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 Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2024 5:49 pm
Elliot’s expression settled into a frown, only because he was thinking about how many people Beckett and his friends must have hurt. He wondered how much Riker had been hurt, for irrelevant things well out of his control. He didn’t want to think about people picking on Atticus; it made his stomach flop and it made him want to be irresponsibly mean to anyone who tried to take advantage of or hurt people who definitely didn’t deserve it.
“Your brother sounds crazy. I can see why you’d want to be careful. Is he still gone at college a lot or does he come back to the house often? I mean…”
Sometimes there wasn’t a right answer, but Elliot knew he definitely wouldn’t find out if he was rushing into this.
“Beckett’s not going to have that kind of power over you for the rest of your life. It’s rough now because you’re still stuck under the same roof. Beckett doesn’t need any reason to be a bully,” he reminded gently. “Can you come stay with me whenever he’s around? And, you said Dawn was your girlfriend when we were at the fair. Do you think she could convince him of that too, if she had to? I mean, not that I’m saying they should ever be in the same room, but I mean–if you got some pictures together or something?”
There wasn’t a perfect answer, he was just brainstorming. He didn’t want to sit here in silence while Riker–
Well, while Riker worked through some very deeply buried realizations.
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Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2024 5:57 pm
“She’d probably agree if I asked her. She’s always trying to look out for me. Make sure I’m okay. I don’t know if I want to let Beckett think she’s my girlfriend. Or that any of you are my friends. I don’t want him to get ideas,” he growled, and then buried his face in the pillow because his cheeks were burning as it became clearer that he’d kind of just admitted a lot of things to Elliot.
Things he wasn’t a hundred percent sure of but--
No, he was sure of some things, but he didn’t know the extent, or what to call it, or what to do about it.
“He’s around whenever he wants to be. Mom begs him to come home all the time. I want to be as far away from him as I can.”
First Evan, and then Julian, and now Elliot -- they were all offering him places to stay. Well, Elliot had always kind of had the door open, but it was still not the same as with Evan or Julian.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, picking his head up again. “I’ve got some stuff at Julian’s place. He put a drawer aside for me. For when I need to get out.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2024 6:01 pm
Elliot seemed relieved to hear this and nodded. “Oh, good.”
Julian was safe. He was thoughtful and kind and compassionate and patient. Riker wouldn’t get mad or lash out at him, he’d already proven to be incredibly gentle with him.
Riker could scream into the pillow as much as he wanted. He heard the weedwacker in the front yard so Asher was still out front. Glasses were gently clinking in the kitchen; Oliver was unloading the dishwasher.
“Well, the offer’s open for here, too. And if you need a ride, my parents won’t ask any questions. Well,” he paused. “They will, you know them. But if you don’t want to talk to them, you don’t have to. And they know enough about the war that if something weird is going on…”
He shrugged. “Well, they get it. And they won’t make it weird or anything. No pressure, just keep it in mind. And I’ll be driving soon, so the same goes for me. I don’t want you to have to be around your brother, he sucks. So seriously, if you ever need to get away, the offer’s open. And if there’s anything I can do to help–I know you don’t like to ask, but you can. Or–you don’t even have to ask. Just say you’re coming over, or you need to get picked up, or you want to have dinner with us, or anything. Nobody should have to deal with having to worry about someone under their own roof trying to send them to the hospital. I want you to be safe. And have a chance to be happy, too.”
Without having to look over his shoulder all the time, or worry that he was going to get poisoned.
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Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2024 6:09 pm
Riker nodded, because even if Elliot was a know-it-all, he trusted him. He knew he could be honest and patient, even if Riker didn’t always deserve that. He knew Elliot had his back, just like on their baseball team.
He paused for a moment, and then grimaced, a dark flush coloring his cheeks.
“You… you won’t tell anyone, will you?” he cringed, because he still wasn’t sure what he’d actually let spill from his mouth except that he was pretty sure he’d told Elliot that he had a crush on more than one of his friends.
It felt silly to ask, because he doubted Elliot would, but he still wanted to make sure. What if he was just going through a phase! What if he’d change his mind later!
“Sorry, I really only wanted to ask for help with Cassidy. Not… all this,” he groaned, and hid his face in the pillow once more.
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Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2024 6:12 pm
“Riker, it’s okay,” Elliot soothed. “I’m not going to tell anyone. Not even Atticus.”
He didn’t like keeping secrets from Atticus, and he loved him with his whole heart. He doubted he’d let something like that slip to their friends–or anyone–but Riker hadn’t even meant to tell Elliot so it wasn’t fair to share it with anyone else. Atticus trusted him. He’d understand.
“I think trying to help Cassidy is a good idea. I’ll ask about taking him to the Springs and see what we can do. I’ll let you know so we can coordinate.”
Riker had already gone out of his comfort zone to help Cassidy, Elliot wasn’t going to cut him out of trying.
“You wanna head back with me? Cassidy’s come over to hang out with Atticus for a while, and then we’re coming back to my place. He wants to practice making this tomato pie thing, my dad’s gonna help. If you want a place to chill out but need some time to yourself, you can hang out in my room, too. I could set up a video game for you. I really think you’d like this visual novel!”
No pressure. Just options.
“You’ll have to try it sometime, for sure.” Today, tomorrow. Whenever. “But if you need a cover story, let’s just say you heard my dad calling for help and were worried he got hurt?”
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Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2024 6:12 pm
Tomato pie thing? Riker felt his ears burning again, and his shoulders sagged a bit.
“I don’t know if I should. I don’t want to make things awkward. Or miserable by being there. That-- uh… that tomato pie thing? That’s supposed to be for me. Well, Reims,” he mumbled, wiggling a bit awkwardly because he was both excited but anxious and also didn’t want to make things weird for the others.
“I don’t want to leave. I just feel like I’ve ruined things. But, uh… is he doing okay? Cassidy?”
Maybe he should just leave. He couldn’t imagine offering any benefit by being there. Just awkwardly sitting around and not looking at Cassidy, probably. And he felt like his eyes were red, even if he didn’t cry.
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Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2024 6:13 pm
Elliot’s lip curled into a small smile and he placed a hand on Riker’s shoulder so he could squeeze gently.
“I don’t want you to leave either, Riker. You haven’t ruined anything. You won’t make things awkward or miserable, it’ll be fine. And you can taste the tomato pie and give feedback so when Cassidy starts trying to feed it to you every time you see him you’ll at least get something you like.”
Cassidy hadn’t ever offered to cook fancy Italian food for the rest of them, much less one of his family recipes, so Reims must have made a good impression.
“He’s been doing okay, I think. Atticus was the one who kept in contact with him the most. I mean, he and I talked some but maybe I dropped the ball a little bit. Atticus was definitely the one who went out of his way to keep in touch. But I’m glad he’s back, it’s nice to see him. I know he didn’t like being out of Destiny City. And he’s glad to be back where his friends are.”
And, obviously he considered Riker a friend. He’d lit up so much and was always talking about him.
“I know he can be, hm, high energy but he told us he wants to impress you. Maybe he’s just trying too hard. But you should hang out with us today, if you don’t have anything else to do? Maybe we can do a puzzle or play a game or something, or put on a movie so we can just chill? We can figure it out, we didn’t really have any plans except Cassidy was going to come over and then cook with my parents. I figured me and Atticus would bother him in the kitchen, but there’s enough room for you, too.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2024 6:14 pm
Well, that made sense, Riker supposed. Cassidy wanted to impress Reims. That was why he was going to make him the tomato pie.
But then Riker remembered that it hadn’t seemed as though Cassidy mentioned meeting Reims. So the person he wanted to impress…?
Once more, Riker buried his face in the pillow as it darkened in color. Why would Cassidy want to impress him? He’d only ever been mean to him! Well, maybe not all the time, but enough!
He was getting way in over his head. Now both Énna and Cassidy knew him as Riker and separately as Reims… and he liked them both, if he dared be honest with himself. Even if Énna currently hated his guts and Cassidy teased him relentlessly.
After taking a few settling breaths, Riker unearthed himself from the pillow and nodded.
“Okay… Thanks. I’ll stay.”
FIN
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