Riley followed Reid like a lost puppy, desperate for a single word and yet the further she followed him the more pathetic she felt. She wanted to reach out to him, to grab his arm and force him to face her, but his icy demeanor convinced her to keep her hands to herself.
He refused to answer her about what was bothering him, even keeping his gaze away from her. She simply couldn’t understand what had made him so angry. He wouldn’t even look at her. Still, Riley followed him to his door, his hands trembling as he fumbled with the lock. It was so clear that he was angry with her, but what had she done? Her mind raced through the last time she saw him and when she left, everything had been just fine. He’s left with a smile, a real one, and now he stood before her as hard as stone.
When his eyes finally met hers all of the warmth she had seen before in their honey depths had gone and he stared at her with cold indifference. A chill ran down her spine at his gaze and as he spoke her, the sorrow she felt flared into frustration. “And to think I ended my relationship for you!” She cried, tears streaking her face now, hands clenched so tightly into fists her nails bit into her flesh.
Immediately she regretted her outburst, but not enough to apologize. She had happily left Todd, who had done little but bring her misery and paranoia for months, in order to fall into the safe place she felt with Reid. But there was no safe place here. There was no warmth in him. There was only the cold darkness of night as Riley turned on her heel to retreat from him.
Wait, what? Had he heard her right? It was almost as if the moment those words escaped her pouted lips, time had skipped over -- he’d gone from pure anger to sudden confusion without a second in between to gather his thoughts, and now she was turning on her heel, walking away in tears. And a rare sight -- Reid, standing there at the door to his apartment building, wordless.
She’d been talking to that man, her boyfriend, presumably; Spencer’s first indication of that being the awkward ‘hello’ kiss before the two sat calmly in the restaurant that he’d seen them in. Sure, he’d been her boyfriend, that part was true -- but what Reid hadn’t taken under consideration was the topic being discussed, and maybe it wasn’t so romantic after all. He’d made an assumption, perhaps a stupid one, a wrongly calculated probability. His hands and feet grow cold, numb, as he watches her leave; hot tears streaming down her face, an expression laced with pain and anger -- and all he could do was watch in horror. He couldn’t bring a single word from his dry lips, not a single attempt in reaching out to put an end to the pain he’d caused her. The moment happened all too fast.
Soon he was alone, standing before the door; brown curls blowing softly in the cool night breeze as he continues to stare off in the direction she’d retreated in. His brows were knitted, honey-colored eyes still wide as her words replayed in his head. He cringes at the faint memory of her voice -- crackling with emotion and pain. He should have said something. He should have fixed it, right then and there. Now she’d hate him forever. How could he be so stupid.
With a stiff and slow turn, he enters his apartment, numbly shutting the door behind him.