The Night We Met

Chapter 19

Michelle's POV:

"Hey, so I was thinking . . . The four of us girls haven't been out just the four of us in quite a while. Did you maybe wanna go?" Thalia asks as her, Giselle and I walked around outside. We had all just been working in our groups for our presentations and were now heading towards the cafeteria for lunch. I smile and nod in response to her enquiry and so does Giselle.

"Yeah, that sounds great," she says. 

"I'll just go and find Ri and ask her," I respond. The two girls nod and I leave their sides to head into the study hall where I had previously seen Riley sat with Aiden, Maya and Devon. I had no idea how she was doing with them but I wouldn't be surprised if she was to tell me it was a nightmare.

When I reach the corner booth they had been sat at, I find Maya sitting on the arm of the sofa, Aiden sitting on a chair the wrong way around with his cap turned around on his head and Devon sat on the other end of the sofa. There was a bowl of fruit set out on the middle of their table but no project work was to be seen at all. Riley wasn't there and neither were her books, laptop or phone.

Walking over to them, I allow a look of exasperation to overtake my face as I stare at them all, annoyed. I can't believe Professor Thompson put them all in the same group as Ri. He probably thought it was a good idea since the last time he checked, Riley and Aiden were together, but even still . . . just why?

"Where's Riley?" I ask bluntly, no sugar-coating it. If I wanted to know something, I was going to find out, no matter how far deep I have to dig into a person's skin. Crossing my arms over my chest, I allow my eyes to meet Aiden's as he smirks at me. "It's not funny. I'm asking where my friend is. If you find that funny, your humor must be broken as fuck."

"Relax, M," he says, making my bones twitch. 

"It's Michelle."

"Whatever," he scoffs. "She went to your room, like, ten minutes ago."

"What? Why? What the hell did you say to her?"

"Nothing. It's not a crime for her to go to her room," he tells me but he was wrong. I know Riley. I know her even more than he does.

"It is a crime when she goes to her room and your partly the reason," I say sternly before turning around and rushing towards the staircase. I just hope she hasn't done something she'll regret.

Riley's POV:

In the distance, I hear my phone continue to ring, only making this whole thing hurt more. I reach my hands up to hold my head and I bury it into my lap, my body still shaking. I could hardly even hear my thoughts anymore. Just the constant buzzing of my phone. What made the feeling worse is that I knew it was James. He was calling to check up on me, make sure I'm okay. The truth is I'm not okay. I haven't been okay since the first time Aiden touched me. 

Now that we've broken up, I shouldn't even be dating someone right now. I'm not fit enough to make a good girlfriend at the moment. James deserves better than me. Right now, I'm just a mess. An abused, useless, vulnerable, shitty mess. I was still Aiden's. We could say we've broken up all we like, but really? Really, I'm still his. He's still taken my virginity. He's taken my sanity. He's affected the way I feel, think and see things and no matter how hard I try to block him off, I can't. He gives me nightmares. He stalks me in the corridors. He has me engraved in him and I've been labelled his property. I don't see a way out of this. The worst part is that I really, really do care about James. But I can't even let him cuddle me without being reminded of Aiden.

"Ri!" I hear Michelle's voice say in the bedroom. She bangs on the door of the bathroom, only making me shiver more. My brain felt as though it was vibrating right now and her banging was only making it worse. "Riley are you in there?"

"Babe, it's me," I hear another voice add. I listen as they place their hands on the bathroom door and I open my mouth to talk but I can't. Not properly or loud enough anyway.

"James?" I say for it to come out as a mumble. 

"Riley, you need to let us in. I know what's happening to you, Michelle told me," he says. I try to stand up but I only end up knocking over the toilet roll stand and more tears begin to well up in my eyes. I can't let James see me like this. If he was to see my scars and that tattoo, he'd leave me. And I need him. 

"Please, Ri. We're right here," I hear Michelle say softly.

"I- I can't," I say through the door after clearing my throat. 

"You can, Riles. Please, you have to let me in," James's voice says. I listen to footsteps as one of the two of them step away from the door and start searching the room. It was probably Michelle. "Riley, talk to me," James continues, slowly killing the loud muffled sounds filling my head. "I promise you, I'm fully committed. Now and always. No matter what you tell me, I will never leave you."

"But you can't promise that. I'm only going to bring you down, James."

"But you're not. If you're falling, I'll fall with you. If you rise back up again, then I will too. I'm not going to let you go through this alone, Ri. All you have to do is talk to me," he says.

"Got it!" I suddenly hear Michelle shriek. She rushes back over to the bathroom door and then I listen to the sound of keys jiggling in the door as she tries to unlock it. We kept the keys in a safe in the wall behind one of the cabinets for reasons just like this one. Soon enough, the door unlocks and I rotate my head around to see both my best friend and boyfriend who quickly come rushing over to me. Michelle keeps her distance but James immediately leans down to rock me in his arms. Normally, I'd require space during a time like this, but all I really want and need right now is to be comforted by his touch.

"James," I whisper into his ear. He shushes me and picks me up, carrying me out of the bathroom and over to my bed. He sits down and places me on top of his lap, allowing me to wrap my arms around his neck as he cuddled me close to him. "I'm sorry," I mumble. "You can leave me. It's okay. You don't need to stay around. I won't force you to be here for me-"

"No," he cuts me off gently, cupping my cheek in his hand. "I'm right here, Riley," he tells me, "and I'm not going anywhere."

Sighing, I fall into his touch as he presses a light kiss to my cheek before he looks down at my body. He doesn't say anything but I watch as his thumb lightly strokes over the tattoo on my left hip. I feel his body tense up beneath me and I bite my lip as I watch his eyes narrow.

"I'm going to kill him," he whispers in my ear and I exhale, this time cupping his cheek with my hand as I look at him.

"You're not."

"Riley, I swear to God . . . I can't just sit around and let him get away with what he did to you-"

"James," I say sternly, looking at him. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"But-"

"Promise me," I whisper. He looks into my eyes before begrudgingly sighing as I stroke my thumb over the side of his face to calm him down.

"Okay . . ." he mumbles. "I promise."

He kisses my forehead and I cuddle him tighter.