Hello, It's Me.

Part 11

Lucas smiled, brushing her hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear. "Glad you finally caught on," He stated smugly.

"Stop being so smug about it," She whacked him playfully on the shoulder. "Just kiss me."

He was about to oblige but then halted. "I shouldn't."

"Why not?"

"You're still with Charlie. I shouldn't kiss you."

"About that..." She bit her lip. "I'm calling off the wedding. I can't be with Charlie when I love you."

Lucas's face lit up and he grinned at her. He pushed them both upright and he took her hands in his, kissing them lightly.

"Are you going to tell him today?" He asked her, brushing her fingers against his jaw.

Riley shook her head. "When we get back. I want all the privacy I can have for that announcement. Also, I need time to figure out what I'm going to say."

"Of course," He murmured, grabbing her body and pulling her onto lap and nuzzling her neck.

"Even if we had our bad times," She glanced down at to where she had the bruise had had created yesterday, which was covered with some really good concealer. "He still means something to me and I owe him a good explanation as to why we're calling off our wedding."

Lucas kissed her cheek and got up from the bed. "That's true. He'll be back soon. I respect him, reluctantly, but I do. I think it's best we keep our interactions to a minimum this weekend."

"I agree," She told him. "I already feel awful for us kissing."

"I'm going to go back into the living room," Lucas said as he walked towards the door. "Maya is going to have a field day after I tell her."

Riley smiled and watched as he walked away. She quickly busied herself with cleaning up the mess of makeup she left in the bathroom. She had done an excellent job in covering her bruised arm, but it still felt so sore. She didn't know how to tell her friends, or if she wanted to tell them. They never kept secrets from each other, not after Texas, but this was something she couldn't let out. She could only imagine what they would do to Charlie.

Riley felt like she owed him for putting up with her all these years. For mending her broken heart. She knew it was the wrong thing to do. She should have told someone the first time he ever emotionally abused her. She should have told someone that yesterday's bruise, wasn't the first bruise he had ever given her. These were the types of stories she'd talk about, the type she told everyone to avoid and she always told them to talk to someone and get help.

Yet she couldn't. She was terrified. Now she knew how all those girls she talked to about emotional and physical abuse felt. She was scared that Charlie would hurt her, or worst of all someone she cared about. She didn't want to think the worst of him, but lately that's all she ever saw. She couldn't tell anyone about it. At least not now.

______________________________

Charlie Gardner walked around the beach watching as the setting sun slowly dipped towards the ocean. He kept his eyes on Riley who was sitting on the sand, her legs tucked in her arms and her chin resting on her knees. He watched as her eyes scanned over the dark blue waves crashing in on the smooth sand.

He also watched as Lucas Friar stared at her from afar, not even paying attention to Missy who was desperately trying to get his attention. Billy was tossing a football with Zay and he kept giving Charlie strange glances. He hoped Billy kept his end of the favor. They were friends but he knew Billy was also fond of Lucas since his middle school days. However, Charlie knew he'd remain loyal to him and not go tattling off to Lucas.