A/N
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Cassidy's P.O.V.
"Well I'm happy for you two. Glad you guys finally worked it all out." Lindsay said.
We'd been talking on the phone for 3 hours straight and it was 9 pm already. I missed that girl so much even though I'd only been gone for a week.
"Yea me too. So you missing Max yet?" I asked her.
"Oh my god yes. You have no idea how depressed I am without him. UGH." She groaned.
I laughed then decided to tease her a bit.
"You know." I began. "He was walking around without a shirt last night and I couldn't help but notice that he's gotten a lot more muscular."
"Cassie stop!!!" She yelled. "You're killing me!!"
I laughed even harder but decided not to keep messing with her.
"Okay." I gave in. "Well I think I'm gonna call it a night. I'm tired as hell. I'll call you tomorrow though."
"Alright. Night." She replied.
"Night."
I hung up the phone and got up from my bed and went down to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.
"Hey babygirl." Dad said. He was sitting at the table with one of his co-workers from the hospital named Mitchell.
"Hey Dad, hey Mitch." I said.
"Hey Cassidy." Mitchell replied.
I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and went back upstairs. As I was passing the den my arm was suddenly grabbed and pulled into the room.
At first I was completely thrown off but it turned out to be River.
"What?" I asked.
"I just wanna talk to you for a while." He stated as he led me to the couch. I sat down and he sat next to me...not too close though.
"Cassidy, are you afraid of me?" He asked.
My eyes widened a bit. I wasn't expecting that question at all.
"What do you mean?" I questioned him, wanting him to clarify what he'd just asked.
"Are you still afraid that I'm gonna break your heart?" He said more specifically. "That I'm still just manipulating you?"
"Why are you asking me this?"
"Because you've been avoiding me all day, you haven't said a word to me until now and you still won't even look at me. Did I say something wrong last night? Did you think I was lying?" He asked. "Was the ring too much?"
This was the first time I'd ever seen River worried. It was kinda cute though.
When I was about to answer I found myself closing my mouth. The truth was yes, well no. A small part of me really did feel like he was still just trying to get in my pants but then again the other part felt like he was being honest about what he said last night.
Obviously I looked nervous. And I'm guessing my nervousness came off as fear because he got closer to me and grabbed my hand.
"Baby I wanna be with you. I don't know how much I can express that. I know you're nervous about all of this and you honestly have a right to be. Sure I have a reputation for sleeping around with different women all of the time and cheating but I won't do that to you."
"How do I know that you wont?" I asked him.
He got up from the couch and got down on his knees in front of me as he grabbed both of my hands.
"Cassidy, I've never gotten down on my knees for anyone besides when I first proposed to my wife. I've only known you for 5 months so I can't say that I know everything about you. But what I do know is that you're special. I've never gotten so hooked on a girl so fast before and trust me when I say that this scares the hell out of me too. It scares me because I've never met someone that's made me feel this vulnerable."
"What do you want River?" I asked him.
He stared up at me. Suddenly I saw something that I thought I'd never see in a million years. In his eyes...those angelic, gorgeous, heart-melting eyes... I saw longing. I saw desire. I saw hope.
Then he said something that would stay with me for a long time. And I mean a looooong time.
"Just don't give up on me. Because I promise I'm never giving up on you."
...............................................
Today was New Years Eve and everyone was coming over to my parents house because we were hosting a party. It was only 2 in the afternoon so the only people that were there at the moment was my parents, my brothers and I (of course), Jordan and his parents (Julisee and Floyd), Max and his parents (Angelina and Michael) as well as his sister Madison, River, Grayson, AJ, my grandparents and my dad's older sister, Aunt Enid. Even though there was already about 19 people in the house, there was a lot more coming later on. We'd all invited a few of our friends so we expected around 80-90 more people to show up. In the meantime though, those of us already here were working on getting everything ready. Me, Madison, Julisee, Grayson, and Jordan were getting the decorations ready; Mom, Angelina, Aunt Enid, & my grandma were baking; Dad, River, Michael, and Danny were at the hardware store buying things like electronic appliances, filters for the A/C system, plywood, screws and nails, and other manly stuff like that to fix things around the house; AJ and Riley were calling and confirming the DJ and catering company; Floyd was making calls to some of his celebrity friends (he was a roaming publicist so he'd met quite a few A listers); and Max, my grandpa, and Xander were doing yard work.
We decorated the house with gold and black streamers, banners, etc. Grayson helped to tape things and may I just say that this kid just keeps getting cuter and cuter.
"Cassie- is this okay wite hewe?" He asked while pointing to a streamer he'd just taped to the wall.
"Yes, that's perfect." I laughed.
"Alwight." He replied
Ugh. He made me want a kid.
Xander and Max came back inside to take a break for a few minutes.
"Do you ever not look stupid?" Madison randomly asked Max.
"Do you ever shut up?" Max responded back to her.
"Mom, Max's being an asshole!" She yelled.
"Max leave your sister alone." Angelina stated.
Madison looked at Max and grinned to show that she was only doing that to piss him off.
"You're the fucking devil." He muttered.
"Sorry, what was that? I didn't quite hear you," She replied provokingly.
"I SAID YOU'RE THE FUCKING DEVIL." He yelled louder this time.
"Yea but I'm your sister meaning you're the brother of the devil." Madison said.
"Doesn't mean I like you." He responded.
"But you're required to love me."
"Still doesn't mean I like you."
"Whatever, I don't like you."
"Good, so everything's settled now."
"No its not. Dipshit."
"Shut up. Thats why you're adopted... You fucking ginger."
"MOM!" Madison yelled.
"Max why don't you just ignore your sister? She's way younger than you." Angelina asked.
"Because she annoys the hell out of me! Even when I do try to ignore her she just picks and picks until I snap!" He replied.
"No I don't! Shut up! You're the one thats always mean to me you jerk! UGH!!" Madison screamed at him.
"I'm your big brother. That's my job. You're 16 years old. You should know that by now." He stated. "God damn drama queen."
"Max..." Angelina said.
"What?" He laughed as he walked back outside.
"I'm not even a drama queen." She solemnly replied.
"I mean.." Xander began as he followed Max back outside. "You kinda are."
"Shut up Xander." She responded.
Within a few hours we were all finished decorating, cooking, and getting everything ready for the night.
Madison and I had went to Forever 21 a bit earlier to buy new outfits and shoes (which I forced my dad to pay for btw) but anyways, our outfits were no doubt gonna slay everyone else's. I had a strapless black dress that stopped to my knees and had a gold stripe going across my shoulder and down to the opposite hip. Madison had the same dress but the colors were switched so that her dress was gold with a black stripe. We were both wearing the same shoes- gold heels.
Even though our outfits were slay-worthy we were definitely beat by another pair.
River and Grayson.
When I say that they were absolutely mesmerizing believe me- they were absolutely mesmerizing!
They were both dressed in all black with the exception of a gold tie and vest. Black dress pants, black dress shirt, black dress shoes, you get the point. Their hair was slicked back and they even had matching gold watches. If I didn't know them I would've assumed they were father and son. Grayson looked like he was a rich 'spy kid' with spy parents and River looked like he was the owner of the Playboy Mansion.
I'm not gonna lie, a part of me was really tempted to just jump in his arms and have a little make out session with him in front of everyone.
He noticed me staring at him and gave me a small wink.
At around 9 pm the guests started to show up and the party had officially started. A few of my friends from high school that I hadn't seen since I left for college came and I prayed to god that none of them would drink that night. There'd been way too many occurences of them drinking then spilling tons of little secrets (many that involved me) to my parents.
I walked into the kitchen and spotted Jordan leaning against the counter talking to some of his friends, a few of which I knew.
I walked up to them but immediately regretted it as soon as I saw a glass of wine in Jordan's hand.
"Oh, hey Cassie." He said.
Some of his friends greeted me as well mainly with hi's and hey's and one asked me a really awkward question.
"So are you two dating yet?" A tall guy with spikey red hair named Zack asked me.
"Dating?" I said. "Me and Jordan? No way."
"Wait- really??? I'm actually really surpised." A short Asian chick stated.
"Yea me too. Date me Cassie." Jordan drunkenly said as he leaned over and tried to kiss my cheek. I punched his arm and he laughed as he took another sip of his wine.
"Why would you assume we're dating?" I asked them.
"Because you guys always hung out together and went everywhere together. I remember one time you even made him go the the girl's restroom with you at school so he could help you with your make-up." A girl named Miranda said.
"Well yea he's my bestfriend of course I make him go everywhere with me. We've even planned to go to hell together." I joked.
"Well Cassidy, since you're single, how about you let me take you out sometime." Zack said.
We all kinda giggled at his request. Mainly because of the fact that Zack and I had already dated during our Junior year of high school.
"No way Zack. You had your chance already." I stated after I stopped laughing.
"Oh come on. I totally deserve another one." He begged.
"Dude, you cheated on her with someone that turned out to be your cousin." Another girl said which caused us to laugh even harder.
"Okay for one I didnt even know she was my cousin and two I only cheated on you because you weren't giving me any action so it wasn't entirely my fault." He stated.
"Watch it." Jordan added.
"Whatever." Zack continued. "I dont even want another chance. But just be prepared for rejection when you come running back to me one day."
"She won't be running back to you." Someone said as they walked up next to me.
It was River... of course.
"Is that a promise?" Zack asked.
"No. That's a guarantee." River replied.
There was a moment of silence between all of us that was eventually broken by something completely expected.
"Holy shit!" Miranda yelled.
"What the hell!" Another chick said.
"Hot damn!" Stated another girl.
"Who are you even?" Zack asked.
River smirked and put his arm around my shoulder. "Her boyfriend." He said.
I smiled.
"Oh my god Cassidy! Your boyfriend's hot as hell! Is he a model??!!!??!" Miranda freaked out and asked.
River, Jordan and I all laughed.
"No, I'm a doctor." River replied.
"A doctor?! Good lord." Miranda said. "You can make me feel better any day."
"Wait so if I pass out and stop breathing right now will you do CPR on me?" The short girl asked.
"Sure... if you weren't faking." He stated.
"I wont have to fake it...just looking at your gorgeousness is making me feel like passing out right now." She replied.
"Are you two really dating?" Zack asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Why?" Asked River.
"If so I was gonna say she downgraded A LOT."
I lost it at that. So did everyone else. We all just about died laughing.
"Whatever floats your boat kid." River replied. "But no. I'm not really her boyfriend I was just messing around."
He grinned and walked away back into the living room with everyone else.
"Well in that case..." Zack said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him.
"Zack...stop." I said as I tried to pull away from him.
"Not until you give me another chance baby." He mumbled.
"I'm not gonna give you another chance. Now let me go!" I was pissed off now.
He grabbed my hips and pulled me up against him as I tried to break away from his grip but couldn't. I looked around for Jordan but didnt see him. Juuuust great.
Zack held me tighter as his hands lowered down a bit TOO low. He squeezed my ass and flipped me around so that he was now pinning me against the counter.
"Zack stop!" I yelled once again.
But he didnt listen.
He brought his lips to my neck then started breathing on me.
"Zack STOP!" I pleaded. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get out of his grip.
Then his hands moved to the inside of my thighs. They began venturing around and I felt myself stiff up.
Before he could go any further I did the first thing that came to mind.
"River!!!!!" I yelled. "River!!!"
My voice shook a lot worse than I thought it would.
I was terrified.
"River!!" I yelled once again. I had no idea why I was screaming for him but I just did for some reason. It felt like the right thing to do.
All of a sudden Zack was pulled away from me.
When my vision finally cleared I saw him laying out on the ground. River had his knee pinned to Zack's chest with one hand on the ground and the other hand wrapped around Zack's neck. I could tell he couldn't breathe judging by the fact that his face was turning bright red.
"No, I'm not her boyfriend, but if you ever put your hands on her again I'll kill you." River whispered to Zack.
"River!" Someone yelled.
Before I could look up to see who it was Daniel grabbed River by his shoulder and pulled him off of Zack.
"Don't fucking touch me." River said loudly as he pushed Daniel.
"I had to!" Daniel yelled. "You were choking a fucking kid River!"
"Kid?!?! If he was a kid he wouldn't have been sliding his damn hands around your sister's ass!" River replied.
"Cassidy's old enough to put him in his place!" Yelled Daniel.
"She tried and she couldn't! When she can't defend herself she needs someone to protect her...and since you won't do that someone has to!" River shot back.
"They're BOTH kids...kids do stupid shit like this all the time! And don't ever say that I don't protect Cassidy. I step in when I absolutely HAVE to!"
"Oh so you step in when you have to but not now? You're not much of a big brother then Daniel."
"Don't tell me what I'm not. Worry about yourself before you start worrying about other people. Zack touching her ass isnt that big of a deal!"
"It's not?" River asked. "Cause I know damn well if I EVER saw a guy putting his hands on my little sister against her will I'd kick his ass in a heartbeat! Especially when she's sitting there YELLING for him to stop! I wouldn't be much of a man to let my sister get sexually harassed. And it's sad that you think that's okay."
River took one last look at Danny then at Zack before he left the kitchen.
I was pretty much in shock. Not because of what'd just happened between River and Danny but because of the fact that Daniel was okay with the way Zack was touching me. I know that if Xander saw what'd happened he'd be pissed. Hell even Riley would've tried to fight Zack. I expected Daniel to be like that as well.
The rest of the night I stayed as far away from Zack as I could and partied with other people as the countdown to midnight continued.
Overall I had a lot of fun. I had a karaoke match with Dad, a rap battle with Julia, and tangoed with Max. I even had a race with Xander to see who could drink the most shots. I mingled with a few old friends, had about a 30 minute chat with Mrs. Hamilton (who surprisingly showed up) about Riley and AJ who supposedly broke her 200 year old cat, and danced with Grayson.
Nearly two hours later everyone gathered in the livingroom as the countdown got to two minutes.
When 59 seconds hit the countdown clock I got a phone call. I looked at my phone and saw the name of the last person on my mind; Legend.
I was so tempted to answer it and right as I was about to AJ reached over my shoulder and pressed the decline button.
"Don't let him ruin your night." He whispered in my ear as he walked away.
He was right though. I couldn't let him ruin my night. But it sucked that I wasn't gonna have that New Year's kiss him and I used to always talk about.
20...19...
I looked over to see my dad standing behind my mom holding her by her waist.
15...14...
Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton were holding hands and staring into eachothers eyes.
10...9...
My eyes glanced around the room, taking in the scene around me. All of the couples and family members and friends...I could honestly feel the love flowing around the room.
5...4...
The energy around me was great. I loved how everyone was getting along together... laughing... smiling...counting down the start of a new year...
3...2...
Suddenly I found myself being picked up...and kissed.
1...
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" I heard the entire living room erupt in joyful celebration. But at the same time everything around me went silent.
I focused only on the kiss...just the kiss.
I didn't have to open my eyes to know who's waist I had my legs wrapped around and who's neck I had my arms around.
I knew who it was because the butterflies came. My body tingled. My blood rushed. And my heartbeat went crazy. There was only one person that could make that happen to me.
After what felt like forever the kiss (sadly) ended and I (unfortunately) was put down.
Grayson ran up to us and wrapped his arms around River's leg as River placed one hand on my waist and the other on my cheek, pressed his forehead against mine and stared into my eyes.
"I have almost everything I want ...the only thing that's missing is you." He quietly said. "Cassidy, will you be mine?"
Without any hesitation I said yes and brought my lips up to his once again.
"Ewwww." Grayson giggled. "Why aw you kissing Cassie?"
River pulled away from the kiss and laughed.
"Because." River began as he reached down and picked up Grayson. "If she plays her cards right this girl's gonna be your mommy one day."
He looked at me and smirked. I couldn't help but laugh.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I was hoping you'd ask me that." He replied. "I invited Grayson's mom over and she actually showed up. We stood outside for an hour and talked about me giving Grayson back to her..."
"And?" I said.
"Aaaand....she's letting me adopt him."
My eyes widened.
"No way!" I stated. "Omg, congratulations!"
The cutest smiles ever spread on both of their faces. I could tell both of them were really happy about it.
Tonight was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I was surrounded by the people I loved most. I finally got that New Year's kiss I'd always dreamed of and I was now officially with the guy I'd been so sprung over for what seemed like a lifetime.
Then a thought occured to me.
"Wait...what did you mean by I'm gonna be his mommy?"
"Well because I'm gonna marry you one day...obviously." He grinned.
"You sure about that?" I questioned.
"I sure as hell hope so." He said as he pulled me in for another kiss then gave me that smirk again.
That smirk that I'd loved so much.
That River Jonah Carson smirk.
.
.
.
That year was the beginning of something new. That year marked the beginning of something amazing to come.
Or so I thought.
Instead, that year was the beginning of the most heartbreaking, challenging, painful time of my life.
You'd think my story was over by now but no...my story has just begun.