Always the Opposites {Brollins}

[ Chapter 17 ]

Rebecca reached Colby's apartment and knocked on the door gently. When Holly was the one that answered, she learned that Colby hadn't arrived yet. It was the perfect opportunity for Rebecca to let Holly relax while bonding with Riley.

Rebecca's fingers combed through Riley's brown curls, and the little girl giggled while scrunching her shoulders up to her neck.

"You're giving me shivers." She whispered, and Rebecca chuckled.

Per Riley's request, Rebecca began to braid her hair. "Becca?"

"Yeah?" Seeing as Rebecca did her own hair that way often, she was done the first side of Riley's hair in no time.

"Do you like my name?" The little girl questioned as she drew a picture in front of her.

"I love your name." Rebecca nodded, smiling at the way children's minds could approach the most random topics at strange times. "You know, Riley is actually an Irish name."

"You're Irish!" She gasped, remembering Rebecca had told her that, as she paused from drawing her picture.

"I am!" Rebecca responded, matching Riley with the same energy.

Rebecca tied off her second braid, and Riley turned around. "What does it mean?"

"In Irish, the name Riley means brave." Rebecca lifted Riley onto her lap, "Just like you."

"Our names both start with R's!" Riley pointed out again in excitement at her new realization.

Rebecca smiled while nodding, "They do!"

She tickled the little girl and let her grab a snack from the kitchen before helping her get changed for the football game later. While waiting for Colby, Rebecca grabbed her phone, hoping to see a message about her math exam. Her other exams took place each day for the rest of the week, but she knew she didn't have to stress about those as much.

After seeing no message, she sighed, trying not to let the stress get to her. She took a deep breath and quickly wiped aside her worry when Riley came around the corner.

Shortly after, Colby made his way up to his apartment and opened the door to find Rebecca reading on the couch and Riley drawing nearby.

"Daddy's here!" Riley shot up and ran over to Colby.

"You look so beautiful, Ri." He scooped up his daughter, "Did Becky do it for you?"

The little girl nodded emphatically, "How is she so good at everything?"

He smiled, "I've been asking myself the same thing, kiddo."

"Saying everything is overstating things." Rebecca replied, looking up from her book. "Obviously, I'm not good at math or else I wouldn't be here bothering you two."

"Well, don't get us wrong, we feel bad about your struggles." Colby moved towards Rebecca, "But, we're also kinda glad."

When she raised an eyebrow, he continued, "Well, think about it, if you weren't having troubles, we wouldn't get to hang out with you all the time."

"Yeah!" Riley chimed in, raising her arms in the air, cheerfully.

"You both make fair points." She stood, giving Colby a side hug before tapping Riley's nose. "What time does your game start?"

"About an hour." He looked at his phone, and Rebecca's eyes widened.

"You need to finish getting ready." She grabbed Riley from him, "Come on, little lady, let's get you some shoes."

She looked over at Colby and saw the confusion written on his face. "What? I'm not gonna go to my first football game without my favourite girl."

She put Riley down, telling her to go get her socks and go to the washroom, before looking back at Colby. "It'll be good for her."

She noticed a slight escalation in his breathing and grew weary, cupping one side of his face when she noticed his gaze lost in the distance. "Hey, are you okay?"

His eyes slowly moved to hers, "It'll be okay, Colby. She'll be with me the whole time, I promise."

He slowly placed his hand on top of hers, and she could feel its ice-cold temperature. She put her free hand on his back and gently coaxed him towards the couch. Rebecca sat down with him, rubbing his back, in hopes of getting him out of his shaken state.

She felt him rest his forehead on her shoulder as he found her fingers and began to fidget with them. After a few minutes, his breathing returned to its normal pace, and his fingers had slowed down, resorting to just holding her hands.

"Or not." Rebecca backtracked slowly, "That's fine."

"Change isn't my forte." His voice was raspy and strained.

"It's okay." Rebecca nodded, "It's fine. We don't have to if you really don't want to."

"No, I- I need to let her be a kid." He squeezed his eyes shut, frustrated with himself.

"Acknowledging it is the first step. You've already made it farther than a lot of people." She smiled reassuringly, letting the conversation flow at his pace.

"Other people are the problem... I don't trust them." He paused before he looked at her slowly. "Although there are a few outliers." 

She just slowly moved his stray strands of hair out of his face, and he watched her steady and calculated movements. Before she could stand up, he moved forward to lean his forehead against hers.

He closed his eyes, feeling himself begin to calm down as Rebecca's presence helped steady him. "Maybe we should stay home."

"No, I'm good. We're all going." He sat up slowly, "Then maybe we can come back here and celebrate if the game goes according to plan, of course."

"Don't say it like that." Rebecca laughed, trying to distract herself from prying Colby about what just happened. "It sounds like you're implying something very different than just celebrating normally."

"That would only be if that wasn't my original thought." He smirked at her, watching some colour reach her cheeks. "Plus, your mind went there first, so if anything-"

"Get your things, Lopez." She rolled her eyes, "You can't win the game if you miss it."