Tonight...I Love You

Tonight...I Push You Away[4]

 Edited by @CrossingInfinity

"I wanna hide the truth

I wanna shelter you

But with the beast inside

There’s nowhere we can hide"

[Demons: Imagine Dragons]

                                  Tonight...I Push You Away

The next morning, Doctor Evans went to Riley’s room only to find it empty. She tried to think of where the thirteen year old would go at eight o’clock in the morning but couldn’t come up with anything. She paged Anna to have the entire staff search for her; when she got no response she tried Anna again.

“Anna, did you find her?” she yelled into her pager.

“No…not yet,” Anna reported.

‘Where could she be?’ she thought. She went to Riley’s room one last time and realized that her blanket was also gone. ‘I have a feeling I know exactly where she is,’ 

When she got to the door she slowly inserted her key and pushed both slowly and quietly. She smiled when she saw Riley’s sleeping face, on Blake’s chest. She slowly stepped back out of the room and closed the door behind her as the smile on her face grew even wider.

‘I guess she really is changing him little by little’.

She knew that Blake sensed her come in the room, but he never turned to look at her. He lay in his bed with Riley cradled next to him, her head on his chest and his hand around her shoulder ever so gently.

“Anna, I found her…you can go back to work.”

“Where was she?” Anna asked curiously

“With Blake,” Doctor Evans chuckled.

“Oh...wait, what?” Anna exclaimed, not as comforted as Doctor Evans seem to be with Riley being alone, in a closed room, with Blake.

“She’s fine, Anna, no need to worry…they’re both fine,” Doctor Evans assured her.

As the door closed Blake’s body relaxed; he wasn’t akin to the idea of being caught with Riley in this position but he didn’t have it in him to wake her. Once her head had touched his shoulder last night, her breathing slowed, indicating that she was asleep. If it had been a couple years ago, before he came to the institute, Riley wouldn’t have made it through the night. He was also sure that Doctor Evans wouldn’t have left her with him.

The fact that they thought he was no longer dangerous amused Blake because, if he wanted, he could simply snap Riley’s pretty little neck without much trouble. She had her own abilities, some she probably wasn’t even aware of, but he was more familiar with his and he was positive that he could take her. However, he could never harm Riley—she meant too much to him.

His inner demon thought otherwise and constantly tried to tempt him into its blood lust. The visit from his brother and sister brought back memories that he had tried to bury over the years. They didn’t bring his younger sister and made up some excuse about school but he knew better. They still didn’t trust him and he liked it better that way.

He already had Doctor Evans and now Riley who were constantly trying to get into his head. Doctor Evans had a sneaky way of getting what she wanted out of him, but Riley was just so pure and innocent that he just couldn’t help but open up to her. He knew that he couldn’t share too much, because Riley might hate him after learning of his past; and he couldn’t stand the feelings that thought invoked.

‘Maybe I should just kill her and get it over with; she couldn’t hate me if she’s dead, and I wouldn’t feel so vulnerable around her.’ He thought with a sneer on his face that fell as soon as it formed. ‘I can’t do that, she's my-’

“Blake?” Riley called in a small sleepy voice, snapping him out of his mental debate.

“Yeah?” He sighed, his constant mental battle was beginning to wear him down; closing his eyes, he didn't know how much longer he could hold out.

“What’s wrong?” she asked concerned.

“What makes you think something is wrong?” He asked with his eyes still closed, knowing that looking at her right now wouldn’t help him.

“You have this look on your face,” She explained.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” He mumbled.

“What? You didn’t scare me. You looked like you were in pain. I was worried,” She whispered, kneeling in his bed beside him.

“Don’t be,” he snapped, his anger was not towards her but he felt like a dam that was about to give way, and he so desperately wanted to protect her from the danger that was threatening to break free.

“Why would you say something like that? Friends worry about each other!” Riley yelled quietly not wanting any of the nurses to come in and catch her in his room.

“That’s just it! We. Are. Not. Friends.” He said coldly, his own words hurt him as he got off the bed and walked to the window, but he need to distance himself from her.

For a second Riley remained still on the bed, and then she crawled off slowly and walked to the window to stand beside Blake.

“I know you’re trying to push me away, but I don’t understand why,” Riley stated sadly.

“You’re better off staying away from me,” Blake whispered.

“Says who?” Riley challenged.

“You should leave,” Blake said callously.

“What are you so scared of?” Riley pleaded.

“You’re the one that should be scared.” Blake said in a dark tone.

“Well I’m not so just drop the bad guy act that you use to scare the other kids. WE. ARE. FRIENDS. Like it or not Blake! It’s what we are!” She yelled, and gripped his shirt when he tried to walk away.

Immediately, Blake grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall. His eyes were dark with a ring of amber around his irises and his body vibrated slightly. Riley was shocked by the sudden movement, but she wasn’t scared. After getting over the initial shock, she placed her hands on either side of Blake’s face and called his name tenderly.

Recognition of what he was doing shone in his eyes, the ember ring disappeared, and his eyes dulled. Blake snatched his hand from her neck, as if it burned his skin and tried to pull away but Riley held him into place and forced him to look into her eyes. When their gazed synced, Riley smiled at him and caressed his cheeks, willing him to feel that she was not scared of him.

She knew what it was like to have people fear what they couldn’t understand or explain, and she was certain Blake had his share of people who despised him. She saw how the nurses and the kids treated him and it hurt her just thinking how it made him feel. He always made it seem like he didn’t mind or that he even preferred it that way, but she knew better. Just like everybody else, Blake just wanted some place where he could be himself without being judged.

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