It's For The Best

Richard rode into the Thompsons residence. Taking off his helmet, he looked around the compound in search of a boy who loved picking flowers whenever he felt sad, but looking around, he could not find him. Looking up the building, he noticed that the windows in Riley's room were open, and standing by the open windows was Riley, whose line of vision went up to the clear blue sky.

Richard took a deep breath and proceeded into the house.

*****

Riley stood still by the window, admiring how beautiful the sky was.

"How beautiful it would be if humans have such a clear mind, but no, their minds are clouded with evil."

He took a deep sigh before turning to face the person who just entered his room.

"What brings you here big brother?"

He asked with a smile.

Richard looked at him with a frown on his face. Ever since he went to pick up Riley after receiving a phone call from Natasha the night before, he had felt something was off with Riley. Natasha refused to tell him what happened, and so likewise was Riley claiming nothing happened between he and Natasha. Which made him only more worried about them.

"Big brother."

Riley called out, when he noticed Richard looking a bit worried and standing still as though transfixed.

Hearing Riley call him, he composed himself and approached the chair by the window side. He sat on it, crossed his legs and remained silent, all the while staring at Riley who stood beside him.

Seeing this, Riley chuckled, and went to sit on the bed. Now, they both sat, staring at each other.

"When will you tell me what is going on between you and Natasha?" he said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

His voice was warm and caring, which made Riley feel a bit sad, knowing he was not planning to say a word of what really happened to Richard.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that nothing happened."

Richard looked at Riley's cold and indifferent face. This was not the Riley he used to know. The Riley he knew, was a cute little bunny, but the one in front of him was a huge contrast to the one he knew.

Riley looked different from before. His cute smiling face was long gone, he didn't look happy nor sad, he looked indifferent as he thought of ways to stop Richard from being curious.

Bravo

Of all the options he could think of, he was sure, very sure, this particular option would be the best.

"Riley." Richard said in a caring voice as he got up and came to the bed, to sit beside Riley at his left hand side.

"You promised not to keep secrets from me."

Riley took a deep sigh. He was tired, tired of it all. Just why did people expect him to act as if he was alright, when he knew he definitely was not alright. Even though he knew Richard was different, he knew there was not much Richard could do about it, afterall, the people in question were not just a regular bunch of idiots, they were people with strong backing. And putting Richard in trouble was the last thing he would ever want to do.

'I really do not want to do this Richard, but I have no other option. Hate me all you want, but I just have to do this.' Riley thought to himself.

Now faking a sad face, but was he really faking it. He looked at Richard with watery eyes.

"Riley."

Richard said in a very soft and low voice when he saw Riley's watery eyes. He used his fingers to brush off Riley's hair that fell over his face. Even though he could now see Riley's full face, he didn't remove his fingers from his face, instead, he placed his palm on Riley's face in a caring way.

"I'm sorry Richard."

Riley said, and a drop of tears fell down his cheek and stooped right at Richard's fingers. Richard cleaned it off with the back of his palm, and went back to placing his palm on that warm cheek.

'You don't have to be sorry.' Richard thought to himself, knowing saying it out definitely won't stop Riley from blaming himself.

Riley looked sad and pitiful, which pained Richard. Richard could no longer bear watching his little brother suffer, so he pulled him in for a hug.

As soon as Riley got hugged. He felt glad, glad he would not have to blatantly lie right to Richard's face. After nearly a minute of hugging and total silence, Richard try to release his grip on Riley, but Riley held him tighter. Richard, believing that Riley needed more comfort then decided to hold on to him also.

"I thought I had gotten over it, but I guess I haven't, at least, not fully, afterall, he was my first love."

Hearing this, Richard's face stiffened. He was not liking where this discussion was going.

"What do you mean?" he no longer sounded as gentle as he did before.

"You know, back then, I said I no longer love him."

"Yes."

"But I guess I was just lying to myself, I was only telling myself that, cause I could not face the truth."

"And what truth is that?" Richard's deep voice sounded angry.

"I was and I still am madly in love with Everett."

Richard went still for a second, probably out of shock, as he finally figured things out. He got up abruptly, and looked at Riley in disbelief.

'This fool. I seriously thought he had stopped being foolish. Who, just who will believe that he would return to his stupid self, and choose a first love, who doesn't even love him, over a friend who risked her own safety for him.'

Riley rose his head up, and all Richard could see was a hopeless romantic.

Richard scoffed as he looked at Riley with anger all over his face.

"I can't believe you are still this stupid." saying his, he stomped out of the room.

"Richard."

Riley called and stretched out his left hand as though to grab him. He caught nothing but air, and dropped his arm dramatically. He got up from the bed and ran to the window, just in time to see Richard ride out of the compound.

"I'm sorry Richard, but this is for your own good."

*****

Riley was sitted on his bed, going through Richard's post on his Instagram account, when he heard the sound he had been waiting for. He got up from the bed and waked towards the open windows. He looked out into the dark night and saw his father's car drive into the compound. He stood there and watched for some while, just to confirm if it was only his father who came. Seeing his father alight from the car and no one else, Riley smiled, went back to the bed to pick up his phone, which he had left on the bed earlier. Taking his phone, he stepped out of his room and went to the living room. He got there just in time to see his father step into the house.

"Dad."

He said with a smile as his father approached him.

"How was your day?"

Riley scoffed silently when he heard his father ask that. His father never asked him such except for when he had a really great day at office.

"It was fine, and I suppose yours was also fine."

'It doesn't hurt to reply him.' Riley thought to himself.

"Today was great." his father replied with a huge smile on his face as he walked past Riley.

Riley turned to go after his father, but there was this angry look on his face.

'He never bothers to care about what I have to go through everyday, so long as his business goes on well. So why ask me when he has no interest in knowing how bad my day was?' he thought to himself as he walked behind his father.

"Dad." he called out to the man, who seemed more interested in whatever it was he was doing on his phone, than speaking with his son.

"What is it Riley?"

He didn't stop walking, not even for a second, no, neither did he divert his eyes from his phone.

"There's something I have to discuss with you."

This made him take a pause, and put his phone aside in his pocket,and he turned to look at his only child. He looked at his son with a confused look. This was the first time, yes, the very first time he was seeing a very serious look on Riley's face. He was hundred percent sure that Riley did not look this serious even when he told them that he was gay. This all serious looking Riley was a Riley he was not familiar with.

This definitely must be something really serious to make the cute little bunny look so serious.

"Come with me. Let's discuss this in my room."

*****

Riley stepped into his father's room. Even though he could count on one hand the number of times he had entered his father's room, he didn't take an interest in looking around the room to see if anything had changed. He was pretty much sure everything was still the same.

The wall was still grey in color, and a black and white human sized portrait of Mr Thompson was hung on the wall by the left side of the room. Just some distance from it was a king sized bed with a white bedsheet. By the right side of the room was a door leading to the wardrobe. And another which lead to the bathroom.

There was nothing new, afterall, this was not his room, it was just a room he stayed in whenever he wanted to be alone. This was his safe zone.

Riley sat on the only sofa in the room, crossed his legs and watched his father walk towards the windows. Mr Thompson separated the white curtains, and opened the windows, letting in some fresh air. He turned back to look at Riley, and he felt surprised that Riley could be this calm when near him. The previous Riley would get angry, complain, be scared, panic, sad, feel such emotions, except be so calm. Something was off with Riley.

"What do you want to discuss with me?"

"I want to leave the country."