Heart's in Baltimore

It had been an entire week after the big blowout between Riley and Alex. An entire week had gone by and Alex still had no idea what to do or how to fix things between them.

"Thanks to you, I've lost my touch. I struggle to find the sense in making sense and giving the semblance of fuck," Alex sang into the microphone in the small recording room.

It was a wonder that he could even write with the tremendous pressure that was weighing him down. The day he had yelled and screamed at Riley in his front yard seemed so distant now, but Lisa was still pressing the subject.

Her questions seemed to never end. When he answered one, there was another. Riley showing up out of the blue like she had had certainly stepped on a few of Lisa's nerves.

Alex pushed the thoughts of Lisa and Riley out of his head, just so he could hit the perfect notes on his newly written song - Thanks To You. It was a little difficult to push Riley out of his thoughts, though, seeing as the song was inspired by her.

Thankfully, Alex sang the last word of the song and pulled the headphones off of his neck. "Was that good?" he asked the producer for this album, Mike Green.

"Perfect. Good job, Alex," Mike nodded, writing things down and pushing various buttons.

After a few minutes of hesitation, Alex forced himself out of the door of the recording room.

"Alex? You okay?" Jack asked from his seat on the plushy couch. "You seem out of it today."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alex said, running a hand through his already messy hair. "Do you think I was out of line?" the older man questioned. Seeing the confused expression on his best friend's face, he added, "With Riley..."

"Oh, that," Jack nodded, not quite sure what to say. On one hand, Alex was completely out of line. There were plenty of alternatives to screaming and cursing at the young girl. On the other hand, Jack could reason with Alex's anger. Out of all the friends Riley had in Baltimore, Alex was definitely the person Jack could see getting angry about her sudden return. "I think it was half and half, honestly. It's been a week, though. Don't you think you should talk to her? She was right, you know. You shouldn't spend the rest of your lives hating each other. You were a big part of each other's life growing up. Don't let mistakes ruin it, you know?"

Alex had to admit, although, Jack was very immature and extremely childish, when you needed advice, he could give you the best damn advice you'd ever heard in your entire life.

"Thanks, man... Do you know where she's at?" Alex queried.

"Jared's house."

*****

"Come on, Riley. It's been a week," Jared whined. For the past week, his long lost best friend had been eating and sleeping at his house, but she just wouldn't do anything else.

She either sat in her bed in the guest room or on the couch in the living room, staring off into space. "Jared, I'm sorry... I've been a shitty room mate for the past week," Riley smiled tightly. When she had first agreed to stay in her best friend's house, he constantly referred to her as his "temporary room mate".

"No, you haven't. I get why you're upset, but come on, he's dumb. He shouldn't have let you walk away a second time, okay?" Jared smiled, his dark eyes lighting up. "You're the best he could ever do!"

Riley smiled, stretching her legs across the leather couch in the living room. "You're the best best friend a girl could ever ask for."

"What can I say? It's in the job description," Jared smiled back at the younger girl, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Hey, didn't--" before the man could finish, Riley's ringtone cut him off.

"I wonder who's calling me," she asked, a confused expression present on her face. "Hello?" Riley's voice went an octave higher. "Who is this?"

"Noah," the voice on the other line said. "I miss you!"

Riley felt a growing guilt in her stomach. Truth be told, with all the Alex drama, she had nearly forgotten that she, in fact, did not live in Baltimore, but had a whole other life in Seattle - including a boyfriend. "I miss you, too, Noah."

Jared, on the otherhand, knew Riley well enough to know that just by the way her voice sounded, she didn't really miss Noah.

"What's the address of the place you're staying at? I want to send you a package," Noah stated, sounding a little too mischevious.

"Uh, one second?" Riley replied, her response coming out more like a question. Her eyebrows crinkled together, "Jared, what's your... address?"

Now it was Jared's turn to feel a bad feeling in his stomach. "Um... 249 Park Circle... Baltimore?"

Riley repeated the address to Noah, before he quickly said his goodbyes. "I love you so much, Riley."

Riley fidgeted awkwardly, almost hesitating to say the response she knew her boyfriend was awaiting. "You too," she said instead, quickly ending the call.

"'You too?'" Jared couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "If you don't love him, why are you with him, Ri?"

"It's complicated," Riley said in a tone that let Jared know the conversation wasn't meant to go any further than that.

Minutes later, the pair heard a knock at the door. "Were you expecting company today?" Riley raised a thin eyebrow at her friend.

"Uh, no? Maybe it's just a salesman or something. Can you go get it?"

Riley nodded in agreement, jumping up to open the door. Smoothing out her New Found Glory concert T-shirt, she swung the large, wooden door open. "A-alex?"

"Riley, listen-"

Before Alex could even begin the long list of things he wanted to say to the girl, another figure appeared behind him.

Riley felt like at least 400 pounds had dropped in her stomach. "Noah, hi."

Alex racked his brain to remember who the hell Noah was. Then it hit him. Riley's boyfriend. "Um, nevermind," the singer quickly remarked. "I got to go. We'll talk later," he waved awkwardly.

Riley's grey eyes followed the man who was clad in American flag jeans a loose fitting black T-shirt, as he got into his car and pulled away, she brought her eyes back to the man in front of her.

It suddenly hit Riley that the only person she wanted had already left.