Give A Little More

Chapter 9

"I'm finished with my place..." I whispered, coming into Riker's living room and looking over the countless boxes labeled for his endless collection of music and his clothes. We weren't allowed to bring anything that couldn't fit into a 2ft by 3 ft box, meaning no furniture. I had packed all of my clothes, shoes, and accesories into my eight boxes and brought them down to the truck that was taking them to LA. We were allowed to bring pillows and blankets on our long flight, as well as a carry on for nessecities. "I'm about done as well." He said, wiping his hands on his ripped jeans and coming over to me. I stared back up at his face, glasses hanging on his nose and his hair was being held back by one of my favorite snapbacks he had. 

"Are you doing alright?" He asked, pulling my body closer to his, his hands on my hips, feeling the material of my thin tank top. "I'm alright..." I lied. "It's just really hard having to up and leave like this. Our other friends, the restaurants we visit, our late night walks down the street." His hand caressed the side of my cheek, "But we'll find all of that in LA Harp, I promise." He smiled, "Besides, we get a new chance... A chance to be us and meet new people and go on dates and enjoy being together, just the two of us in a house..." He leaned down to kiss me, making me feel instantly better than I had before. 

"Whoa there, quite a show..." A familiar voice called from the hallway. I turned around to see Ross and Rocky standing there, looking tired. "What do you want?" I sassed, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms. "The car is here..." Ross said, "Want us to bring anything down?" "I brought all of my stuff to the truck already, the rest is for the flight." I said, walking inside. "Hang on!" Riker said, "I have some stuff..." "Nah bro," Rocky said, "We were here to help the lady, you can get your own stuff." Riker rolled his eyes before going inside, "It is hers..." He said. "What?" I asked, suddenly interested. I followed him inside and went to look at the boxes in front of him. 

Riker pointed, "That one has clothes you left over here and I kept them for when you stayed over and that one has all of your little things like books and games that you brought me to read or something and I never gave them back, but now we can keep them in our house!" He smiled, nudging me in the side. I turned to him, "Thanks." I said, giving him a soft smile and looking at Rocky and Ross, "They're not gonna lift themselves are they?" I asked, watching them scramble to pick the boxes up. 

I picked up a couple of Riker's boxes and he got the rest, taking the stairs with me down to the awaiting car and truck. We came down to hear arguing in front of the building, "No, I get the bedroom there!" "But I'm older, asswipe!" "Too bad, I'm cooler." I set the boxes in the truck and went over to the boys, "Girls girls, you're both pretty!" I teased. "Shut up Harper, Rocky says he get's the bedroom at Rydel and Ellington's place, but I get it..." Ross pointed his finger at himself. I groaned, "Are you serious? That's what you two were arguing about? Doesn't that house have three bedrooms?" "No," Rocky said, lifting a box into the back, "Your house has three bedrooms, but it's for you and Riker." He teased. 

"Okay," I said, "We can switch places then, I'm sure Riker won't mind a two bedroom for the two of us." I compromised. Ratliff came over, interjecting himself in the conversation, "It's not allowed... Creighton yelled at us and said, 'Deal with it, at least you get a house to live in.'" Ratliff impersonated. I put my face in my hands, "Why does this have to be so stressful, I don't even wanna leave in the first place..." "None of us do, Harper..." Rydel said from behind me. I sighed loudly and picked myself back up, "Ross, you can live with us if you'd like." "For real?" He asked. I looked back at Riker, who was on the phone with someone, who I was sure was work, flipping out over their two best producers up and leaving.

"Yeah, Riker will be cool with it." I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest. I was going to miss the cool winter air, I wouldn't get to spend another white Christmas here, in LA you were lucky to get to 60 on Christmas day... "You and Riker just have to promise to not be all coupley and lovey dovey like in the house. Do it privately." Ross shuddered. "Deal," I said, cracking a small smile. I remembered that I had to act engaged to Riker, Creighton had given me a ring I had to wear and everything. The hardest part of all of this was that I knew we were faking and Riker cared about me enough that he might not be faking too much. I couldn't even confront my feelings right now, there was way too much on my plate to start this process.

One of the guards stepped out of the car and spoke in a booming voice, "It's time to leave. Immediately." "But our flight isn't until-" Ross said. "No questions." The guard interrupted, "We move now." He said, suddenly hushed. The intensity in his voice frightened me, and not much frightened an FBI Agent. We all climbed in the big suburban, the truck with our belongings was already long gone, and I looked out the window, seeing a guard handcuff the man that had been following me for so long, I gasped, not realizing he had still been following me these past few days since everything had happened. "Are you okay?" Riker asked me, it was so sweet how he was so concerned for my feelings. "I'm good..." I whispered, leaning against the wall of the car.

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They settled us on the jet quickly, taking off mere minutes after our arrival to the airport. "We couldn't risk having you all seen." Creighton told us over video conference. We were high in the air and Ross, Rocky, and Ellington were passed out asleep. "The man outside your building had a gun, Soliel, you all needed to get out of there immediately." "I don't understand why they continue to go after us..." I said, squeezing Riker's hand for support. "Because you seemed to piss off this Angela woman and it's not a good thing to make her angry." He stated blankly. I scoffed, "I remember when we thought the ring leader was a man and I was less afraid of what was going to happen than I am now." My fingers ran through my long hair and I breathed a long sigh. 

"Well, you're all safe now. You're getting far far away Soliel, it's going to be okay." He said, sounding the most reassuring he ever had sounded. "So now what?" I asked, looking over at Riker's now sleeping body. His mouth hung open just a little bit and he was about to start snoring softly, I could tell. "Well," Creighton started, "I believe that's up to you future Mrs. Lynch," He laughed. "Creighton not now," I groaned. "Sorry," He smiled, "It's just I'd never pinned you as one to be in a relationship." "I'm not!" I whispered harshly. "Creighton you gotta get me a job in LA with the FBI, I can't work some hoity toity office job... And I have no reason to be a stay at home anything, we don't have kids." "You have to find something to make you blend in Soleil. All of you. Riker already has an interview set up with a record label so I hear?" He asked, writing down our conversation in his notebook. He was required to know our plans so he could keep our people one step ahead of this organization. 

"Yeah, on Tuesday..." "That's great!" He said, jotting it down in his notes. "I feel like I'm being questioned..." I grumbled. "Sorry." Creighton spoke shortly, "It's policy." "I know." I snapped. I looked at the ground and then to Riker's hand in mine. "Ms. Soleil..." Creighton said over the monitor. "Yeah?" I asked weakly, "Why are you having such reservation about this?" He asked me. "Because who would want to move back after settling down in Baltimore for a few years? I liked it there, we all did. Plus, I thought I was done with California, Beverly Hills, rich people that get everything handed to them. No one works for what they have." I rolled my eyes. "Would you perhaps be referring to your father?" He asked. "Maybe." I said through gritted teeth. "I would be inclined to say that you and Mr. Lynch are quite well off yourselves." "Yes, you could say that, but we don't treat others like shit who are below us." "Soleil, this would be a good time to get over that." "Pardon me sir," I sassed, "I didn't realize you were my therapist now." 

He chuckled and looked at his cell phone, "I have a meeting in three minutes I have to get to." He said, ignoring my blatant rudeness. "Okay?" I asked. "I need to go." "Okay." I said. "I'll contact you when you all get settled in Los Angeles and let you know where we stand. I'm required to keep your informed about the case." "But what if I don't want to know?" I asked, knowing that would only add more stress to me. "It's not your choice, you have to be briefed, you're still on our payroll you know, it's still your case." "Wait, I'm still getting paid and I'm required to get a job?" "for the act of it..." I rolled my eyes, "Jesus Christ, Creighton, this is turning into an acting job." "It is." He stated, "I'll talk to you soon, I have to go. Enjoy your first sight of California in a while." "Thanks," I mumble, watching him click off. I groan, leaning onto Riker in the seat next to me to close my eyes.