Status: completed.

Baby, It's You & No One Else

no life after you

(ERIC)
I drove back to my house after Riley kicked me out, more dejected than I'd ever been in my life. I don't know how I got to my house or even how I ended up at Blarney's without dying. My mind was all other places, including Riley's, instead of on the road. I could put my mind to anything except Riley and how hurt she looked. And whenever Riley hurt, I hurt. I've never been so unfocused, so lost, until this moment. Hell, I've never felt so alone in a crowd full of people.

My fingers scrolled through my phone at a rapid pace, seeking Riley's number. The green button was pressed after her picture came up, cracking my heart. I held the phone to my ear while my head rested in my other hand, hanging as the phone continued to ring to no avail. Her voice mail came on, the one where she laughs in the middle and tells me top stop tickling her. A sad smile formed on my face, remembering how I begged her to keep it and she agreed, but only because it made me happy. I wish she could have shown that same mercy on my now and hear me out.

I closed my eyes, deciding against leaving a message since she'd delete it and I was hurting too bad to think clearly. Everything would have been so much better if she would have listened to me. But she overreacted, to be fair, defended herself and her pride. Although that's true, I can see where she was coming from. Adam and I did a lot of things together from football to vacations. It was a general assumption that I would be cheating too. But Adam and I had always differed in one area: love. My love for Riley was unconditional, undeniable, and absolutely unwavering. Everything that just happened caused a stabbing pain that not even alcohol would subside. I guess that was why the shot in front of me was still untouched.

"Please drink that or I will," Adam slurred, grabbing it from the bar. I snatched it from his hands and rotated to give it to Blake instead.

"You're done. You shouldn't even be here," I snapped at him. It was hard to not be mad at Adam for cheating on Katie, especially after I told him to leave the club that night, get away from the girl who wanted to ruin his relationship for her own selfish reasons. But of course he didn't listen to me and now everyone but Blake is fucked.

"Decks don't be like that," Adam mumbled back, flagging the bartender down and asking for another beer.

"Don't be what? Pissed!? What should I be? My relationship is fucking OVER and unlike you, I actually give a shit." I shoved him into the bar stool next to me. He stumbled a bit before falling onto the stool.

"Decker, don't take the QB out before the bowl game," a laughing voice came, followed by a hand squeezing my shoulder. I could have figured the person out by their voice but when Blake muttered and "oh shit," under his breath, I knew it was Jake. I closed my eyes as he shook me slightly.

"So did it kill you to leave Riley for a boy's night?" Jake cooed to me teasingly.

You have no idea.

"Yeah it was touch but I'll get through it." I looked right at Adam, sending him a hard look before grabbing my shot back from Blake. I downed the burning liquid in one gulp, the buzz doing nothing to dull the burning and churning of my stomach.

"Deckah, you don't look to hot. What up, bro?" Jake asked when I turned. I shook my head at him, shrugging and chugging a bit of the beer the bartender set in front of me. I didn't ask for it but something tole me I looked like I needed it.

"It's nothing, man. Just nerves," I shrugged again, taking another long pull from my bottle.

"No reason to be nervous. You're going to annihilate Kansas," Jake spoke confidently.

"They;ll be gone when I get on the field," I assured him. Or when Riley is back in my arms.

Jake wandered away after a little more small talk, catching up with some of my other teammates. I tried to put up an act for him, not wanting him to ask again because Jake was smart. He knew when I was down, ninety percent of the time Riley had something to do with it. But I definitely wasn't doing a good enough job. Jake's eyes kept finding mine, asking me what was wrong. I never moved from my bar stool next to Adam, making it my job to sober him up.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Jake asked after he made his way across the bar again. For a short moment, I heavily debated telling Jake, knowing he might be able to help. But the logical part of me, the small part that was still sane with out her, said that he would kick my ass and take Riley's side because there was no denying that I was with Adam when he was cheating.

"I'm fine."

"Dude.. If you want help with anything, you can trust me," Jake urged.

"I'm just having a bad day and, no offense, but I'd rather keep it to myself." I looked down at my beer, not wanting to meet his hard gaze.

"Does this involve my baby sister?" Jake persisted, a hard edge to his voice. I could feel his menacing gaze on me and I shook my head slightly, not confirming or denying. Jake heaved a sigh and walked away, pulling his phone out in the process. I glanced over my shoulder, cringing when I saw him on the phone.

There was no doubt in my mind that he was talking to Riley, asking what I did and if I needed to die. I sighed loudly, feeling the broken pieces of my heart grovel in pain. I looked over at Blake who sat next to me. He gave me a sad look, as he put his phone down after texting presumably Kara.

"Aren't you glad you didn't go to Florida?" I asked.

"You have no idea." Blake laughed lightly as Adam and I joined in. Because it was ironic that Blake has complained so much about not being able to go, yet it had benefited him in the long run.

"Things will get better, Eric. Riley will realize that you wouldn't do that to her," Blake assured, glancing at his vibrating phone again.

"I don't know man. You didn't see her face. She's never looked so broken and betrayed before. She actually believed that I would be stupid like him," I gestured to Adam by jerking my thumb over my shoulder.

"Kara just texted me and said she talked to both Katie and Riley. She said Katie sounds a lot better than Ry but that Riley is going to come up to Duluth this weekend. Kara thinks you and Riley need space and, well, Adam she thinks you're a dick, which you are." Blake informed us. I nodded, liking the sound of that. She would have fun with Kara and relax while away from me. Kara was right, we both needed time to breathe and think. I just hoped that would be enough to get her to hear me out and back in my arms.
*** (RILEY)

My hair was perfectly placed in a half up/half down style, curled loosely. My brown locks flowed down my shoulders and back, while my green dress accented my green eyes perfectly. I smile delicately at my reflection before walking from my room.

I walked deliberately slow, knowing that I wasn’t used to walking in high heels and it would take some getting used too, but it definitely wouldn’t slow me down on the dance floor. I picked my dress up, not wanting it to drag against the wood floors of our old hallway. I took my first step down our winding staircase, giggling at the sight of my brothers standing around Eric in their jeans while Eric stood in his tux, corsage in hand. All eyes in the room turned towards me when they heard the tell-tale click against the wood, their attention solely on me. I bit my lip and smile down at Eric who beamed at me, his smile so bright it could be considered blinding. I grinned at him as he stepped towards me, giving me his hand to help me off the last step.

“Wow, you clean up nice, Riley,” David laughed as Jake and Austin both watched Eric’s every move.

“Down boys,” I called to them, stepping away from my date and pulling both of my brothers into tight hugs. “He’s a good boy.”

“I remember my senior proms,” Austin stared Eric down, the friends part of their relationship completely shattered, “and I most definitely remember the after part. I suggest you don’t give me a reason to kill you.” I watched Eric try to fight back the smile on his face as he nodded, trying to take Austin seriously.
Jake glowered down at me, giving me the eye instead of Eric. “Keep your dress on.”

“Jake!” I exclaimed, blushing as my parents walked into the room. My mom smiled brightly, immediately flocking over every detail of my hair and make-up, telling me how beautiful I looked. “Thanks mommy.” I pulled her into a hug and winked at my daddy.

“You look beautiful, baby,” He told me when he pulled me into a hug.

“But stop growing up please.” I smiled at him, kissing his cheek softly before pulling my way.

It was a tad ironic that my dad was so much less protective of me than my brothers. But I suppose that was because he didn’t need to be the overbearing dead when I had three brothers who did his job for him. They were protective to a fault but they had long since lost their hold over Eric, opting to be best friends with him instead of terrorizing him like they had done to my other boyfriends.

“I guess we should start with the pictures,” I told Eric, who tried not to groan. “I feel you babe,” I giggled as he squeezed my shoulder.

We smiled pretty for my mom as she snapped picture after picture. I made sure to have a picture with each one of my brothers and my parents before I let my mom usher me out the door and into the car. We then met up with a group of other Seniors, most of the football players, and continued getting blinded by flashes. Once we were safely tucked away in the limo, I let out a sigh and leaned my head carefully against Eric’s shoulder.

“I’m already tired,” I giggled to Eric.

“My cheeks hurt.” He stated.

I laughed, pinching his cheeks slightly. We arrived at school shortly, piling out of the limo and walking to the gym. The music pumped through the huge speakers around the room and the dance floor was already in full swing as couples moved to the beat of the bass. I squealed and tugged on Eric's arm, pulling him as he obediently followed behind me. We wasted no time in joining the other in grinding and moving against each other, the whole student body ignoring the please of the teachers to dance appropriately.

I laced my fingers with Eric's on my lowed abdomen, locking our bodies together. Our hips moved in a steady rhythm as he whispered sweetly in my ear. Fast songs with upbeat tempos blasted in the gym for most of the night, but eventually the DJ slowed it down and we swayed to the music. I locked my arms around his neck while he kept his hands respectfully on my hips.

"You're blowing me away right not. You look so beautiful tonight." He murmured to me, looking into my eyes.

"Thank you, baby. But it's only because I'm with you."

"Why's that?" He wondered.

"Because love makes a girl beautiful And I'm so in love with you that I'm having a hard time focusing." I confessed, never telling him how much I loved him until this moment. But it just felt so right, that there was no way it could ever be wrong.

Eric's soft brown eyes glowed back at me as he tugged me into his body, "I love you Riley." The worlds flew from his mouth much like they had from mine, so easy and with so much meaning that it made me weak at the knees.

"Oh Eric, I love you too." His lips dropped to mine, kissing me like a man in love. The kiss took my breath away, causing my to feel light headed and dizzy.

"I don't want anything to change when we got to college. What if we grow apart?" I whispered.

"That won't happen," he affirmed.

"How do you know?"

"Because we're meant to be together. We'll be together through it all- fights, college, crazy fan girls, you name it, we'll conquer it. But if we do spend some time apart at some point, just know that I'm only yours and I'll find my way back to you."

"Promise?" I breathed. Happy and relieved tears shone in my eyes as I looked up at him.

"I promise."

***

My eyes snapped open and I bolted up in bed, my mind racing after the mini trip down memory lane I just had. It had been 4 days since Eric and I fought, 2 days since he stopped trying to call me, and 0 days since I had thought about him. I closed my eyes and put my head in my hands, falling back into my pillows. The last thing I wanted to remember at the moment was prom. Prom marked a couple firsts for us. Our first verbally expressed I love you and the night where I gave him everything. Jake and Austin had good reason to worry. They knew as well as Eric and I did that what would happen.

I slowly looked to my left at the night stand that held one of the many pictures of that day. I examined that picture for hours the night before, so it was really no surprise that I remembered that moment. It was a close up of Eric and I looking at each other in mid-laugh, totally oblivious of our picture being taken. Both of our eyes sparkled as we looked at each other, so in love but still so young. Maybe that was the problem. we had been so young and naive that Eric thought it would be practical to promise something he would never be able to keep.

I ignored the burning tears and pushed the covers off my legs, sluggishly pulling myself out of bed. I yawned loudly and stretched my sore muscles, rubbing tenderly at my swollen eyes. I grabbed my phone off my desk, turning it on and looking through the messages I had. One was form Kara, telling me that she found an amazing spa in Duluth and that she made reservation for us. The others were from Jake, Austin, David, and both my parents, just checking in. I got to the last one and my heart stopped mid-beat. I looked across the room at the mirror, staring back at my broken expression.

"Hey Ry, it's Eric. I know you don't want to talk to me but I just want to tell you that I love you and I miss you. I need to see you baby. Just please hear me out. I.. deep sigh... I love you. Please call me or something so I know you're okay. I'm really worried about you. I love you, bye."

A faint smile painted on my face at the three I love yous he had spoken. But I frowned quickly, hating that we were in this position to begin with. He should be waking up next to me and telling me that. Not over a voice mail because I was too pissed and hurt to answer the damn phone.

I hopped into the shower, after that, staying in until the water chilled my bones. I got dressed in a pair of sweatpants and one of Eric's Gopher football sweatshirts. I held the gold material to my face, sighing when I smelt Eric on it. At that moment, I missed him so much that the pain made me sway slightly, having to grab the wall for support. The pain that came after, rocked me to the core. This time I let the tears fall freely for a couple seconds before wiping them away with my sleeves.

My feet padded softly against the floors as I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. Katie sat at the table, reading one of her textbooks and drinking a cup of tea.

"Want some?" She asked, holding up the cup.

"No, it's definitely a Starbucks day. Wanna come with?" I asked, stuffing my feet in my Uggs.

"I wish I could, but I've got class," She pouted.

"Oh."

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly.

"No and at this rate, I think feeling like shit would be an improvement." I pulled on my jacket and flipped my still damp hair out from under the collar.

"Have fun at class." I stated before walking towards the front door.

"I'm sorry, Riley." Katie whimpered.

"You're not the one who needs to say sorry to me." I murmured, slipping out of the house and shutting the door after my words.

My feet lead me down the street and along the sidewalk, ironically doing the thinking for my brain. My body seemed to follow obediently despite how broken I felt with ever movement. I hurt and ached in every nook and cranny in my body from doing virtually nothing this past week. I just wished there was a cure for heartache. Something that could take away a pain this deep and this hurtful.

I turned into Dinkytown, pausing on the sidewalk and staring down at my feet. I scuffed my feet against the concrete, nudging my toe into the cracks. Tears blurred my vision for an unknown reason as somebody hit my shoulder, barely muttering an apology before moving on their way. That was not reason to cry or get upset, no matter how sensitive I was at the moment.

But wen I looked to the left, I most definitely found an acceptable reason to break down. The man, clad in all his football apparel, turned to me, tugging out his ear buds upon seeing me. He gaped at me, his eyes drinking me in as if to see it I was really standing in front of him.

"You!" I gasped, looking him over in disgust and crossing my arms over my chest, both of us locked in a heated stare down, nobody willing to give in, knowing who ever called chicken first, lost the bigger battle.
♠ ♠ ♠
Thanks for all the comments on the last one!
I appreciate everyone who gave me feedback.. it means a lot to me!
sooo comments would be fabulous for this too :D
I'm thinking Tony will get updated next? probably. maybe Zach though, I haven't decided.
oh and I'm not editing this since I'm too lazy :D my bad!