Blindsided

21

James

I was about to turn my phone off and head to bed when there was a gentle knock at my door
"Come in" I called before seeing Emily poke her head in the door
"hey, what's up" I asked sitting up before watching Emily come over and sit next to me
"Can we talk" She asked and I looked at her confused
"I mean sure" I said making her chuckle

"James, I know that you and I never truly got a long no matter how hard we tried to" She started
"Hey I thought we made progress during Riley's list" I said making her laugh
"We did, like we really did" She said
"But I don't want her hurt again" She said bowing her head

I sighed knowing exactly what she meant
"If it helps, I would never intentionally hurt Ri, ever" I said making Emily look at me, the look on her face showed she was finding it hard to believe
"But James look at everything that follows her. Follows both of you" She said and I nodded
"And Emily, look at everything we've both accomplished" I said nudging her

"Sure have Ri and I had our issues. But we aren't the same stupid teenagers we were back then. I'm also not saying I'm about to jump back to Riley, that wouldn't be smart at all" I said
"But?" She asked
"If she gave me a shoot" I smiled making Emily smile
"You'd take it" She whispered and I nodded
"In a heartbeat" I said making Emily smile before looking down

"Promise me one thing James?" She asked as she began to fiddle with her engagement ring, I nodded nudging her slightly causing her gaze to shift to me
"don't give up on her" She said 
"don't ever stop fighting for her" She whispered looking at me with the same innocent eyes the night she told me that she loved Riley and Riley would always come first 

"I promise Em" I said holding out my pinky, I know how much both Emily and Riley treasure their pinky promises
"That means business buddy" She warned me
"and so do I" I said keeping my pinky out waiting for her to accept, she chuckled rolling her eyes

It wasn't long before Emily gave in and wrapped her pinky around mine shaking it slightly 
"For the record James, I always knew it would end up being you two, no matter how long it took" she smiled 

--

"come onnnnnnn!" Hunter yelled as I walked back into the back garden with Emily, I figured I would come socialise seeing as it was still pretty early
"So much for bed" Eldon teased as I slumped into the sofa
"he's waiting up for Ri" Giselle said wriggling her brows
"Hey, can y'all quit it" I warned them making them all burst out laughing 

I think after this wedding, we are all going to slump. I mean we've been living together this entire time and we were about to rush off back to our lives acting as if once again this never happened
"Do you know what I remember to vividly about Nationals!" Hunter said wrapping his arm around Emily as they both sat back on the sofa
"Us getting lost?" Eldon asked making Hunter shake his head
"Our killer routine?" West asked but once again Hunter declined but I was soon to smirk

"Awards" I said making Hunter laugh nodding in my direction
"I remember both Eldon and I coming up behind a stressing Riley and Michelle before being pushed out on stage" Hunter said making me laugh
"And Eldon bloody waves to the audience like they hadn't all been waiting on all of you" I said making everyone laugh

"A lot of things happened at Nationals" Emily said smiling in my direction making me smile back
Nationals was the first time that Riley had told me she loves me
"Including the iconic Jiley Kiss on Stage" Giselle smiled
"that wasn't the first one though" Steph said making everyone look in her direction
"They kissed every single competition we won" She laughed 
"I mean of course we did" I said confidently 

The first person I wanted to celebrate with every time we won was Riley and what better way right?

"I miss Regionals" Emily pouted
"It's alright Em, pop out a kid of two and they can live your life all over again" Thalia laughed
"God can you imagine? Emily you'll be raising the near era of Egirls" Giselle said making everyone laugh 

I was about to interject when my phone began to vibrate
As soon as I took it out of my pocket I couldn't help but smiled
"Did I just win a bet?" Hunter smirked making me look up to see all of A-Troupe looking at me but I couldn't care.. My legs were already in flight
I was heading in one direction and one direction only 

Riley