What Lies Within Us.

Chapter 39: I Promise.

Cassidy's P.O.V.

Simartè called the meeting to an end as everyone was too shocked to continue.

Once everyone left the only people remaining were Simartè, Kai, Meadow, Morgan, Hudson, Milo, Stormy, Mara, Cage, and Jedidiah.

"Wow... Look at you..." River said as he admired Meadow. "You're gorgeous."

"Like father like daughter." She laughed as tears of joy continued to fall down her face.

He looked at Kai and continued smiling. "You two are without a doubt the most attractive twins around... After Simartè and I of course."

Kai let out a small chuckle though continued staring with a mix of shock and confusion.

"You're just as obnoxious looking as your dad." He said to Morgan with a chuckle. Though Morgan was too shocked himself to reply.

When he looked at Hudson, Hudson said something that threw us all off.

"I've seen you before... I see you all the time in my dreams.... Ever since I was 11...."

"Correct, except those weren't dreams.... son."

Hudson's eyes lit up when he realized who River was.

"Dad??? You're- him?"

"Yes, I'm him." River laughed.

Then he looked me straight in the eyes. I hadn't done so much as blinked since he walked in.

"Hi Cassidy." He said with that smirk I hadn't seen in 16 years.

He took a step closer to me but I stepped back.

"You're not River....."

"Then who am I?"

"I don't know but River- River's dead..."

My heart was nearly pounding out of my chest.

"Not anymore." He replied. "I promise its me bien aime..."

I approached him until I was just inches away from him and stared into his eyes for confirmation. Those gorgeous blue eyes. His smile widened as a tear escaped down his cheek.

"I promised myself I wouldn't cry like a little bitch." He laughed.

That's when everything hit me at once and I soon found myself bawling with tears streaming down my face as he wrapped his arms around me and made me feel something I truly hadn't felt in 16 years..... Safe.

...

"How are you- here???" I finally managed to ask after struggling to process the fact that he was standing right next to me as we walked outside.

"Well," He began, "I'm not sure exactly. We're still trying to figure out how I'm alive."

"We're? Wait someone else knew you were alive? Who? When did this happen?"

"Rowan, Milo, and Linus are the only ones who knew. And it happened the same day Rowan woke up, 5 years ago. Like I said we're not sure how it happpened. But I asked the three of them to keep it to themselves."

"You've been alive for 5 years and I didnt know???"

"Yes but I've only been conscious for a year. When I first came back I was too weak to even walk on my own so I asked Linus to put me in a similar state of unconsciousness that Rowan spent 11 years in. Just until my ability to heal came back which took longer than I expected. I woke up a year ago."

"River the least you could've done was told me..." Every word that came out of his mouth took me more and more by surprise.

"Cass I told you that I didn't want anyone knowing just to keep everyone safe. Because I knew that as soon as people found out that I was alive things would get bad."

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you think all of this is happening?"

"Are you saying its because you're alive?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I spent a year hiding over at Milo's. Two weeks ago, he, Rowan, Linus, and I were in the kitchen talking when someone broke in. Whoever it was saw me then disappeared into thin air. It was a demi. At that point I knew my secret was about to be exposed so I instructed Milo and Linus to take Kaiser as well as three others to the Mezzarin. That same day, whoever it was that saw me at Milo's went into the forest and attacked. They took Sehrem, Raes and the others as bait to try to get me to come out of hiding. When that didn't work they killed Sehrem because they knew that Raes would flip out which in turn would force me to come out of hiding in order to stop him. All of this is happening because someone found out that I'm alive. This is why I didnt want anyone to know. Not even you."

"That makes sense I guess. But how come-"

"Enough about me." He said, grabbing my hands as we came to a stop and staring down into my eyes with that smile I missed so much. "How've you been sweetheart?"

I couldn't even bring myself to answer. All I could do was stare into his eyes. Struggling to believe that I was actually seeing him.

"I never got to say goodbye..." I said to him. Starting to feel myself get emotional. "When you went into that building, I was so sure that you were gonna come out alive... That you'd be okay."

I suddenly couldn't hold the tears back anymore and told him exactly what I felt as I watched him on his deathbed.

"You gave up on me River.... You didn't even try to stay alive. You didn't try to fight it. The day I pulled the plug on you was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It was the worst day of my life. But I knew I had to because you didn't wanna live... Losing you made me feel as if there was no point to living anymore River. My life became hell. I didnt just lose you but I lost Max too. He started drinking like crazy for 6 years straight and ended up in the hospital more times than I can remember. For a while I lost Rome too. He refused to talk to me or anyone for that matter for a year except Grayson. We argued like crazy and I honestly didn't think I'd be able to raise him. Jenna completely cut off contact with all of us. I haven't heard from her in years. Gray saw her a few months ago but she pretended like she didn't know him. Kaiser even started pushing me away at a point in time. And right before he left 12 years ago, he became really aggressive and hateful. Legend and I fell off for a while and only recently started to become close again. Everything changed when you left. Everything became hard. Sometimes I'd catch myself waking up from having a nightmare and trying to snuggle up closer to you only to realize that you weren't there. People kept telling me that I'd move on eventually but I never did. I couldn't. I never got to tell you this but you changed my life completely. You were the best thing to ever happen to me. And I'm so glad you came into my life."

He lifted my hand up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the wedding ring I never took off.

"You changed my life too Cassidy. I can say in all honesty that you were my true first love. And you're right, I gave up on life. But I promise I'm not letting that happen again. Because you, Elise, Jenna, Roman, Grayson, Kaiser, Meadow, and Hudson are my life. And I wouldn't dare give up on any of you."

"Promise?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wedding ring as he slid it back onto his finger.

"I promise." He said.