British Invasion | 10
Overview:In the middle of her freshman year of high school Riley Matthew’s mother gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to run her firms London Office. Much to everyone’s surprise her mother accepts the job, forcing Riley and her younger brother Auggie to leave behind everything they’ve ever known. Almost three years later the Matthew’s family moves back to New York and Riley comes to realize a lot has changed in the time she’s been gone. Author’s Notes: Lucas finally finds out about what happened in London that caused The Matthews to move back home. [As always the text in italics are flashbacks.] Chapter 10: “Oliver & Company.” Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 Word Count: 4,867
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Slowly and reluctantly, Riley uncovers her face. She blinks several times before the streaks of sunlight penetrate the window and practically blind her. She sits up, drags her feet off the bed, and rubs her knuckles into her eyes before stretching her arms out above her head and letting out a well needed yawn. She needed a few more hours of nothingness. Not to sleep, but to prepare, to pour her thoughts out onto a page, reorganize, prioritize and pack them back in again. She had a lot to figure out in terms of her feelings and it didn’t help that whenever she closed her eyes only one person came to mind.
As her feet dangled off the bed and hit the hardwood floor she feels a chill in the air. Curious to see what weather she’d be dealing with that day she opens the window and inhales the crisp, cool air.
“Snow!” She hears Auggie yell from his room. Shortly after she can hear the pitter-patter of his little feet hitting the floor as he runs into her room and up to the window she was still standing in front of. “Riley look it’s snowing!” He beamed, standing on his tippy toes to see out further on the street.
“Yeah, I see it Augs.” She smiles, tussling the younger boy’s bouncy head of curls. “First snow of the season.”
“Let’s go to the roof!” He insists, dragging her by the sleeve of her night shirt. She didn’t bother protesting, she knew he’d win out in the end and she’d never say no to an impromptu play in the snow.
Sticking out her tongue like a little child, they both run outside hand-in-hand. Not caring that it was frigid, they ran and twirled, the heavy snowflakes falling faster and faster, almost mimicking their eccentric twirling.
She blinked thoughtfully as the frost patiently kissed her face, she adored the snow, more so when it was falling. The street always looked like an unfinished painting. Like so much of the canvas was still perfectly white, as if waiting for the artists hand to return.
“It’s freezing out here.” They hear Topanga say from the door, “Come back inside.”
The two saunter back over to the door and make their way down the stairs to the living room. Cory was over by the coffee machine, mumbling something under his breath as they come into view.
“Riley, we have an appointment in about 20 minutes so we need you to stay home today and watch your brother.” Topanga continues, placing their breakfast on the table.
“We?” Riley tilts her head to the side as she slides onto the stool. “As in…you guys are a ‘we’ again?”
She watches her parents exchange a soft smile before giving them their attention again. “We want to be a family again and sometimes in order for that to happen you need to put your differences aside and seek help.”
“So this appointment you have, it’s like couples counseling?” She asks, ripping her toast in half. “Are you sure that’s what you need?”
“Oh we’re no stranger to counseling.” Cory teases, filling his thermos up with coffee. “When we first got married tensions were pretty high and it actually helped us work a lot of our issues out.”
“Well if you think that’s what needs to be done then I’m supportive.” Riley smiles, nudging her brother. “Yeah, whatever it takes.” Auggie adds in.
It only takes about an hour after their parents leave for Auggie to ask if Ava can come over. Not wanting to play the bad guy Riley says yes and before she knows it the fiery little blonde is at their door, singing her arrival. Riley playfully rolls her eyes at the girl, the singing was cute when she was 5 but now it was a bit of an overkill.
She watches the two of them skip back to Auggie’s room and settles back onto the sofa. Just as she’s getting comfortable her text notification goes off.
Lucas: You home? Riley: Unfortunately Lucas: Can I come over?
She absent mindedly taps her phone against her chin as she decides on what to do. It’s not that she didn’t want to see Lucas because she did. But she wanted to spend her day trying to figure out how she felt and what to do but that would be significantly harder if he was there in the flesh, staring into her soul with those forest green bedroom eyes. She sighs before picking her phone back up and typing out a response.
Riley: Of course Lucas: Awesome!
Just as she receives his text she hears the door buzzer go off. A smirk crosses her face as she stands up from the sofa and buzzes him in. Figures he’d be here already, she laughs to herself, hovering by the door.
Lucas appears with two hot drinks in his hand and an eager grin on his face. “I was already outside.” He chuckles, stepping over the threshold, handing her one of the cups.
“Yeah I can see that.” She giggles, taking his coat from him to hang it up by the door. “Why are you out and about so early?”
“I was headed to the library but the snow kind of put a damper on those plans.” He shrugs, following her into her bedroom. “Your family here?”
“Uh…no.” She takes a sip of her drink, trying to ignore the fact that this was the first time she’s been alone with him in her bedroom since the incident back in November. “Well, Auggie and Ava are in his room but my parents are out.”
Lucas nods his head and walks around, staring at the décor in her room. He stops when he gets to her nightstand, sitting down on the bed as he picks up the framed picture of her and Sam. The same one he saw when she first moved back here.
He studies the picture for a moment even though it was already burned into his memory. “You know, I just realized this is the only picture I’ve seen of you overseas.” He tries to play off his jealousy as curiosity. “Do you have any more?”
“Actually I think I have a scrapbook I made around here somewhere.” She walks over to her closet and reaches for the big black book on the top shelf. She manages to wiggle it out from under a pile of literature and magazines. “This is only a few pictures but you’ll get the gist.” She smiles, joining him on her bed.
Lucas takes the scrapbook out of her hand and flips to the first page. It’s mostly pictures of her and her family at the airport and on the plane. The next couple of pages were of their flat in London and sight seeing’s. Halfway through he comes across pictures of people he didn’t recognize.
“Who’s this?” He points to the red head with her arm wrapped around Riley’s shoulders. He noticed there was a lot of pictures of them together, it was almost like looking at a British version of Maya.
“That’s Allison.” She smiles softly, “She lived in my building.”
“You guys were close?” He asks, smiling down at a more candid shot of the two. Riley’s head was thrown back in laughter and the Allison girl was covering her face in embarrassment.
“We were.” She nods her head, hoping he wouldn’t pry.
Lucas catches on but not wanting to push it he continues to flip through the pages. He stops when he sees Sam and a bunch of other guys he didn’t know. “I know this one.” He points to the tall dark haired boy, “But who are all these people?”
“Just a bunch of Sam’s friends. They were all really nice.” She smiles, looking over the pictures with him.
Lucas flips the page and it’s like her mood changes entirely. She stiffens up, a deadpan expression on her face as she looks down at the book. Both pages were filled with the same boy and Riley. He was about the same height as Lucas and shared his sandy ash blonde hair. His hazel eyes were more brown than green and he was of stockier build.
“Should I even ask?” He whispers causing her to flinch slightly.
“That’s...” She swallows hard. “That’s Oliver.”
“It’s not really me.” Riley huffs, tugging on the hem of her skirt. The cream colored bodycon dress she squeezed into fell about 4 inches above her knee, not only was it too short for her liking but the halter straps up top had a deep v-neck shape to it that exposed more cleavage than she was used to.
“Who says?” Allison asks, instructing her to spin around so she could see the back. The two girls had just gotten back from shopping and Allison convinced Riley that the dress she was currently sporting was made for her. But now that she was trying it on, she wasn’t so sure.
“Says anyone who knows me at all.” Riley sighs, doing another spin in the dress. Even though technically nothing was on show she still felt too exposed in it. “I always play it safe.”
“You know I love you Ri but you can’t live in dungaree’s for the rest of your life.” The auburn haired girl smiles, standing to her feet to adjust the back of the dress.
“Dung-a-what?”
“These.” Allison laughs, throwing a pair of Riley’s denim overalls in her face. “Besides, you’re in a new place now, who says you can’t be a new person as well? Or at the very least, have a new fashion sense.”
Riley considers it. She had already finished up her first year in London and she was still feeling lost over her friends back in New York. Maybe a new look was what she needed.
“Girls, can you come out here for a second?” Topanga knocks on her bedroom door, calling them out into the living room.
Knowing her mother would throw a fit over the dress she was wearing, Riley grabs the closest thing she can find, which happens to be a flannel she stole from Lucas back when they were a couple. She throws it on and stumbles out of her room with Allison right on her toes.
From where they were standing they could see two guys sitting on the sofa. One was a lot older, salt and pepper hair on full display and the other was a lot younger, maybe a few years older than riley. His light hair was perfectly quaffed and when he smiled she could see he had a slight dimple in only one of his cheeks.
“This is my daughter Riley and her friend Allison.” Topanga introduces the four of them. “Girls this is my boss Mr. Pentland and his son, Oliver. Oliver is interning at our firm and we all thought it’d be a good idea to introduce the two of you.”
Riley suddenly very aware of what she’s wearing wraps the plaid flannel tightly around her body as subtly as she can. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She smiles, outstretching her arm to shake both their hands.
“You as well.” Oliver smirks, “It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”
“I’ve been mentioned?” Riley offers a confused glance toward Topanga who doesn’t have much of a reaction to it.
“All good things I promise.” The boy smiles, looking her up and down. “Since our parents are doing the whole boring dinner thing tonight why don’t you two come around mine? I’m having some friends over for just like a chill night in.”
“I think that’s a great idea.” Topanga chimes in, nodding at her daughter. “We’re still relatively new around here, it would be good for you to go out and make some more friends. Don’t you think, sweetie?”
“I, uh, guess so.”
“It’s settled then.” Oliver smiles, “I’ll see you at 9.”
~~
Around a quarter to nine the two girls head off for the Pentland residence in Chelsea. Because Oliver said it was just a “chill night in” Riley opted for some ripped jeans and a t-shirt though Allison had a better idea of what was in store for the evening, wearing a figure-hugging red dress. Even standing next to her friend felt out of place but the second they pulled up in front of his apartment, Riley knew she was in for a long night of feeling like an outcast.
Oliver’s “chill night in” was actually a house party, and the “some friends” he had coming over actually turned out to be 4 dozen people, none of which seemed to know who he was, they were just there for a good time.
He spots Riley the second she comes through the door, unable to miss her since she stuck out like a sore thumb. “Sorry, I probably should’ve warned you.” He says once he approaches them, “though for what it’s worth I think you look great.”
“So is ‘chill night in’ English slang for house party?” She teases, sizing up the room.
“Nooo,” Oliver chuckles, “I just thought it was an easier way to get you to come over.”
Riley feels heat rush to her cheeks as he not so subtly flirts with her. “What makes you so sure I wouldn’t have come if I knew it was a party?”
He shrugs, grinning at the brunette. “Call it a feeling.”
For the rest of the night the two of them seem to be inseparable. Allison ended up breaking off from the group and mingling with the other party guests but Riley stayed put by Oliver’s side. He was determined to show her a good time and she was determined to not be alone.
“I want to introduce you to some of my friends.” He wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulling her towards the group of guys who all occupied the only sofa in the living room. “Guys this is Riley. Riley this is the guys.” She waves at them, “This is Evan, Joe, Dave and Sam.”
“Enjoying the party, love?” The ginger-haired boy named Evan smiles, popping some chips into his mouth.
“I’m not much of a partyer but I am having fun.” She says, coyly smiling at the group of boys.
“Is that an American accent I hear?” Joe asks, sitting up in his spot. His interest peeked.
“Guilty.” Riley lets out a nervous laugh.
“Bet I can guess where you’re from.” He continues, not breaking his gaze from hers.
“Alright, you’re scaring her.” Sam hits him in the arm, shaking his head at his friends. “Don’t mind him, he doesn’t get out much.”
“Now that my friends have made you sufficiently uncomfortable I think it’s time for a drink.” Oliver laughs, guiding Riley away.
“Oh, I don’t drink.” She hesitates, “I’m only 16.”
“I won’t tell if you don’t.” He smirks, grabbing a cup. “Besides, the legal drinking age here is 18 so really what’s two years?”
She looked between him and the beer in his hand contemplating what to do. She knew she shouldn’t have, New York Riley would never in a million years partake in underage drinking, especially not at a party surrounded by strangers. But she couldn’t fight the feeling inside her, feeling like no matter what she did she wasn’t New York Riley anymore. That wasn’t her life anymore, those people weren’t her friends anymore. She lived in a new city with new people. Maybe Allison was right, maybe it was time for her to be a new person.
“Okay.” She breathes, accepting the drink from him. “Just one drink.”
“Riley?” Lucas’ voice cuts through her memory, abruptly ending the inner turmoil she was reliving. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” He pauses, “If you’re not ready.”
“I want you to know.” Her voice cracks, eyes falling to the floor. “It’s just hard for me to talk about.”
He watches her stand up and pace the room slightly, racking her brain to try and find the right way to say what needed to be said. She’s been keeping this inside since she got here. If anything she was surprised none of her friends asked why they were back in the first place. Not one of them suspected something was up, and she was fine with that. She was fine with never having to relive what happened in London because it hurts to talk about. It hurts knowing that she’s the reason her family had to uproot again. It’s her fault her parents are fighting, it was all her fault. Or so she thought.
“Oliver is the son of my mom’s old boss in London.” She fidgets with her fingers, trying to calm her nerves. “Our parents introduced us and we grew really close. We started spending time together and he introduced me to his friends, which is how I met Sam, and for a while everything was fine. Somewhere along the line our friendship turned into something…more.”
“We’re here to celebrate my beautiful girlfriends 18th birthday!” Oliver drunkenly raises from his seat at the pub, giving an impromptu toast to the birthday girl. “When I first met Riley she was this shy little American girl who had never even had a sip of alcohol before and now after a year and a half of friendship, and months of trying to woo her I finally have the honor of calling her my girlfriend. To you Ri, may your cup always be full and your spirits always be high. Happy birthday, my love. Cheers!”
Riley sinks into her chair, shielding her face from the embarrassing cheers and “woohoos” being thrown her way. While she got used to the alcohol she had yet to get used to being the center of attention.
“We should head back to your party.” Sam suggests, throwing some money on the table. “Before Prince Charming over here gets us kicked out of the pub.”
When they get to the Pentland’s where Riley’s official birthday bash is being held, the drinking doesn’t stop, at least not for Oliver. He insist on taking more shots even though at that point he was way past the point of no return. Drinking everyone else under the table.
As her boyfriend gets obliterated Riley finds herself spending more time with Sam. “Come with me for a second.” The tall dark-haired boy gets up from the loveseat they were sharing, “I have something for you.” Riley follows him into another room, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Allison.
Sam shuffles through his bag that was on the floor and stops when he pulls out a small blue jewelry box. “I saw this in the window of a shop when I was in Brighton and immediately thought of you.” He hands her the box and waits for her to open it before he continues. Inside the box was a beautiful dainty silver necklace with her birthstone sat in the middle. “Happy Birthday, Ri.”
“Sam, it’s beautiful.” She smiles, carefully pulling it out of the box. “You really shouldn’t have.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He smiles, taking it from her hand. “You only turn 18 once.”
Riley pulls her loose curled locks to one side of her neck, giving him the opportunity to put the necklace on her. Unbeknownst to either of them, Allison caught that moment, completely misconstruing it as something intimate or romantic.
“We should get back to the party.” She smiles, “But thank you for the gift. I love it.”
As the night goes on, Oliver progressively becomes more and more intoxicated to the point where everyone in the room is steering clear of him. Riley, needing a few moments to herself, hides out in his bedroom.
“Ri?” Oliver knocks on the door even though he’s already opened it. “Is everything alright?”
Riley looks up from where she’s sitting, shifting in her spot until he joins her on the bed. “Everything is fine.”
“You don’t seem fine.” He pouts, finishing off his drink before placing the glass on his nightstand. “Have I ruined your birthday?”
“Don’t be silly.” She smiles weakly at the boy, trying to ignore the pungent smell on his breath. “Of course not.”
Oliver tucks some of her locks behind her ear, allowing his hand to graze down her neck and stop at her chest. His eyebrows furrow together as he looks at the shiny necklace staring him in the face. “That’s new.” He purses his lips together, spinning the tiny gem between his fingers.
“It was a gift.” She reaches up to touch it. “From Sam.”
His gaze lifts from her chest to her eyes, narrowing them as he looks at her. Without so much as a warning, he aggressively pulls Riley’s face towards him, engulfing her lips in an eager kiss. She struggles against him, trying to pry the larger guy off of her as he forcefully pushes her down on the bed, not letting up.
“Oliver, you’re drunk.” She pleads, “Please don’t do this.”
“I bet if it were Sam you wouldn’t be saying no.” He mutters under his breath, pressing his lips to her neck now.
“What’re you talking about?!” She manages to sit up but he just overpowers her again. “Get off of me!” She yells loud enough to grab someone’s attention from the hallway.
Sam busts through the door, yanking his drunk friend off of Riley, breaking her necklace in the process. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Sam pushes him against the wall, forearm pressed to his neck.
“What’s wrong with me? What the bloody hell is wrong with you?” Oliver pushes him back, freeing himself from his grasp.
“What are you on about?”
“How long have you been fucking my girlfriend behind my back?” Oliver continues, slurring his words.
“You’re an idiot you know that.” Sam laughs harshly, shaking his head. “You’re drunk. Walk it off.” He tries to leave the room but Oliver pulls him back in.
“Don’t fucking lie to me.” Oliver continues, “Allison told me she saw you two earlier.”
Riley looks to the doorway where Allison and the rest of their friends were standing, mouths open in shock. Before she can say anything to the girl she’s out the door.
“Nothing happened.” Riley insists, finally standing to her feet.
“I wasn’t talking to you, slag.”
The moment those words leave his mouth, Sam’s fist meets his jawline. After the first punch is thrown it turns into an all-out brawl, the two guys breaking everything in their path as they tumble outside to the living room where the party was still going on.
Riley runs out of the room, trying to catch up to them as they continue to beat each other to a bloody pulp.
“Riley honey what is going on?” Cory asks, holding onto his daughter as the two boys finally get broken up.
“It’s just a big misunderstanding.” She stammers.
Mr. Pentland manages to calm both of them down before getting to the bottom of the situation. “Oliver, what happened?”
“What happened is my girlfriend has been fucking my best friend behind my back!” He declares, glaring at Sam.
All eyes land on Riley and in that moment she wanted nothing more than to be invisible or at the very least have the floor swallow her whole.
“Excuse me?” Topanga’s eyes widen at the boy’s accusations.
“There has to be some sort of misunderstanding.” Cory adds, still holding onto Riley which she would be eternally grateful for. She knew that if he let go she’d crumble to the ground.
“I swear to you, Sam and I are just friends.” She looks up at her father, knowing of all people he was most likely to take her word for it, no questions asked.
“If that’s true then why is my son so sure of your actions?” Mr. Pentland directs his comment at Riley.
“I don’t care what he’s sure of. He has no creditability.” Topanga remarks, feeling herself getting defensive. “With all due respect sir, your son is a drunk.”
“and your daughter is a slut.” Oliver snaps back.
Riley was mortified, frozen to the spot. She felt traumatized. She couldn't believe this was happening, and in front of everybody too. She stood soaking in his cruel words, her head beginning to spin.
“What did you just say?” Topanga flares up, marching over to Oliver.
“I think it goes without saying that the party is over.” Mr. Pentland steps in, shooting everyone a look.
As everyone starts to leave the Matthews all pile into their car, none of them making a peep.
After 10 minutes of silence, Topanga speaks up first. “Riley, I will stand by you no matter what but if I’m going to put my butt on the line for you, I need to know the truth.” Cory snaps his head over to her in shock. “Was there any truth to what Oliver was saying?”
“You can’t be serious.” Cory glares at her, flabbergasted that she’d ever think that that could be true about their daughter. “Of course it’s not true.”
“I of all people know how painful it is to like the same person as my best friend, do you really think I’d go around inflicting it on someone else? Do you really think I’d come between two best friends like that? I didn’t suffer through the triangle just to do it all again myself…It’s like you don’t even know me at all.”
“Your mother knows you, Riley.”
“No, I’m not so sure I do.” Topanga shakes her head. “You’re not exactly the girl you used to be. This girl, this girl you’ve become with the partying and the staying out late and the dressing differently, I don’t know this girl.”
Riley doesn’t say anything. There was nothing that could be said to undo her mother’s remark. She was right, they didn’t know her anymore. She didn’t even know herself.
The rest of the ride home is nothing but silence. It isn’t until Riley’s in bed that her parents starts to argue, turning the once peaceful apartment, into a war zone.
As their arguing continues on into the night, Riley gets a small knock on her door. Auggie, unable to sleep, asks to come in. He climbs up into bed with her, both staring up at the ceiling as they try to ignore the yelling from the next room over.
“Think they’ll ever stop?” Auggie asks, squeezing his eyes shut.
Riley sighs, pulling her covers up over them. “I hope so.”
~~
In the morning Riley wakes up to a still sleeping Auggie. She quietly slips out of bed and peaks into her parents’ bedroom, seeing that neither one of them were still there. Forever the optimist, she hoped that meant they reconciled and that she’d walk into the kitchen and see her parents, sitting at the breakfast table, lovingly staring into each other’s eyes like they usually did every morning.
Instead, she sees her mom and Mr. Pentland sitting at the table. Not wanting to make herself known, she hides behind the wall, listening to their conversation.
“It’s unfortunate the way things ended last night.” Mr. Pentland sighs, “But I think it’s important that our children own up to their mistakes so we can all move on from this.”
“Your son is the reason last night ended the way it did.” Topanga holds her ground. “He slut shamed my daughter in front of her entire party. I think it’s safe to say he holds most, if not all, of the blame.”
“With all due respect Topanga, it’s no secret that young American girls tend to be...well, easy. Your daughter may not have thrown a punch but her actions are what caused the confrontation in the first place. ”
“Excuse me?!” Topanga rises from her chair. “Your sad excuse for a son forced himself on my daughter and when she rejected his advances he picked a fight with the boy closest to her. I’m not going to sit here and allow you to shame my daughter for something she didn’t do.”
“Perhaps it was a mistake coming here this morning…amongst other things.” He stands to his feet, walking toward the door. “I expect a resignation letter on my desk by tomorrow night.”
--
“He forced her to resign?” Lucas asks, now glaring down at the pictures of Oliver and Riley together.
“She didn’t really have a choice.” Riley sighs, blinking away any tears that were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. “I mean she could’ve fought it but in the end she decided she didn’t want to work for him anymore anyway. Not to mention the check he wrote to shut her up.”
“No amount of money could make up for the way he treated you, Riley.” Lucas closes the scrapbook and stands up to pull her into an embrace. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
The feel of his body so close to her soothed Riley more than she had expected. The world around her melted away as she squeezed him back, not wanting the moment to end.
