Falling for my Best Friends Brother

It's been about a year since the day me and Riley met and I don't think I've ever recovered. But eventually, I did manage to moved on. Seriously, what would Bailey think? I've never told her how I felt about her brother and I didn't plan on it. The fact that thoughts were going through my mind about Riley as more than just her older brother would probably make her freak out. And what about Riley? I'm just another average girl who's completely taken by him, and the fact that I'm his little sister's best friend probably isn't the most attractive thought either. And besides, there are other fish in the sea, which is surprisingly true.

His name is Chris and we've been dating for the past 6 months. We met at one of Riley's baseball games and we just hit it off. He's a junior, just like Riley, and he plays baseball with Riley.

Stop what you're thinking right now, me dating Chris is not to get to Riley. I really do like Chris and I’ve liked getting to know him. During the first couple months of dating, it was like I was the only person that mattered to him. He opened doors for me, brought me flowers, and spent as much time as he could with me.

Lately though, he’s become super controlling. He always needs to know where I am, who’s with me, and he absolutely hates when Bailey invites me over. He starts to yell at me and accuse me of choosing her over him. I’ve tried to explain to him that there’s nothing to worry about but I don’t know how much longer this can go on.

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We were sitting at lunch, Bailey with her boyfriend Ryan, Myself and Chris, Riley, Sean and Matt from the baseball team, and Mia, Riley's ex-girlfriend. Bailey had never liked her and nobody really understood why she still tried sitting with all of us at lunch.

While her and Riley were dating she flirted nonstop with everyone else and ended up cheating on him with one of his best friends. He was crushed when he found out and now that they broke up she's all over Sean and Matt trying to make him jealous. The funny thing is that he doesn't seem to be fazed by her at all. It's like she isn't even there.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my name.

"Aubree...hello? Are you there?" Bailey was waving her hand in front of my face because, like an idiot, I was just staring off into space.

"Hmm? Yeah sorry, what were you saying?" I snapped my head back to look at her and she started to laugh a little bit.

"Well...I was just wondering what you were planning on doing for your birthday. It's this Saturday isn't it?" Like I would forget my own brithday. But the truth is that I wasn't that excited. Cake, candles and people crowded into one room? No thanks, parties were kinda fun but not when they put me in the spotlight.

"Right, I guess I just haven't thought about it much lately. I'm gonna be sixteen."

"What baby,did you actually forget your own birthday?" Chris looked at me in a way that made me feel like such an idiot, which he had been doing a lot lately. Of course I didn't forget my birthday!

"Anyways, Aubree I'm throwing you a party at my house," Bailey said this with such excitement I didn't know how to say no.

"Bailey, you don't have to, really..." I didn't want a big party. Sure it was my birthday but I don't have to something big, right?

"Look, I'm gonna have a party for you and you're gonna come and have a great time. Even if I have to kidnap you and drag you there myself, you're gonna be there." She gave me one of her serious Bailey looks and I gave in quickly. We both knew that she was capable of a kidnapping, at least my kidnaping.

"Fine." I crossed my arms over my chest and made a pouty face. Everyone laughed at me except for Chris. He hadn’t been acting like himself lately and he was starting to put me down a lot. Now he was just sitting there next to me, completely zoned out. While everyone started to have their own side conversations I tried to talk to Chris and figure everything out.

"Chris, you've been acting weird lately. Are you okay?" He glanced at me for a second and then went back to staring off into space.

"I'm fine," He said through gritted teeth looked at me once more before he got up, and walked out of the cafeteria. Once everyone saw him leave they all stopped talking and looked at me with questioning glances.

"Uhh...I'll be right back." I walked out of the cafeteria and down the poster covered hallways. He was sitting on one of the benches near his locker, his hands clasped together with his elbows on his knees looking at the ground.

"Hey. Is everything ok?" I sat down by him and put my arm around his shoulders but he pulled away and stood up.

"Get away from me. Don’t think I’m too stupid to see what’s going on.” I stared at him with my mouth open. What was I supposed to do? "What are you talking about?"

"Do you think I’m stupid?! I know you’re cheating on me! And you thought I was just too stupid to realize it. That’s why you’ve been spending so much time at Bailey’s isn’t it? All ‘cause Riley’s there.” He turned around so that his back was facing me. Was he serious? Then he turned his head and glanced over his shoulder at him. He looked extremely aggravated by the fact that I was still standing there.

"Why are you even here? Get away from me you whore."
I was just sitting there dumbfounded by what was happening. In the matter of five minutes, we went from having a normal lunch conversation to him accusing me of cheating on him! I would never do anything like that to him! Tears were threatening to fall down my cheeks but I tried to fight them back.

"Chris, this is crazy! You know I would never do anything like that! Just calm down.” I stood up and tried to calm him down by putting my hands on his shoulders. As soon as my hands touched him, it was like something went off in him. He got an evil look in his eye that I had never seen before and it was starting to scare me.

“Calm down?! I can’t calm down!” He slowly started to walk towards me and I turned to walk away. I wasn’t going to stand here and listen to this anymore.

Just as I was about to start walking, Chris reached out and grabbed my wrist with such force it made me wince in pain. He spun me around and threw me against the lockers with a loud crash. Before I knew it he had pinned me against the wall with his body and I couldn’t get away. Struggling and trying to push him away did nothing for my situation.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" I recognized that voice anywhere, and Chris did too because he shot a look at Riley and turned back to me with an even scarier look on his face. I turned my head to see Riley running over to us with his face contorted in anger. Chris pulled away from me and turned to Riley.

"Get out of here Riley. This isn't any of your business," Chris wasn't moving and neither was Riley. I knew both of them well enough to know Chris or Riley wouldn’t be the first to back down.

"I don't care if any of this is my business, you touch her and I'll kick your ass." Even though I was scared to death right now, I couldn't help but feel protected by Riley at the same time.
Chris looked at him with a smirk on his face and began to laugh, “You have no idea what you’re getting into Riley.”

Riley tensed up as Chris walked towards him like he was going to hit him, but surprisingly he just kept walking. He glanced over his shoulder once he was past us and it sounded like he was saying, “Just wait, you two.”

I didn't know how to react, a swarm of emotions washed over me like a giant wave crashing over cliffs along the ocean. My body succumbed to numbness and I slid down the wall, hid my face in my hands, and started to cry. Riley was by my side right away trying to comfort me by wrapping his arms around me while I cried even harder into his neck.

"It's okay Aubree, I'm here. Don't worry about Chris, he's a jerk and doesn't deserve you." Riley was rocking me back and forth whispering in my ear to calm me down. Everything he said made me feel comforted and I looked up to see him staring down at me with true compassion in his eyes.

I was about to say something when I someone walking towards us. It was Chris. Seriously?! What did he want? I wasn't thinking clearly anymore and I didn't know if I should be scared or angry at him for coming back. Who knows why but for some reason I stood up and began striding towards Chris. My blood was boiling at the sight of him and that stupid smirk plastered on his face.

"What is your deal?!" I started to yell at him. "Did you come back to accuse me of more stuff I didn’t do?! I don’t know who do you thi-"

I couldn’t even finish my rant. Chris shoved me as hard as he could against the lockers. My head hit the corner and blood slowly trickled down the side of my face. I looked back to Chris and saw nothing but that stupid, evil smile on his face. He raised his hand and slapped it across my cheek. The left side of my face burned and it seemed like it was swelling up by the second.

“Can’t you just shut up?” My eyes shut seeing Chris raise his hand again, awaiting another stinging sensation on my face, but it never came. Instead I felt Chris back away from me and a loud thud.

Opening my eyes, I realized that Riley had grabbed Chris and thrown him to the ground. Normally, I should be mad seeing my former boyfriend and my sister’s brother beating the crap out of each other, and really it was just Riley beating Chris, but I was just waiting for Chris to give up finally.

I was beginning to get a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Chris had been horrible to me just ten minutes ago, and now he was getting it back but it didn’t feel right. For me to just stand there and let Riley fight my battle for me, I felt sick.

I went over to them and tried to pull Riley off of him. Thankfully, all that consisted of the fight so far was Riley wrestling him to the ground and pretty much keeping him pinned there.

Before I even said anything Riley saw me coming and got away from Chris. He knew I wasn’t a big fan of people getting beat up. (Except for the occasional cage fight. Sometimes. That is)

Riley looked at me we an apology in his eyes but I just shook my head, telling him that I wasn’t mad. Suddenly his beautiful blue eyes turned from apologetic to horrified. I was terrified to turn around and see what fate was awaiting me, but of course, I squeezed my eyes closed and turned slowly. As my eyes slowly crept open, I saw Chris towering over me.

He grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. For a second I swear that I saw his irises flash red. With that idea in my head, I tried to shy away from him and he just pulled me in closer. His signature evil grin of day slowly made it’s way across his face and he began to laugh.

“What’s the matter Aubree? Don’t have anything to say to me now?” I could feel his breathe on my next as he whispered in my ear. Then he threw me off to the side like a three year old sick of their new toy.

And when I say threw me aside, I mean he threw me. My body was shoved to the ground and I slammed into the bottom of all the lockers. Everything went in slow motion as I let my head slowly fall to rest on my arms. Chris started to walk towards me and I saw Riley run at him and tackle him. The last thing I remembered as my vision faded to black was what sounded like someone hitting a sack of flour and someone groaning in pain.

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The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the nurses office with a killer headache. I tried propping myself up on the bed and realized that someone was sitting in the chair next to me.

"Hey, you finally woke up. Are you feeling ok?" Riley was sitting there looking at me with a comforting smile on his face. I couldn't help but blush as he stared at me with his big blue eyes.

"Uhh...I've got a headache but, I'm fine," I tried to sound as convincing as possible but he wasn't buying it. I decided to show him that I really was fine and stood up, a little too quickly. I started to wobble and trip (great) and then fall. I closed my eyes and prepared to hit the floor but it never came. Instead two muscular arms wrapped around me and pulled me up into a warm hug (at least it seemed like a hug to me)

"Oh yeah, you're perfectly fine.” He looked down at me trying to stop himself from laughing. Just then the door opened and Mrs. Lawrence, the school nurse, walked in.

"Well, I see that you're awake now. How are you feeling?" How many times was someone gonna ask me if I was okay, I'm standing aren't I?

"I'm okay, but what happened?" I tried to think of what happened but all I could remember was hitting my head and falling to the ground.

"I'll let Riley explain everything to you later, but right now why don't you head home. School will be over in a couple of hours anyways and you won't be able focus anyways, am I right?" Mrs. Lawrence gave us both a smile and started to walk out of the room. Just as she reached the door she turned back to us, "Don't worry about being signed out or anything, it's taken care of. Go home and get some rest." Then she left and closed the door behind her.

"Wow, who knew Mrs. Lawrence was so...cool?" We both laughed at that idea. Most kids thought she was some stuffy old nurse who had nothing better to do other than sit in her office all day.

"Yeah I know what you mean. So...off to my house?" Riley said with big goofy smile on his face. "Weren't you planning on coming over with Bailey after school anyways?"

"Oh, right! Yeah, and I'm assuming she wants to plan my birthday party while I'm there," After I said this I realized that Riley and I still had our arms around each other and I pulled away quickly. "Wow, no wonder Mrs. Lawrence left so soon." I thought to myself.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here!" Then Riley and I both ran (or fast walked seeing as how I was still a little dizzy) out of the school to his car.

I had always loved his car but hadn't ever been in it, except for one time when Bailey and I got bored and climbed into it so we could listen to the radio. His car was one of the 1970's mustangs with a convertable top. It probably wasn't the best car for winter but it did look pretty sweet. It was an off-white color and a little beaten down looking but it fit the whole vintage vibe that it gave off.

I walked over to the passenger side door and tried opening it but Riley jumped in front of me.
"What kind of a guy would I be if I let you open your own door while your injured?” With that he opened the door with one hand and took my hand with his other and helped me into the car. (It's not like I needed any help but it was still sweet)
And to top it all of, he slid across the front end of the car, kinda like they do in movies, and gracefully landed on the other side to get in on his side.

"Impressive," I laughed to him. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that before."
"Well, thats just how awesome I am," With both started to laugh at him so he kept going, "Not to mention graceful, amazing, spontaneous, gorgeous, coordinated and..."

"Humble." Is it possible for him to make me laugh after everything he says? I'll take that as a yes.

"Right, how could I forget." He laughed to himself as he started his car and pulled out of the school.

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We pulled up to his house and I went straight for the kitchen. You'd be hunger too if you just got beat up.

"So, what do you got to eat in this place?" I gave him a flirtatious smile trying to be funny but I wasn't sure it would work. He laughed though, so maybe it did.

"Well it depends," He went to the pantry and slid open the door, "Do you want soup or macaroni and cheese?" I laughed and walked over to him and looked inside, only to realize he wasn't kidding. In their pantry there was a single can of cream of mushroom soup and two boxes of macoroni and cheese.
"Wow Riley, you weren’t kidding. You guys have no food!"

"Yeah. We're not into that whole cooking thing around here." He grabbed a box of mac and cheese, a pot, and set them on the counter.

"So, you never told what happened at school. I mean, obviously I was there, but I don't remember much."

"Well yeah, you were unconscious. No thanks to Chris." Riley looked at me with a saddness in his eyes as he started to tell me what happened.

"After he came back, and you started yelling at him, which by the way I give you a lot of credit for that. That jerk deserved it. Anyways, after that, he threw you against the lockers and then came up to you and smack you in the face. Aubree, I don't know how you ever liked this guy! Right after he did that to you he started laughing to himself! I couldn't believe it!" Riley's expression was as serious as I think I've ever seen it. "I couldn't sit there and watch him do that to you. That guy isn't worth anything. I got up and I wasn't sure what I should do so I ran at him and tackled him. Look Aubree, I'm saying I like beating people up or anything, I hate it actually, but I couldn't help it. I think I sprained my hand when I punched him in the nose too." He smirked but stopped when he noticed I was looking down at his hand. It was wrapped up in bandages and his knuckles were starting to bruise.

"Oh my god, Riley are you okay?!" I went to his side and grabbed his hand to examine it. He started to laugh a little at my reaction and pulled his hand away.

"Let me get this staraight, you just got beat up and you're asking me if I'm okay? Man Aubree, you're somethin' else," He laughed a little bit more at my silliness and I felt my cheeks getting red.

"Umm, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go to the bathroom," I turned and walked down the familiar hallway into the bathroom. For the first time since I was pounded on I saw my face in the mirror.

"Oh my god!" I screamed once I looked in the mirror and saw what Chris had done to me. A few seconds later Riley was knocking on the bathroom door.

"What?! What's wrong?" He cracked the door open and creeped his head in. There was a worried look on his face like he was just drop in the Twilight Zone.

“I just saw my face in the mirror, that’s what’s wrong. Yikes!" I made a face in the mirror and I saw him try to stop himself from laughing out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't believe I looked this bad! The left side of my face was red and beginning to bruise in some spots and my hair was matted down on my forehead by blood from when I hit the lockers. "Why didn't you tell me I looked this bad?"

"I didn't think you did," Riley tilted his head up to show that he was trying to hide a smile. It could have been because of what happened a few hours earlier, but Riley almost seemed like he was flirting with me.

No. That would never happen. I'm Bailey's little friend, his little sister's best friend. He probably even thought of me as his sister too!

"Do you mind if I take a shower?" I'm not sure he was expecting me to say that because he eyes widen just a little bit and he glance at me up and down. He realized that I was watching him stare and he snapped his head back up to look at me in the eyes. Apparently that didn't work either because he started to blush and turned his head away.

"Yeah, umm...no, sure. That's umm, fine. Go ahead." He turned and walked out of the bathroom and gently closed the door behind him.

"Oh, wait Riley!" I saw the door crack open a little and his head poke through.

"You rang?"He smiled but gave me a quizzing stare.

"Can I borrow some sweats? I would get some of Bailey's but she can't stand me taking her clothes without asking," He just looked down at the floor and started to laugh. "What is so funny?" I started to laugh with him even though I'm not sure why he was laughing.

"Here I thought you were gonna ask me to join you, and all you want is my clothes. That's a little cold Aubree." He made a face like he was just punched in the chest and laughed again.

"Sorry Riley. I'm only in it for the stuff.” I threw a towel at him and he left to go get some clothes for me. Once he came back, I started the water and didn't waste anytime. Thankfully Bailey had some make-up in the bathroom so I could try and cover up my bruised face.

I walked out of the bathroom in Riley's baggy sweats and a grey wife beater. It was a little weird how comfortable I was in his clothes. They smelled just like him and it made me feel protected and comforted wearing them. I found him sitting on the couch in the game room with a bowl of mac and cheese and Disturbia on the flat screen. There was a second dish of macoroni on the coffee table so I picked it up and plopped down on the couch beside Riley.

"There you are. Sorry, is this movie okay? I didn't know what you would want to watch..." He was about to say something else but decided against it.

"No, I love this movie!" I grabbed a pillow and chucked it at him just to be funny. He apparently wasn’t ready for it because he almost fell off the couch when it hit him. When he looked at me I just shrugged my shoulders and said “Oops! It slipped."

I couldn't help but laugh at him. He grabbed another pillow and ran at me trying to hit me. I went to run to the other side of the room but tripped on a cord and fell face first into a bean bag.

Before I had time to get up, Riley tackled me and put me in a head lock. He started to tickle me relentlessly when we heard someone laughing in the door way. We both froze and truned our heads only to see Bailey and Ryan about to wet their pants.

"So...what did...you guys...do...today?" Bailey tried to say between laughs. "Did you guys skip school or what?" She said wiping a tear away from her eye once she had quit laughting so hard.
Riley and I looked at each other with the same question in our eyes.

"You guys didn't hear about what happened?" Riley asked getting a kind of worried look across his face.

"What are you guys talking about? We thought you guys left early with Chris and..." Bailey looked from me to Riley in confusion. Once she saw Riley’s hand and my face because she stopped talking and her eyes grew wider.

"What the hell happened to you guys?!" She rushed over to me and pulled my face into her hands.

"Bailey, I'm fine! I am now anyways. You really didn't hear what happened?" She and Ryan shook their heads in confusion so I was guessing word hadn't gotten around yet. If it had, Bailey would have been all over it.

I told Bailey the everything, the whole story. From the time when Chris walked out on me at lunch to waking up in the nurses office. Her jaw hit the floor before I was even halfway through my story.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?! You guys were together for how long and he has the nerve to do that to you?! Oh my god, Aubree are you okay? Why didn't I know about this? Is that why you left early? Oh wow Bailey, of course it is. Where is Chris, I'm gonna kill him! I can't believe h-"

"Bailey! It's okay, I'm fine now. Really, calm down," I had to grab her by the shoulders just to calm her down so she could think straight.

"You're right. Yeah, you're right. Wow, I need some water. Do you guys want anything, Aubree?" I shook my head and she raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! I'm fine," I tried as hard as I could to have a convincing look on my face but that was pretty difficult. When were people going to believe me? I felt fine! Spending the day with Riley took my mind off of Chris, but something still didn't feel right inside me. Maybe all I needed was some closure, but I was in no mood to talk to Chris. All these different thoughts were rushing trough my head at one time I felt like screaming.

Suddenly Bailey yelling from the living room interrupted my thoughts.

Riley and I exchanged worried looks and ran through the house looking for Bailey. She was holding the front door open with an angry expression across her face.

"Bailey, what are you..." I froze when I saw why Bailey was so angry. The last thing I wanted to see was standing tall in the doorway. Chris. His long blonde hair was swooped over his eyes and a creepy smile was spread across his face.

"Hey Aubree. I thought we could talk."