Falling Up

58. Future

It had been one month since that day. One month since Noah had shot Vincent in the head and they escaped from his clutches. One month of torture as Riley sat by Jason's bed, waiting for him to wake up from the coma he fell into. The doctors managed to stabilise him but the rest was up to Jason. It was simply a waiting game.

For a couple of hours every day, she made the trip to the hospital and sat in the chair by the window, staring idly out onto the grass field below. She watched as others walked through the park below them. Some were being wheeled around for their daily bout of sunshine. Others sitting on the bench with their loved ones. Riley wished she could take Jason down there. She was sure he would have loved some fresh air by now.

Tyrus was here as well, of course. He never left. His beard was getting longer and the bags under his eyes never went away. But still, he continued working away on his laptop, glancing up at Jason's lifeless body on the hospital bed every five minutes or so. She would be surprised if he ever truly got any productive work done in his time here. Or any sleep, for that matter.

It was already nearing 5pm and Riley had been there for a few hours, right after her classes had ended. Just as she was considering calling Noah to get a ride home, he walked into the room.

"Ready to go?" asked Noah, glancing over at Jason and checking the monitor, which produced the same numbers as always. There had been no change in his condition. Noah had been eager to keep a routine as best he could given the situation, yet he was distant and closed off ever since the incident. Or maybe she never noticed it before.

"Yeah," said Riley. She got up off the chair, heading over to Jason and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said, brushing the hair from his eyes. She let her hand drop to his as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Leaving him was always hard. She never truly realised how much she relied on him until now.

But as she walked out the door, she was thankful for Noah being there for her. It was hard on him and she could tell, even with him being closed off, his exhaustion seeped through the cracks.

From working at the garage to keep the money coming in, making sure she got to her classes, and ensuring they had food on the table, it was tough. She wished she could have done more for him, but she sensed that deep down inside, he was still frustrated about the situation with their father.

Once they reached home, Kain was sitting on the porch as usual for this time of evening. She hopped out of the car and a smile crossed over her lips as she watched his eyes follow her up the steps to her house. It was unusual for Noah to allow this kind of interaction with a boy. But since everything happened, I think he was just grateful to have someone else to watch over her as well.

"Hi," she said as Kain grabbed her by the hand.

"I brought pizza for dinner," he said, grabbing the pizza from the steps of the porch as Noah opened the door to the house.

"Thanks Kain," replied Noah.

And so they sat for dinner, pulling apart the pizza in front of the television and ate in silence. Kain had been coming over nearly every day since the incident and Noah had even allowed him to crash a few times, on the couch, of course. This had become a new routine for them and even though they settled into it nicely, it still didn't feel right without Jason around.

Eventually, Noah went to bed, leaving Kain and Riley alone on the couch. An action movie was playing in the background, but Riley wasn't particularly paying attention to.

"What's wrong?" asked Kain, as he got up from his seat on the other couch and joined Riley on her own. He placed his hand gently on hers, stroking his fingers over her palm. It sent tingles over her body when he did that.

"Nothings wrong," replied Riley.

Kain raised his eyebrow. He was so in tune with her now that he could sense when anything was off with her. "I know you Riley. Something's wrong. Is it the nightmares again?"

"No, it's not that. I just keep on thinking. What if he doesn't wake up?"

"He will Riley. Just give him time. But you need to keep yourself strong for him, okay? Don't think I didn't notice you only eating a couple of bites of pizza this evening. And you barely had any lunch today."

Riley hated that Kain was so observant. But she had been so worried about Jason this past month that her stomach was literally a ball of knots. It was hard to keep anything down and she suspected he also noticed that she had lost a bit of weight as well.

The nightmares did return for the first couple of weeks after the event, but Noah got her straight back into therapy and it had been working for her to help keep them at bay. It was never perfect. She had good days and bad days like everyone else did.

"I'm worried about Noah as well," Riley admitted, casting her gaze down. "But I'm sorry. I know you must be worried about Tyrus, too."

Kain sighed, lifting her chin to meet his gaze.

"You don't have to be sorry about anything. We'll get through this together, Riley."

Riley blushed at the closeness of Kain's lips to her own before he leaned in kissing her deeply. They hadn't proceeded much further than kissing, and she was fine with that. With everything that had happened, she needed to take it slowly. And she was grateful for how understanding Kain was with her. He was sweet and gentle with her, and she was truly grateful that he was showing her what a real relationship was like.

"Can I ask a favour of you?" said Kain, brushing his fingers against her bottom lip. Riley nodded.

Kain's expression turned serious. "I want you to stay away from Reed for me."

Riley furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why? I thought he was your friend?"

"He is, it's just... I don't like the way he looks at you."

Riley smiled. "You're jealous?"

Kain huffed, clicking his tongue against his teeth. "Of course I am Riley. I don't want anyone else near you that looks at you the way he does. I want you all to myself."

He leaned in, kissing her deeply again. But this time, it felt like he needed it. He needed her to be his. And she was. In every way possible. She had fallen in love with Kain. Even if he did have a bit of a jealous streak, it never went past simply holding her hand a little bit tighter in public or pulling her a little bit closer to him. And he always stopped whenever she felt uncomfortable, even though it was difficult for him.

Once upon a time, she never saw a future for herself. She never saw past the cruelness of her stepfather or simply the day by day survival. She couldn't see anything for herself. Now, even with Jason's situation and even if it did come down to the worst possible outcome, which she hoped it wouldn't, she could see a future for herself. A future with Kain.

Riley broke the kiss, reaching up with her hand to brush away the hair from his eyes. "You have me, Kain. I'm all yours."