Dirty Laundry

“Mother fucker!” Jack groaned, tossing his video game controller down on the couch next to him after losing to Summer in a heated Mario Cart battle.

“Jack, language!” Riley scolded, only half serious as Summer danced around the back lounge in celebration while she giggled.

Riley knew it was next to impossible to train all the boys on the bus not to curse in front of Summer. There was often an attempt but it was inevitable. She was going to hear it. Even Alex had slipped on more than more occasion. Riley just made sure to instill in Summer that any inappropriate words she may hear were for adults to repeat only.

“Sorry,” Jack sighed. “I think I spent too much time letting you win because you were a little girl. I underestimated you, Summer.”

“Thank you,” she smirked, bowing in front of Jack before she picked up her controller again and restarted the game. “Ready to play again, loser?”

“Summer,” Riley said with a motherly tone. “Don’t be a sore winner.”

“I’m sorry, Jack. Would you like to join me in another friendly game?” Summer asked, batting her eyelashes at Jack and shooting her mother a very rehearsed smile.

Riley shook her head. “It’s official. I finally regret coming out here.”

“Why is that?” Jack asked with a laugh.

“Because my sweet, innocent little girl has been brainwashed into this sarcastic, snarky ball of sass.”

“And you think that’s all our doing?” Jack gasped. “You’ve got some sass, too, Riles.”

“Shut up,” she snapped, sticking her tongue out at her.

“That’s not nice, Mom,” Summer mock-scolded her mother.

Riley rolled her eyes. “Go play your silly game.”

Summer giggled again and started up the game for her and Jack.

A little while later Alex game into the back lounge, taking a seat next to Riley with a quick kiss.

“You need to get dressed,” he said,

“What?” Riley asked, looking up at him.


“You need to get dressed,” he repeated.

Riley looked down at the t-shirt and jean shorts she was wearing and looked back up at Alex. “Am I sitting here naked again?”

“Was that sass?” Jack asked causing Summer to giggle.

With her daughter’s back to them, Riley quickly flipped the middle finger at Jack.

“Clearly, I’ve missed something here but I’m just going to move right along…” Alex said rolling his eyes at Jack and Riley. “You need to get changed into something a little nicer,” he instructed his girlfriend. “I’m taking you out.”

“Out?” Riley laughed. “Where is out?”

“Just out,” Alex said. “I only have a few free hours before sound check so we need to get a move on.”

“Just out?” Riley repeated. “What do I wear to just out?”

“Just put on something nice. And hurry!”

“Okay, okay,” Riley said as she stood up. “I’m going. But first,” she paused, moving her gaze over to Summer, “what about…”

“I’m on it,” Jack interrupted. “Sum, you want to get pizza?” 


“Duh,” the younger girl answered, not even looking away from the game.

“Good, loser buys,” Jack decided as he drove his cart off the track and down the side of a cliff.

Summer turned around to Jack and narrowed her eyes at him. “You did that on purpose!”

“Yeah, well, if I beat you for real it’s not like you have money to pay for pizza anyway,” Jack countered.

“That’s what you think,” Summer scoffed. “I have money.”

“Where do you have money from?”

Alex cleared his throat and subtly shook his head in Summer’s direction.

“Alex gives me five dollars every time he says the F word in front of me.”

Jack laughed. “Girl, you must have enough to buy me pizza for the rest of my life.”

“Is that true?” Riley asked, glaring back at Alex.

“It was supposed to be a secret,” Alex groaned before shooing Riley towards the bunks. “Go change!”
*****

“What are we doing here?” Riley asked when Alex assisted her out of their Uber in front of the Metro Milwaukee Hotel not too far from where they were playing a show that night at Eagles Ballroom.

“We’re going on a date,” Alex explained.

“Here?” she inquired, smoothing down her dress and pushing her sunglass on top of her head.

“Well,” Alex started, slipping his hand into Riley’s and leading her into the hotel’s lobby. “They have a great restaurant inside.”

“A restaurant?” Riley questioned.

“And… I might have a room reserved upstairs.”

“A room, huh?” Riley tilted her head to the side. “What’s that for?”

”You bitched the other night that we never have any alone time,” he said, leaning close to her ear. “I got us some alone time.”

Riley smiled, squeezing his hand tightly as they stood in the middle of the lobby. Looking passed Alex, she could see the restaurant off in the distance. “Do we have to eat first?”

“I sure hope not.” Riley smirked and leaning up to press a quick kiss to Alex’s lips.

Taking the hint, he took off towards the front desk so he could check-in. By the time they made it to an elevator, the doors had barely slid closed before Alex’s lips were attached to the skin behind Riley’s ear.

“Alex,” Riley giggled, trying to shrug her boyfriend away as he continued his assault on her neck.

“What?” he groaned, gripping her hips tightly. “I already told you we’re pressed for time. I figured I’d get a head start.”

Riley shook her head, giggling again as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his lips down to hers.

“Trust me; you’re not going to need a head start.”

“Shit,” Alex hissed against Riley’s mouth.

As Riley pressed her body against Alex’s and deepened their kiss, the elevator dinged and the doors opened on their floor.

“Let’s go,” Riley said, taking Alex’s hand and leading him towards their room.

When they got inside, it only took a second before Alex’s arms were circling Riley’s waist and their lips were attached. He carefully led them towards the giant bed in the middle of the bedroom area of the room.

“This is completely off topic right now, but this room is ridiculously nice and way too expensive for the short amount of time we’ll be here. I’m also pretty sure this isn’t just a room,” Riley mumbled against Alex’s lips.

“I think they categorize it as a suite. It was the only thing available for the afternoon.” Alex explained, gently pushing Riley down on the mattress. “Are you considering becoming a travel agent now?”

“Shut up,” she grumbled, grabbing his hand and pulling him down next to her before straddling his waist and crashing her lips down to his.

Riley worked quickly to pull his t-shirt over his head and undo his belt and the zipper on his jeans while Alex worked the zipper on the back of Riley’s dress before removing it from her body and tossing it away with his t-shirt.

“When was the last time we did this?” Alex asked, holding himself above Riley once all of their clothing made it to the floor.

“I don’t know, like a week and a half ago when we snuck away to that supply closet in Chicago.”

Alex smirked at the memory. “Yes, but I meant in a bed.”

”Not since before you left for this tour.”

“Yeah, that’s just not acceptable,” Alex said, dipping his head down to press his lips to Riley’s before thrusting himself inside her.
***

Mustering up all the courage and confidence he could, Brian decided that it was finally time to have a talk with Riley. He wasn’t sure what he wanted out of it but he knew it had to happen.

Brian found out from Jess that Riley was backstage while ‪All Time Low‬ ran through their sound check. This made him even more nervous because he knew Summer wouldn’t be too far away when he found Riley.

He made it backstage and quickly spotted Riley standing off to the side while the band rehearsed. He dug deep to find all that courage and confidence and lightly tapped Riley on their shoulder.

The look on her face gave away just how surprised she was to see Brian actually acknowledging her.

“Hey,” he said quietly, really only talking down to his own feet.

“Hey,” she replied back, shifting uncomfortably next to him.

A thick and awkward silence fell between the two of them. Thankfully they had the musical stylings of ‪All Time Low‬’s sound check booming through ‪the amps‬ to fill that silence.

Feeling like the awkwardness would eat him alive, Brian finally spoke. “Can I talk to you?”

Riley immediately looked behind her. Surely Brian had been talking to someone else. There was no chance he finally was going to talk to her. When she realized no one else was around, she turned back to Brian and pointed to herself.

“Me?” she asked lamely.

“Yeah, you,” he nodded.

“Um,” she paused for a second as her eyes scanned the stage. Summer was deeply occupied shadowing Matt as he ran through his pre-show duties. “Yeah. We can talk.”

Brian nodded, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans as he followed Riley off the stage and into the hallway. They were both quiet for a bit while various crew members ran back and forth around them.

“So, look, everyone keeps telling me I need to talk to you,” Brian finally said.

“Everyone?”

”Well, everyone really who knows something’s going on…”

“So, Alex, Jess and Josh?”

“Just Alex and Jess, really. Josh pulled me aside that first day and said he wasn’t getting involved.” Brian explained and Riley nodded. “I figured if Jess can move on and try and rekindle a friendship with you, I can try too since no one holds a grudge quite like Jess Bowen.”

Riley nodded again, slower this time. Yeah, Jess had sort of forgiven her for leaving them all behind. But there was a big difference between her and Brian. He had a lot more to forgive Riley for.

“Okay, so-“ Riley started when she was bumped in the side by someone rushing passed her. They’d gone by so fast, neither Riley or Brian noticed if it was a member of one of the bands’ crew or the venues’. “This might not be the best place to do this.”

Brian agreed. “You know what - I saw a Starbucks on the corner when we drove in earlier. We can just go there, get a table in the back,” he suggested, knowing that there really wouldn’t be anywhere around the venue to provide the kind of privacy they would need for this talk.

”Yeah,” Riley nodded. “That’s fine. Just give me a minute to-“ she paused, feeling awkward to talk about Summer in front of him. “Just give me a minute.”

”Sure,” Brian knew what she was thinking. “I’ll meet you by the dressing rooms. I have to get my phone and wallet anyway.”

“Okay,” Riley said before the pair took off in different directions.

”Uh, what’s up, Riley?” Alex asked when his girlfriend walked right up to him on stage in the middle of the sound check.

”I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I just need you for two seconds,” she continued, grabbing his arm and pulling him with her to the side of the stage.

”Damn, Riley,” Jack said into his microphone so everyone could hear. “Didn’t you get enough of him earlier?”

Riley shot a glare at Jack and then rolled her eyes at Alex. “Do you ever not tell him about when we have sex?”

Alex chuckled quietly. “Babe, I don’t need to tell him. He’s got a sixth sense for that kind of thing.”

“Gross,” Riley muttered.

”What was it that you needed from me?” Alex asked, sensing Riley was about to get distracted.

”Right,” she said, letting out a breath. “Brian wants to talk.”

“He does?” Alex replied, trying to hide how shocked he was to hear that.

”Yes,” she nodded. “He does. And I’m freaking out.”

”Well, that’s silly,” Alex said in a hushed voice. “There’s nothing to freak out about. You just have to be completely honest with him.”

“Honest,” Riley repeated.

“Yes, honest. There’s no reason to hide anything anymore. Just let it all out.”

“You’re right. I have nothing to lose by just telling him everything. At this point, he already knows about Summer so everything else are just minor details.”

“Exactly. You’ll be fine. And I’ll keep an eye on Summer while you’re gone..”

“Thank you,” Riley smiled, leaning up and kissing him lightly.

“I love you,” he assured her, leaning down to kiss her again.

“Ugh,” Riley broke from the kiss. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

Alex laughed. “And they say romance is dead...”

Riley rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I do. But you don’t need to do that,” he said, pulling her in for a hug and kissing the top of her head. “You got this.”
***

Notes

Hmm... what’s going to happen when she talks to Brian??