Riley's head was buried in the toilet by the time I caught up to her. I scooped her hair back out of the line of fire just in time for her to unleash a round of clear, vile-scented liquid into the toilet. I raised my head towards the ceiling to avoid looking at the contents. I didn't want to end up sitting next to her, battling over who got to throw up next.

She collapsed down onto her butt on the floor and wiped at her mouth with my borrowed shirt. 

I sat on the edge of the bathtub and brushed my tangled hair from in front of my eyes. I waited there for a few silent minutes with my knees on my elbows and my hands clasped, watching her concentrate on steadying her breathing.

Riley's face contorted in complete agony and she clawed at the bottom of her stomach. She raised herself back up on her knees and was right back at it again. I stood up and leaned over her to pull her hair off her shoulders one more time before it ended up soaked in vomit.

Riley was heaving hard, but nothing else was coming out. No matter how hard her body worked for it, there was not a single drop left in her stomach.  

I felt terrible for her. My head had been submerged in some pretty unpleasant places during bad binges. Watching the way her body jerked reminded me how painful it could be. My insides had attempted to turn outside multiple times. There was no feeling more awful than trying to throw up something that wasn't there.

The sound of the front door opening downstairs hit my ears as soon as I squatted down behind her to comfort her. The timing of the unwelcome intruder couldn't have been worse.

"Hey Ezra, you here?" JD yelled up the stairs.

Shit.

For once, I actually wished it was Aiden who came through the door instead of JD.  It would be a lot easier to deal with this situation if it was him. Since Aiden already knew Riley and I slept together, I wouldn't have to tiptoe around as much. 

With JD, that wasn't going to be an option. I was fucked.

Riley's head popped up and she looked like she was being lined up in front of a firing squad.  She wasn't alone in her trepidation; my heart was thudding inside my chest too.  JD couldn't see her in this state.  He would demand an explanation and I didn't want to volunteer one. From the expression on Riley's face, neither did she.

We had to decide on some story that would work. Preferably one that didn't result in JD deciding that he needed to take her home or to a doctor.  I would fight anyone, including JD, if they attempted to take Riley away from me before I was finished with her. I wasn't ready to let her go anywhere yet.

"Is Ry still here? My mom is freaking out. She hasn't heard from her all day." JD's footsteps were on the stairs on his way up towards us. I stood up and inched backed away from Riley before he got to the top step. I had to play it off like my role in her current condition was completely innocent.

What could I tell him that he would believe?

The hamster in my brain started turning the wheel and the light bulb popped on. It was dim, but it was there.

Riley had been drinking heavily last night and JD passed out early on us. He didn't know how bad she did or didn't get after he went to bed. For all he knew, her weak stomach could be a consequence of overindulging the night before. JD wouldn't even hesitate to believe it because of her past history with bad decisions involving alcohol.

It was perfect.

I never thought I would be this thankful for Riley's inability to hold her liquor.

"Yeah, she's here. She's hungover." I forced the words out and cleared my throat to cover my nerves when he stepped in the doorway.

"You look like shit Lil Bit, no wonder you haven't talked to Mom." JD leaned his head in and watched his pitiful little sister slumped over the toilet bowl. Her body was frozen with shock as he stared down at her.

I took over the conversation, so she didn't have to.

I had worked it all out in my head. I would use this opportunity to angle the situation in my favor and throw off suspicion at the same time. By the end of the conversation, I would make myself look like the hero instead of the villain.

"Yeah, Aiden took Brynn back to her house, so I stayed here to keep an eye on her. I figured your mom wouldn't appreciate me dropping her off on the doorstep like this." I fibbed something that sounded good and slightly resembled the truth.

"What's up with those two?" JD asked, crossing his arms over his chest and making himself more comfortable. He seemed more concerned about what shenanigans Aiden was up to than his sick sister who was wearing my oversized clothes while she sat on the bathroom floor. 

"Don't have the slightest clue." I shrugged it off.

That part was true. Aiden and Brynn were on opposite ends of the personality spectrum. I started to open my mouth to comment on the absurdity of the odd pairing when I realized it was the inverse of Riley and my situation. In a lot of ways, we mirrored each other's wrongness.

Now wasn't the time to point it out. I didn't want Riley to realize it too.

"Let me put my stuff away and I'll take over Riley duty. I have to make sure she calls Mom. Stay again tonight, Lil Bit. You shouldn't be in a car right now. You're green. Someone can take you home tomorrow. No drinking tonight." JD slapped the door to signal the end of his speech. He had played his big brother card, attempting to throw rank so there was no way Riley could argue with him.

As soon as he walked out, I went back over to sit on the edge of the tub to whisper to her without JD hearing us. The walls were thin and his room was right next door to the bathroom. It was going to be extremely difficult to keep this conversation between the two of us.

Riley scooted closer to my legs, searching for me. I leaned towards her and began rubbing the knotted-up muscles in her shoulders and back. Her body sunk into my touch, begging for more.

There was no way I was comfortable not being able to keep my eyes on her. I had to regain control of the situation to stay ahead of it before it spun out on me.

"I'm not leaving you. I'll figure out something to tell JD." I told her in a quiet voice.

"You have to. JD is going to suspect something if you won't move more than two feet away from me." She whispered back harshly.

"Are you sure that is what you want?" I raised my eyebrow and voice at her. Her easy dismissal of me was pissing me off. She should only want to be with me right now.

"It is." She challenged back.

I clenched my jaw and gritted my teeth.  If Riley wanted to feel better, I knew exactly how to help her. No one could do what I could do for her.  With one flick of my tongue, I could have her eyes rolling back in her head.

Riley needed some sense shaken into her and reminded exactly why she needed me to stay. I grabbed out for her arm right as soon as JD decided to wander back in.

"Lil Bit, you think you can stand? You can go lay down in my room." JD offered to her.

"I think so," Riley said as she started to push herself up from the floor.

I was already on top of her, lifting her up before I knew what I was doing. I began pulling her against me and she shoved me back away. Riley crooked her head towards JD to remind me he was still standing there watching us.

"Thanks." Riley patted my arm awkwardly like she was petting a dog.

"Are you going to be ok?" My eyes locked on hers, sending her a silent warning not to leave me. She sucked in her bottom lip a little as she stared back at me.

"Don't worry. She'll be fine." JD chuckled.

My body went rigid as the blazing venom surged through me. The longer he continued laughing at me, the angrier I became.

JD was making a complete fool of me in front of her.

JD had always thought he knew more than I did and was better than me. It was evident Riley must have thought so, too. When JD said jump, she just went right along with his orders without question. She pretended like she didn't even have a say in the matter.

Then, just to make the stinging sensation in my body that much worse, Riley chose that exact second to walk away from me.

Her flawless ass strolled out of the bathroom and headed straight towards JD's room.  She just left me standing there, without even an apology or explanation. She held onto the wall as she walked and almost tripped over her feet. I tried to leave the bathroom to get to her, but JD was standing in the hallway between us.

Why was everyone was always in my fucking way?

Riley turned into JD's room and went inside. She sat down on the edge of his bed like she was waiting for the next command. JD's ugly ass blocked the whole door frame so I could barely see more than a few of her bright blond curls.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her. She can be a handful." JD poked at me again as I craned my head higher to see what she was doing.

"Um, it's no big deal, JD. I didn't have anything better to do today." I muttered, fighting the urge to body slam him and throw his mangled body down the steps.

"I doubt that. You should go call one of your girls to come over to hang out. It's been a while since you brought one of them back to the house." JD patted me on the back as he released me from what he perceived as a burdensome task.

JD shifted enough so I could see her face again. Riley sent a small wave in my direction, dismissing me too.

"Um, yeah. Good idea. See you later." I snarled at both of them.

I stormed back to my room and slammed my door shut. One of my posters fell off the wall and dropped to the floor. My ankle twisted slightly when I stepped on a small black flip-flop that I assumed was Riley's. I picked it up and hurled it across the room, where it lodged itself in the blinds.

I went around the side of the bed and grabbed the stupid thing to remove it. I yanked it too hard and the whole bracket holding the blinds came off the wall. They crashed down in my hands, tangling around my body.

I kicked and fought with them until they were a bent pile of rubbish on the floor.

"FUCK!" I roared with a closed mouth into my hands. 

Today was supposed to be just Riley and me, without any distractions. She should be in my room doing anything and everything I told her to do. But, instead, I was alone, fighting a damn window treatment.

I felt the prickling of my pill stash, scratching at the little bit of sanity I had left. I walked over to the hidden bottles and pulled one out just to make sure they were all still there.

The lid twisted off easily in my hands and I dumped them out on my dresser. They scattered in every direction like sprinkles on top of an ice cream sundae.

"One, two, three...." I counted a few into my hand.

I thumbed them a few times, turning them over one by one as I remembered how free I felt when I took them. I wanted to be weightless again.

I began to raise them towards my mouth and stopped, regaining my senses. I shook my head and dropped them back into the bottle.

No. I wasn't going to do this. Not today.