𝚁𝚊𝚗𝚋𝚘𝚘'𝚜 𝙻𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚂𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛

Chapter 4

[Ranboo's pov]

"What?" I asked Riley. "Have you been hiding something from me for two years?"

She got up from the floor, offering me a hand. "Just follow me."

I didn't want to be rude, so I took her hand and got up. She opened the window in her room and told me to lock the door from our dad as we usually do. I clicked the lock and saw Riley climbing out her window to the tree that Mom grew outside years before she passed.

"Why are you on the tree?!" I whisper-yelled.

"I know what I'm doing," she said, and hung onto another branch that was closer to the ground.

"No, Riley!" I ran to the window to keep my eye on her. "You're gonna get hurt."

"Come down already, will you?"

I wasn't going to leave her. I got on the first branch, concentrating on where I put my feet. I looked down to the second branch Riley went on, to see that she's no longer there. She was already on the ground. I got to the second branch, surprised the branches can take my weight.

"Hurry up, you slowpoke."

"Catch," I threw her my phone before jumping down. "Now, where are we going?

"Crossing the road first."

The road by our house was leading to a highway, there were three lanes. Riley crossed the road like she's done it many times.

"THERE'S A CAR," I yelled to her while she runs across.

"IT'S SO FAR AWAY," she shouted back.

I waited a while for cars to pass. I looked left and right, then ran when the road was clear.

"Why are you so scared?" Riley asked me.

"I'm scared for you," I answered, following where she went. "I already get scared when you're downstairs but now you're climbing trees and crossing three lanes like it's easy."

"It is easy for me," she responded.

We walked along the road, but what she wanted to show me wasn't extremely far. It was just a park that I didn't know existed. Was this the secret she kept?

"Do you always go here?" I asked Riley.

"Yeah," she said, confirming it was.

"Please tell me before you go here next time, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Okay, Brother. I just- don't like being locked in my room."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"We know it's Dad's fault."

"How did I not find out you weren't home?" I asked quietly, feeling like a terrible brother.

"I just find the right time to go out, a time when you won't check on me."

"But how do you know I wouldn't check on you?"

"You have to get into the mind of the other person to know their next move."

"I guess that's true," I spoke in a curious tone.

We sat on the swings, but I didn't feel like swinging it.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?" she asked and stopped swinging.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll always check up on me, so I wanna check up on you now."

"Well, I didn't want anyone to know about my home life, and part of it was to keep you safe. Tubbo now knows about you, wants to tell Tommy, and my plan's ruined."

"Tommy's very open about his life to his fans," Riley brings up.

"Our lives are different. There are some things Tommy tells us but not his fans. There are things that shouldn't be on social media."

"Like what?"

"One, I've been hiding you from everyone. Two, our mother died and three, our dad's an alcoholic. If someone finds out just one part of that, they need the whole story."

"You're thinking too much, Ran," she said. "Just live in the present and you'll be fine."

"You know, unrelated to this conversation, you're smart for a nine year old."

"I have you to thank for that. I would've been a dumbass without you."

I widened my eyes. "That word should not be in your vocabulary."

She laughed.

Riley and I talked for a while before heading back home. It felt more calmer being able to talk to her without worrying about Dad. I just wish this feeling could be permanent.

"Are you hungry, do you want me to get you food?" I asked, shutting Riley's room window close.

"Not really, but I could eat some snacks."

I turned around, seeing her grab her phone. "Alright," I muttered before heading downstairs.

Our dad was in his room and I had no idea if he was going to eat dinner but didn't want him to wake me up halfway. So, I wrote "put the food in the fridge" on a sticky note and stuck it on the breakfast table. I grabbed a bag of chips from one of the cupboards and went to Riley's room. I passed her the bag of chips and sat on the edge of the bed, overthinking, like how I did before we left. Feeling Riley put a hand on my back, I was snapped out of my thoughts.

"Can we watch a movie?" She asked after I looked at her.

"Sure," I said. "Let me grab my phone."

We watched an animation film on Netflix from my phone. It was a bit draggy, Riley fell asleep when it was reaching its ending. I switched off my phone, watching the street light outside Riley's room illuminate in the dark where she slept. I gently placed a blanket over her and returned to my room.