"It Just Hurts"|| z.m

[40]

40- Riley
Dedicated to: @Shirinj (Happy B-Day Babe!😘😘❤️)

Riley sighed. "This plan is too risky and dangerous."
Butch blew out a puff of smoke. "Agreed. it's tactical, though. It might work and if it doesn't..." He smirked, nodding his head towards Zayn who was fast asleep. Zayn was curled into a ball, lips parted as he breathed though his mouth. Over these two weeks he had grown a lot of stubble and his hair was messy.
"The bomb part is really dangerous," she pointed out, turning her head and lifting an eyebrow at Tom.

He shrugged. "I know, but we need to throw them off our track."
Riley twirled her brown hair, deep in thought. She realized she was chewing on her lip and she let go, crossing her arms. "And what about aunt Liv?"
She tried to keep her voice as steady as possible. That woman had raised her as her own child, and Riley didn't know what she'd do without her.
"She'll get better, it's not more important than this anyway." Tom said annoyed.
Riley swallowed the lump in her throat, her chest tightening in anger. "She's actually more important than this, she raised us like a mother-"
Tom rolled is eyes. "Oh shut up, she raised you like a mother."
Butch's eyes darted between the two. "What're we talking about. You ain't gonna enlighten me?"

"Aunt Liv is sick." Riley said angrily, chewing on her bottom lip. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, but she didn't allow them to. "She's in the hospital alone."
"Her children are flying over, don't be dramatic." Tom sighed. "We need you here anyway, you're the best bet we got on breaking in."
"Excuse me, you have a masters in computers right here," Butch butted in.
"Halfway. Halfway masters in computers, you dropped out remember? They kicked you out." Tom stifled a laugh and Butch rolled his eyes, stomping out his cigarette. "Pretty boy has awoken, eh?"

Riley turned to see Zayn rubbing his eyes and yawning, a small grimace on his face. She let out a deep breath, trying not to explode. Tom was so insensitive, why didn't he see that this was exactly what had happened to their mother? Sickness and then death?
Riley swallowed the lump in her throat. She was going to fly over to Australia as soon as the heist was done with. She wondered what would happen to Daniel and Zayn, and whose hands she was handing them over to. Tom could be pretty ruthless, but he didn't torture. He would just kill Zayn.

That didn't make her feel better. Riley couldn't help but feel an odd connection to Zayn, as if she was helping Toby. The thought made her heart ache. She missed him so much. Yes, Tom was her half-brother but truth been told he couldn't reach half of the respect she had for Toby. Riley blinked away the tears and noticed Zayn was staring at the three of them sleepily. Something inside of her wanted to hug him so badly and apologize for being such a shitty sister. Apologize for not realizing sooner about his illness. Riley took a deep breath. But this wasn't Toby, this was Zayn. And he could still be saved.

"You hungry?" She asked him and he nodded slowly. She walked over to the table which was littered with food and chocolate bars. She grabbed an apple and a bottle of water. Last night came to her mind when Zayn had woken up suddenly. She had been downstairs to grab a sleeping pill out of her bag when she'd seen him tossing and turning.
Riley handed Zayn the apple and uncapped the bottle for him since she could see his shaking hands. He fisted them, and she couldn't help but admire him. Even in times like these, he was trying to keep strong, not wanting to look weak.
Her phone rang and she hastily pulled it out. "It's Brian," she announced out loud.
Brian had been working for the bank they were going to rob in a week now. He knew all the ways in and out and had monitored all the cameras. They'd based their map off of his instructions.

Tom motioned for her to pick it up. Why was Brian calling her anyway?
"Hey honey." Brian said, and Riley raised an eyebrow. What the hell?
"Hey, what-"
"You see the guards thought I was snooping and now they're taking me in for a talk," Brian laughed.
Riley lifted a finger to her lips when Butch opened his mouth to say something. Brian has been caught. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. This was bad. If he got thrown out, then the whole plan would be jeopardized. She tried to play along.
"Brian I've always told you that you need to keep your bladder in." Riley scolded, crossing her fingers. The classical bathroom excuse.

She could almost hear Brian's relief in his voice. "I know, I know. But I really needed to go to the bathroom."

Riley sighed heavily. "Well don't get late to dinner, honey."
Butch looked at her like she was crazy. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "Well I've got to go, the children will be here soon bye."
"I'll be coming home for dinner as soon as the officers realize it's not me. Say hello to the kids from me, honey."
Riley hung up, holding back a grin. "He's so stupid."
Butch rolled his eyes. "What happened? What the fuck was that?"
Riley told them about Brian getting caught. Just as she'd expected, Tom flipped.
"I swear if he gets caugh-"
"The heist will still be on," Butch cut him off. "The heist will still continue whether it's with his help or not." He turned to Riley. "Now, if you're done flirting with Brian what about actually helping out?"
Riley rolled her eyes, pocketing her phone.

>>>> >>>>
About an hour or so later, Butch and Tom left to talk to Erik. If Erik agreed to help them out, this plan would get a lot less riskier. Riley threw a chocolate bar to Daniel who had been whining for one in ages.
Last night he'd been crying a lot. She didn't know why she let him sleep with her, she just sort of did. After that, she felt a kind of bond with the kid. He was just stuck here in the middle of nowhere with people he didn't know.
Riley sighed, twirling her pen between her fingers. Tomorrow was the heist, but she didn't feel ready at all.

Zayn had been silent all day, not talking at all. He had been grimacing at times when he had to move, and she could only imagine how sore and aching his back was. At around five, darkness had settled itself and the guys were still not back.
Riley sat down on the floor, crossing her legs as she scrolled through her phone. Matt, her cousin, had just landed in Australia and was going straight to the hospital. Riley sighed, locking her phone before pocketing it. Just then, a knock sounded on the door and she stood up. Thinking it was the boys, she opened the door and Brian stepped inside.

"They freakin know!" he complained, and she looked at him quizzically as she locked the door.
"Hey Brian, how are you?" she said sarcastically, going back and plopping down by her spot.
"Where's Tom and Butch?"
"Erik."
"And Joey?"
"Fake guards."
Brian nodded, rubbing his cold palms together. "I got caught today, but at least I got the coordinates of the last few cameras."
Riley looked up. "You did?"
"Mhmm." Brian turned to Zayn with a smile. "Hey."
Zayn nodded. "Hi."

Daniel was too busy eating his bar to notice, and Riley cringed at his chocolatey mouth.
"It's weird. They're on guard." Brian said, raising and eyebrow at her as he leaned back on the wall.
"Whoa, you think I'd snitch?" Riley raised her hands up in surrender.
"Yeah well, looks like the police has already informed the bank or something. A few job applications came in today and all got furthered another week." Brian knitted his brow. "It's like they're prepared."
Riley bit her bottom lip. What if they were? But how?
She caught Zayn's face and that's when something inside of her kind of understood. His eyes were lit up and he looked a lot more interested. He knew it was his way of escape if they got caught tomorrow.
Riley ran a hand through her hair. She knew it too. Tomorrow would end horribly good, for which side...she didn't know.

>>>>A/N<<<<
I feel like karma is coming down on me. The weather is sooo cold and I feel like it's karma for giving these characters such a hard time with the weather xD
Anyways, the next update will be long and filled with suspense although I don't know when I'll be able to update. Just finished a 4000 word essay three hours ago, so my schedule is quite packed. Two tests, two finals and two presentations. After that I'll give y'all a nice string of updates (:

The chapter is dedicated to shirinj, btw. Happy birthday, babe!

xx