Chapter Thirteen:

Ria chewed away at her bottom lip as she debated whether she'd done the right thing.

She wanted answers – no, screw that, she needed answers, and the police had failed to provide those answers. She was stealthily losing hope as it had encroached three years since Rayhan's death. Using Rocco's guilt to her advantage was the right thing to do. Or so, she convinced herself it was.

She'd barely been able to hide how ecstatic she had been when he had agreed. He'd try, he'd said. No promises, he'd said. Cold cases were not his forte. But he'd try, and that was all Ria needed to hear.

She had considered calling Reid on her way home to tell him that there was a slight glimmer of hope. But she decided against it as she recalled the times he'd told her to just let it go. The police hadn't found the culprit within the first year, so he'd say it was futile to keep trying. That the criminal responsible for the hit-and-run would meet their demise in the afterlife. Reid wasn't a particularly forgiving or religious person, so those statements had caught Ria off-guard.

He'd been content to move on without answers, but that wasn't good enough for Ria. Perhaps, it was why she had become borderline obsessed with making it in the law field.

She was lying on her lounge sofa, peeking up at the photograph of her father sitting large on the wall. And deliberately trying to avert her eyes from the dining table in front of it that she and Blaine had chosen to get frisky on only a couple days prior.

She felt vibrations from beneath her and saw the photo of Reid flashing across her phone screen. She almost felt as though she'd manifested the call herself. She answered on the fourth ring.

"Hey Ri, you good?" Reid bellowed; the pixels on the screen took a second too long to focus, leaving his face distorted. "We were just finishing packing some final bits and bobs. Did you want anything? I already got you the Balinese coffee and some ceramic souvenirs."

"All good. You didn't have to get me anything at all, Reid." She replied with a soft grin painted across her face.

She could hear the familiar dainty cackling in the background and immediately recognised the ash blonde hair falling into the frame, more silver in colour than blonde. "You could've said that before, Ria. Reid's only gone and added another twenty-five kilograms to the luggage so we could bring you and the others souvenirs back. I tried to tell him that we're not made of money," The blonde girl drawled on.

"It's okay, Lydia. It's only a few extra things," Reid reiterated. "Plus, I only added the extra weight because of the extra clothes you decided to buy. Most of which you didn't need." He added, his eyes fixed on his fiancé as he said the last words.

Reid had developed the patience of a saint - at least in the six and a half months he'd been with Lydia, he had. Ria reminisced a time when he was with Indiya. He'd been the more hot-headed one in the relationship, and Indiya had spent a lot of time calming him down, especially in the latter half of their relationship. It was funny how the tables had turned - Reid was now the better half of the relationship.

Lydia waved her pale hand in annoyance at Reid, "Ria, I saw you'd seen my message on Whatsapp. What did you think of the bridesmaid's dresses I've chosen?"

Ria had indeed seen the dresses.

The blush, almost champagne-coloured maxi-length dresses that would almost certainly be too lengthy on Ria's five-foot-three (and a half) frame. They weren't hideous per se; it was more the fact that the dresses were a walking contradiction. What with the velvet material that Ria was sure had been chosen because the fabric clung to cellulite in the most unflattering way combined with the clean-straight cut of the dress, rendering it an unshapely mess.

"Yes, Lydia. I saw the pink bin bags you sent me."

"Ria!" Reid protested, his hand flying to his temple in sheer frustration. "Can we all just get along, please?"

"Reid, did you even see the dress? I get it's yours and Lydia's big day, but don't I get any choice in how I look as a bridesmaid?"

Lydia pursed her lips, appearing deep in thought for a mere second. "Actually, I thought you would like that they were unfitting...I thought it complimented your body type well." Lydia shot back but continued, noticing Reid's alarmed look. "But I suppose you're right. My sister said the same thing. How about this? You have a look through some dresses tonight, and we'll reconvene tomorrow when we're back from Bali."

"I think that's a good idea." Ria wanted to scream. She wanted to relinquish her bridesmaid's duties right there and then, but instead, she smiled — for Reid's sake.

Reid let out an awkward laugh. "Okay, then that's settled." He physically looked relieved that the conversation was over - maybe because the combination of brides and dresses was too much for his feeble male mind to handle, Ria thought. "Actually, we've got a bit of a surprise for you, Ri... Well, not just you but all the bridesmaids and groomsmen."

"A surprise?" Ria murmured, not liking the way the words sounded coming from Reid.

"No, nothing to worry about," He quickly said, noting the concerned look on his sister's face. "You'll like it, I'm sure."

"Honestly, it's the least we can do. We can't wait to see what you guys have arranged for our engagement party." Lydia said excitedly.

"En-engagement party?" Ria repeated, making sure she'd heard her sister-in-law-to-be correctly.

"Yeah, mine and Reid's engagement party," Lydia responded, barely catching the perplexity on the younger girl's face.

"Oh, right...that engagement party." She nodded carefully, pretending she was on board. "When...when were you thinking you wanted it to be?"

"Next week would probably be best?" Lydia replied, softly pecking at Reid's lips.

"Next week? You want me to arrange an engagement for one week from now?" Ria enquired, growing increasingly annoyed by the couple in front of her for dropping this new revelation at the last minute. "You do know I work a full-time job, right? You've only just gotten engaged, surely you can give me a little longer to organise something. People spend months organising this kind of thing."

Lydia offered an ingenuine smile. "We haven't got months. The wedding is at the end of December."

Ria gasped as she hurriedly reached for the volume button on the side of her phone, setting the sound to the maximum. "Did I hear that right? December? That's less than four months away?"

Reid scratched his neck, appearing more than slightly uncomfortable. "Yeah, you heard that right. The wedding is in the last week of December. It's what was best for Lydia's family – her mum has to come from abroad and could only do that week."

Ria wanted to slap some sense into her brother; maybe if he'd been there, in London with her, she would've. "Oh, great." She replied, with no enthusiasm in her voice, and she didn't have the energy to pretend to be ecstatic for the couple. "I guess... I've got to get going. I've got an engagement party to arrange." She feebly said bye to the couple and allowed herself to flop onto the sofa.

She peered over at the photo of Rayhan. "What is Reid doing, baba?" She asked, half expecting a response from the inanimate object.

She glanced over at her phone and noticed it was seven twenty-five p.m. She sensed a jolt of excitement bloom in her stomach like a flower during Spring.

She bit the inside of her cheek as she realised it would be her final evening with Blaine – alone, without Reid.

But when the clock hit seven thirty-five and Blaine still hadn't arrived, she sighed. It certainly wasn't like him to be late. He'd come yesterday even though they'd avoided talking about their make-out session, so it wasn't like he was evading her.

She'd wanted to ask him about what Indiya had said, but she'd decided against it – she'd concluded it was nothing. It had to be nothing.

Her eyes didn't budge from the clock above Rayhan's picture. The clock hitting seven-forty. She whipped out her phone and quickly typed a quick message,

Hey, are you still coming tonight?

She quickly deleted the message, deciding she didn't like the element of desperation to it.

Hey, you coming? Let me know 'cos I'm going to bed. Got a migraine.

She felt it sounded less desperate. She hit send and waited.

And waited. And waited some more.

Eight o'clock.

She found herself beginning to worry. Her eyes darting between Rayhan's photograph and the clock - what if he'd been in a car accident? What if he was lying dead somewhere?

She found his number in her contacts and called thrice. No answer.

She found her body moving before her mind caught up to it. She had put her Nike trainers on and was already running out the door.

She didn't know where he lived. He'd moved out of his childhood home at sixteen and moved from flat to flat since then. Only residing in the flat with the cheapest monthly rent.

But, she knew where his parents lived - and he had told her he visited them daily. So, she'd ask them - had they seen him today? Was he with them?

She tapped the address into Google Maps - a twenty-minute walk. She decided that was far too long and opted to drive there, instead.

She'd been to his home a handful of times. Only because it had been closer to her school. She'd wait there, watching Reid and Blaine practice their dribbling and shooting skills until they'd exhausted themselves.

And when Reid wasn't there, Blaine would encourage Ria to play. She'd be the goalkeeper, and Blaine would nearly always score - except when Blaine hit the football with less force, ensuring he wouldn't score. Ria pretended she didn't notice, but she always did.

She pulled up to the tiny derelict street.

House number six hundred and six, if she remembered correctly.

Her eyes were drawn to the bins, which were full and overflowing. She could see the porch door behind the marbled front door. The porch window was smashed, with only a piece of sellotape holding it in place; a weak attempt at repair. She wondered if that was Blaine's handy work.

The windows were locked-shut, and the curtains were drawn close. Ria hoped they still lived here because the house showed no evidence of life from the outside.

She took a deep breath before knocking at the door.

But nothing could have prepared Ria for what she would witness next.

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Hey all, I had a really hard time writing this chapter because my computer decided to delete the chapter twice so apologies if it doesn't read well or if there's mistakes, open to all feedback <3

Please let me know what you think of the story so far and what you think of the characters, especially our main one's Ria and Blaine :))

Please vote and comment - your comments mean everything to me <3