Pages of Autumn

Chapter 12

The pained look in his eyes made me regret to giving in to peer pressure further more. I should have never inhaled the worst addiction. I knew I was capable of stopping, but a small part of me was threatened I wouldn't.

"Riley why didn't you tell me?" I sucked up the bubble forming in my throat, slowly approaching him.

"I don't typically like talking about my problems. I keep it in. It's my shit to deal with, not yours." He turned away, walking to the bed.

"This is completely different and you know that." I sat down next to him, planting my hand on his leg. "Your mother died. That's not a pain you can keep in. I'm here for you, and I always will be." A pin poked my heart, shattering it, watching a tear fall from the corner of his eye.

He didn't say a word, not that he had to. I wrapped my arms around him, making my chest a comfy pillow.

He cried for about an hour, being in the most vulnerable state I have seen him in. Rubbing circles into his back didn't suite my need to help more. I wanted him to talk to me, express his pain.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened? If you don't want to tell me I get it." He removed himself from my embrace, rubbing the bottom of his nose.

"You might want some coffee with this story, it's a long one." His legs stretched out, the bottom of his feet hitting the floor.

* * *

After three cups of coffee and an ocean of tears, I was all caught up to speed. My heart ached for Riley, a strong agony I wasn't able to describe.

"How did they catch the murderer?" I was full of curiosity, although I didn't want to pry too much.

"It didn't take long for the police to connect the dots. My mom was a heroin addict, and had just got out of rehab after two months. Her supplier, Lee Stephaan, gave her more because she begged. A week later, Lee decided to stop supplying her due to her relations with public authority. My mother was being checked up on every week and questioned. Police have been trying to catch Lee for years, and never succeeded. My mom's phone was used as evidence in the crime scene, showing text messages between her and Lee. She was threatening to expose him if he didn't give her more drugs. It wasn't difficult to track down the numbers location. A couple lie detector tests, house searches, and more text messages later, they arrested Lee." He let out a loud gulp, taking another swig of his coffee.

"Do you have to appear in court?" The questions piled up the more I asked.

"Technically no, I wasn't a witness, and my mother hasn't been my legal guardian for years."

"Wait so, when I first met you, who were you visiting?" I referred to the train ride where I met him. He had said he was coming back from visiting family.

"My grandparents. They have been taking care of me for as far back as I could remember. My mother lives in California with her boyfriend. I got the news from my grandma." His head rested his hand.

"I'm sorry hun, how about we call it a night? We will talk again when you're ready or whenever you feel like it."

He nodded his head in response, placing my cup and his in the sink. Being it was four-thirty in the morning and I had work soon, I had to get some rest. I wish time could stop and my heart-to-heart with Riley would go on forever; unfortunately, a shooting star wouldn't show tonight.

* * *

The ringing of my alarm sounded, four hours of sleep felt like five minutes. Memories of last night clouded my mind- if only it were all a horrific dream.

I was more nervous about going to work for my second day than my first. As much as I didn't want to, I had to cut ties with Avery. Hanging out with her will hurt Riley, and she is a bad influence. For only one night of being around her, that shows a lot about her character. Though, I couldn't blame her. She needs help.

"I love you." I whispered into Riley's ear, resting a kiss on his cheek.

The walk to work was more of a run. Last night really put a toll on my body. Weak is a perfect word to describe the sensation in me. The pains in my stomach grew worse overnight and I felt I needed twenty-four hours to catch up on sleep.

"Look at this cutie in the building." Avery's voice echoed in the small shop, grabbing the customers attention.

"Hey Avery." I laughed at her subtle stunt of humiliation.

I took my jacket off, hanging it on the coat rack. Wrapping around the hideous, lime green apron, I made my way to the counter.

"So how are you feeling after last night?" She bumped her hip against mine playfully.

"Pretty freaking terrible." I forced a laugh to make my comment appear lighter.

"I'm sorry hun, it's because your coming down. Do you maybe want to join us again tonight? It will make you feel better." She spoke while assisting a customer, shoving a striped straw into the coffee ignited a playback from the night prior.

"Actually I need to talk to you about something. Lunch?" She nodded her head in response, assisting the next person in line.

I have a fright of saying no, but I had to put my foot down.

* * *

"So, about last night." Avery and I sat in a booth, sipping on coffee with an immense amount of creamer and sugar.

"What's up?" She smiled, tapping her nails against the mug. How nice she was made this a million times harder.

"I hated it. Yes, the high was nice." I said this lowering my voice so no one could overhear. "But afterwards I felt like complete shit. And to make matters worse, a person I care about a lot, his mother died. She was a recovering heroin addict." Her eyes were down, staring at the cracks of the table.

"What I'm saying is, the high isn't worth it. It causes more bad than good."

"Autumn. If you're trying to help me out, or convince me to go to some rehab bullshit, it's not going to work." Her choice of words and anger shocked me.

She stood up, leaving her coffee cup behind, walking to the backroom. So much for that.