#river morrow

Meanwhile on the other end of Hidden Springs, two kindred souls sat together sharing a few laughs over some coffee and macaroons. “It’s about time you and Mercedes broke up,” Haley replied, taking a sip from her mug. River knew it to be true. In fact, breaking up with Mercedes felt freeing. They hadn’t left on any bad terms, but they both knew that what they had was River’s sad attempt at moving on from Lacy and Mercedes survival instincts kicking in. They were both using each other and River couldn’t really be mad at that.  “But let’s talk about something else. It’s your last day in Hidden Springs. I won’t see you for awhile.” Haley had decided to live in Hidden Springs permanently, having gotten a job at the police department as a hacker.

“Actually I’ll be back here in a few months,” River replied. “The soccer team has a big game here and I’ll be on the field. So, maybe after the game we can get some celebratory drinks or something.”

“You’re so sure you’re going to win?” Haley mused, her lips twitching into a smile. A smile that never failed to make his heart race.

“I don’t have to win the game to celebrate seeing you again,” River said with a simple shrug. “So, what do you say? Let’s promise to meet up at this exact spot in a few months. But instead of coffee and macaroons we’ll have something more exciting.” River extended his hand over the table and Haley took it. With a simple shake their promise was sealed.

“Okay, I will see you here in a few months. Then maybe we can meet up again in Bridgeport and double date with Ayla and Sage?” Haley covered her mouth, realizing what she had said. Date.

If you want to read the chapter in full over on wordpress, here it is! Otherwise, the rest will be posted to tumblr in the next 2 hours or so. 

Debating on writing a summary up until this point but the next gen is going to be slightly detached so any new readers will be able to jump right in. 

“It might be,” River admitted, squeezing the bridge of his nose. “Haley liked one of my posts a few weeks ago, so I thought we could reconnect. It’s not a big deal.”

“Which is why you held your phone down so I wouldn’t see it, right?” Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Can’t believe you just got back from your trip seeing that bitch Shania and now you’re all about moving on from me.”

“I love you,” River said. He reached out to grab his girlfriend’s hands and she shook him off. “I’m not leaving you. I even told Shania and Karen to back off, because I’m choosing my love over them. You mean the world to me.”

Suddenly, Mercedes turned to him with a sparkle in her eyes. It was funny how everyone but River had noticed the very obvious change in the girl’s manner when she had gotten news that would benefit her in the long run. “You really said that to them? You finally stood up for me?”

“I always stick up for you. You’re my girlfriend. You come first. Now, I’d love if you’d give Shania and Karen a chance but…we can work on that one step at a time.” River gave her a weak smile, contemplating that option in his head. It was more likely than not that this decision he’d made would be the final one. He couldn’t expect his friends to understand how he felt about Mercedes.

River held his phone up to his face and smiled, scrolling through the pictures of Haley at the Hidden Springs Art Expo. She had looked so pretty with her hair tied up into a bow and the floral print dress. He had been texting her after seeing she had recently liked one of his posts. Two years ago they were good friends, but everyone went their separate ways after they left Hidden Springs. He was wondering how she was doing. If not for her, he might have crawled back to Lacy. He was forever grateful for having not gotten mixed up with that girl again. He heard she was pregnant or something? But he tried not to keep up on Lacy’s latest drama.

Flopping onto the couch beside him, Mercedes kicked her legs up onto the coffee table. “Whatcha looking at that’s so important, hmm? I’ve been calling you.”

River angled his phone downwards so his girlfriend wouldn’t see he had decided to contact Haley again. “You have been? Why, what’s up?”

“Did you get approved on that new house? The one closer to the beach?” Mercedes pondered. “I’m going to need a nice comfy place to stay in while you’re on tour with your fancy soccer team.”

“About that,” River said, straightening up. “I think we should wait a bit. I just got scouted for this team, so we don’t know how much I’ll be making yet. I’m a rookie, so I don’t imagine those six figures are going to be mine right away.”

I haver another epilogue chapter out for you guys to read on WordPress. It will be posted here tomorrow.

Karen held her head in her hands and sobbed. Nothing was going right. She and Shay were happy, but in the same instance there was a huge part of them that was missing. Without the support of Cameron and River, Karen felt her world crashing around her. She should have been ecstatic to break the news of her pregnancy to Shay. But…thinking about how his brother and her best friend wouldn’t be around in the baby’s life at this rate was heartbreaking. She wanted them there for her kid as much as she wanted her own family to be there.

“What’s wrong babe?” Shay asked, coming into the room with two glasses of hot chocolate. “Are you upset about the move?”

“No,” Karen said, looking down at her hands. “I think moving is the best option for us but, I hate the idea of leaving our other relationships behind. River is mad at me because he thinks that I don’t support his relationship and Cameron hates that we’re leaving him behind.”

“They’re going through a lot,” Shay replied, slinking his arm around his wife. “Cameron especially. I think some time in Bridgeport with Shania will remind him of what’s important. As for River, he’s in love. All he sees is Mercedes. He’s only going to wake up when he gets his heartbroken and maybe he needs that to learn.”

“Maybe…” She sniffled but more tears fell from her eyes. “I just wanted them to be here for this news.” She placed a hand on her stomach. “Shay, I’m pregnant.”

“Wh..what!?” He exclaimed, eyes widening. “Karen, are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I know it’s not the right time.”

“Shania deserves to be happy too. I agree she sometimes can’t keep her emotions in check, but she’s done a lot for both of us. I’m not giving her up that easily. I want to have my husband and my best friends. You should talk to Mercedes.”

“I love Shania too,” River said. “She’s really important to me but so is Mercedes. If my best friend can’t be nice to the girl I love…”

“Is she nice to you?” Karen challenged him. “Is Mercedes loving and caring when no one is looking? Does she do more than let you put your arm around her? If you’re sad, does she stop what she’s doing to comfort you? Does she tell you she loves you for no reason at all?”

River was quiet and that was all Karen needed to know. After a moment, River stood up with an angry sigh. “You think she’s using me too, don’t you?”

“I think that you might be hurt from Lacy and rushing headfirst into a new relationship,” Karen replied. “You’re a loving and caring guy. It would be easy for someone like Mercedes to slide in and take advantage of that.”

“We’re in love,” River asserted, balling his hands into fists. “I expected this from Shania but not you too. Listen, not all of us can date rich famous pop stars!”