21: Riley

I grip the steering wheel again as hard as I can. For some reason I get furious. Why do I have to go through this? It's not fair. I don't want to be afraid. This is complete bullshit.

Suddenly I feel a soft touch on my right cheek and I glance over and notice it's Quinn wiping away a tear that's rolling down my cheek. "It's okay now," she whispers reassuringly.

It's not okay. Everything is fucked up. This goddamn world is fucked up. People are fucked up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Quinn asks.

"No," I reply abruptly as I move away Quinn's hand. I don't want to talk at all now. I just want to forget about today. About all the other days. About my brother's death.

I don't dare look at Quinn, I know that with one look I'll soften up and probably start crying. I know she would comfort me as best as possible, but I don't want to break down. I just want to move on. I'm sick and tired of always breaking down.

I glance back and Mason and try to figure something out. His bedroom is on the first floor while his parent's and brother's room are on the second floor. So, if we get him in quietly no one will ask questions. The only bad thing is that he will have a nasty bruise on his face, I'll have to help him come up with something to explain to his parents.

"Can you help me carry him inside?" I ask Quinn. She nods and we both get out of the car.

I gently move Mason and he doesn't wake up. I have to shake him several more times before he groans out, "I'm up, am I late for practice?"

"Wow, he even dreams about football," Quinn comments.

"Yes, you're late. If you don't get up now you'll have to run laps," I add.

Mason immediately tries to get up and bangs his head on the roof of the car. He runs his head in pain and looks at me questionably.

"Sorry, I had to get you up somehow and I know you hate running laps," I explain to him.

Mason brushes it aside and tries to get out of the car but he almost falls out. He is still very intoxicated, so Quinn and I grab his arms and try to half drag half carry him to the house. I unlock the door quietly and open it. I check to see if the coast and clear and there is no one awake.

I go to the door and see Quinn leaning against the door looking disgusted. Mason is nowhere to be seen and I look at her. She motions to the right and when I walk closer I can see Mason puking in the bushes. Great. Just great.

I walk closer to him and rub his back and he continues to vomit. I much rather be standing next to Quinn than with Madon, the smell is putrid and the sounds are awful. I have to be a good girlfriend though, especially since he defended me today.

Once he finally stops throwing up, I grab his arm and I have to beg Quinn to help me grab his other arm. We drag him through the living room and just as we get to his room, someone is standing in the middle of the doorway.

"Hello," Mark, Mason's little brother says.

"Shit," I mumble out.

"That's a bad word and why are you dragging Mason on the floor? Is he drunk?" Mark asks.

"No, he just passed out early that's all," I say hoping he believes me. However this kid is ten years old so I don't think my lie will work.

Mark looks at me like I'm so stupid. "Sure, and how exactly did he get that bruise on his face"?

"Shit," I say again and Mark just chuckles along with Quinn.

"Who's she?" Mark asks. Pointing towards Quinn. "Is she your girlfriend?"

I widen my eyes at him before answering, "oh my god no. I'm with your brother, dude. I'm not dating two people."

"I meant like is she your friend that's a girl, stupid. I know you're dating my brother still, you guys have been dating for such a long time," Mark replies making Quinn chuckle. I really hate this kid.

"Yeah, so I'm just going to put Mason in bed and be on my way home," I add trying to get around him, but he doesn't move.

He extends his hand opens his palm to me. "What are you doing?" I ask him.

"Asking for compensation to keep this a secret," he replies.

"So, basically blackmail," I respond.

"I mean that's not how I see it."

"What do you mean that's not how you see it!? You're indirectly saying pay me or I'll tell my parents," I reply. I don't need to deal with this on top of everything else. If this twerp keeps it up I'll smack him.

"Hey a kid has to make money somehow. All I'm asking for is twenty dollars," he says.

"Dude, come on! I've watched you grow up! I've known you for most of your life! I saw you in diapers!"

"Keep this storytelling up and it will be thirty dollars," Mark adds.

"Oh you little sh..." he cuts me off before I can finish my sentence.

"Say that word again and you'll have go give me forty dollars."

I clench my jaw and squint me eyes at him. Then I raise a finger as I'm about to cuss him out, but I feel a gentle grasp on my arm. I turn around and face Quinn and immediately relax my stance a little.

"You might want to just give him the twenty dollars, we don't want their parents to wake up. Then that will be a much bigger problem since we all smell like alcohol," Quinn suggests.

I sigh and check my pockets for money, and grab a twenty dollar bill and gand it to the little shit. He has the nerve to reply with, "pleasure doing business with you." Then he gets out of the way and quietly walks up stairs back to his room.

"I'm surprised his parents their parents didn't wake up. You were practically having a shouting match with that kid," Quinn adds.

"Whatever," I mumble. I grab Mason's arm and drag him across the floor. Quinn helps me lift him off the ground and onto the bed. It's a very difficult process and by the end of it Quinn and I are sweating and out of breath.

"Not how I imagined to spent my night," she teases.

"Same. I think I would have preferred staying home to read a book."

"That sounds like a much better idea," she says.

"Also, thank you for helping me with Mason. You didn't have to, but I really appreciate it, Quinn."

"Oh it's okay. I'd do anything for you," she replies making my heart melt. She's adorable.

"Ready to go to my house?" I ask her. She nods and we both get up and walk out. I make sure to lock Mason's house before leaving and going to mine.

My parents are wide awake and watching television on the couch. They both turn to face us as we walk in and then they turn to check the clock on the wall.

"Aren't you girls back a bit early. I wasn't expecting you two until 1 a.m.," my dad says.

"The party wasn't that fun at all, so we left," I lie. I don't want them to worry again.

"Oh okay. Well, get cleaned up and don't stay up too late," mom adds.

"Okay. Goodnight," I reply and Quinn says the same as me. We head upstairs to my room and I walk into my closet to give Quinn an extra towel.

Luckily my parents didn't ask us to come closer to them or they would have been able to smell the alcohol on our clothes. During the fight at the party, cups were flying everywhere, spilling alcohol in god knows where. That poor sucker who did the party at their house is really regretting it now.

I let Quinn take a shower first and I just lay down on the floor. I close my eyes for a second so that I can get some peace, but it's no use. My mind is at war with itself. I have no idea how I'm supposed to get any rest at all tonight.

After a while Quinn comes out of the bathroom in just the towel. I look up at her in shock and she looks down at me. Her face starts to blush and she averts eve contact with me.

"I didn't bring any clothes. I forgot to. Can I borrow some of yours?" She asks.

I stammer out a yeah and immediately try to stand up, but I feel slightly faint from the fast movement. I sway to the side and step one foot to catch myself, but I jam my foot into the corner of my bed. I yelp and grab my foot, but I lose my balance on my other leg and start to fall.

Quinn immediately reaches out to catch me just in time. Are faces are just centimeteres away and I start blushing. Quinn looks at me then looks down and her eyes widen. She gasps and I raise my eyebrows and try to look down at what she is worried about. However, Quinn putts her hand under my chin and lifts to prevent me from looking down.

"Um...my towel fell," she whispers as her cheeks start to blush.

Oh shit.

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Author note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wanted to come back with some funny moments. Also I hope you guys reread the last chapter because I had to do the same to figure out what to write next lol.

Sorry for the long wait, lots of things in my life got in the way. Mostly writer's block and a loss of motivation.

Also, I broke up with my ex a couple of months ago and my cousin is trying to convince me that my ex best friend had a feelings for me at the same time I had feelings for her. (Long ass dramatic story). So, my love life is kind of hectic and non existent and it's hard to write a love story like that.

Anyway, I recently read The Alchemist and I absolutely loved it. It brought back my passion for reading and I bought like 10 other books to read. Whoops. The book motivated me a lot and I will be writing more now.

I will go back to my 1 to 2 updates a week schedule since I'm taking 7 college classes.