The Night We Met

Chapter 52

Riley's POV:

As soon as James leaves the room, I'm left on my own. All of me wants to go chasing after him and take this all back. Every inch of me is probing my body to break down into tears, to run up to him and stop him by hugging him from behind and telling him I couldn't ever leave him like this. I wish I didn't have to do this. I never thought my love-life would come to this because of a past-relationship. But I had to do this.

As much as it hurts, I can't string James along any longer. I can't put his sister in danger and more importantly, I can't let James anywhere near Aiden. Not only because James could get hurt but because of his temper. If he loses his temper and Aiden notices, he'll only use it as fuel to end up hurting everyone I love and care about even more. 

Once I'm left alone, I lick my lower lip and shake my head, trying to get James's heartbroken face out of my head. I'd watched him cry in front of me for the first time ever. I watched him beg me. I let him kiss me again and again without letting myself kiss him back. As much as I wanted to smash my lips to his, I couldn't. Because it would only make the entire thing hurt more. So instead I grab my suitcase from where it had been placed beside James's against the wall on the other side of the room and throw it down on the bed. 

The same bed we made love on . . . 

Shaking the thoughts away, I bite my lip and hold back my tears whilst grabbing all the things I had left around the hotel room. I grab my slippers, a pair of black heels which were by the bottom of the bed, my lip-stick. I unplug my hair curler from out of the socket on the wall and pack it back into the box before putting it inside my suitcase too. 

As I look around the room, I can't help but grab one of James's hoodies and one of his two leather jackets. I keep the hoodie out to wear when I leave this place and then I pack the jacket into the suitcase as well. Looking around the room the third time, I stressfully run my fingers through my hair before stopping as my eyes land on the lyric box. It's Friday. I have two more sets of lyrics left and tomorrow should be the big surprise he packed into the slightly larger box.

"So, you've been opening the tiny box lyrics I gave you, right? . . .  Have you opened them all yet?"
"It's Thursday, James . . . You gave me the thing so that it lasts fourteen days, meaning the last day is Saturday. But so far, I love the lyrics. They're adorableee."

Hesitantly, I walk over to the windowsill where James was previously stood. I take the opened box into my hands and look over the contents of it. It's only now that I've noticed it but as I held the box close to my eyes, I notice that engraved in the chain were the letters 'C' and then 'D', with a silver love-heart in between. 

C loves D. 

Charles loves Deborah . . . ?

I shake my head and close the box shut. It hurt even more now. He'd given me the same box Charles must have given Deborah back when they were together and now I've gone and made things worse by making him think I'd broken up with him. After locking it shut, I stuff it into the suitcase as well and then grab my phone and pull James's hoodie over the top of my head. I tie my hair up into a high ponytail and then rush over to the mirror to clean up my face with a wipe. As soon as I'm done, I grab my suitcase after zipping it shut and I haul it off the bed. In that moment, I bite my lip and slip the ring James had given me off my finger before putting it down on the pillow then I head on out.

Opening the door, I'm about to step inside but instead stumble and take a step backwards when I come face-to-face with him.

"Aiden," I whisper in shock-horror. He doesn't smirk at me or say a word, instead he shakes his head, pulls me out of the bedroom in such a brisk movement that it causes me to slam the door shut behind me as he forcefully drags me along with him by the tug of my arm.
I had to remind myself that I was doing this for a reason. I had to remind myself that this was for the best, for the good of Piper and James. I was doing this for them. I had no other option.

. . . 

James's POV:

It was eight in the evening now. I hadn't seen Riley ever since she left earlier, ever since our talk which ended in heartbreak. I still felt empty. It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. But just like I did last year, I had to put on a brave face and sing my hardest. For once, I had to put my career before my love-life. I spent a lot of time writing those songs about Ri and put my whole heart and soul into it. The least I can do is sing it to the public like she's here, in the crowd, watching and listening to me. There was no other options now.

Luke had just finished his acoustic guitar solo to the song 'String on my Finger'. It was good and he got the whole crowd in the arena to turn on their torchlights and wave their phones in the air to the song. It was sentimental, you could tell. The atmosphere was amazing. I could tell just by standing in the wings and looking out. I'd never experienced a crowd so lively and interactive as these lot. Girls were sat on guys shoulders, people in the front row were stretching their arms out for us to high-five them and a lot of them were getting involved by singing our songs at the top of their lungs, some louder than those of us actually up on the stage singing. It was almost magical but it would have been better with Riley here.

Thalia, Giselle and Michelle were all sat in the front row with an empty seat beside them. That was supposed to be Ri's spot. Right in the centre for me to easily spot her. But she was gone and I had no idea where she was or why. All I wanted was to see her smile, all I needed was to hold her and have her give my hand a squeeze backstage before I went on to perform. Yet she wasn't here. And everything about this entire situation was bothering me. It just didn't seem right.

"James, you're up," I hear Madelyn say to me as she joins me by the wing and places her hand on my back. I look down at her as she does the same, looking into my eyes. "You're gonna kill it," she says. I watch her as she looks down at my lips but then I shake my head and step away whilst John and Theo head on stage and Luke announces our entrance. It was my solo but the band would be playing in the background whilst the drumming beat had been previously recorded when I was playing it a few weeks ago. I look at Madelyn as she looks at me with a raised eyebrow but then I ignore her and run onto the stage with my mic in hand.

Stood in the centre with the band spread around behind me - all three of the guys on backup vocals - I wave at the crowd and make eye-contact with Michelle. She mouths the words 'Where's Ri?' to me but I ignore her. I couldn't think about Riley right now, as hard as it is. I had to think about the present. This current moment as I was stood on the stage about to sing. I watch as she gets her phone out and brings it to her ear, clearly trying to call Ri again but I know it was no use. If I know Riley the way I think I know her, there was no way she'd answer the phone right now, not after the conversation the two of us had earlier on.

"Right guys, so I'm going to be singing a song I've been working on for a while now. It's, um, about a girl I met six months ago. A girl who taught me what it truly means to be in love and who showed me what true happiness is," I announce into the mic. Saying the words, I hold back the breakage in my voice and I try to hold myself together. "The lyrics are on the screen if you wanna sing along," I add before Luke nods in my direction and they begin to play the music as John starts the vocals.

As I sing the lyrics, all I can think about is waking up with her in my arms, both of our bodies purely exposed as we lay beside one another, her cuddled up close to me. I'd written the song that very day after the words had left my mouth and I told her:

"I love you."
"I love you more."
"I love you most."
"Well, I love you for infinity."

I shouldn't be here. I should be with her. She should be here, on stage with me as I showed her off to the world. The fans should all know her, that she's my girlfriend, she's the one with my heart, that I love her and no one else. I shouldn't be doing this right now. I can't.

Looking around at the guys, I shake my head and without another word said, I rush off the stage and towards Madelyn before handing her the mic.

"Uh, James?"  she calls after me but I ignore her. Instead, I make my way to the hotel rooms.

But by the time I get there, it was too late . . . She had gone. All that was left was her ring on my pillow. The ring I'd put into the gift box. The ring that said 'forever'. 
She had left me completely.