Never Look Away (Riley)

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Storming away from the courtyard, Kinsey rushed through the nearest corridor, millions of emotions rushing through her simultaneously. Jealousy, disappointment, just plain hurt. She couldn't sort through them, and she didn't want to right now. She was having a hard enough time holding back the tears. It was plain to anyone that saw her that she was struggling, for one reason or another. She didn't need to let them know just how badly she was hurting. She saw Riley with another girl. Granted, the blonde approached him, but she flirted and he didn't even seem to mind. Maybe it was the fact that he was nice to everyone. She just ... wanted to be with him so badly. Seeing him with someone else, someone other than Priscilla ... well, Kinsey felt like she was withering like a dried plant. 

After a bit, she slowed from her run to a fast walk, wiping at her eyes to make sure no one that looked at her would see any moisture. She didn't want to cry until she was in her dorm. She was so wrapped up in herself that she didn't notice anyone approaching her from behind. 

@riley

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The past 10 minutes had been an entirely weird experience. He was just trying to find somewhere to hide from his fiancee and then all of the sudden there was a Blonde, American girl talking to him and then he saw Kinsey running away from something. She thrust her kitten to Toby and ran. Instantly his eyes had followed her, and then he felt his feet carrying him in the direction she had gone. Still not entirely sure what was going on, Riley Fudge knew one thing: Kinsey was upset. He had seen her upset many times, the first time that they had properly talked she had been crying. He hated seeing her cry. He hated seeing her upset. No one else was going after her, so he did. He was kind of glad though, that Joe didn’t try to follow her. “Kins?” he called after her, watching as she finally slowed down and he was able to catch up with her. “Hey, what’s wrong? What was all that?” he asked her calmly, not wanting to make her feel worse.

@kinsey

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Kinsey's heart practically stopped when she heard Riley's voice behind her. He wasn't there really, was he? She was imagining him following her because that's what she really wanted to happen. She wanted to talk to him, figure out what the heck he was playing at. Why would he let that girl flirt with him when he was keeping Kinsey at arm's length. If he was willing to upset Priscilla, why was he doing it with a complete stranger. 

Despite the fact that Kinsey was fairly certain Riley wasn't there, she glanced behind herself and blinked when she saw Riley hurrying along so he could walk with her. She stopped moving, staring at the handsome boy approaching her.  Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment in confusion. The old Riley would have followed her just because she was upset ... was he here now for the same reason? His words registered and Kinsey looked away from him, her frustration and hurt returning. "Is that really a question?" she asked, shaking her head as she started walking again. How could he not know why she was upset. He saw her there, knew she was in the same courtyard while he was flirting with that girl. "Why were you flirting with her?" Kinsey blurted, turning to catch the look on his face. She knew she'd be able to tell if he was lying just by his intentions, but she wanted to see his immediate reaction. She wanted to understand. 

@riley

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Kinsey didn’t respond to him by yelling at him, but he kind of felt that way. She asked if him asking what happened was really even a question and then kept walking away from him. He stood there frozen for a second, what did she mean? He followed after her, staying close by. “What? Flirting with who?” he asked. He felt so genuinely confused about why she was mad at him. He always felt like he deserved for her to hate him more than anything in the world. He was the worst person and a part of him wanted her to hate him so that he could hate himself. The fact that she still wanted to be around him killed his heart, he still wanted to be around her so badly.

@kinsey

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Of course he followed after her. Kinsey wasn't surprised by that in the slightest, but she was definitely annoyed by the fact that he was acting like he didn't know what she was talking about. Kinsey looked at him, irritation plain on her face before she stopped entirely, her hands on her hips as she turned to face him. "Oh come on, Riley. I was there, I saw you and that blonde girl across the courtyard. You don't have to act like you don't know what I'm talking about." Her tone was curt and annoyed, but it was definitely because Kinsey was hurting inside. She wanted Riley to flirt with her, not some random girl she didn't even know. She wanted him to smile at her and flirt with her again, but at the same time she needed to stop wishing for that. It wasn't ever going to happen again. She knew that, so why did this hurt so badly?

@riley

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The Blonde girl? Oh! She thought that he was flirting with the girl who came up to him because he had dirt on his shoulder! He was a little relieved now to at least know what she was talking about. “Oh! No Kins I wasn’t flirting with her! I just had dirt on my shoulder, I guess? I don’t even know who she is.” he insisted. He couldn’t even remember her name if he were being completely honest. Something with an A? Or maybe with an E? “She came over to me when I was fixing my gloves. I was going to find a place to hide and read but I saw you all in the courtyard there.” he explained, wondering if he was making an sense at all.

@kinsey

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Kinsey was starting to feel exasperated by his attitude. She sighed, glancing away when he told her that the girl was just brushing dirt off of his shoulder. "Did you even see her Riley? She was twirling her hair and smiling up at you and ... and I doubt there was anything on your shoulder to begin with," Kinsey argued, her voice growing softer as she continued. Her stomach was twisting as she remembered watching them together and for a second Kinsey worried that she was going to be sick, so she accused him again. "And you just smiled back at her! Are you truly saying you didn't notice any of that?" Wasn't he supposed to be hyper observant or something? Shouldn't he realize when people were flirting? She shook her head sadly, not knowing what else she could say.

@riley

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She was annoyed at him. She thought that he was flirting with another girl, not just that but right there in public. He didn’t even show Priscilla attention in public (not that he showed her much in private either). Did he even see her? Did he? “Kinsey I was looking at you.” he said softly. He understood while she wouldn’t have known that, because Tobias was standing in front of her. “I didn’t see her, I wasn’t looking at her… I mean, yeah sure I saw her standing there, but I didn’t see her, Kins.” he didn’t know how to make her believe him. What could he say that would help her to understand? So he didn’t say anything, and instead, he stuck his hand out and softly intertwined his fingers with hers. “I didn’t notice any of that. I’m not looking to notice any of that. Kinsey I only have interest in one person in the whole world, and that has always been you.” he promised.

@kinsey

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Kinsey was expecting Riley to argue with her some more. Maybe he'd raise his voice and then one of them could storm off when they were done with the conversation, but he did almost the exact opposite. He started talking about how he wasn't paying any attention to the girl, because he was busy looking at her. Her mouth fell open slightly and she couldn't think of anything to say back. Her fingers tightened around his when he took hold of her hand and she continued to stare up into his eyes. "Riley, I-" Kinsey wanted to tell him that she loved him, that she was sorry for accusing him of flirting with that girl, but he was talking again, saying that he was only interested in her. Her eyes started to water again, but now for an entirely different reason than a few minutes ago. She nodded, believing him in an instant. What she really wanted then was for Riley to kiss her. She stared up into his eyes, taking a small step closer to him. She was drawn in by his sincerity, by the look in his eyes and all she wanted was to be with him. 

@riley

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She didn’t say much. She didn’t seem to know what to say. It seemed to Riley that she was understanding now. “I didn’t realize she was flirting with me, but you’re right, maybe she was. That doesn’t matter to me, though. I would never flirt with her.” he promised her. Kinsey stepped closer to him and he found himself stepping closer to her as well. When they were close enough, he reached his other hand out and set it on her waist, pulling her closer to him. “Kinsey i’ve already hurt you so much, I’m not stupid enough to do anything worse.” he admitted in a deeper voice, half in a laugh. He meant that. He wasn’t that stupid. Maybe a little oblivious, but not stupid. He leaned down and kissed her after he spoke, holding her close to him, not caring that they were in the middle of the first floor corridor and that there were people around.

@kinsey

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Kinsey nodded when Riley continued on, saying that it didn't matter if the girl was flirting with him, that he would never flirt back with her. "Thanks Riley," she muttered, feeling a little more guilty now. "Sorry I lost it." Kinsey figured that Riley, of all people, would understand, but she wanted to make sure that he knew she wasn't still angry. Then he was moving closer to her, taking her waist and pulling her closer. A small smile started across her face when he said that he wouldn't hurt her like that, that he didn't want to hurt her worse. The last thing Kinsey expected in that moment was for Riley to lean down and kiss her. At the feel of his lips against hers, Kinsey stopped thinking. She loved him, wanted to be with him as much as possible. All thoughts of his engagement slipped from her mind as she returned his kiss, perhaps more enthusiastically than she should have. Kinsey wasn't thinking straight. She didn't care if she ever thought straight again. All she wanted was to stay here with Riley. She still loved him.

@riley

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He didn’t want her to thank him. He didn’t want her to thank him for being a decent person, she deserved that much, she deserved so much more than just him not flirting with others girls. She deserved the world. And it was in that moment, standing there, staring intently into her eyes, seeing the hurt in her heart, that he knew that he couldn’t keep putting her through this. He couldn’t keep putting them through this. It wasn’t fair to her. It wasn’t fair to him. It wasn’t fair to Priscilla. He let their kiss linger, probably longer than it should be. He was well aware of what this would mean. He had kissed her before, a few weeks ago, but that was in the dark of the night. This was in broad daylight, in the middle of a crowded corridor. It would undoubtedly get back to Priscilla and Lydia. He didn’t care. He pulled out of the kiss after a few seconds, but he didn’t move his face from hers, he didn’t even open his eyes. “I love you, Kinsey. You are the only person I love. Please remember that.”

@kinsey

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He was still kissing her. That was the one thought repeating itself in her mind. This was Riley! It felt so natural and for that moment she felt whole and complete again, like everything was right with the world. While she was in his arms, everything was right. Kinsey returned his kiss, staying close and still not even thinking about what any of this meant. He pulled away, but Kinsey could feel his breath on her face. She smiled when he told her that he loved her. "Riley," she whispered in return, "I love you. So much." Then she was closing the distance between them, kissing him like there wasn't anything between them. He loved her and only her! His words echoed in her mind, reassuring her ... but after a few seconds she remembered everything else, like why he told her she was the only person he loved. Because he was engaged. She broke the kiss that time, looking up at him and trying to read his expression. Was this another goodbye kiss? She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle that if it was. "Riley?" This time his name was more of a question as she tried to read him. What was he thinking? 

@riley

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She echoed his sentiments, she loved him too. Of course he knew that. But hearing those words meant so much to him. While he never doubted her love, he had wanted to doubt it, he wanted to believe that she had got over him. But obviously she hadn’t. And obviously he hadn’t either. After she spoke, she pressed their lips back together and he let his hands linger on her waist, basking in the feeling of her in his arms again. It was everything he dreamed about, it was everything that he was missing. He almost felt himself craving her. She broke the kiss faster than he had and then said his name in a way that brought him back down to Earth, that brought him back to the corridor. That reminded him of all the reasons they shouldn’t be doing this right now. “I can’t ask you to understand, Kins. But I want you to know that everything I’m doing, I’m doing because I love you. Because I want to protect you.” he was still so worried that his parents would do something to her if he went against their wishes. He knew they had those types of connections, he couldn’t be sure, of course, though he was pretty sure that Priscilla and Lydia would do something to try and hurt Kinsey if he broke off the engagement for her. He had to protect her, even if that meant marrying Priscilla. “I’m going to try to figure this out.” he whispered.

@kinsey

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Kinsey couldn't remember a time when she had a harder time reading Riley. He was smiling, obviously happy about the kiss, but he grew serious pretty quickly when she said his name. She stared at him as he spoke, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion at his explanation. He was doing everything to protect her? He was ... marrying Priscilla to protect her? That didn't make any sense! "Riley, I don't understand," she whispered, her eyes searching his. "Why- what are you trying to protect me from?" Or was he saying this just to make her feel better? No, she would know if he was lying to her. She would know. Whatever was going on, he really meant it. Which meant that he was serious about marrying Priscilla. "Figure it -what ..." Kinsey trailed off, her mind reeling. What was he talking about? She wasn't sure if she preferred this over him apologizing and telling her it was the last time like he did a few weeks ago. All of a sudden, it was like he was slipping through her fingers and she was going to lose him all over again. Kinsey looked up at him, almost desperately. "Kiss me one more time?" she breathed, so softly she couldn't even hear herself speak. If he was really going to marry Priscilla while he loved her, he wouldn't mind this, would he? Kinsey didn't know. 

@riley