Brighton Beach Memoirs | Riley & Kinsey

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Riley pulled up in front of the Bainbridge house fairly early that morning, he had told Kinsey that he was going to pick her up and take her to the train station. He was planning everything about the trip and he didn’t want her to have to worry about any of it. He didn’t want her to have to make her own way to the station to catch their train to Brighton, he wanted to make sure she got there safely and he wanted to be there with her. He got out of the car, which wasn’t driven by him of course, since he couldn’t drive, and walked up to her front door. Riley knocked, hoping that it was anyone other than Diana or Cara who came to the door. Of course, Kinsey would be ideal, but he knew that with so many siblings, there was a chance it could be any of them.

@kinsey

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It was early, but Kinsey was already leaving by the front door. She told her parents that she was going on a trip for a few days and, while they hadn't been particularly happy about it, they also didn't tell her she couldn't. The thing was, her relationships with her siblings were feeling strained as of late. She and Dustin were broken, she and Diana had a huge fight the other day and she and Cara never got along. The triplets? Well things were fine with them, but Kinsey didn't want to take any risks. She was going to answer the front door when Riley came and then they could leave. So she sat in a chair close to the front door, her duffel bag on the floor beside her feet, and drifted off for a little bit while she waited for Riley to arrive. She awoke instantly when she heard someone knocking on the door and jumped to her feet. She grabbed her bag and moved to the door, opening it with a smile on her face. "Riley," she greeted, setting her bag down and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. She missed him. So much.

@riley

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Kinsey was the one that came to the door and that made Riley feel a little bit better to be standing at her doorstep in the first place. This was the first time that he had been to her house when he wasn’t just dropping her off. Never before had he walked up and knocked on the door and it was a little nerve wracking, especially if it had been one of her parents who answered the door. Riley wasn’t sure what they felt about him. He didn’t know whether they would like him because Kinsey liked him, or dislike him because her older siblings didn’t like him. She hugged him and he hugged her back. “Hey! Good to see you! I missed you so much!” he said into her hair before kissing her forehead. His family trip had been just awful and he couldn’t think of anything better to do to make himself feel better than to be alone with his girlfriend for the weekend. “Are you ready? Can I help with your bags?” he asked.

@kinsey

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His arms were wrapped tightly around her and Kinsey felt her body relax against him as she felt the familiar intentions wash over her again. He wanted her to be happy and safe. With him, she felt like she was and Kinsey was more relieved about that than she would admit to anyone, even him. A part of her was nervous that her fight with Dustin would make her realize that she didn't care about Riley as much as she thought she did, but it didn't. She loved him. "I missed you," she muttered against his chest, not about to pull away. Then he asked if she was ready to go and Kinsey finally did pull away. She smiled up at him. "I'm all ready, but I just have this one bag," she gestured to her duffel bag right inside the door. Other than that, she had a small purse, but she didn't need him to carry that. She laughed softly, "You can carry it if you want," Kinsey told him, a teasing tone in her voice. Once the bag was out of the house she closed the door, "They're all still asleep," she explained. She'd said her goodbyes to her parents and the triplets the night before. The others didn't need to know. "Are you ready to go?" Kinsey asked, grinning from excitement now.

@riley

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Kinsey told him that she only had the one bag and he could carry it if he wanted to. He did. He didn’t want her to have to do it. He didn’t want her to have to lift a finger on this trip, he wanted to spoil her. Why? Because he could. And because doing so would surly upset Lydia, which he didn’t really want to do just to do it, but he did want to show to her and to his parents that he wasn’t going to back down and that Kinsey was special to him. He picked up her bag and lead the way with it back down to the car that was waiting in front of the house. “You sure your parents are okay with you just going on a trip with your boyfriend whom they’ve never met?” he asked, just to make sure. As excited as he was to take her on this trip, he didn’t want to get on the wrong foot with her family, he knew that he already was with some of them, he didn’t want those ones to get their parents on their side before he had even met them. He handed her bag to the driver, who had got out of the car and was standing near the boot with it open to receive her bag. He then opened the door for her to get in and closed it after she had before running around and getting in on the other side. “And off we go.” he smirked, leaning over and kissing her forehead again, feeling his chest swell with excitement. He was sitting up a little straighter, he was sure of it. It took about an hour to get to Brighton, and he had thought about taking her on the train, but since he already had the car, he figured it would be easier for them just to drive.

@kinsey

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Riley carried her bag to the car and Kinsey walked right behind him, unable to stop smiling as she looked at her boyfriend. Riley was here! It felt like an eternity since she last saw him, but he was here. They were going on their trip together and a part of her wondered if she was imagining the whole thing and if she'd wake up in the morning just to realize that she still had to wait a few weeks before she'd see him. She nodded at his question. "They're fine with it. I told them that I trust you, so they do too." Because of her gift, her parents trusted her ability to judge other people's characters pretty well. Besides that, she'd been much quieter than normal since the vacation that she'd returned early from. Her parents probably hoped this weekend trip would help her. Kinsey got in the car, grinning again when Riley opened the door for her. "How far away is Brighton?" Kinsey asked when Riley kissed her forehead. She pulled herself a bit closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and sighing as she felt herself relax. She was with Riley. Everything was okay now. Or at least she could pretend that it was.

@riley

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He was glad that she had at least told her parents about him and that she trusted him. They hadn’t met yet, which Riley had mixed feelings about. He didn’t want them to have preconceived feelings about him based on the feelings of her older siblings, but he did want to meet them and make his own impression. “As long as they’re okay with it.” he nodded. He didn’t want to talk her out of the trip or anything, of course not, he had put so much time and effort into it. He was glad that they were on their way. “About an hour.” he admitted to her. “Not too long, and it’s a nice drive.” he added.

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They arrived at the hotel and the driver took their bags in. The hotel was nice and right on the seaside, so the view was incredible just from exiting the car. “Here we are.” he smirked. “Shall we check in and then we can go take a walk or something?” he offered.

@kinsey

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He seemed overly worried about her parent's opinion and Kinsey started to wonder if someone said something to him about the struggles she was having with her siblings? That didn't have anything to do with her parents, but maybe Riley would think her parents were mad at him? She wasn't sure, but she didn't like how he kept asking about it. She tried not to show that, smiling when he said how long the ride would be. She reached over and took his hand while she looked out the window, excitement rising in her. 

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It seemed only minutes later and they were arriving. Riley helped her out of the car, suggesting they check in and then walk around and Kinsey grinned at him and nodded before looking around herself and taking it all in. "Riley, this is so beautiful." Her voice was layered with Awe and she knew he'd be able to sense it. He knew her that well. She turned to look at him, "A walk sounds great." Kinsey linked her fingers with his and waited for him to lead her wherever they needed to go to check in. She was just so glad to be here with him. Finally, she was spending time with her boyfriend. 

@riley

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Riley kissed her hand when she agreed that the walk sounded great. He wanted to do quite a bit on this trip, he wanted to take her to the ocean, he wanted to go out to a nice meal, or two, or three, and he wanted to just exist with her without anyone else around. This was a weekend he wasn’t sure when they would get again. At Hogwarts they had everyone around them all of the time. Even when they were alone there were still people all around. With so many students it was impossible to be completely alone most of the time. And at home, or out in London there was always a possibility of seeing someone that they know. Not that he didn’t want to be seen with her, he just wanted to have some actual privacy in a place where there was no need to rush home before curfew or anyone to have to answer to.

He got them checked in and the hotel had their bags taken up to the room for them. The man behind the desk handed Riley the key to the room and the young man slid it into his pocket. “Well the ocean is just there, shall we?” he offered. It was a short walk and it was a nice view, so some time just walking along the pebble beach sounded nice.

@kinsey

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As they arrived and Kinsey let Riley lead her around while he went to check in, Kinsey took in her surroundings. This place was beautiful! She could hardly see any of it yet, but she could already tell that she was in for a magical weekend with Riley. Of course, he had everything taken care of and someone took their luggage up when he turned to her. She grinned and nodded at his question, looking toward the sound of the ocean. She was so excited. "Yes," Kinsey answered, not even trying to hide her emotions. Riley could already read them, she knew, and she wanted him to know how happy she was to be here with him. She sighed as they started walking. "So what sort of things do you have planned for us?" she asked curiously, tipping her head to the side curiously, looking up at him as they walked. She didn't care what they did, as long as it was together, but she was excited for it all.

@riley