Gallant Luna

6. Longing

From the moment Killian had walked into the bar, he had made heads turn to look at him.

He had black hair that was choppy and fell just above his shoulders to frame his face in a way that highlighted his sharp, angular features.

His eyes were filled with rebellion and seemed to challenge anyone who dared to stare him down.

Though he was always hostile towards those who would approach him, Riley was the only exception and he deeply cared about her because she had been part of his life for five years.

Because he always had her safety in mind, he was disappointed when he ran into her drinking all alone.

"Oh look ...my best friend's finally here!" she said, barely able to raise her hand as she pointed up at him.

"Seriously?" he said, towering over her while she was still in her seat.

Even after standing up on her two feet, she was still shorter, causing her to look up at him with narrow and fallen eyes.

"Where were you? I went to your apartment but you weren't there."

She poked his chest with the tip of her finger sinking deeper into the contour of his well defined pectoral muscles.

"You idiot, how did you even manage to drink this much?" he said, rolling up the sleeves of his leather jacket to reveal his veiny forearms with tattoos. "We're leaving right now. Let's go."

The moment he held onto her hand, she pulled away and said, "No, I need to keep going."

When she slumped back in her seat and almost fell over, he reacted quickly and shielded her back.

He was still shocked by the empty bottles on the counter.

As he contemplated his next move, a girl approached him with a glass of whiskey in her hand.

"Hey, handsome, wanna have a good time with me?" she asked, poking out her hip.

"Does it look like I'm alone right now? Are you blind?" he said to her, his tone calm but a threatening glare.

With an eye roll, the girl scoffed, facing ahead and moving on to the other guys.

He then looked down at Riley, who had her head dropped to the side.

Because he didn't want her mother to see her like that and get all that smell of alcohol, he decided to take her back to his place.

When he held onto her arm to pull her up and she just fell on him, his heart raced faster.

Pulling himself together, he led her to the car.

After getting her in the passenger seat, he got in and glanced at her to warn her.

"Don't throw up in my car."

"I'm not drunk."

"Right." He scoffed, then began to drive.

~

When Riley woke up the following morning in Killian's bed, she stretched herself with a yawn and right at that moment, he walked in.

"Good morning!" She smiled at him.

Though she didn't expect him to smile back, because he usually had a blank expression, she at least expected a response to her greeting.

Leaning against the wall, he pushed back his choppy hair, poking his cheek.

She could sense that he was extremely upset and it took him a while to say something.