar says from somewhere behind Blue bringing us back to earth. Blue steps aside allowing me entrance into her home again. "Uh, come in. You want to come in right? Of course you want to come in because you can't stay out there," she rambles. Blue never rambles, rambling is what I do, not her and that tells me I'm not the only one who's nervous. I walk in and its all still all familiar, the bean bag seats we cuddled on so much, the couch we did unspeakable things on, then her bed up on the isle... everything brings back memories.
Finally I'm here in Blues house, with Blue but I don't know what to do with myself. Should I sit or just stand here and say what I came to say? Skylar standing there glaring at me isn't helping with my discomfort at all.
Speaking of Skylar, I look around looking for evidence of what exactly they've been doing in here in their boxers. There's a blanket on the sofa which tells me they've probably been cuddling on it together. I tell myself to breathe, not to get jealous but it's not working until I notice another blanket on the floor by the blue bean bag and I know they weren't cuddling. Relief courses through my veins. Then I notice a sketchbook and some pencils on the Ottoman, Blues I imagine and then a horror movie that is still playing on TV which has Skylar written all over it. I'm so relieved that all signs point to just a hangout session between friends. I stop my perusal of the room and look at Blue who's been looking at me all this while.
"I was hoping I could talk to you," I say, "in private," I add, my eyes turning to Skylar who's leaning against the kitchen wall.
"Yeah, sure. Maybe_" she says at the same time Skylar says, "You can say whatever it is you want to say with me here. I'm not going anywhere."
"Sky?" Blue implores and I'm reminded of just how much I hated that nick name.
"No, Blue. She's only here to confuse you_"
"Skylar, I think I can take care of my own problems." Blue says.
"Can you? Can you Blue?" Skylar challenges.
"Yes! I can. Now will you please give us a minute!" Blue shouts back at her.
Skylar looks between the two of us before she gives in. "Fine, I'll go." She grumbles and goes up to the isle to look for her clothes. I watch her pick her clothes up from the floor and leaving another set of clothes which can only be Blues so I turn and look at Blue. I don't know what expression I have on my face but it makes Blue rush to explain.
"Its not as it looks, I promise," she rushes to explain. "We weren't..." She trains off, motioning between the two of them, her eyes begging me to understand. But she needn't worry and I realize I already knew. They wouldn't have been doing anything.
"You don't owe her an explanation B," Skylar says, coming down fully dressed with her boots in hand. "You don't owe her shit."
Blue and I look at each other awkwardly. It is pretty awkward in here.
Skylar gets to the door and looks back at Blue, "You're sure about this?" She asks one last time. Blue nods so Skylar can't do anything except leave. Its just Blue and I now looking at each other in our awkward silence.
"How have you been?" She finally asks.
"Good, good. You?" I reply. This is so awkward.
"Been better," she replies looking at me from under her eyelashes and I find it so inviting so I try to deviate to less pleasant things.
"So, Skylar_" I start.
"I'm not with Skylar." I nod humbled by how even now she still cares to explain stuff to me, to put my mind at ease. How can I stop loving this girl? I smile at her.
"That's not what I was going to ask." What in was going to ask was if Skylar and the girls have been taking care of her.
"Oh. Okay, but I just thought you should know."
"I know." We go back to just fiddling with our fingers and looking at each other. We make quite the pair.
"Do you want to sit?" She asks and that's when I realise we've been standing in the middle of the living space all this while.
"Yeah." I guess I should, I need to be seated for this anyway. I don't think my legs can stand through what I want to say. So I take one corner of the couch and she takes another.
"I've missed you," I say, looking down at my fingers and then at her.. Her pale eyes bore into mine making my stomach flutter from the intensity of her eyes.
"Me too ba_ Uh, me too." We look at each other both thinking about her almost slip until I finally break the silence.
"Remember when you said we should be friends and I declined?" I ask. She nods encouragingly before I continue, "Well does the offer still stand?"
"Really?" She asks, her voice full of surprised joy. How did I ever think she suddenly could have turned into some cold person who wouldn't want anything to do with me?
I smile at her, "Yeah, really. I've missed you so much. I know we broke up and all but God have I missed you! Your stupid silly puns, being around you, being around your roudy friends even Skylar although she hates me. I want that back even if its just as a friend."
Her eyes are glassy but she has a smile on her face. "Do you know how many times I had to stop myself from calling you, texting you or just getting in the car and driving over to your hostel. Skylar had to put me in shackles and chain me to the bed."
"She didn't!" I say in mock horror.
"Oh yes she did, with actual chains and all," she says, nodding as she speaks.
"Now that I think about it, I can see her doing that." I nod along with her and we both laugh because Skylar is capable of doing that.This is exactly what I have missed.
"They miss you too by the way and the offer still stands,"she says. " I'd rather be friends than nothing at all b_Riley. " I love the way she keeps tripping over the word babe or baby whichever one it is. It gives me hope and a nervous flutter in my tummy.
"Me too." I don't know where to go from here so I ask,  "What now? Do we like shake on it?"
"We could do that." She says but I have something better in mind after all friends do it all the time.
"Or we could hug on it?" I suggest. We really should hug on it because I really badly want to hold her in my arms again. So we awkwardly  shuffle closer on the couch and wrap our arms around each other, lightly at first but then the longer it goes on the harder we hold on. I bury my face in the crook of her neck and inhale... Its like coming home.
"I don't want to let go," she whispers shakily in my ear. Me too baby, me too. But we can't just hang on to each other like that.
"That's not friend-like," I say into her neck eliciting a snort of laughter from her.
"I know." She tries to pull away finally but I'm not ready to let go so I hold on a little bit tighter.
"One more minute."
"Now who's not being very friend-like,"she says and we laugh, letting go of each other. She has tears in her eyes and so do I. We sit in each others space for a second, clearly crossing a friendship line before we both pull back and say "So?" at the same time and then laugh at how absurd we both are.
"I think I should go," I say.
"Okay... or we could finish Skylar's blood bath of a movie together?"
I look at the TV and then back at her. I'm so tempted, oh am I ever, but me and her alone in a room for a extended period of time doesn't seem so wise. As if  she just read my mind she says, "Yeah, not a wise idea."
So I get up to leave but my eyes fall on the sketchbook that I saw earlier lying on the chair. "Hey, can I take a look at that?" I've never actually seen any of the art she does except maybe on a human body.
"What?" Her eyes follow my movements as I walk towards the book. I pick up the book but before I can open it she jumps at me and snatches it from me.
"No!" She clutches it to her chest as if it holds important secrets of state. I'm so surprised by how fast that happened I can feel my eyebrows disappearing into my hairline.
"Why not? What's in there?" I ask.
"Nothing," she says looking anywhere but at me. I can see she's embarrassed.
"You don't want me to see your work?" I ask. If there's a hint of hurt in my voice I didn't intend for it to be there.
"Its not that, its just..." She pauses, blushing like a school girl. Its not like Blue to blush which makes me definitely want to see the notebook now.
"Blue, let me see."
"No!" She hides it behind her back.
"Blue?" I repeat walking toward her and she keeps stepping back until she backs herself into a wall.
"Riley, no. Riley don't touch my book, Riley!" With her pressed against the wall and no escape I circle my arms around her to retrieve the book from behind her back but she still won't let it go. We realize a bit too late that all this struggling and tussling wasn't a good idea when Blue moans suddenly drops the book, takes my face in her hands and kisses me right on the mouth. When she lets me go I look into her surprised round eyes and then down at her chest where her nipples are now poking through the fabric of her vest, our cheats rising and falling  rapidly. I look back up into her eyes and yeah,the look in her eyes tells me I should step back now and I know I should but I can't bring my body to. It's as if I've been nailed in place.
I shift ever so slightly and rub my clothed chest against her pebbled nimple and she breathes my name, wetting her lips with her tongue. It takes all the will power I have in me not to chase that tongue with my own but this isn't why I came here today. We can't do this. It might end up being such  a colossal mistake on both our parts. We are still broken up after all. So I back away from her but God, this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Her heart is pumping a mike a minute and I  can see it but so is mine. I can feel it threatening to jump out of my chest.
"I'll go now." Before we do something stupid is left unsaid but its hanging there between us.
She remains plastered against the wall because I think she also knows she needs to stay there for both our sakes.
"I'll text, or call," I say taking her in one last time before I turn and walk out. When I close the door between us, I lean back against it for a minute because my legs are shaking badly. God I'm so weak for her.
I'm still leaning against the door catching my breath when someone speaks up from somewhere startling me.
"That bad huh?" A masculine voice says. It's Isaac, the cousin.
"What the fuck! You almost gave me a coronary!"
"A what?" He asks walking closer.
"A coronary," I repeat but he still looks blank so I say, "a heart attack?"
"Oh. So why didn't you just say that?" He asks, smart ass like his cousin.
"I don't know, just." He shakes his head at me smiling like I amuse him.
"So how did it go in there?"
"Have you been out here all this while?" I ask instead of replying.
"Yeah. Skylar called me. She said someone had to come make sure Blue doesn't do something stupid."
"Something stupid?"
"Yeah, like get back together with you," he says which makes me laugh and him smile. "She doesn't like you much," he finishes.
"Really? I hadn't noticed." He laughs at that. "So why didn't you come in? We could have been doing something stupid while you were out here?"
"Did you?"
"Did I what?"
"Did you do something stupid?" He clarifies. I ponder whether I should tell him or not but  I decide not to. Let them stew. I'm sure Skylar is waiting for feedback.
"Wouldn't you like to know," I say cheekily as I move away from the door and away from him. I was on my way home after all.
"Hey," he calls out to me. "Wait, I need to tell you something." I wonder what he could have to tell me seeing as we didn't say even more that two words to each other at Blue's parents' anniversary party but I stop anyway and wait.
"You should go out with me," he says point blank.
"What!?"
"You should go out with me," he repeats.
"What!?" I find myself repeating like I'm stupid or deaf.
"You know, like_"
"I know what going out means, but you do know I was with your cousin right? Who happens to be a girl?"
"I know that. And I'm not doing this for me, I'm asking for her."  Now I'm confused.
"I'm confused."
"You want Blue back right? That's if you didn't get her back tonight but from the way your shoulders are slumped and the fact that you're leaving, I'm thinking you didn't."
"Thanks for noticing. But yes I do." I reply.
"Blue's a very jealous person, very possessive and if you need this to move along quicker for you, you need to give her a reason to be jealous. She'll come around sooner." He explains. But Blue doesn't need to come around, she just needs me to be open about us and I tell Isaac as much.
"I know that, and you need to work on that but Blue doesn't like to be alone too so while you work on your problem, she might decide to I don't know, find someone else. A rebound maybe." I know he's done nothing wrong and he's probably right but I still want to claw his eyes out for even suggesting it.
"So what are you saying?"
"What I'm saying," he continues, "is that you need to keep Blues focus on you. If she's too busy being jealous of whoever you are with she'll be too preoccupied to look around for a rebound. She'll be focused on how to get my hands off you."
"Okay, that's one way it could go. The other way is she could be pushed to find someone else herself just for revenge."
"That's also an option but Blue loves you Riley. I don't know much about the two of you and your relationship but I have never seen her as broken and confused as she was these past few weeks. So I'm banking on the fact that it's you Blue wants, not anybody else and seeing you with someone else will just drive her crazy." Hmmm...
"At least try it. It wouldn't hurt to try would it?" He pushes.
But then there's a nagging thought on my mind.  "Why do you care? What's in it for you?"
"I do not like to see a zombified Blue, that's what is in it for me. We all don't want to see her hurting anymore." His use of the same words Lou used which makes me smile.
"Did you guys do this too when she broke up with Skylar?"
"No. Because it was different with those two and she wasn't this lost."
"Isaac, we've only met once before so I don't know you much. If this plan of yours backfires, it'll be easy for me to wrap my hands around your neck and kill you."
"Are you and Blue into that kind of thing?"
"Shut up! But I'm serious."
"You'll thank me later, you'll see. Now let me take you home like a good fake date that I intend to be."
And that is how I found myself with the third person on team get Blue back. I also got myself a new friend in Isaac and a fake "boyfriend". He told me he broke up with Lynn because he realised she was more than just a bitch and anyone who disrespects his cousin wasn't worth it. He told me if I don't work on being open about his cousin and showing her off to the world because that's what she deserves and more, he will wrap his hands around my neck and kill me and it will be easy because he doesn't know me that well anyway.