Author's Note: Sorry this chapter came out a bit later than usual. Once I started writing this chapter, things just kept on rolling so I had to make sure it was all done properly.

~~~~~~~~~~

As a favour, Riley asked Lucy's new friend to babysit her while the rest of the family had some errands to run. Jessie was as courtesy as ever as he agreed to look after Lucy for a couple of hours. He was glad that Lucy was a self-sufficient child, because it made the job a lot easier.

The couple of times that Jessie had spent with Riley and Lucy, she was a very talkative, energetic, and lively child.

But right now she was the exact opposite. Jessie looked over his phone to see the same young child staring at him silently. She was behaving like one of the Grady daughters from 'The Shining'. He was still a little bit creeped by her behaviour so he tried to engage with her instead.

"Do you want to play with your toys?"
"How about some painting?"
"You hungry?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes onto Jessie as she stood her ground. Not making any motion to speak or move, her arms stayed crossed as she sat behind the table.

Not sure what to make of the situation, Jessie called Riley to ask for his help on what to do.

"She's probably just being stubborn about something that happened this morning," Riley answered over the phone. "Maybe she's just cranky and needs some food."

"I offered to make her food but she still won't talk to me!" Jessie whispered harshly over the phone. He was at a lost about what to do, and he didn't want to continue looking after her with this uncomfortable atmosphere between them.

"Just give her some ice cream, she can never resist that."

Jessie took the phone with him into the kitchen and looked inside the freezer. He was very happy to find a tub of Neapolitan ice cream, and so he grabbed it out so that he could distract Lucy with it.

"Are you coming back yet?" Jessie asked, "I'm scared your sister is plotting something against me..."

Riley laughed over the phone as he ridiculed Jessie for being so dramatic. "I'm on my way back any minute now, just be good to her."

The phone call soon ended as Jessie grabbed two bowls of ice cream with chocolate syrup. He picked up two spoons and placed one of each in front of Lucy.

Jessie was ready to laugh when he saw her face twitch with excitement at the sweet dessert in front of them. "You can have this if you talk to me again..."

Lucy reached out to grab it from the table, but Jessie was over three times her age and three times quicker than her. Holding it in his hands, Jessie tempted Lucy by describing how it's her favourite.

"Raspberry?" Lucy voiced quietly.

"There's no raspberry, but strawberry is the next closest thing." Jessie laughed, "Would you still like some?"

"Yes please." Lucy begged sweetly.

Jessie handed her a bowl of ice cream when she then moved to sit next to him. They sat besides each other as they ate quietly - with the TV on in the background.

They saw a big yellow bird on the screen, and Lucy ended up laughing at something funny. Jessie thought this was his chance to get Lucy to open up to him - about why she seemed to be angry with him.

"You in a better mood after you've eaten so much ice cream?" Jessie asked.

"I'm not suppose to talk to you..."

Jessie scrunched his face as he was confused on why a small child was forbidden to talk to him, especially after they've been getting on so well for the past week.

"Why can't you talk to me?" Jessie calmly asked, "I'm friends with your brother, and I thought we were friends too."

Lucy explained her mood to Jessie as she continued to sulk whilst Jessie was still around. "Mommy said that you made Riley very sad before, so I don't want to talk to you."

Jessie never had a younger sibling before, and he didn't have any younger relatives that would help train him to talk to a 4 years old child. Jessie wanted to simply explain why things have changed between them, so that there was no more confusion between them.

"That was a long time ago Lucy, but we're friends now and that's what's important." Jessie smiled, as he tried to show Lucy how things were good between him and Riley. "Me and Riley go to school together, we play football together, and we play all sorts of other games together - because that's what friends do."

Riley came through the kitchen back door just as Jessie explained that to Lucy. He had placed the grocery bags onto the kitchen floor when he heard Jessie and Lucy talking to each other on the couch. He decided to listen in as curiosity got the best of him about his sister and his friend.

"So Riley isn't sad anymore?" When Jessie shook his head no, Lucy asked. "How come you're friends again? What happens if you stop being friends?"

While Jessie thought it was still possible that they would drift away again, Jessie felt more confident with his friendship with Riley. "I trust Riley so much now. He's a special friend to me, and I know he always tries to help me with everything that he can."

Riley began to blush as he listened to Jessie's kind words. He stepped out of the kitchen and joined them in the living room, making himself noticed as he hugged his sister from behind.

"And I'm friends with Jessie because he always makes me happy." Riley expressed with sincerity and honesty. "He can be silly sometimes, but I've always silly."

Riley made his point by hitting Jessie's nose with the spoon, covering the tip of it with the pink ice cream. He giggled with his sister as they made fun of Jessie, so Jessie returned the favour by doing the same to Riley.

"Now you're both silly!" Lucy laughed.

Jessie and Riley shared a look together as they agreed with a single nod. With a spoon held by each person, they swiped Lucy's cheeks with it so that her pink cheeks were even pinker.

"Now we're all silly."

~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, Riley was alone in his room as he pulled out a precious box from under his bed. The box contained a bunch of sentimental objects and memories of his life, and he kept them locked up so that they could never be ruined or forgotten.

Riley felt like going down memory lane that evening after having such a great day with Jessie and Lucy. Riley wanted today to be a memory that he would never able to forget, so he put the grocery list inside as a small token to remember.

He then went through the box and reminisced about all of the other things that made him the man he was now. At the same time, Natasha knocked on his door as she saw he was inside. "Can I come in?"

When Riley nodded his head, his mother sat down on the bed with him and saw the familiar box in front of him.

The first thing that Riley pulled out was some football tickets. "Wembley Stadium. Dad took me there and that's when I started to love football as much as I do now."

Natasha then pulled out a photo that was saved inside the box. She wholeheartedly smiled as she looked at it lovingly. "You holding Lucy the day she came home. You were, and are, always such a good big brother Riley."

Riley smiled as he then pulled out a a medal he won for winning in the junior leagues division for football when he was younger. "I was always amazing, wasn't I?"

"Sometimes I don't know where you get your confidence from..."

Riley was about to close his box of memories when something caught Natasha's eyes. She knew that her son was trying to hide it from her, but Natasha knew better as she had already seen what was still left inside the box.

"Are those what I think they are?"

Two old letters were stashed inside the box, both of them were very old and crumpled. Jessie's name was visibly written on the outside, and that same letter was all taped together after being shredded into pieces.

"Why do you still have them?" Natasha asked her son.

Riley shrugged his shoulders as he shoved the box back under his bed. "I just do."

"Sweetie, I don't think it's very healthy to keep those letters." Natasha advised, "I thought you moved on from that painful memory?"

"I did!" Riley accidentally shouted. "This was years ago mom, and I've almost forgotten how he made me feel back then..."

Natasha knew that Riley was leaving something out. "But..."

Riley sighed with disappointment as he knew that his mom was able to read him like a book. "I still like him after all these years."

Natasha hugged her son as they both sat in saddened silence together. The painful past was never forgotten, the letters that devastated them both were kept after all these years, and Riley skepticism of relationships grew from there.

They both relived the memory of when Riley's life felt like it imploded that day, and it was a memory that neither of them could ever forget.

~~~~~~~~~~~

*5 years ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Natasha, Zoe, and Tyler were frantic with fear as they realised a 13 years old Riley never came home that night. It was way past his curfew, and they were sick with worry about why their son wasn't picking up his phone.

"This isn't like Riley, he would never stay out this late without even telling us." Natasha stated as she paced the living room. "He might have been robbed, or hurt somewhere!"

Tyler was holding his daughter in his arms as he rocked baby Lucy to sleep. "I'm worried too Nat, but we can't come up with these crazy scenarios."

"The police say that they can't look for him since it hasn't been 24 hours." Zoe reminded them as she tried to mediate between the two divorcing parents. "We'll look again."

Natasha nodded her head she grabbed her keys. "Tyler, you stay here in case Riley comes back. Call me if anything happens with Lucy too."

"Don't forget this is our second kid," Tyler laughed. "I think I'm capable of looking after her for a few hours."

With a kiss on the cheek, Natasha left her future ex husband as she then left the house with her girlfriend Zoe.

They were about to enter the car when Natasha glanced at the neighbouring house. She swallowed her pride and dignity as she then walked up to the Summers house.

Natasha knocked on the door with uncomfortable tension bathing the atmosphere. Holding Zoe's hand for support, they waited until both Kathy and Jude answered the door. Their face cracked with disgust as they looked at the pair of holding hands.

"What do you tramps want?"

Natasha ignored the hateful words as she squeezed her girlfriend's hand tighter. "Have you seen Riley? He hasn't come home yet and we're getting worried."

Kathy laughed as she clutched her husband's arm. "Maybe he's run away or something. Maybe he doesn't like how his home is being broken up because of a midlife crisis from a lesbian and a cheating wife..."

"Or maybe that stupid boy has come to his sense and ran way before you could poison him even more with your freaky relationship." Jude added, "The sooner he is away from Jessie and our other boys, the better..."

Natasha had never been more attempted to assault anyone before in her life. She was willing to take the verbal beating about herself for breaking up her 7 years marriage, but the line was drawn when they brought up her only son.

"Shut your disgusting and bigoted mouths up!" Natasha screamed, "As parents, you two should understand our concerns when a young and vulnerable child hasn't came home this late at night!"

Kathy laughed in front of their faces as she smacked her husband's arm in disbelief. "We keep a tight ship around here, there's nothing our boys do without us knowing. Because we care about our children, so that they don't run away like your child has."

Natasha was ready to take her ring off and beat some sense into the vicious people in front of her. But she was stopped when she saw a young Jessie come down the stairs.

"Jessie!" Natasha called out as she pushed past his parents. "Have you seen Riley?"

Jessie sleepily rubbed his eyes as the shouting had woken him up. He walked down the stairs to see what the commotion was about, and he saw all of the adults fighting - and Jessie didn't like it.

"The last time I saw him was yesterday. My mom said he wasn't allowed back in here after she saw him leave my room after breaking my Xbox."

Jude turned on his heels and shouted at Jessie, who was now standing at the bottom of the staircase. "Jessie! Go back to bed, this instance!"

"But I want to find Riley." Jessie defied his dad's command by stepping closer towards the door. "We might be fighting, we might not be friends anymore, and I know you both don't want him around me anymore since he's a bad influence, but it doesn't mean that he should disappear."

Jude ignored his son's plea as he aggressively whispered into Jessie's ear. "Get upstairs before we force you up there!"

Jessie instinctively covered his bruised wrist as he ducked his head. He had quickly apologised to everyone as he ran back to his room - safe from everyone.

"You hurt your children?" Zoe questioned in disbelief as she noticed Jessie's wrists.

"Even though you have no say in this you harlot, there's nothing wrong with a bit of old style parenting." Jude reasoned.

"Couple of centuries too late..." Zoe whispered. "And you make out that Natasha is a bad parent."

"That pathetic woman has lost her own son! Does she want sympathy for ruining her great old life for a cheap, temporary fling." Kathy menacingly laughed. "I don't know why the neighbourhood wanted to keep you guys around - seeing you both every day is just filthy and disgusting."

Natasha threw her hands in the air as she was done with being harassed. She had bigger priorities on her mind as she wanted to find Riley safe and sound.

Knocking over the vase before she left, Natasha held Zoe's hand as they proudly walked out of the evil household together.

~~~~~~~~~~

Natasha physically felt like she was ready to give up. It was already extremely late at night, and her energy was depleted from running around and worrying over Riley constantly.

But her motherly instinct and the pent up emotions were making her as strong as ever. She continued her search for Riley as she looked around every one of Riley's favourite places.

Natasha drove down to the beach that was miles away from their home. She had initially ruled it out because it was such a long walk, and she doubted Riley would go this far. But she was now out of ideas of where else her son could be.

She walked along the beach as she continued to look for her son. Everything that was pent up seemed to be released when she saw a familiar figure huddled underneath the pier.

Natasha was ready to cry when she saw Riley all blue in the face. The cold temperature must have weakened him so much, and Natasha clutched her son tightly when she finally held him again.

"Riley!" Natasha cried, "Wake up."

Riley's glossy eyes fluttered awake when he looked back at his mom. "You're not Jessie..."

"Jessie's at home sweetie." Natasha told him. "Let's get you home before you freeze to death."

"I have to wait for Jessie, he told me to wait here for him." The lack of energy barely made Riley capable of turning away from his mom. "I can't leave in case I miss him. Just watch... he's coming... any minute now..."

Natasha looked at how her son was dressed up in his nicest clothes. She then noticed a letter that was held down by a rock, so that it wasn't blown away.

"Jessie gave me that letter today. He posted it in the mail, and it told me to meet him here at midnight."

Natasha looked at the watch on her wrist, and read that the time was almost 5am. Her son was waiting here for hours in the middle of the night, he had no coat despite the weather being chilly, and Natasha thought about how he must have been trying to stay awake after all this time.

"Riley... Jessie isn't coming."

"He is! He told me to meet him here tonight!" Riley explained. "I told him in my own letter that I love him, and he said he loved me too, and we would talk about it tonight!

This was when Natasha learnt how her son had a crush on the neighbour's son, one of his oldest friends, and the offspring of those abominable parents.

They were too young for Natasha to even consider it as love, but every relationship is important in any upbringing. With herself finding a loving relationship with a woman much later in life, she had no doubts her son could find one for a boy this early.

Natasha hated being the bearer of bad news as she tried to make Riley see some sense. "I saw Jessie a few hours ago. He was asleep and he didn't even know you were here."

Riley looked back at his mom with hurt in his eyes. "You're lying..." He whispered weakly.

"I think he was playing with your feelings Riley..."

Riley paused for a moment as he tried to consider what his mom had just said. "Jessie wouldn't do that, he's my best friend!" Riley reasoned.

Natasha tried to be gentle with her son's emotions. For all she knew, this was the first romantic interest Riley had with anyone. And she didn't want it to destroy him at such an early age.

"You two have been growing apart, haven't you?" Natasha pointed out. "You stopped hanging around lately, you've been fighting so much more now, and I know he has been say mean words to you."

Riley refused to accept the reality of how Jessie's romantic feelings for him wasn't true. "But we're meant to be best friends... I know he's been meaner to me lately, but he's still my best friend..."

Natasha kissed her son's temple as she hugged him closer. "Friends don't play with each other's emotions like this sweetie. I think he's tricking you one last time."

Riley wasn't able to come up with anymore words to say. He felt like his heart was breaking after such a cruel trick, and he couldn't stand this feeling that he was experiencing.

He just wanted to go home and forget that tonight ever happened. This was his first love, and his first love abandoned him in the middle of the cold night.

"Take me home please... I can't be here anymore..."

~~~~~~~~~~

When they got back home together, Riley immediately ran to his dad visibly upset. Tyler held his son who was an emotional wreck, and Riley cried his tears after everything was finally let out.

Natasha had explained everything to Tyler and Zoe on the drive back, and they both wanted to try and support Riley tonight.

Tyler eventually took an exhausted Riley to his bedroom. When they had reached his room, Riley noticed a mysterious envelope on his deck.

Riley opened it and saw that it was several shreds of paper. He began to piece them like a jigsaw, and he solved it when he realised it was his love confession to Jessie.

His heart and soul was written all over that piece of paper. But that same piece of paper was now ripped apart and shredded - just like how he was feeling on the inside.

Riley collapsed onto the chair after reading his own words on those pieces of paper. He brought out another piece of paper and some glue so that he could try and stick it all together.

Riley wanted to make sure he kept this as evidence - about why he would never be friends with Jessie again.

Riley didn't want to find love again, he didn't want to risk being hurt like this ever again.

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