A Tour with Before You Exit

When I woke up the next morning I smiled slightly remembering what had happened the previous night. I knew I had basically loved Riley since the day I met him, but I was unsure whether he had said it as a spur of the moment type thing or if he really meant it. I also didn't know if I should bring it up when I see him next; I desperately wanted him to know I loved him.
I got out of bed and changed into my black skinny jeans and a flannel shirt. Once I was ready I walked downstairs and saw my Mum sitting on the sofa watching television. "Good morning Mum," I said before I walked into the kitchen. I could faintly hear her standing up and follow me.
"I have some news that you're going to love!" she replied grinning at me.
"What's that?" I asked while opening the cupboards looking for something to eat.
"You're Father is coming home today," she answered; I looked back at her and smiled slightly. "Don't make plans for tonight; we'll go out for a family meal!"
"Family meal?" Braiden asked walking through the doorway, he peaked my forehead briefly before reaching over to grab a bowl for his cereal.
"Yes. Your Father is coming home, so tonight we're going to act like a proper family."
"Actually, the McDonough's invited us all over tonight, even Thomas' family," Braiden said turning to face us. "Mrs. told me last night while you were asleep," he said when he saw my confused face. I didn't know whether I should be relived to get out of the meal or to now be worried about our parents being in the same room as everyone. I knew all of them secretly hated our parents the minute they found out how much time we were left alone, that was partly the reason why the guys stayed over so much or why we stayed over their houses.
"Great, we'll get to spend time with everyone," She said before walking back out of the room.
"Why do I have a feeling this is going to end badly?" Braiden asked watching our Mum from our spot.
"Maybe because it is," I replied before walking back upstairs.
...
"Knock, knock," Braiden said out loud instead of actually knocking on my bedroom door. I looked up from my book at him and smiled. I marked my page and sat up properly on the bed as he sat down next to me. "Dad's five minutes away so you might want to come downstairs." I nodded and stood up to follow him downstairs.
When I got down there I was slightly mad to see our Mum had put up a banner saying 'welcome home' up for him and covered the floor with balloons. She had been away from him for a week tops and had done all of this... We had been away for a month and didn't even get a text. I looked over at Braiden and saw him staring at the floor with his hands in his pocket.
The sound of a car door being slammed brought us both out of our thoughts. The front door opened and our Dad pulled our Mum into a hug. I wanted to say I had missed him and honestly think about how much I loved my parents but I couldn't... My whole life I had wanted to be praised by them or loved but I never was. I just wanted to get out of the house and as far away from them as possible, but I couldn't. I knew I would disappoint Braiden if I did. Maybe now that they were both back they'd even try harder.
After Dad gad hugged Braiden he walked over and gave me a brief hug before walking over to his bag. "Well, I come bearing gifts," He informed us pulling out three wrapped packages. He handed them to us before leaning against the sofa watching us. I looked up at my Mum when I heard het screech and saw her holding a diamond necklace grinning. "It's beautiful right?" Dad asked before turning to look at me and Braiden. We swapped a nervous glance before opening the presents. I froze when I saw it was a packet of Disney children's lip-gloss.
I looked over and saw Braiden holding a handful of guitar picks that had designs on them. "Thanks Dad," Braiden commented still looking through the selection he had in his hand.
"Emma? Do you have something to say?" Mum asked looking over at me with get eyebrows raised.
"Umm, thanks?" I replied hesitantly.
"You're welcome. I knew you'd all like them. Okay, I'm going to take a nap," he told us before walking upstairs.
My phone buzzed in my pocket as I sat down. I smiled brightly when I saw it was from Riley.
The sleepover tonight will be so fun! It'll just be like old times! xxxx
"We're sleeping over Riley and Connor's house tonight?" I shouted over to Braiden who was in the kitchen.
"Umm, yeah I forgot to tell you. Riley the one that told you?" He asked walking into the room laughing quietly. I nodded while texting Riley back. "He was useful for once." I glared at him slightly watching him walk away before turning my attention back to my phone
...
That night I was in my room getting my bag ready for the sleepover. After I was done I changed into one of the only dresses I owned seen as Mrs. M had told us to dress formal. The dress was black and had small White music notes around the bottom; I grabbed my black Vans and a long White cardigan to go with it. I looked in the mirror and partly hated how much of a girl I looked. I had always been scared the guys would make fun of me if they saw me dressed like this; I guess I would find out tonight if they would. I grabbed my bag and walked downstairs to see Braiden sitting on the sofa texting someone.
When he looked up and saw me I grew frightened of his expression. "Do I really look that bad?" I asked, trying to pull my cardigan tighter around myself.
"No Sis. You look lovely. I just forgot for a second that you were a girl because you hardly dress like that," he replied smiling at me.
"Thanks...I think," I said before turning to watch my parents walk down the stairs towards us.
"Are you both ready to go?" Mum asked barley glancing up from her purse. Braiden placed his hand on my shoulder leading me out of the door and towards the car.
During the drive we all sat in complete silence, thank god it was a very short drive to the McDonough house. When Mr. McDonough opened the door he gave our parents a polite smile and hand shake before pulling me and Braiden into hugs. He quickly led us into the dining room where everyone except Mrs. McDonough and Silvers were.
Riley smiled at me before walking over to give me a hug. "You look beautiful as usual," he whispered into my ear before pulling away and saying hello to my parents who smiled back at him. "This is going to be awkward." I laughed and kissed his cheek quickly.
"Hopefully they'll leave early, should I go and help your Mum?" I asked standing on my tip toes trying to see Mrs. McDonough in the kitchen.
"I think she'd like the offer but would tell you to go and sit back down," he replied wrapping his arm around me.
"I'll go and offer anyway," I told him before squeezing his hand and walking towards the kitchen. As I passed Thomas, Connor and Toby I patted their heads, they looked up and smiled at me before turning back to their conversation.
When I reached the kitchen both Mrs. McDonough and Mrs. Silvers were in there cooking. They looked up and smiled at me as I walked in. "Emma, you look lovely," Mrs. McDonough said while Mrs. Silvers nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, you both look lovely too," I replied, they both smiled at me before swapping a look. "Do you want any help?"
"No dear, go and sit with the others," Mrs. Silvers replied, when I didn't move she shooed me away with a dish towel. I laughed before walking back into the dining room. I took the available seat next to Riley. He smiled at me before taking my hand in his and turning his attention back to the conversation between the other guys.
"Okay, the starters are ready!" Mrs. McDonough shouted as she walked through the doorway before placing the food in front of us all. While we were eating I was right next to Riley again which had become a habit in situations like this. The adults all kept up a conversation throughout the night while I listened to the guys discussing new songs they had discovered.
"So, seen as we're all here, we wanted to ask you something?" Connor spoke up after the conversation had ended.
"What's that?" Mr. McDonough asked looking over at us all.
"Spring breaks soon, so we were hoping to go on a small road trip," Thomas imputed.
"I don't see why not, it'll be similar to being on tour. You have to be responsible though," Mr. Silvers said making Connor and Thomas hi-five.
"Mum? Dad? Can me and Emma go?" Braiden asked making me shift in my seat nervously. I felt Riley's arm wrap around me and give me a reassuring squeeze.
"You're old enough to make decisions, if you want to, go. Were due to go on a trip to Brazil before then anyway," Dad replied making everyone shift uncomfably.
"Just don't come back pregnant Emma," Mum commented, Riley spat out water from the glass he had been drinking out of during that comment.
"Mum!" I half shouted, I patted Riley's back trying to help him to stop choking.
"It could happen, I don't want people to think I have a whore as a child," she argued. Everyone suddenly went quiet at the table and watched what was happening in shock. I looked over at Braiden for help but saw him staring at our parents in disbelief. "Plus if you're pregnant, you will not be living under our roof."
"Excuse me, but my son would never harm Emma in any way possible! You would know that if you stayed around long enough to know a thing about your children and their friends!" Mrs. McDonough snapped as everyone else glared at our parents. I sat in shock squeezing Riley's hand. My parents had not only said all of that but Mrs. M was shouting, which was something I've never seen her do. "Now if you don't mind, please leave."
Once they were out of the door Connor started to clap with everyone closely following his lead. Braiden walked over and quickly pulled me into a hug while I still held Riley's hand. "Ignore them, even if you do get pregnant I'll be here," he told me, I jokingly punched him before following the others into the sitting room.
"Everyone go and change! Be back here in fifteen minutes," Connor instructed before walking out of the room.
Riley grabbed my hand and pulled me up to his room while carrying my bag. "I won't look if you don't, promise," he said smiling as we turned away from each other. I changed quickly and waited for him to finish. After a few minutes I couldn't hear any sound except his breathing.
"Wait, are you done?" I asked ignoring the temptation of wanting to turn around.
"Yeah, you?" he replied, I turned around the same time as him and laughed. His smile faded as he pulled me into a hug. "Are you okay?" I snuggled deeper into his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm sorry they ruined the dinner," I replied speaking into his shoulder.
"It wasn't your fault; the stuff they said was...Completely wrong. I'll always be here for you, you know that right? No matter what. Even if you killed Connor..." I laughed at him before standing up properly and leaning my forehead against his.
"I love you," I whispered to him. I smiled when I saw him grinning.
"I love you too," he replied before leaning in for a kiss.
When we walked into the sitting room everyone was already in there sitting around the television. I sat down on the available sofa and pulled Riley with me. I rubbed Tanks head; he was currently relaxing by our feet staring at the screen as if he was waiting for it to be turned on.
...
After a marathon of movies we all decided it was time to go to sleep seen as half to group had fallen asleep. I grabbed a few sleeping bags and placed them over everyone that had fallen asleep before sitting back on the sofa next to a sleeping Riley and pulling the sleeping bag over us both. I felt Riley lean into me more; I smiled and kissed his forehead before playing with his hair until I fell asleep.