The Night We Met

Chapter 46

James's POV:

I woke up the following morning with Riley in my arms, her head resting on my chest while I had my own arm around her shoulders. There was something about waking up beside her that warmed my heart and I couldn't feel more whole. Looking down at her as she slept, I lowered my head and kissed her on the forehead before unravelling my arms from around her body at the sound of the alarm.

As I reach for my phone to turn the sound off, Riley stirs around beside me, making soft noises as she squints her eyes. I stay sat down on the bed, placing my hand on her back while she sits up properly too.

"Morning, babe," I say to her, smiling softly. She sighs and moves her head to my shoulder, clearly not wanting to get up. Chuckling at her lightly, I wrap my arms around her again, causing her to smile and open her eyes. She lifts her head up and looks up at me before kissing my lips tenderly. I smile into the kiss until the moment we pull away and then she looks back down again, resting her head where it previously was.

"You're mine," she mumbles into my chest, causing me to look down at her and smile to myself. "You're mine, right?" she asks. She looks up at me but she wasn't smiling this time. She looked serious, as if my answer determined life or death. I shake my head and wrap my arms tighter around her. She was worried about Madelyn but she didn't need to be.

"I'm yours," I answer to her in a slight whisper. "I'll always be yours just like you'll always be mine." I kiss the tip of her round nose and she nods her head hugging me once more tightly before letting me go.

Riley's POV:

While James was in the shower, I put on some proper clothes before leaving the room and making my way towards the one place I'd been aiming to go for the past twelve hours now. I walked along the corridor, past the band's room until I reached Madelyn's. When I got there, that was when I stopped. I had to make sure I was doing the right thing right now. I had to make I heard what I think I heard last night. Somehow I have to do that without getting myself hurt in the process.

Soon enough, my left hand makes a fist and I find myself knocking on her bedroom door. As soon as I heard the sound of my own knuckles against the wood, I knew there was no going back. It was now or never.

It takes a while before the door opens, but once it does, I put on a brave face: no hand-fiddling, no nail-biting, no hesitating or stuttering. I had to be the old me. The old Riley.

"I think we need to talk," I say. Before she has the chance to object, I've already entered the room, leaving her to close the door shut behind her. I stand in front of her as she crosses her arms over her chest and looks me up and down, scrunching her lips into a ball. She wasn't just a bitch but she looked like one too.

"Okay, I'd like to know what this is about," she spits with a hint of sarcasm and humor in her tone but I cut it off as soon as it's shed.

"I heard you last night," I tell her bluntly, taking one step forward. "I heard everything. And I'd like to know who the hell you think James is! You can't just go around arousing your ex like that. I mean, I know he's hot and good-looking and all but he's also mine in case you've failed to realise that. Besides . . . You're the one who dumped him in the first place. You decided to break off the relationship."

She scoffs at me and shakes her head, taking a step closer towards me. "You don't know the half of it," she says snidely. "He's the one who cheated on me, alright!" she says and that's when I set my foot down. "He cheated on me," she continues to seethe. "I found out on the night of his performance when I caught them canoodling in the hotel room and I can bet that he will end up doing the same thing to you."

"You're lying," I say, shaking my head in disdain. "He never fucking did that."

"Of course he did that, Riley."

"If he did then why are you trying to work your way back into his life? He's happy with you out of the way. He's better off without you."

"You would say that, wouldn't you," she scoffs once again, licking her lower lip as she shakes her head constantly. "I was you, Riley. I was in your position. I loved the guy. He took me on dates, he took me to the Canopy. Bet you've been there, right? It's beautiful. But of course he's taken you there, only because he will end up trodding on your heart. I slept with him. He will make you feel loved until he gets bored of you. This is James we're talking about."

"You . . . You know about the Canopy?" I ask, my walls beginning to break. She nods her head.

"You bet I do. I know everything. I know about his two fathers. I know about his temper tantrums."

"What? What temper tantrums?" I ask. There's a small grin playing at her lips but she suppresses it and doesn't let it show itself too well.

"You're not special, Riley," she tells me, ignoring my question. "You're blinded by his love. You can't see what he's doing to you, that he's using you to his advantage. I made that deal with him last night to do you a favour. At least if he kissed me, you wouldn't have to go through what I went through," she says but I shake my head, not believing a single word that slips out her mouth. I can't be going through this situation again where I'm so infatuated by a guy that I let him hurt me. That can't be happening again.

"You're a bitch," I whisper. "The James I know is nothing like that. My James is different to your James. You can try and manipulate me all you want but it won't work. I've been through hell, Madelyn. Nothing you can say will hurt me now. The only person you'll end up hurting is yourself."

It's then that I receive a slap. Right on the same cheek Aiden previously slapped me. It was so unexpected that it stung more than last time. The feel of her cold metal ring against my skin was enough to make me shiver and the scratch of her long acrylic nails created a crimson red trace. I looked at her and shook my head. I allowed myself to get trampled on by Aiden but I'm not about to give Madelyn the satisfaction.

I move closer towards her and slap her myself, only for her to push me towards the door. I thought it had been closed shut but I find myself falling into someone's arms. They'd clearly just opened the door to the room them self.

"What is going on in here?" the voice of my boyfriend says. He helps me to stand up properly and then wraps his arms around me to protect me from Madelyn but I didn't need protecting. All I needed right now was dominance. "Ri, are you okay?" he asks, combing his fingers through my hair.

I take one more look at Madelyn before looking up at James. As I look into his eyes, everything Madelyn had mentioned crosses my mind but I know it can't be true. She was just bluffing.

"I'm fine," I tell him. Looking back at Madelyn to make sure she was looking, I then smirk and look up at James before kissing him roughly, my lips connected to his. He soon begins to kiss back for a few seconds and then when we pull apart, he smiles at me softly and kisses the top of my head.

I turn to face Madelyn and fold my arms, taking one step towards her while James snaked his arm around my waist securely.

"You started this game Madelyn. I guess that's one point to me, zero for you," I tell her. She rolls her eyes and as I turn to look at James, the two of us share a smirk before kissing yet again.