Rhea Ripley- Mending Broken Hearts

Chapter 37

(Trigger Warning: There's a mention in conversation of a past abusive relationship. It briefly mentions mental abuse. It's at the end of the chapter.)

I'm having trouble with sleeping. I keep waking up once every hour. Tossing and turning can only do so much. I'm alone with my thoughts and all that's on my mind is Billy. Yeah, the cuddle puddle is great. I know Bonez could wake up at any time because of insomnia and night terrors. I also know each person I'm cuddling right now wouldn't mind waking up for me. Rhea and Bonez have done that for me. It's just.....even though I need someone, I wanna be alone. Bonez and Billy have always been my rocks. Losing one of them has killed me inside.

The only way I know how to deal with these emotions is to play video games or go to the gym. I don't have my video games, so the gym it is. I didn't want to wake up the others, but I think I can sneak out undetected. There would be three left in the bed. Maybe they would close the gap to snuggle?

Somehow, I untangled myself from Rhea and wriggled my way out of the cuddle puddle. I froze as I heard someone shifting around. I watched as Bonez turned around and faced Rhea. Rhea scooted over and Bonez snuggled right up to her. It was kinda cute. Feeling like I'm in the clear, I slipped on a pair of shoes and a jacket. I grabbed my phone and a key card and slipped out of the room to go to the gym. Now, I know that eventually when one of them will come looking for me, they will go to the gym or the pool that the hotel provides.

I don't want to be found, so I walked out of the hotel and followed a GPS on my phone to find a nearby twenty four hour gym. Luckily there's one two blocks down the street. Once there, I grabbed some weights and picked a spot to start. I turned on my music and put headphones in so I can avoid the thoughts and memories that wanted to surface. The main part of it today is Billy. Although, it didn't help I put on the playlist I made for him, Bonez and I.

****

It's been over an hour since I've been here. I've exhausted myself and I sat on the floor so I can finally relax. I feel like I've got most of it out of my system. I unlocked my phone, seeing a text come through. My heart dropped as I saw there's twenty missed calls and some messages from Rhea, Liv, and Bonez.

Remi: Hey, you know what's scary? Waking up from a night terror at three in the fucking morning and rolling over to see not you, but Rhea. I understand you might need a minute, but you could have left a note or a text!

Liv Your Life: Where did you go? Bonez woke us up and Rhea is freaking out. Their threatening to call the police and file a missing person report on you.

Demi Bear: Riley, why did you leave? Where did you go? You can't just disappear and not tell anyone where you are! Please text me back. At least tell me you're safe.

I was gonna ignore them and stay here, but Bonez sent another text.

Remi: If you don't respond in the next five minutes, I'm hunting your ass down and physically carrying you back to this room!

I created a group chat with the three of them so I don't have to text one at a time.

~Riley has created a groupchat~

Riley: I'm alive and I'm ok. I snuck out to go to a gym down the street. I needed to be alone.

Liv: Oh thank God, you're ok!

Rhea: Don't do that to us, love! We were worried about you.

Riley: I know, I'm sorry I worried you. Like I said, I needed a minute.

Liv: That was a whole ass hour and a half.

Bonez: That's also no excuse. Next time wake me up, leave a note, or a god damn text!

Riley: Yeah, I get it. I'm coming back. Give me ten minutes.

I sighed and stood up. I left the gym and walked back to the hotel. I really don't know what I was thinking. Bonez is right. I should have left a note so they wouldn't worry about me. I need to stop disappearing.

As I stepped into the lobby, I noticed Bonez is waiting for me nearby. They stood up and walked over to me. "Give me the key." I handed them the room key. Bonez put it in their bra, then proceeded to hoist me up onto their shoulder. "You act like a child, so you're getting treated like one."

Bonez carried me to the elevator and didn't put me down until we got inside my room and they threw me onto the empty bed. "Jeez Remi, why did you have to slam me on the bed?" Liv and Rhea had been sitting on mine. They stood up and walked over to me. Liv crawled onto the bed with me and hugged me.

"Are you ok?" I nodded and Liv tightened her embrace, obviously knowing I'm lying. She rocked us back and forth, which helped. The motion is familiar, one Bonez and Billy used to do for me.

"Ok, you caught me. I didn't want to wake you all up if I started crying. I didn't want to be a burden." Bonez scoffed, catching my attention.

"Just because you think you are, doesn't mean it's true, you dumb bitch." Bonez told me.

"Sorry, it's hard to believe. When I was with Taylor, she mentioned multiple times that I was irritating if I woke her up in the middle of the night if it wasn't an emergency. I couldn't wake her if I was struggling or if I had a nightmare. She needed sleep and if I disturbed her, then I was being a burden." I looked up and saw Bonez is staring at the floor, possibly contemplating finding Taylor and hurting her. Rhea's arms are crossed. She hasn't spoken so far. "Demi?"

Rhea looked at me and sighed. "Love, you know you're not a burden. You woke me up before when you had a nightmare. I'd gladly do it again if you needed me to comfort you."

"I'm gonna murder that mentally abusive piece of trash." I heard Bonez mutter. Overwhelmed with the guilt of me doing something wrong, I had Liv let go of me so I could stand up and hug Rhea.

"I know, I'm sorry. The voice in the back of my head told me to stay, but the other one told me to keep going." Rhea pulled back to give me a quick peck on the lips and a kiss on my forehead. The simple gesture melted my worries away, making me feel safe and secure.

"How about we finish talking later? It's four thirty in the morning. Let's get some more sleep in us, alright?" She turned to the other two. "Sound good?"

"I'll agree to that." Liv smiled and we looked at Bonez.

"I don't know if I'll be able to go back to sleep. I will come back to bed for cuddles though." Valid answer since all this activity probably woke Bonez up more.

The four of us returned to bed and to our original spots. Rhea next to the wall, then me and Bonez in the middle, and Liv on the outside. Rhea held me close and gave me a final forehead kiss. "Thanks, guys." They all lazily responded with hums and slurred words I couldn't understand. I looked up at Rhea and smiled. "I love you, Demi Bear."

She smiled and pulled me closer, holding on for dear life so I can't escape again. "I love you too, Riley Bear."

"Fucking adorable!" Bonez whispered, which earned chuckles out of all of us.

I closed my eyes and felt myself relax as I felt Rhea comb her fingers through my hair, helping me fall asleep faster.