River.

Chapter 39: Guaranteed

Cassidy's P.O.V.

Well today was the day.

Time to go back to Minnesota.

I went upstairs to Riley's room to tell him goodbye. He'd just gotten out of the hospital that morning so it felt a bit hard for me to leave him.

I walked in and he was sleeping. I could tell he wasn't feeling his best just by the pained look on his face.

My eyes guided over to Riley's bestfriends Erica and Charlie who were sleeping on the sofa right next to his bed. They'd been there since he got home.

I walked over to his bed and placed a kiss on his forehead.

"You're gonna get through this East." I whispered.

I turned around and saw Xander leaning in the doorway.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" He asked me.

I went up to him and leaned my head against him as we both just stared at Riley.

"No, I'm not gonna be okay." I admitted. "I don't wanna leave him. There's so much going on in my life right now and knowing that he's in this condition makes everything a thousand times worse."

He pulled me into a hug and we just stood there. Which was great because I REALLY needed a hug.

"I'm just as worried about him as you are. But we both know that Riley's a tough ass kid. He'll pull through."

I nodded my head and hugged him tighter.

"I wish you could come to Minnesota with us. It'd make life so much easier." I stated.

"Yea. Then I wouldn't have to be so damn concerned about you all of the time."

I laughed to try to hide the tear that I felt coming.

"Take care of him for me." I told him.

"Of course." He replied.

We went downstairs and outside with the others. We all said our goodbyes and Danny pulled me off to the side.

"I promise you'll hear more from me from now on. Its crazy how much how much I've missed seeing my little sister grow into an amazing young lady."

I smiled and hugged him. It was nice being able to know that we were on good terms again.

River, Grayson, and Max rode with Dad while Jordan, AJ, and I rode with Mom.

I still hadn't talked to River since last night and I didn't plan on doing so for a while. After our little altercation I went and spent the night over at Jordan's place. He kept calling and texting me non-stop but I didn't answer, not one time.

When we finally got to the airport we grabbed our suitcases, the majority of which were mine, and said bye to my parents.

Dad hugged me and squeezed the living daylights out of me.

"Ouch. Dad....you're killing me." I whimpered.

"I know." He replied.

He laughed and let go but held on to my hands.

"I wish you knew just how much I don't want you to go." He stated. "But you're getting older. I don't really have much say-so over you anymore. With that being said, I'm extremely proud of the independent, strong-willed, gorgeous young woman you've become. These past few weeks have shown me that you really don't need me anymore and I'm still having a hard time believing that my 5 year old princess is now my 19, almost 20, year old princess. Time flies by fast."