Clammylaugh

"Sissy, I brought you a gift."
He shuddered in fear the moment he heard her voice. Whenever he heard her voice, he knew nothing good ever came out of it.
"Please, not today." His voice made it obvious he was scared.
She laughed, then touched his shoulder. He flinched, but she held him down.
"Please." he said in almost a whisper.
*****
"HI." she waved at him.
"You must be the Riley everyone's talking of, right?"
He was left dumbfounded, hearing her say she had heard about him. Everyone who had heard about him made sure to keep their distance, so just why was she trying to start a conversation with him?
"If you are doing this to become popular, then you are very well welcome to be my friend. But if you are just naive, I would advise you to keep your distance." he said to discourage her.
"We do have something in common. You get bullied, so you hate bullies, while I hate them just because they are bullies."
"Hating them does not change the fact that you will get bullied if you befriend me."
"Then I will have you watch me kick their asses if they try messing with us."
"Are we friends now." she asked after they both laugh at her former words.
"We are, as long as you are ready to kick some ass."
"Bring it on."

In Search Of Home

Riley's mouth was filled with berries, and while chewing, he stole a quick glance at his friend, and he found himself smiling. He kept on filling his already filled mouth with berries, as he was so happy to see he was finally able to make her smile. He didn't want her being worried all because of him, not at all, infact, he didn't want anyone to get worried all cause of him.

While stuffing his mouth, he noticed her once happy smile turn sad. He stopped stuffing his mouth, chewed the ones in his mouth and swallowed it. He looked at the so-called tea, and picked it up. He closed his eyes and swallowed the tea in one gulp. He could not tell what his expression was like, but he could tell that the tea was the most bitter thing he had ever put into his mouth since his birth.

He looked at Natasha but she seemed as though she was deep in thoughts. Though she was looking in his direction, he could tell that she was not actually looking at him. He took a deep sigh as he also went deep into thoughts.

I know she is worried, but if I tell her, she will, she definitely will be much more worried. What if she gets angry, and goes to them to vent out her anger, she might end up in a really worse condition. Those guys are very strong even I could not lift a finger against them. Come to think of it, I never told her anything about Everett and I, but she found out anyway, even before becoming my friend. So even if I do not tell her, she will find out one way or the other, and will want to fight back, then she might end up in much more trouble than I. Aren't it just better to tell her now, and also to warn her not to mess with them if she does not want to get messed up. I think telling her is the best option.

They both said at the very same time.

'I bet she could no longer hold in her curiosity.' Riley thought to himself.

He looked right into her eyes and saw her looking at him with a soft smile on her face, which he also returned. There they sat, looking each other in the eyes, with smiles on their faces. Their eyes remained fixed, and they both did not stop staring as though it was a competition.

As soon as Riley sneezed, Natasha blinked her eyes multiple times, and as Riley rose his head up to look at her, they both laughed.

"That actually came as a surprise." Riley said as he chuckled.

"Yes, I was quite surprised myself." replied Natasha.

And from there, what followed next was silence.

Natasha looked down at the table, but her side was completely empty, except for her hands which she placed on the table. So there was only one conclusion, she was thinking.

Was he about to tell me what happened, or was he about to tell me to forget about it, that it was nothing serious. Do I wait for him to talk or should I go first. Afterall, I want to start with a apology, you know, if he really was not planning to tell me what happened, and I do apologize, there, he would go on blabbing like a gossip. But, if he really was just about to tell me what happened, and I go on apologizing, he might not want to say it again, he might feel guilty and think he is the one to blame for this, whereas, I am the one at fault here, I was the one who brought him all this mess since the day I decided to fight for him, and yet, I could not protect him enough.

On the other hand, Riley's mind was also full of thoughts.

Does she already knows what happened? Gosh, she does not fail to surprise me with her superb skills. But I do not think she really knows exactly what happened. She's been all worried since I woke up, she's definitely waiting for me to tell her, so she can know the next step to take. I should just tell her, and I must not forget that warning.

Who's The One At Fault?