she made a fool of everyone

jamesrius:

As Tate listened to the whole story his expression remained neutral, completely masking the fact the he was upset. They had made a promise to each other. It was a while ago and he wasn’t sure if Riley had forgotten about it or if she just stopped caring about it, either way it still hurt. Ree was his best friend now and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel slightly betrayed by it. He wasn’t going to hold that against her though. He knew where she was coming from, he knew what it felt like to have someone he cared about deeply tell you to kill yourself even if they weren’t physically there. Without thinking he pulled her into a tight hug when she finished her explanation. “I’ll tell you what your supposed to do okay? You’re gonna work your butt of to get better so you can leave this shithole behind and never look back alright?” by now he had tears in his eyes “You’re not gonna look back when you leave, you’re gonna forget all about anyone that’s ever done you any sort of wrong here, you’re gonna see Callum again, and you two are going to get the most cheesy happy ever after that you deserve.” He said pulling away to look at her “Alright? I know you can pull it off, you’re way stronger than you give yourself credit for. I believe in you.”

Riley let him, why wouldn't see? There was nothing left for her to loose. Underneath the sleeves of her blouse, the bandages tightly wrapped around her wrists to shield the world from the perfect way she carved her skin. It was beautiful in a way, tragic, but nevertheless beautiful to her. 

Exactly…I actually told her that.” he chuckled shortly. “I would have just left it alone…But she crossed a line and…” He sighed “It doesn’t matter.” he said shaking his head slightly. He couldn’t but feel a tad bit of jealousy towards Riley, at least she would be able to see Callum again. He knew that wasn’t the way he should be thinking but once again he just couldn’t help it. “I know Callum, and I know he wouldn’t pass up the option to see you…Even if it is for one day.”

"No, you had every right to put her in her place. Got, I still remember the last argument we had. Why can't she realize that what she did to Chase was an awful thing to do?" She shrugged, easily shaking it off as the subject was instead changed to Callum. "But it's my own fault, Tate. He's the reason I'm here." She cast her eyes down to the ground, nervously fiddling with her hands. "It's because of Callum, and you, and home and I just.. I couldn't take it any more. I couldn't stand being away, at home. I wasn't ready. My father took me back but it was too soon." She swallowed deeply, a weak attempt to stop the waterfall of words falling from her lips. "He treated me like I was about to snap at any second, my father and my teachers too, like I was a time bomb about to explode. My peers treated me like I was a deformity, something to be exterminated. All the while I couldn't see you, or Callum. I thought it wouldn't be so bad, that I could handle it but I.." She realized then. That she should have told Tate. That during their short phone calls, and the letters she send him, she should have let it shine through that she wasn't happy. So that maybe he could help her find a solution.. But she hadn't been able to do that. It wouldn't have been fair. She got out and he was still stuck at Recupero. She should have counted her blessings and praised the lord for 'em. "I listened to her Tate, I did. I took the knife and I listened to my mum. All my life I've known it. I was going to turn out just like her. Dead and gone and withered long before my time. Why not safe others the trouble and speed up time?" At that point she had an awful hard time controlling herself, her voice quivering with each word she spoke. "I took the knife and I brought it to my skin and I sliced. I sliced and I sliced until I lost all feeling and there was nothing left for me to do. I was certain I was going to drown. Decay and never be found again." Her words started to mix together, forming almost incoherent sentences as tears welled up behind her eyes. "But they found me, brought me back against my will and here am I.. what am I supposed to do with that? What am I supposed to do, Tate?" Her last sentence came out as a breathless whisper, barely audible; staring blankly ahead of herself, not even at him; always too afraid to face him. 

"Sounds like someone got into a fight with Natalie." She Couldn’t even hide her own curiosity, her preying eyes practically begging him to tell her what was going on. "See, you’re too hot for me to compete with. I guess that means I’ll have to say goodbye to my man.. again." Her expression actually did fell. It was all a joke yet it reminded her of her goodbye to Callum and how long she may not see him.

He scoffed slightly. “It wasn’t much of an argument, when she defended herself it was a piss poor attempt and half the time made no sense at all. So I wouldn’t call it a fight I’d barely call it an argument. Sure she pissed me off but she did that by lying, I pissed her off by telling her the truth.” He said with a shrug. His expression turned serious when he saw Riley’s face fall. “Hey…You’ll see him again, he’s not gone forever” he said placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"Well, Isn't that what we're used to by now? It still baffles me how she managed to get Chase ánd Mason all rallied up." She sighed, forcing a smile when he told her she'd see Callum again. She knew she would but that didn't mean that time would come any time soon. "But he has school.. he can't just fly all the way over here to see me for one lousy day. That's as much as they'll give me." Although she'd take it within a heartbeat, without a single doubt. 

"Totally. Luckily I’m noynot like that, unlike someone else we know," she smirked. "Callum has always been taller than me but that doesn’t mean I’m tiny." She tried to fake a sad expression, failing miserably in the progress. "Don’t be such a meany, Tate, or else I won’t let you go on that pizza date with Tate. I mean, who says I’ll even allow you to go on a date with my boyfriend in the first place? What if he’ll come to the conclusion you’re much hotter than me and the two of you will run off together?" 

He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his mouth at the comment. It had reminded him of the fight they had and the poor excuses she had come up with, it was all pretty amusing to him. She had managed to piss him off, sure, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. He grinned at her failed sad expression “Oh I’m the biggest meany there is, just ask Natalie, she’ll tell you all about it.” He actually laughed again at Riley’s next words “Not gonna lie, I’m pretty hot, so it is a possibility…I’m kidding, he loves you and you know that.”

"Sounds like someone got into a fight with Natalie." She Couldn't even hide her own curiosity, her preying eyes practically begging him to tell her what was going on. "See, you're too hot for me to compete with. I guess that means I'll have to say goodbye to my man.. again." Her expression actually did fell. It was all a joke yet it reminded her of her goodbye to Callum and how long she may not see him.

He chuckled “Good, because it was about to get real weird if it was the same way.” He said grinning at her once she pulled away. He was both disappointed and relived when she pulled away, physical contact hadn’t exactly been his strong suit lately but he had missed her a lot so this was kind of an exception. He chuckled and shook his head “I doubt it, I bet Callum is looking taller to you too.” He said teasingly. He chuckled again “It better be, that’s like the one thing I’m looking forward to when I get out.”

"Totally. Luckily I'm noynot like that, unlike someone else we know," she smirked. "Callum has always been taller than me but that doesn't mean I'm tiny." She tried to fake a sad expression, failing miserably in the progress. "Don't be such a meany, Tate, or else I won't let you go on that pizza date with Tate. I mean, who says I'll even allow you to go on a date with my boyfriend in the first place? What if he'll come to the conclusion you're much hotter than me and the two of you will run off together?" 

He chuckled still holding onto her, he had missed her she was probably the closest thing he had to a real friend here now and while he was upset that she was back here he was really happy to see her. “Well I’d hope you don’t love me the way you love Callum because then we’d have a problem.” he said with a laugh. “Technically I wasn’t the one who left, you were but I’d love yo be your jerk” he said with a grin. He shook his head at her question “nah, I think you just got shorter.” he said reaching to rest his hand on her head for a moment “Yeah, definitely shorter.”

"Nah, although I love you a whole lot I, naturally, love Callum in a whole different way." She smiled brightly, and then, finally let go. It still felt a little uneasy to do so. She feared he might vanish into thin air if she did. "I so haven't. You're the one that grew, for sure." She puted before laughing softly. It felt good to see him again. "He by the way told me to say hi from him. I suppose you still have that pizza date to attend in the future," she snickered. 

Tate was shocked to say at least. He thought Riley was gone, not as gone as Fina was but he thought he wouldn’t see her any time soon. It didn’t help that he had been doing things he was sure Riley would at least hit him for, but it didn’t take him long to put up the front he put on for the therapists and smile back at her. He chuckled when she hugged him and hugged back tightly “Oh? You missed a jerk?” He asked teasingly.

She barely noticed, the fakeness of it all. She hadntseen her friend in too long and believed his lack of instant reaction to be because of his surprise to see her again. "I call Callum a jerk all the time, and yet I still love him." She chuckled, for the first time since she said her goodbyes to Callum she felt genuinely happy. "So you can be my two jerks and never, ever leave again. All right?" She pulled away the slightest, only enough to look at him; her arms still lightly draped around his shoulders. "Is it possible you got even taller than you were when I last saw you?" She buried her head on his shoulder again, having missed him more than she initially realised. 

She jerked up her head when she nearly walked into someone, so concentrated on her search that she forgot to look right in front of her. "Can't you watch where you walk, jerk?" A frustrated look crossed her face as she averted her eyes up to look at the boy in front of her. One.. two.. it took three seconds for her to recognise him and for a smile to appear on her face, her reaction pure instinct. "Tate! Oh, by God how much I've missed you." Which was the exact same moment she pulled him near; nearly squeezing the life out of him when she hugged him as she wasn't about to let go. 

This smells amazing, I can’t wait to try—

Weren't you able to tell? You know, people like you, people that carelessly tab their water and assume it's acceptable, deserve to drink dirt water at least once. 

Psst… hey. Can you help me? How do you tell someone they’re cute?

That depends, who are we talking about here? Different people require a different approach. 

He walks around, singing to himself: “This is Halloween, this is Halloween… Oh.”

As much as I enjoy hearing you sing, do you have to repeat that song over and over again as long as it's October? I mean.. you're still gonna sing it when you're in the shower?