“Will you stop ignoring me?” Riley asked, walking into Leslie's room. Leslie rolled her eyes as she continued to type away on her laptop.

“My door was locked.” Leslie told her, not bothering to look at her.

“Yeah, and I know where dad keeps the keys.”  Riley said with a small eye roll, “Now tell me why you've been acting so bitchy towards me lately.”

Leslie finally looked over at her with a look of disbelief, “Is that seriously a question you should be asking?”

Riley crossed her arms, “Dad is on his way home, we really shouldn't be talking about it.”

“Really then what are you going to say when he asks why Seth is walking around our house as if he lives here?” Leslie questioned.

“I thought he was going to be gone sooner.”

“Yeah cause he seriously has somewhere to go after Dean kicked him out of their house.” Leslie muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Dean was being a tad irrational, don't you think?” Riley asked.

“Irrational?” Leslie questioned, staring down Riley, “He wasn't being irrational, Riley. We all deserve all the hate that we got.”

Riley stayed silent for a second.

“So that's why you've been ignoring me, huh?”

“What are you talking about, Riley?”

“You actually feel sympathy for him. You're actually on his side.” Riley accused.

Leslie scoffed as she shut her laptop, “I'm not on his side, Riley. I'm your best friend, I'll always be on your side, but that doesn't mean that I believe what you did was right.”

“He hurt me, Leslie, more times than I can fucking count. How are you going to tell me that I'm in the wrong the one time that I've actually done something that has come close to hurting him?” Riley questioned. She clearly didn't like that Leslie was trying to imply that she was in the wrong in the situation. Riley knew that what she did was bad, but Dean had hurt her too many times in the past for her to felt bad about it. She had just realized that, and she probably would have spent days beating herself up about it if it weren't for the wakeup call that she got.

“One time? In case you've forgotten all you keep doing is using his best friend against him. You don't think that hurt him when Seth and you were sacking faces in Vegas or how about you made it seem like you two were a thing.”

“That wasn't my idea, that was Seth's idea.”

“Like that makes it any better, Riley. You went along with it and you pushed him over the edge, then you go and pull this shit. Riley, he hurt you, I know he has, but ever since then it's all been you.” Leslie told her, “The shit that he pulled with Renee wasn't even compared to the shit that you pulled with Seth. We've had this conversation before, Riley, and I could have sworn that I actually got to you.”

“Why aren't you thinking about how he made me feel, huh?”

“Because you aren't thinking about how you made him feel, Riley.” Leslie said, “You want to stand here and tell me that he hurt you when you hurt him just as bad, maybe worse. I'll be the first person to say that he deserved something for what he did with you and what you did before the accident was you getting even. All this was you taking it over the top.”

Riley stayed quiet as she stared at her best friend. It was clear that Leslie was getting to her, and Riley didn't want that. She didn't want to feel guilty for what she did to Dean because she didn't think that she was in the fault. She knew that what she did was wrong, but she wouldn't and couldn't take it back.

Leslie sighed, “You didn't just hurt him, Riley, you hurt all of us. Dad didn't know what to do, Riley, he thought he was going to lose you. He thought that you weren't going to remember anything and that it wouldn't be the same. He was stressed, Riley, extremely stressed over all of this, which is why he let you go with Dean.”

“He didn't think he could take care of you, Riley. He was scared that he was going to mess up like he's done in the past and he didn't want that.” Leslie added, quietly, “I was scared, Riley. I didn't want you to remember all the horrible things that Kenny did to us because I thought that you would be better off not knowing about it.”

Riley held her tears in, clearly not wanting to show weakness. She didn't want to feel guilty, but she hadn't realized how much she had hurt everyone, not just Dean. Dean was the only one that she expected to hurt, but she ended up hurting Leslie and her dad. She knew how her dad felt about the past, and he beat himself up about it all the time, and she just added to it.

“I'm sorry, I know you went through a lot, especially with Roman and the pregnancy...I just added more to your plate.” Riley said, shakily, “I don't know what I would do without you, Leslie. Instead of being there for you, I was faking something, that I wish would have just happened.”

“Don't say that, Riley.” Leslie told her, sternly as she made her way off the bed.

“I would prefer to not remember the past six months than to be living like this now.” Riley let her tears falling freely, clearly not caring anymore, “I know these past couple of weeks have been hell for you and Dean and dad, but it wasn't for me. It felt as if all the stuff that Dean did, all the stuff that I did, didn't actually happen. It made me feel like I got a fresh start with Dean. He wasn't looking at me like he hated me, he wasn't making me feel so damn helpless against him. He treated me like he did before we got together, and that is exactly what I want.”

Leslie pulled her best friend into a hug causing her to sob into her shoulder.

“I just wish none of this would have happened.” Riley muttered, shakily.

There was a knock on the door, “Girls, why is Seth mowing our front lawn without a shirt?”

Riley suddenly pushed away from Leslie with wide eyes as soon she heard her dad's voice.

“And what did I tell you about locking this door, Leslie? I have a key and I'm not afraid to use it.”

Leslie and Riley both watched as the knob jingled. Riley suddenly sent Leslie a look as she ran towards Leslie's closet. She was trying to avoid her dad as much time as possible.

The door opened and Phil stood there, holding up a key, “Why was the spare key on the floor?”

Leslie shrugged as she took a seat on her bed, “Don't know, dad.”

Phil gave her an odd look before he rolled his eyes, “Riley, get out of the closet, I have to have a nice talk with both of you.”

Riley slowly pushed the door open and gave her dad a big smile as soon as she was in his view.

“Why is Seth mowing our front lawn shirtless?” Phil repeated, slowly.

“Seth's on our front lawn?” Riley asked, faking confusion.

Phil laughed, sarcastically, “You do realize that our house is fenced right?”

“Our house is-” Leslie started.

“Yes our house is fenced. Now, will one of you tell me why Seth is in our house?!” Phil cut her off, harshly. Phil didn't like when the either of the girls invited anyone over without his permission. They both may be old enough, but Phil hardly let Carter in the house and that's knowing that they've known him for years. He was very overprotective of both of them, which is why he preferred for them to have guests while he was in the house.

Leslie looked over at Riley, clearly not wanting to tell Phil. It was obviously Riley's problem and she didn't want Phil to be upset with her.

Phil looked over at Leslie with his hands on his hips, clearly acting like an actual parent unlike when he would act more like a friend. There were hardly times when Phil would be stern and parental with them because he was kind of still young himself and he understood.

“It's clear Riley isn't going to tell me, so you tell me.” Phil told Leslie. Riley sent Leslie a pleading look. She had clearly hoped that Phil would give up after a couple of seconds, but it was clear that he was already upset about something else, which is why he was being so persistent.

“Dean kicked him out of their house.” Leslie muttered, quietly. Riley immediately slapped her arm, “Ow!”

Phil looked between his two girls, “Dean kicked Seth out of their house.”

“No.”

Leslie glared over at Riley, before saying more firmly, “Yes.”

Riley rolled her eyes, “Okay, it's true.” Riley sighed, “Why are you so mad about this?”

Phil ran a hand through his hair, “I got a call from Bryan while I was getting off the plane.”

Riley stared up at her dad, clearly not knowing what to say. She knew that there was a high chance that Bryan had told her dad about what had happened.

“By your busted lip, I can see that he was telling me the truth.” 

Riley brought her fingers up to her lip, clearly forgetting that it was a little puffy. 

“It wasn't his story to tell.” Riley muttered, looking down. 

“I think it was pretty clear that he was the only one acting like an adult about that situation.” Phil told her. Riley felt her throat close up. She didn't want to fight with her dad, she didn't want to hurt him, but she knew that it was too late for that. She didn't want her dad to be against her as well, but she had no doubt that he will.

“I wanted to tell you, dad.” Riley said, shakily.

Phil dropped his head with a long sigh, “You know, I spent weeks searching for a professional to help you. I spent countless hours calling in the country, out of the country. I was worried, I didn't know what to do, but to try and find someone to help you. All that made me feel like a terrible father after I heard what you did. I couldn't even notice as your father that you were perfectly okay.”

Riley looked up at him as tears, slowly started falling down her face.

“You're my daughter, Riley. I'm not going to be upset with you, I'm more upset with myself than anything.” Phil added.

“Dad-”

“Your mother always told me to do what I felt right for you, and I couldn't even do that. I haven't be able to do that and right now, I don't even know how to feel as a father.” He told her.

“Dad, please…”

“The other day, you told me that I was doing such a good job with you. Tell me how good of a job I've been doing if I couldn't even tell that you were okay.” Riley could see the tears gathering in her dad's eyes. She didn't want that. She didn't want him to feel guilty for something that was her fault.

“Dad, stop.” Riley sobbed, “It's not your fault. It was all me and I need all of you to understand that. I'm the one that went through either everything and I'm the one that chose not to tell you about it.”

“I know I put you through a lot of pain and I made you worry about me.” Riley got to her feet as she continued, “I'm at fault for all of it.”

Riley wrapped her arms around her dad's waist as his arms, slowly made their way around her.

“I'm so sorry, dad.” Riley sobbed into her dad's chest. Phil hugged her tighter as he placed a kiss on her head.

She knew that she was at fault for it all. It was okay for her to feel guilty and admit to it with Leslie and her dad, but she knew it was going to be some time before she admitted it to Dean. It was different with Dean. Her family didn't deserve anything that she put them through, but she somehow still felt that Dean finally got some of what he deserved. He had hurt her countless times and she wasn't going to deny that she had hurt him as well, but she had hurt him less times. She knew that it still wasn't right, but this was her getting even. It was her getting even for the amount of pain that he had caused her in the past.

She felt that it was just about time that Dean got a taste of his own medicine, even if it was a little extreme.

Kind of a short chapter 😩 it was meant to be longer, but I thought it was enough to show how Riley was feeling about everything. Next chapter will be longer for sure.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter regardless of its length 😁

Love you guys,
DianaUnstableAmbrose ❤💋