Give Me Your Heart

Pushing some food around her plate, Riley let out a small sigh, something which caused Cassidy, who was sat opposite her, to lift her head, a quizzical expression on her face. It wasn’t the first time, since Cassidy had arrived home from work, Riley had been quieter than usual, but she had refrained from asking what was on her mind, knowing that when she wanted to be, Riley could be awfully stubborn. “You’re not eating?” she posed.

“I’m not particularly hungry” Riley mumbled, pushing another piece of food around the plate.

“Any reason why?” Cassidy posed, placing another forkful of food into her mouth.

Riley offered her a slightly hesitant look, debating whether or not she should bring it up, before she shook her head, pushing a few loose hairs out of her eyes. “Gerard tried to kiss me” she mumbled softly.

Cassidy, who’d moved to pour herself a drink, lifted her head, her expression more than a little surprised. “What?” she posed.

Riley, who was staring at her feet, sighed a little. “He came back here after we’d been to see Alison” she explained softly “He started to talk about making plans and finding me somewhere to stay and we ended up on the topic of Alexa, his girlfriend. He started to apologize for the way things ended between us and then he tried to kiss me just before you walked in” she breathed gently, her hands nervously fiddling in her lap.

Cassidy watched her for a few seconds. “Did you try and stop him?” she posed gently.

Riley shook her head. “Not as hard as I should have done” she quipped “As stupid as it sounds, I think if you hadn’t walked in when you did, I’d have probably kissed him which is perhaps the worst thing I could do right now” she mumbled gently. She knew it wasn’t major, with a breakup as recent as her and Gerard’s, there were bound to be a few slips ups, but still she was irked with herself. If it hadn’t been for Cassidy walking in when she had done, she was almost certain that she would have kissed him, something which would have only served to make something which was already complicated worse.

Cassidy offered Riley a small look before she reached her hand across the table, gently squeezing the one of Riley’s which sat beside her plate, messing with the placemat. “I am going to ask you something, Riley, and I need you to be honest with me” she noted gently.

Riley offered her a slightly uncertain look, but nodded, something which made Cassidy squeeze her hand gently. “You still love him, don’t you?” she murmured softly. It was obvious, from the second that they’d ended their relationship, Riley hadn’t quite been herself, and Cassidy was pretty certain that her lingering feelings for Gerard were the reason why.

Riley, who was chewing on her lip, sighed. “I’ve not done a good job of hiding it, have I?” she teased weakly.

Cassidy shook her head, a soft smile on her face. “You’ve never been the best actress” she quipped “That’s why you got grounded for 6 weeks when we were kids and your padre found out about us stealing his beer” she teased, trying to keep the mood light.

Riley sniffled out a laugh, something which made Cassidy shake her head. “Why did you break up with him, Riley?” she posed softly “We both know that you were happiest when you were with him” she added, her hand gently squeezing Riley’s which fidgeted a little, showing that she was nervous.

Riley shrugged. “It wasn’t working” she muttered.

“But it could have done” Cassidy countered gently “We both know that if you two had tried to make it work…”

“We did try, Cass” Riley interjected “We tried hard to make it work and in the end, it was just easier to end things before one of us did something we couldn’t undo and hurt the other one” she insisted gently.

Cassidy shook her head softly. “You love him, Riley” she murmured gently “I know you do and it is only a matter of time before he, or worse, that girlfriend of his, figures it out and you end up getting hurt, something I don’t want to see happen. You two are going to end up seeing a lot of each other and I don’t want you to get hurt, Riley” she insisted softly. She knew Riley, the chances of her admitting that she still had feelings for her ex-boyfriend to Gerard were slim to none, but she wanted to encourage her. The longer she pretended that she didn’t, the higher the risk of her getting hurt became.

Riley shook her head gently. “I’ll be fine, Cass” she insisted.

“You’re lying” Cassidy countered “Riley, I know it hurts you now when he’s with Alexa, so imagine how much worse it will get if he was to move in with her or propose. What if they had their own baby?” she pressed.

Riley shook her head. “I’ll get over it, Cassidy” she countered “He’s moved on and I just need to work on it. It’s only been a couple of months…”

“He tried to kiss you” Cassidy interjected “Does that not suggest to you that maybe, just maybe, he still feels something for you too?” she pressed.

Riley shook her head. “We ended it for a reason, Cass, and he’s moved on. I just need to get used to it” she mumbled before she pushed herself out of her seat, mumbling about wanting to lay down for a while.

Cassidy watched after her for a moment before she shook her head. She knew that it would take a lot, Riley had form for being awfully stubborn when she wanted to be and it would take more than a little encouragement for her to admit to Gerard that she wasn’t entirely over their breakup, but Cassidy hoped that she eventually would admit it. It was only going to get tougher to take the longer she pretended to be OK and Cassidy didn’t want to watch her struggle, especially since her bump meant that she was going to see a lot of her ex-boyfriend, she wanted to ensure that things were as pleasant as they could be for Riley.