Riker's Mistake

Chapter 7 : Trying to cheer Riker up

Chapter 7

A few days later...       

Rydel POV

Things had gone from bad to worse here. Rocky was ignoring Riker's presence, and Riker was devastated. Mom and dad tried to fix everything, but it didn't work. 

Riker had been sleeping in a sleeping bag in my bedroom for the past few nights. I'm not exactly sure why. He might be scared of Rocky, or maybe he's just looking for comfort. I'm the only one who isn't mean to him. Ross is pretty annoyed about R5 being screwed up at the moment. Ellington is also kind of mad, so he hasn't been over. And Ryland is away right now with some friends. Riker has no one.

Riker came back from the bathroom, and sat down on his sleeping bag.

"Hey Rik, can we talk for a minute?" I asked.

He looked up at me with sad eyes. I sat down next to him on the floor.

"Look, Riker... Things aren't the best right now. Obviously. But I hate seeing you upset. I think right now you just need to accept Rocky's feelings, and move on. I'm sure things will get better over time. I just don't want you curled up in bed all day every day. I want to see you doing things you used to love, like going to the beach, writing music, or even just going to the park."

"He hates me," Riker whispered.

"Riker, stop saying that. It's not true."

"It is true."

"Riker, that's not what we're talking about right now. I want you to go get dressed, and then meet me back here. We're getting out of the house, and going somewhere."

"No, please," he whined.

"Riker, go," I said, pointing to my door.

He bit his lip, and then stood up slowly. He walked out of the room. I don't like being hard on him because he's sensitive, especially now, but I can't let him just sit in my room and be miserable! If he's out of the house, maybe I can get his mind off of everything. At least for a little while...

Riker returned a few minutes later wearing some loose skinny jeans, converse, and a dark blue flannel shirt.

"Ok, ready?"

He grabbed his glasses, and slid them onto his face.

"Yes..."

"Alright, let's go!"

I took his hand, and led him downstairs and out the door. I made him get in my car, and then I started driving.

"Where are we going?" Riker asked, quietly.

"I don't know. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't care..."

"Riker, come on. I'm giving you the choice of where we go. What do you want?"

"I want to not feel like crap."

His voice was getting higher, and I knew if I didn't do something, he'd start crying.

"Ok, how about this? We'll go get ice cream, ok? You love ice cream."

He sighed, and stared out the window. I could see tears coming down his cheeks, but he was silent.

I drove us to the mall, and parked. We got out, and Riker walked very close to me.

"You ok?" I asked.

"I want to go home. Please," he whispered.

"We're not going home."

I put my arm around his waist, and we walked inside. I led us upstairs to the food court. I made Riker go sit down while I ordered. He always got the same thing, so I knew what he wanted.

"Here," I said, handing it to him.

I sat down across him. He picked up his spoon and started to eat.

"Don't you feel a little better now?"

"No..."

"Riker-"

"I just feel yucky inside! My own brother hates me! It wouldn't be as bad if it were Ryland or Ross. But I roomed with him my whole life, and then one drunk mistake ruins everything!"

"Riker, I took you here so you wouldn't think about this. I don't want you to cry anymore."

He sighed, and put his spoon down.

"Rik."

"I'm sorry, I just feel awful inside..."

"Well finish with your ice cream. Maybe you'll feel better."

He sighed again, and continued eating.

Later...

Riker POV

Rydel dragged me all over the mall, making me do different things, like try on jeans, shop in one of the sports stores, and she bought me a few guitar picks that were blue.

Finally, she brought me back home. And it was dinnertime. I hated dinnertime because mom and dad made us eat together, and Rocky would just glare at me.

I sat down at the table next to Rydel. 

Rocky sat down across from me, and started staring me down. I curled up on my chair, feeling really vulnerable and awful inside.

I felt like everyone's eyes were on me.

"So, I would like to inform you all that we're going on a family vacation," dad said.

If I hadn't made out with Shannon, everyone would be cheering right now. But instead, we all just sort of looked at dad like... really?

"We leave in 2 days, and we'll be gone for a week. We'll be going to a cabin in the mountains, and since it's fall, you'll need to bring warm clothes. It gets cold in the mountains, especially at night."

I felt nervous already. A week with Rocky? I'm not really sure I'll make it...

"Aren't you all excited?" Dad asked.

Nobody said anything. 

We pretty much ate in silence. And then after dinner, I followed Rydel up to her room. 

"Rydel, I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"The vacation."

"Why?"

"What if Rocky's mean to me?"

"Riker, you can't worry about that. Stay positive."

I sighed.

"Come on. Why don't you go change into your pjs, and then you can go to bed early. You seem like you need sleep."

"Ok..."

I changed, and then got in my sleeping bag.

"Night, Riker."

"Night..."

A/N : So... I'm still sick, and it sucks. I honestly got like no sleep last night or today, so... hopefully tonight... But if it seems like this story is going nowhere at the moment and Rocky is just like completely mad at Riker, don't worry because I have plans for it. I just need stuff to happen to lead into it. ;) I hope you're all doing well, and not sick like me! ~Kylie