Chapter 18

                                    

                                          
Emily's POV
                          
I opened the door to Riley's room, walking in. Immediately at the sound of the door, James's head snapped up and he pressed a finger to his lips, indicating to be quiet. I nodded, slowly and quietly closing the door behind me so that it wouldn't make a loud sound. Then I walked over to sit in the chair beside the bed. James was sitting on the bed with my sister, his arms holding her tight. She lay beside him, her head resting on his chest, sleeping peacefully. James smiled, looking down at her and fiddling with the ends of her hair. "I finally got her to calm down, and she must've been exhausted, she just fell asleep in a matter of seconds." He chuckled quietly. 
"How has she been?" I asked, gently rubbing her arm. 
"An absolute train wreck." James answered, lifting his gaze to look at me. 
"Well that's to be expected." I replied. James fell silent again, thinking about something. He sighed, and I thought I might've seen tears in his eyes, but he blinked them away. 
"I wish I knew how far along she was. It doesn't seem like the right thing to ask." He stated, staring at Riley with sad eyes. 
"You didn't know she was pregnant?" I inquired, my brows furrowed. He shook his head sadly, before glancing at me again. 
"Don't tell me you did." He said. 
"She didn't tell me." I responded. "Did you......... Did you want this baby?" I asked carefully. James thought for a moment, choosing his answer carefully. 
"I wanted Riley. Whatever she came with, I would have accepted. Did I want to have kids with her? Yeah, in the future. I wasn't exactly planning on starting now. But if she'd told me she was pregnant and she didn't miscarry the child, I wouldn't disown it, pretend like it didn't exist. It wasn't the ideal situation, but I wanted Riley, and whatever she wanted I'd accept." He explained. 
"Past tense?" I questioned, earning a confused look. 
"Sorry?" He asked. 
"You said you 'wanted' her. Past tense. Have things changed?" I inquired. 
"I don't see how we could come back from this." He whispered. He was looking at Riley with tears in his eyes. He looked broken. "You know, I knew I had to break up with her, because otherwise Eldon was gonna tell everyone about us. I knew it was better for her this way. I just didn't know how I could make it believable. She can see right through me, I didn't know how to do it without her seeing how much I regretted it. I was terrible to her. I had to get her to put walls up so that she would be more concerned with hiding the pain she was in than noticing the pain I was in. I said so many terrible, untrue things to her. I can't see her moving on from it."
"You never know." I told him, in an attempt to reassure him. He didn't respond. He leaned down, placing a kiss on the top of Riley's head, his lips lingering. She shifted, causing him to pull away, watching her. Riley exhaled, wrapping her arms around James's torso, snuggling into him more, a small smile on her face. I have to admit that seeing Riley and James cuddled up together was odd. I couldn't help but wonder if this is how Eldon feels when he sees me with Hunter. Probably, but he doesn't say anything. Riley's eyes opened slowly, her gaze focussing on James before anything else. 
"Hey baby, sleep well?" James asked her, rubbing her back. Riley nodded. 
"Hey Ri." I said quietly, gaining her attention. She looked over to me, confused for a minute, before she must have remembered the earlier events and where she was. 
"Hi Em." She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be up north?" She asked, yawning as she did so. I laughed, unable to stop myself. 
"Honey you're in the hospital, if I didn't come home I'd be a terrible sister." I told her. As Riley became more awake, she realized exactly what had happened and what was happening, and she pulling away from James, sitting up in the bed. I saw the hurt expression that flashed across James's face, but he quickly concealed it. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, shifting to stand up. 
"I think now that Emily's here everything's good, so I'll be heading home." He announced. I could tell he felt awkward, not needed. I was going to say something, tell him he could stay, but he was already almost out the door, and Riley had already changed topics, clearly not interested in being around James. As he left, he took one last glance back at her, and with a sigh, he walked out of sight.