Freedom -- A Rocky Lynch Story

Chapter 16

When Mark turned to face his son after the snake had slithered away, he was furious. Never in his life had he seen one of his children make such a big fool of themselves before today. He was all ready to lecture Rocky before he saw the way his demeanor had changed. The tough persona that he was flaunting in front of Dan had melted away, and he was slouched down. He was finally starting to feel the toll that this fight had taken on him. "Promise me that will never happen again," was all his father could say to him. He could tell Rocky was in enough pain.

"Yeah," he agreed with a small nod of his head. Sweat and blood dripped down his face and he winced at any movement he made. His father led him inside the house, where Stormie cleaned him up, all while cooing at her poor injured son. Once he was cleaned up as well as he was going to be, he stood up and made his way out the door, thanking his parents for taking care of him. He knew he could always count on them to be on his side.

Riley could only watch television for so long. It felt like it was taking Rocky forever to pick up the few things that she had listed for him. She was sure he wouldn't mind if she used his laptop to browse for a little bit while he was gone. He never had a problem with her using his things before. Without any difficulty at all, Riley pulled up Pinterest and started to get ideas for how to decorate her space. She felt a tinge of excitement in her gut as she pondered the possibilities.

The front door of the house opened slowly and Rocky made his way in. When she heard the door open, she hopped up off of the couch to greet him. "Rocky! I want to show you something --" The sight of his beaten face and bruised knuckles startled her. In her mind, she pictured Rocky fighting with her step dad, something that he had always threatened to do. "Oh, my God," she breathed.

"I'm fine," he waved her off. Riker came to see what all of the commotion was, but was also shocked by the sight of his brother. They stood in silence, expecting him to explain himself. "Riles, your stuff is in the back of my car." He walked past all of them and into the living room, letting his sore body fall limp onto the couch.

"I'll get it," Riker whispered to her as he made his way for the door. "Go see what's wrong," he encouraged. "He needs you."

Quietly, Riley made her way to where Rocky sat. He had taken his shoes and socks off and was rubbing his bare feet, which were swollen. His face and knuckles were covered in cuts and were obviously damaged. She had never been in this situation before. It was always Rocky who picked her up, never the other way around. "Hey, we match now," she joked, pointing to her cheek. It was her poor attempt at lightening the mood.

Rocky laughed and rolled his eyes, making her feel a lot less stupid about the joke she had just made. "I know what you're thinking," he started when she sat down next to him. "It wasn't Chris." He hesitated, unsure of whether or not he should tell her anymore. "It was Dan."

"What the fuck?" she gasped. He didn't know if it was a conscious action on her part, but Riley had reached her hand up and ran it through his hair, combing it out of his face. "He did this to you?"

"You should see him," he laughed. Her hand was now resting on his shoulder. "I was getting ready to leave when he just came walking down the street looking for you. I told him to get lost, but he wouldn't take the hint. And then he insulted you and made light of the situation, which pissed me the fuck off." She took his hand and examined the damage while he spoke. "So I kicked his ass."

Riley shook her head and laughed quietly to herself. "We could've avoided all of this if I had just listened to you in the first place. Why don't I ever learn?" She leaned back into the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. "I really should just listen to you. You always seem to know exactly what I should do."

For a moment, Rocky digested her words. She was right: this entire situation could probably have been avoided. She could have heeded his warning and never went back near Dan and Brandon's place. But it was her defiance that had gotten her here. "I don't think you should totally regret this," he told her, mimicking her position. They were both leaning all the way back into the embrace of the cushions, their feet only centimeters apart from each other. Riley's slid a little closer to his, rubbing her bare toes along his shin.

"Why do you say that?" she asked him.

"You're out of that house," he stated simply. "You are starting to make decisions for yourself. And you've shown how strong you really are. I'm proud of you, Riles. I'm not so sure you would've made these steps without a jump start."

"A catalyst," she agreed. She turned her head and looked at Rocky, who was looking up at the ceiling. He could feel her gaze on him, and he started to feel an urge that he no longer felt guilty about. Riley's eyes looked up and down his face as she chewed the inside of her lip. "You're proud of me?" she finally asked.

He turned his head and his chocolate eyes met her deep green ones. The tension between them made her heart skip a couple of beats. "Yeah," he smiled. They maintained eye contact for what seemed like an eternity, before Rocky's eyes glanced down at her lips. It took every ounce of courage inside of him to lean in to her in that moment.

Rocky reached his hand up to embrace her cheek and pulled her closer. Without any hesitation, he pressed his slightly parted lips against hers -- something that he had wanted to do for years.

He finally kissed her.