(Riley is not my character and belongs to my bestie @the-broken-key-card!)
“Happy Birthday, Riley!” Jack, Riley’s little brother chirps out to her. His ginger curls bounced as he ran over towards Riley to embrace her, happier than ever. But before his arms could reach, he stops, almost like he had a realization. “Riley…” he murmurs now, lowering his arms. Blood slid down his face from a fatal wound on his head, staring dead at her with no expression. “…it hurt when you killed me. Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you make me so afraid? Riley…Riley…!”
Riley opens her eyes slowly, feeling a heavy weight on her chest. She wanted to cry, but she was in front of someone. Sitting up and turning her head, she saw little George standing by the foot of her bed. “Good morning! Mama told me to wake everyone up!” George lifted his hands up in the air with a precious smile plastered on his round face. “So, you gotta get up now! We have pancakes downstairs!”
Riley nods with a sad glint in her eye. Not only did George look similar to Jack, he sounded just like him as well. The little boy placed his finger on his lips, getting a bit suspicious. “Hey, hey. Did Rie-Rie have a nightmare? Huh? Big bro Eddie has nightmares too, you don’t have to be embarras-!”
“Thank you, George. I’m getting up now.” Riley interrupted, standing up and sighing. The seven year old took that as a warning, exiting the room before looking back at her and waving. She waved back, slowly gripping her hands into fists. “…I’m so awful…so, so, awful…”
George crept downstairs, seeing Eddie playing with his puppy and Albert watching TV. He felt almost upset knowing that Riley was sad, but had no way to comfort her. So, without a second thought, George jumped up onto the couch, grabbing Al’s shoulder and swaying him. “Big broooo.” Albert tried to ignore the worried boy, continuing to watch the screen. George then pouted, hopping up on his lap and hitting his chest. “Big bro, big bro, big bro, big bro, big brooooooo!”
“WHAT?!” Albert snapped back, silencing Eddie from behind the couch. George didn’t seem scared at all, moving closer to his face.
Al furrowed his eye brows. “Why?”
“Then how do you know she’s sad? God, you’re dumb…” George stuck his nose in the air, folding his arms against his chest. Al looked back at the TV for a few more seconds before sighing and shutting it off. He was getting curious about Riley. “Okay. What do you want me to do?”
George paused for a few minutes before hugging him. “I think she had a nightmare about that place…”
Albert instantly knew what “place” he was talking about. The facility where those people had kidnapped his lovely little brother and allowed him to kill, ruining his mental state. He had to stay in a mental hospital for a year after escaping with Riley, and the Mason family decided to adopt her as well since Eddie was close to her. Hearing that, it made Albert furious. “Then, why don’t you ask Eddie to talk to her? He knows more than I do.”
“Cause…” the little boy locked eye contact with Albert, his blue eyes gleaming with mischief. “you love her.”
“W-WHAT?!” Albert yelled, his face turning bright red. He then threw George off of his lap, causing him to fall onto the couch. “I DON’T! THAT’S STUPID!”
“Mhm. Okay.” George rolled his eyes, giggling. He then sat up on his knees, turning around towards Eddie, who was a bit nervous about Al yelling. “Big bro Eddie! Doesn’t big bro love Rie-Rieeee?”
Eddie flinched at Albert’s voice, wiggling his red scarf nervously. “Uhm…I-I…dunno…” he whispers.
Al sighed, giving Eddie a forced smile. “I won’t hit you. You’re fine.”
The boy then turns towards the both of them. “I think so…when I see the way Albert looks at her…” he smiles softly. “it’s in a loving, caring way.”
Albert blushed even harder. “…dumbasses…”
Eddie picks up his puppy, walking over towards the couch and whispering to the two brothers. “Her birthday is in a few days…you should do something for her!”
Al rolled his eyes. “No. I don’t do birthdays.” His younger brothers stare at him, obviously doubting what he was saying. “WHAT’S THAT LOOK FOR?!”
Eddie pet the puppy before setting him down, whispering something into Albert’s ear. Seemingly, he was listening quite well before saying, “Fine! Whatever…!”
“She’s coming downstairs!” George whisper shouted.
Riley comes down the steps, her beautiful ginger hair brushed out and pulled up into a ponytail, along with a red ribbon to hold it up. Al tried to look away, but he felt the urge to at least say something to her. “Good morning, Riley…”
The petite girl blushed slightly, wiggling her foot around. “Good morning, Al.” The younger boys giggled at their interaction, seeing how obvious they liked each other. “Good morning Eddie…George too.”
“Good morninggggg!” They gush with their arms in the air. Riley smiled weakly, walking into the kitchen without another word.
“Riley…” Al thought to himself, looking at the doorway of the kitchen, then back to his lap. He didn’t know if he should approach her or not. “Stupid…she’s not like my girlfriend or anything. I shouldn’t be worried. But…I hope she cheers up…”
That day, Riley didn’t say much to anyone. She mostly sat in her room and stared out of the window, which led out straight towards the forest. George tried to talk to her, Eddie, Carl, but she wouldn’t answer them very much. She wouldn’t eat either, which worried everyone the most. Their father, Henry, told them that she was going to be fine tomorrow and everyone has bad days. However, this lasted for two days and she had hardly spoke a word or ate anything. Albert didn’t want to pry, but it was getting to the point she could hurt herself. Plus, the next day was her birthday. The day to be the happiest. Yet, she wasn’t getting any better, maybe even worse.
So finally, Albert gathered up the courage to go check on her. He knocked on the door before entering, seeing that she was in the same spot as last time; Sitting up on the windowsill, looking out towards the forest. She didn’t even bother to look at who entered her room, probably thinking it was Eddie. Albert noticed that she was in her nightgown, presumably getting ready for bed. It was pretty late, so it gave Albert the thought that he was being creepy. But he was already in here, he couldn’t just walk out and say nothing.
“Hey, Riley.” He coaxed, sitting down next to her. Her eyes lit up a little bit, along with her cheeks. She still looked upset though. “What’s going on? You can’t act like you’re fine after being like this for days.”
Riley finally spoke out other than saying she was fine. It was her instinct, considering she didn’t want to disappoint him. “…I…uhm…I’ve just been thinking is all…”
Al raised an eyebrow. “About what?”
She hesitated before telling him, getting a bit nervous now. He was pretty close to her. “…my…my family…I’ve been thinking about my little brother…I’m awful…for what I did…”
The older boy understood now. Birthdays are usually a day to spend with your family. Since hers is coming up, she probably began thinking about them again. He wasn’t the best at expressing concern with his words or comforting people, so his mind quickly began to spin. He then recollected himself, thinking about what he would do if Eddie was upset about the past. Slowly, he lifted his arm and wrapped it around Riley’s shoulder’s, pulling her close. She tensed up, almost like she thought he was going to hit her.
“…Stop that…” he clenched her tighter, feeling his heart sink. “I know. I know how you feel, okay? I almost…got my brother killed because I hurt him so bad. He ran away from home, just because of me. I’m…so disgusting for doing that.” Riley was going to deny that he was, but he continued to speak. “And when he came home…he was scared of me. He was so afraid that he didn’t want to speak. I…I’m the awful one. What happened to your brother…doesn’t make you terrible. You loved him. And he loved you…that’s the end of the story.”
Riley felt tears start to form in her eyes. She choked out a “mhm” before burying her face in his chest to cry. Al wasn’t expecting her to react like this, nevertheless, stroked his hand through her hair. “Shh, it’s okay. Your brother really loves you, you know that? He would hate to see you hurting yourself, Riley.”
She shook her head. “B-But…I deserve it…for…”
“No, you don’t deserve it. You deserve to live happily now. Without having to worry about any of that. That’s what you deserved from the beginning, you know…” Al looks away, blushing a bit. “And…you’re worrying everyone else by doing this…especially me…”
Riley lifted her head up to look at him, seeing that he was worried for her. His eyes were softer than she’s ever seen them and they were directed only to her. She wasn’t used to someone looking at her the same way he did. In fact, no one has looked at her like that. It made her feel bubbly inside. “M-Mhm…I’m sorry…”
Al then looked at the time, seeing it was one minute from midnight. In other words, it was a minute until Riley’s birthday. He grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her away just a bit, staring directly at the clock. Confused, Riley asked, “What are you doing?”
He smiled, moving his hand to her cheek and caressing it. “I only have a minute…so, Riley. I wanted to tell you…that…uhm…” his face was dusted in blush, looking off because how flustered he was. “…I love you.”
Riley’s eyes widen. “Wh-Wha…”
The grandfather clock then struck midnight, the bell chiming inside. Albert took a deep breath and leaned in close, kissing the surprised girl right on her birthday. It only lasted a few seconds, considering Al didn’t have the courage to go any longer. When he let go, he saw her face just as red as his. “Happy Birthday, Riley.”
Riley, now choked up on emotions, just began to laugh. Albert laughed too, finding how cheesy that was. She sat up on her knees and hugged him, smiling more than she had ever in her entire life. “I love you too, Albert. And…thank you for remembering…”
He hugged her back before scooping her up into his arms and setting her down on her bed. She had the wrong idea at first, before he tucked her in and sighed. “Now, go to sleep, idiot. I know you haven’t been.”
Riley sniffled, shaking her head. “I don’t wanna.”
Albert raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Why not?”
She grabbed his rough hand and looked up at him. “Remember how we had that big sleepover with you and your brothers? Well, I wanna do that. But with just me and you.”
“Y-You mean…” Al put his hand over top of his face, trying to hide his bright red blush and surprised expression. “…you want to sleep…with me?”
“Mhm. That’s my birthday wish.” She sang, pulling the string on his heart.
Albert turned back towards her, shaking his head. “You know how bad it’s going to look if we’re in the same bed, right? Carl won’t let us be for years.”
“I don’t care. It’s just a sleepover. It’s only bad if you make it bad.”
“I guess you’re right.” He clenched his eyes shut. He felt like he couldn’t even move. “S-So…you want me to just…get in the bed…”
Al sighed with a nervous look. “A-Alright…I mean…as long as you’re fine with a worthless piece of sh-“
“Oh please.” Riley whined, grabbing his arm and yanking him next to her. She then covered him up and cuddled beside him, smiling sleepily. Al didn’t dare to move a muscle, being a complete mess. Riley felt how tense he was, grinning even wider. “You’re so cute, Al.”
“Yes, you areeee. You’re all nervous cause I’m close to you. But we’ve done this before, y’know.”
“Yeah, with George in between us!”
“It’s not that much different.” She snickered, closing her eyes and sighing dreamily. “Good night, Al.”
“Good night, Riley…happy birthday…”