Arranged marriage: Skeletons(sequel)

Chapter 19

"When you left, a lot of things went down Riley," Layla starts, and Riley wants to complain. Because she has never felt so offended for being called by her name like she currently is, but she bites her tongue and listens. Because her lover is opening up, that alone is enough. She will gladly take whatever her lover dishes for her if it means not being pushed away. Because Layla is not one to just talk, ever. Always needing to be forced which often leads to withdrawal. And Riley thinks it would suit her to be a forever ticking time bomb. A beautiful one, that is.

"And you come back and I think, 'hey, we'll be okay now'. I think, 'maybe now we'll be together'. Because we just work, you know."

She lets out a short soft laugh as her eyes meet Riley's own briefly, but it's enough to show the pain shining as tears.

"But what does he do? He arranges for you to marry that girl,"

Bitterness. So much bitterness. Molded into a bowl of heartbreak and pain.

"But baby, I'm with you now."

"That's the thing Riley!"

Riley blinks, because now Layla has pushed herself out of her hold and is screaming in anger as she kneels on the bed, and she's not sure if she should speak lest she angers her the more.

"You're here now. But you were so ready to marry her then. You chose her over me after everything we've been through. After every fucken thing you put me through!"

Riley's heart drops and breaks into tiny pieces that cut into her lungs, making her feel like an oxygen thief for breathing the same air as her lover. Her own eyes start to tear and she doesn't move them from her lover even though the sight of her, trapped in a past they have tried to escape, hurts more than anything she has ever experienced.

"If she hadn't ghosted you like she did, you would've married her right away. No questions asked."

Riley's chest rises and falls painfully, because she knows that her lover's words are true. And because same lover is currently looking at her with burning eyes. She lets out a breath and closes her eyes for only but a second before looking back up at her partner.

"You're right. I would've married her. I wanted to marry her, atleast I thought I did," she says, and Layla doesn't wait to let her continue as she chuckles bitterly and gets off the bed, shaking her head in disbelief. As if she had expected her lover to deny the claim. But Riley cannot lie to her, she refuses to.

"I love you, Layla!" Riley blurts out without any hesitation, her eyes on the back of her lover who now stands frozen at the door of her bedroom, hand on the handle. She gets off the bed but stands next to it, not attempting to take a step closer lest her lover chooses not to listen and walks out the room, leaving their unexpected dispute unresolved.

Slowly, Layla turns to look at her and she can see how conflicted she looks. Unsure. Confused. Frightened. Because why wouldn't she be? What's to say that if Jennie were to come back, or her father were to bring in another girl he wants her to marry, she will not abandon her?

But Riley's gaze is deep. She looks like a farmer upon seeing a beautiful flower after spending a whole season tending to its seed. Like how the poets look at their loyal muse. Admiration. Gratitude. Enchantment. Love. So much love, and it is brushing away her fears and uncertainty. So she doesn't move back as Riley takes slow calculated steps towards, her lips opening to talk once more.

"I loved you then. I love you now. And I will always love you. Because-"

She stops right infront of her, reaching down to take both her hands in hers. She lifts them up and places a lingering kiss on each of them, never breaking the eye contact even as she lowers their hands.