Three's a crowd

54

No one ever told me just how refreshing it is to wake up to the sound of nothing but nature. Staying in my parents house was like that. We had breakfast on the porch, lunch on the deck and dinner in the sun room, listening to nothing but the nature surrounding us.

"When you said you were moving I thought you meant the city!" I exclaimed.

"No Britt. Your dads job is in the city but it's only a thirty minute drive so we can still live fairly remote!" Mom smiled as she sipped her coffee.

"Oh that's cool." I smiled.

"So why don't you tell us what's going on with you and Riley? Not that we don't love having you visit, just that you're usually joined at the hip?"  Dad asked as I tried not to frown.

"I don't know. His grandfather came back and ever since he's been acting weird. I figured if I came here we could both get some space and clear our heads." I sighed as my parents gave each other a knowing look. "What?"

"Nothing." Mom smiled. "You guys are young and Riley's family has a lot of bad history with his grandfather. It's a lot to take in at your age, on top of college plans..."

"We decided to take online classes for the first year of college." I cut her off.

"Britt you know Riley got a full scholarship and those don't cover online classes. Do you really want him to give that up?" Dad asked.

"Britt sometimes it's hard but you have to let go. Riley will come back I'm sure of it, but if you stop him from doing this, it's going to hurt you both later." Mom added.

I didn't know I could feel any worse than when I first got here and yet now I felt guilty on top of feeling upset. I guess they were right, it was probably the reason he was so upset with me. I just didn't understand how two years apart could do us any good.

What if he moves on? Finds someone new, someone better? I couldn't handle it if I let him go and he never came back.

I was glad when my parents didn't bring it up again for the rest of the trip. They took me to some of the sights, shopping in the city, and a few of the hiking trails. They were all welcomed distractions yet the thought that I was pushing Riley away by having him stay with me nagged at the back of my head each time the distraction was over.

To say I was somewhat relieved when it was time to go home and I would be alone in my car for a few hours, would be an understatement. As much as I wanted to give Riley his space, I missed him and other than a couple of text messages to check on each other we really hadn't talked this whole week.

Thankfully the drive seemed to pass by fairly quickly and soon enough I was pulling into my driveway. I grabbed my luggage and walked inside to find Allie and Luke packing their things.

"You're leaving already?" I asked as I realized I would soon be completely alone.

"Yeah, the house is finished and we figured your parents would want to be here while they're back." Luke smiled as Allie hugged me sensing my discomfort.

"Britt," she smiled. "You can stay with us whenever! Plus Bella loves you so I can guarantee you'll be babysitting for us!"

"Of course!" I forced a smile. "I'm just going to miss you guys."

"You'll be fine! You're such a strong young lady and you'll have Riley and the whole house to yourselves!" Luke smirked.

"Yeah." I mumbled, the reality of what I needed to do crashing down on me.

I decided not to tell them that mom and dad were staying with Averleigh and Spencer. They seemed too happy to be going back to their own house and I didn't want to ruin it for them.