Crimson City - Part 2 free porn video

It had been a few weeks since the knife incident. The only thing Riley had to show for it was a busted bathroom mirror and not allowed to touch any of the knives in the house for some time, per Owen's request. Her trips to the psychologist had shown that not only was she struggling with a small bout of post-traumatic stress disorder but major depression. The poor girl dreaded falling asleep every night due to her recurring nightmares. Every night she'd wake up screaming bloody murder, only to have her dad run in and hold her as she tried to fall back asleep. She was put on a few pills to help with the depression, but it made her feel like a zombie so she refused to take them. If her dad was around, she'd act like she was taking her pills, but as soon as he left she spit them out into the trash. Everyone in the entire school knew about the incident or had at least heard about it. Quite a few people were rather shocked that someone as tough as Riley could have such a breakdown. There were a few people who made fun of her and called her a "pussy" because of it. Riley was dreading going to school that morning, Tammy had texted her last night that she wanted to talk to her in person about something. Something told her that this wasn't the good kind of talk either. In the past few weeks Tammy had seemed more distant from Riley, treating her more like a close friend than someone she had been dating for the past year. Tammy was waiting for Riley at the entrance when she finally arrived at school, the look on her girlfriend's face about said it all. "Riley... This is hard for me to do, but..." Tammy tried to say as she teared up. "You know that I don't like girls in 'that way' and there's just no way I can keep trying to fake it. I love you Riley but I just can't be in love with you now that you're a girl..." Those last words felt like a bullet had just shot through her chest, her heart feeling like it was about to plummet to her intestines. Riley was speechless, she had a feeling this was going to happen, but was not prepared for it to actually happen. Tammy tried to desperately explain that it wasn't Riley's fault and it was all on her, she wanted this all to work out, but she couldn't keep up the charade that she liked girls. Every time she looked at Riley, she could still see the old Riley but it just wasn't enough. Riley tried her best not to break down even further, wishing that she would have taken her pills, at least then it would have numbed some of the pain she was currently feeling. She wanted to desperately crawl into a tight ball and cry. Instead, she kept a straight face as best as she could and didn't even try to reason with Tammy. "I still want to be friends with you, we'll be girlfriends and do all sorts of girly things together," Tammy said while she wiped the tears out of her eyes. She hugged Riley in a tight hug, crying into her shoulder. Riley hugged her back just as tightly, both on the verge of breaking ribs if they could. The school bell interrupted their hug, letting them know they were about to be late for class. Neither wanted to let go of the other, but they also didn't want to be late for their first class. "Can we hold hands, one last time?" Riley asked softly. Tammy nodded and laced her fingers through Riley's as they half ran, half walked to their first period class. *** As soon as Riley got home from school that day she walked straight up to her room, throwing down her backpack as she crawled into bed and cried into her pillow. The pillow muffled her screams as she felt like her world was falling apart all around her. Breakups were hard, most of the time, but to be dumped over something that was beyond her control, that hurt worse. Riley knew where Tammy was coming from, as far as Riley knew she still liked girls, she hadn't actually put much thought into it until now. Pounding her fists against her mattress felt like a great way to relieve her pent up anger and frustration. Yet it didn't help the pain that radiated from her chest. She refused to hurt herself, not wanting to have to go through that ordeal all over again. Rolling over so she was now on her back, she pulled the locket from under her shirt and opened it, looking at the two pictures on either side. Seeing her old self brought a smile to her face despite the fact she was still crying. She heard the front door close and bolted upright, the last thing she wanted was for her dad to see her like this. Riley took a few deep breaths while wiping the tears out of her eyes, just as her bedroom door opened. Owen walked in, wanting to see how his daughter was doing, he knew something was wrong, it was this weird feeling that seemed to cling to the air like a rotten stench. Sitting down next to her he wrapped an arm around her, his hand resting on her shoulder as he pulled her close to him. Riley's head was leaned against his shoulder. "Rough day at school?" he asked, hoping Riley would at least talk to him. "Just a bit," she sighed, closing her eyes to stop the new wave of tears. "Anything you want to talk about?" "Not really," she replied, keeping her eyes closed. "Sounds like a normal Riley response, which tells me something happened at school. Is this a Tammy related issue?" Owen must have pressed the right buttons because Riley held onto his arm and cried into his shoulder. He felt terrible for making her cry like that so he kept his mouth shut and did his best to comfort her as much as possible. They stayed like that for quite some time before Riley started to let go of Owen's arm and wipe her eyes. "She broke up with me," Riley started, trying not to cry again. "This whole being a girl isn't going to work because she's not gay." He looked forward at nothing in particular, his lips pressed together, it made sense, but he figured Tamara would be more subtle about it. It sounded like she was pretty blunt about it and that explains why Riley is so upset. Owen knew not all high school relationships lasted long, but he had high hopes for his son. Not quite sure what to say next he just went to rubbing her back as he held her close. After a few minutes had passed did Owen think of something to say. It wasn't much, but he thought it was meaningful. "Riley, things will get better, I felt the same when your mother passed away. It was like a piece of my entire being broke off and I knew would never come back." he told her. "I'm sure Tammy still wants to be friends with you. I want you to know that I love you and will do all that I can to help you as we get passed this little speed bump." Owen kissed the top of her head as he rocked her back and forth. They stayed like that for quite some time before Riley let go, rubbing her eyes, which were swollen and red from all the crying. She looked at her dad and smiled, a hand holding onto the locket. "We still haven't gotten a picture of the new me just yet..." Riley told her father as she opened the locket and looked at the old her. "Yeah, you're right, we still need to do that," he replied with a slight smile. *** Like many things word had spread quickly around Crimson High that Tammy had broken up with Riley. There was quite the mix of feelings, but it was clear that there was a dark cloud over the poor girl's head. When Riley walked through the doors that very next day a few people greeted her at the door, making sure she was alright and offering to help if needed. She shrugged them all off, the thought was appreciated, but she wanted to be left alone. It was better that way, at least she thought so. Nobody in the world knows what she went through that night. The ones who did were killed shortly after their transformation so she had no one to share with her thoughts. Sure, there was her father and Aunt Sarah, who was about as close as she could get to understanding. Riley silently walked to her locker, ignoring anyone who offered their assistance, even brushing past Carlos, who was talking to a friend from one of his classes. He stopped his conversation and rushed to catch up with Riley. "Whoa, slow down there, Missy," Carlos chuckled as he walked next to her. The teen was not amused with her friend's remark and kept walking, getting close to her locker. "Sorry Rye, just thought a joke could cheer you up is all..." Carlos said trying to recover the conversation. "I just haven't heard from you since, well you know." "I'm fine, just peachy in fact. So before you continue, please just drop it," Riley snapped back. Riley was starting to get irritated, she knew Carlos meant well, but she really just wanted to be left alone and he wasn't really taking the hint. He seemed to keep trying to pry open her head to see what was bothering her and that was clearly the last thing she wanted. When he wouldn't stop, she finally turned to look at him and told him to stop, her voice filled with hate as she spoke. Carlos was stunned, never in the time had he known Riley had she ever snapped at him like that, even when she used to get really mad at him, she would always bounce back. Not wanting to burn any more bridges between them he stopped and walked off, going back to his friend who was patiently waiting for him. They continued their conversation from where it had stopped as if it had never been interrupted. Just as Riley was finishing up with putting things away in her locker and grabbing things for her first period class when the minute bell started to go off. She slammed the locker as a wave of classmates were either rushing to class or going to their lockers. Avoiding them in just the nick of time and actually being one of the first people in her Econ class. Her teacher was rather surprised to see her this early and jokingly asked what the special occasion was. She shrugged her shoulders as she went over and sat down at her desk, just as her classmates started to walk in through the door, with about thirty seconds to spare. Tammy and Carlos were one of the first to walk in, sitting down in their seats, which were on either side of Riley. They both said "hi" to her, Tammy flinching as she was prepared for the worst and Carlos just plain ignored her for the most part. He figured he had pissed her off enough earlier that he didn't really need to do any more damage. Riley stayed quiet through most of the class, except those few times the teacher called on her to answer a question. Soon class ended and Riley was stuck in between her friends who were taking their time packing their things up. She really wanted to get out of there and head to her next class. After what felt like hours had ticked away, one of them had moved so she could head out. The rest of the day up until lunch time had been about the same. Riley did her best to avoid people and would really only talk if she absolutely had to. At lunch, she decided to stay inside and get whatever "food" they were serving that day. She was stuck in the middle of the gigantic line of students waiting to get inside the main area to get food. A few people she knew from her other classes tried to talk to her to help pass the time but again she just ignored them. Oliver, who was not that far ahead of her noticed she was standing in line and let people go ahead of him so he could manage his way back to her. Nobody seemed to mind getting ahead just a bit more as he stood in front of Riley. "Sup Riley," he said, about to put his hand on her shoulder before stopping. "You've been quiet all day and that's definitely not the Riley I know." The poor girl just nodded her head, hoping that Oliver of all people would take the hint to leave her alone. It seemed to be a reoccurring issue as of today, nobody would just leave her alone. At one point or another Oliver slightly took the hint that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Riley and told her that if she needed someone to talk to, he was all ears, before passing her and talking to some friends behind them. It was at least ten minutes before Riley was at the front of the line and just walking into the main area, the smell of slightly fresh food filled the air. She knew everything had come in frozen and was just basically thawed and put into the oven to warm it up, but it was still a warm meal. They were serving chicken nuggets which was a huge crowd pleaser and the normal choices: barely cooked hamburger on a bun, salad bar, and some "mystery" choice that was basically yesterday's extra food heated up again. Sticking with the semi-warm chicken nuggets and fries as a side she walked over and grabbed a tiny carton of chocolate milk that usually had a goofy looking drawings on the sides from the coolers. From there she walked by the snacks which was various chips and other goodies. Nothing looked super appetizing so she passed on them. What she had been good enough for her so she got in one of the checkout lanes where a few lunch ladies were scanning the student's ID's. It took a few minutes for Riley to get up there, having to adjust her glasses a few times which was annoying her. The lunch lady noticed how sad Riley looked and slipped a soft sugar cookie onto her tray and told her it was on the house. Riley briefly smiled and thanked her as she held up her ID that was quickly scanned. The lunch lady told her to have a better day as Riley started to walk off to find a place to sit, preferably by herself. It being a big high school with an equally sized lunch room that was not going to be the case. Most tables were occupied or had kids waiting for their friends. Walking among the masses of people trying to find their friends or tables, Riley managed to weave between them. That was until someone stuck their foot out when she wasn't looking and making her trip and fall. The sound of her tray slamming into the ground made the lunchroom go quiet. Everyone's eyes were on the poor girl who was lying on the ground, her food all over the place, and glasses landing on the tray. She looked around, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to put on her glasses and stand up. Barbeque sauce that she had put into a little dish for the nuggets was splattered all over the floor and some landed on her face. She felt a pair of hands grab her arm and help her up. It was good ol' Oliver again, who happened to watch the entire event unfold. He had set his tray on a nearby table so he could go and help Riley, grabbing some napkins to help clean up her face. "Alright, who's the punk who did this?! You think this is funny? Whoever you are, you're a freaking loser," Oliver yelled into the crowd, Riley held onto him for support. "You could have seriously hurt Riley. I don't care what you think of her now, but she's still a Cardinal and should be treated like one!" A few people started to chant Riley's name and soon most of the entire student body in the lunchroom followed. Oliver turned and asked if she was alright as he handed her a couple napkins. Riley was trying her best not to keep crying but the tears were like floodgates left permanently open. All she wanted to do was run away and hide, but Oliver had a good grip on her. She managed to wiggle herself away from him and ran off accidentally stepping on the sugar cookie the lunch lady had given her. Riley had run off to the nearby ladies room, bawling at this point. She wiped the splattered drops of barbeque sauce off her face before going and sitting in the farthest stall from the door. As she cried in the bathroom Oliver still stood there helping pick up the food for the janitors and throwing it into the trash. He picked up the smashed cookie, which was still good in its plastic cover and put it into his jacket pocket. Afterwards he went back to grab his tray and sat down with his friends, he had done his best to help Riley and she shrugged him off again. Later on during lunch, he had been called to the main office, the vice principal wanting to get an idea on what happened during lunch. When he walked into the vice principal's office, he saw Riley was sitting there already, her eyes very red from crying. He took the seat next to her as Mr. Fransen sat down behind his desk. "So please explain to me why Ms. Wilkes was found bawling in the ladies restroom?" Mr. Fransen asked. Gripping the edge of the seat tightly Oliver explained what he had seen and the steps he took to help Riley. He pointed out that she didn't deserve to be treated like that especially after everything that had happened to her. Mr. Fransen jotted a few notes on a sketch pad before looking over at Riley, "Is any of this true?" "Yes... Oli was the one who helped me up off the floor..." Riley responded as she shifted in her seat. "Hmm. Alright, you're both free to go. We'll take a peek at the cameras in a bit. I just needed to get a few sides of the story, there's still enough time for you to eat lunch Ms. Wilkes without having to rush. Mr. Crane I expect you to assist her and making sure we don't have another incident." "Of course! Well, let's go get you some lunch, I'm sure the lunch ladies will have some fresh food just for you." Oliver said excitedly as he stood up from the chair and offered his hand to help Riley. She was a bit hesitant, but took his hand in hers as he helped her up. They held hands for a bit longer than they wanted before Riley quickly pulled her hand away and into her pants pocket. Oliver apologized as they walked out of Mr. Fransen's office and the main office. Carlos and Tammy had just walked back in from going to O'Reilly's for lunch when they saw the two leaving the main office together. It was Carlos who called out to Riley asking where she had been since she wasn't in their usual meeting spot. Tammy on the other hand was wondering what she and Oliver were doing together, there was no way Riley liked boys. Tammy kept those thoughts to herself as she and Carlos caught up to them. Oliver told them they all missed the big fiasco with Riley, telling what had all happened. "Someone tripped you? What an asshole," Carlos told them as he wondered who would do such a thing. "Are you alright?" Tammy asked and quickly regretted it. "Yeah, kinda, I don't know..." Riley replied, knowing what Tammy really meant. She tried to avoid looking at her recently ex-girlfriend as they talked. Riley's stomach growled and she laughed, telling the three she'd catch up with them. Heading towards the main food area the lunch ladies had prepared exactly what she had bought earlier, giving their condolences for such a hateful act towards her. The food was fresh and warm which Riley appreciated. She had even told them all that they didn't have to do such a thing and the head lunch lady told Riley not to worry they wanted to do it for her. Smiling as she walked out of the main area and back into the lunchroom, she went and found her friends who were sitting at a recently emptied table. The only seat was available right next to Tammy. Riley wasn't sure if that was done on purpose, but she sat down next to her former girlfriend and started to eat. The boys were talking about some nonsense, she wasn't entirely sure and having missed most of the conversation it didn't mean much to her. While she ate most of the lunchroom was clearing out, getting ready to head back to class, which meant the noise had died down quite a bit. Tammy was being silent pondering whether she should talk to Riley or not. She really wanted to stay friends with her and do what she could to help out her former boyfriend. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't even hear the bell ring, lunch had ended. Riley lightly shook her and gave her a concerned look as she and the boys stood up. Shaking her head the teenager stood up and followed the three till they had to split up for the remainder of the day. Tammy tried to say something to Riley but she couldn't hear her amongst the crowd of people. The crowd started to put a bit of distance between them, Tammy tried to say what she wanted to say again but it got immediately drowned out. Riley tried asking Carlos and Oliver if they heard what she said and both shrugged their shoulders. "Big help boys," she sighed as they followed the crowd through the hall and to their next class. *** Owen looked over at the basket of flowers that had been put on his desk. There was a little marker that just told him it came from EWL Industries, on the back was a little note from Ms. Lams. "You have my sincerest apologies for what has transpired. If you ever need help feel free to contact me" Owen read to himself, a number was scrawled underneath. "Flowers? Who's the lucky person?" Sarah said as she walked into his office, a few manilla folders in hand. Owen handed her the little marker as he stood up from his desk. She read over it before setting it down on the desk. "She went all out on these flowers, must be one of the perks as CEO." Sarah laughed. "Yeah. Jesus there are flowers in here I've never seen. I should ring her and thank her for the flowers." Owen replied, pulling out his phone from his pocket. "Before you do, I brought in those files about the autopsy for Changeling that you requested." Owen nodded and thanked her as he dialed the number. The other line rang a few times before a voice answered. "Thank you for calling EWL Industries this is Rebecca speaking, how may I help you?" the voice on the other end said in a cheery manner. "Uh, yeah, hi. I'm Detective Owen Wilkes, I had just received the basket of flowers from Ms. Lams and she had told me..." Owen replied before being cut off. "Oh! I'll transfer you right away. Sorry for the wait Detective Wilkes!" the woman who had called herself Rebecca cut in. The phone made a few odd beeps as the call was being transferred. It took about thirty seconds for the call to finally go through, a voice Owen recognized answered. "Hello Mr. Wilkes; I see you got my flower basket." Emmi Lams said into the phone, the tone of her voice happy to hear from him. "I hope Riley will like them..." "Well, she was never much of a gardener, but she'll appreciate the gesture. It's been a few months since we last spoke, I'm sure you've heard what happened," Owen said not quite sure where to take this conversation. "Yes, I feel terrible for Riley. I can't imagine having to go through such a drastic change so fast. As you know my clientele take over a year, maybe longer before the final process. To endure that all in one shot... She is a very brave young lady, please let her know that." "I will be sure to Ms. Lams. She could use all the support, especially after her recent breakup," Owen wasn't quite sure he was telling Ms. Lams this personal information but he just felt like he needed to get it off his chest. He told her how Riley's now ex-girlfriend broke up with her and the reason behind it. "Well, it makes sense, but at least the poor girl tried to make it work, that's just as hard. Not to be bothersome, but I've been through the same problem Riley is going through." she said softly, her voice very soothing to Owen's ear. "Oh, well, I think she'd be glad to hear from someone who has gone through the same ordeal. I know it's tough on the kid and I've done all that I can possibly think of to help her..." "How about this Detective Wilkes, I extend an invitation for both you and your daughter to have a nice dinner with me so I can talk to her face to face. I think you're right when she could use a little pep talk. How does... this Friday evening sound?" "Uh, sure...? I don't think we have anything special planned so that should work." "Well then we shall carry on from there, I will meet you at the St. Kanica about five o'clock. See you then!" The line went dead as Emmi hung up the phone, she was giddy with excitement. Owen was a bit confused to what he had just agreed to, St. Kanica was one of the fanciest restaurants in all of Crimson City. If you weren't making over six figures a year, then you weren't "fit" to be at St. Kanica. This meant he and Riley would have to dress up for this dinner he had agreed to going to. Looking up at his phone he texted his daughter letting her know that they were going to be having dinner this Friday with the CEO of EWL Industries. A few minutes later she came back with a huge "what? Are you serious?" Owen chuckled to himself and texted back that he was "super serious". He got back a smiley emoji face and started laughing, his last message before setting his phone back down on his desk was telling her that they were going to have to dress up, which meant having to go find Riley a dress to wear. When she didn't reply within a couple minutes Owen figured she had just gotten to her next class. Picking up the folders Sarah had left him, he flipped open the first one as he leaned back into his big office chair. In it were pictures of the monster lying dead where Owen had shot him. There were details about the person Changeling was and quite a few interesting things Owen had no clue about. Changeling's real name was Hector Rodriguez or Dr. Rodriguez. He had helped with the design of the serum EWL Industries produced back when they were just starting up. That explained how he was able to make his own version, Owen would be sure to try and bring this up with Emmi during their dinner together. Owen had gone through all three files within the hour and were sitting on his desk when Sarah came back in. "Done with them ready?" Sarah asked as she picked them up from his desk. "Yeah. Dude was not right in the head, how he managed to get his doctorate is beyond me." Owen replied looking up at her. "I mean I knew he was crazy, but after reading his files, he was beyond crazy." "Did the lab ever get an idea from the samples we gave them? It's been pretty silent on their end for a couple weeks." "Actually, I haven't heard from them either, nor have I had time to really venture down there and check up on them. Oh! Before I forget can you take Riley dress shopping? We have a fancy dinner with the CEO of EWL Industries on Friday." "Ha-ha, you have a what now?" Sarah started laughing. He gave her a dirty look and told her that he and Riley were invited to have dinner with the CEO at St. Kanica. Sarah's eyes got super big when she heard they were going to the fanciest restaurant in the entire city. "Jealous?" Owen asked with a smirk. "I'd go dress shopping with her, but I don't know the first damn thing about women's clothing and you helped before." "Piper did most of the work. I was just there for emotional support, but I'll get ahold of Pipes and see if she'd want to help out." Sarah replied, already texting her friend. Owen just smiled and looked at his phone to see if he had gotten a response from his daughter. She had texted him back about twenty minutes ago, how he never heard it go off was beyond him. Riley wanted to know why they were going to have dinner with a CEO and wasn't thrilled with having to dress up. He texted her back saying he'd explain when he picked her up from school. Setting the phone back down he went back to talking to Sarah. "Piper will be available tomorrow night to go dress shopping," Sarah told him as she looked at her phone. "Well that should work. I'm gonna get drilled by Riley when I go pick her up from school in 30 minutes." Owen chuckled as he started to clean up a bit. Papers were all over the place and folders were in messy piles. After putting things away, he grabbed his jacket and was off to go pick up Riley. The drive to Crimson High only took about fifteen minutes, which still meant there was about ten or so minutes left before Riley got out. As he pulled in the parking lot was packed with parents ready to pick up their kids among the student's. Navigating his way through the cluster he managed to snag a decent spot and Riley could easily find his car. By the time he put the car in park the school bell rang and high school kids were pouring out of every door. Owen leaned back into the seat trying to get comfortable until he heard someone beating on the driver's side window. He jumped, his heart pounding in his chest as he looked out the driver side window. Riley was laughing her butt off as she walked in front of the parked car and opened the passenger side door. "Scare ya?" she giggled as she sat down in the seat and closed the door. Owen took a deep breath before responding, "No, not at all," Riley gave him a 'yeah right' look as she told him about her exciting day and how she had to spend a bit in the vice principal's office. Owen frowned when she got to the part where someone had purposely tripped her and made her fall to the ground. "Are you alright? You seem pretty happy despite that happening." Owen added in between her pause. "Well... I guess, Oliver Crane helped me out, he's the most popular guy in school." Riley told him, adding in that last part so her dad could figure out who she was talking about. "Oh, well that was nice of him to help you. Bet he has a crush on you," he joked as he poked her arm. Riley's eyes flashed big as she looked over at her dad, "N-no! He was just being nice..." Owen cracked up as they were almost home by this point. He loved giving his daughter a bad time, it was the only time she really seemed to come out of her shell and be her old self. When they were pulling into the driveway Riley had remembered her dad telling her that they had some fancy dinner they were attending in a few days. "Mind explaining this dinner we're having? You know I'm not very thrilled about having to wear a dress." "Oh sh- that reminds me, I forgot the flowers Emmi had sent over. Mind tagging along back to the office with me?" "I suppose, not like I have much else to do." They both got back in the car and were off to Owen's office in the 63rd precinct. It was a good twenty minute drive give or take, depending on traffic. Unfortunately, they were heading into rush hour, so it was going to take a bit longer, not that Owen or Riley minded. It gave them time to talk about the dinner they were attending. "As I was saying the CEO of EWL Industries had sent over a basket of beautiful flowers for you. She feels bad for what happened and I guess wants to share some advice," Owen explained as they were nearing the precinct. "Hmm... Little late for that, don't you think?" Riley asked, wondering why on earth now would someone like Emmi Lams care. "She did apologize for that when I talked to her on the phone. Being a CEO of a rather big company makes you kinda busy, Rye." her father responded. "So she invited us to dinner at St. Kanica the fanciest restaurant in Crimson City." Riley wasn't really impressed about eating at a fancy restaurant, it meant she had to dress up and that would mean pushing her old self even further away. She cringed when her dad told her who would be taking her dress shopping. It was nothing against her Aunt or Piper, but she knew she'd be trying on numerous dresses. This dinner best be worth it, especially if she had to be in a dress. The two had eventually arrived at the 63rd precinct, Owen parks the car in his personal parking spot. Both got out and walked towards the entrance. A few of Owen's coworkers were finally leaving and stopped to briefly talk. They greeted with warm smiles and were curious to see how she was doing. The teen tried to shy her way out of the conversation about her as best as possible until her dad dragged her right back in. Riley didn't have much to say and preferred her dad do the talking. When her dad and his coworkers had finally parted ways they finally went inside the building. Riley had been here quite a few times in her life, but not as recently. Like a year ago her father was talking about how they were doing some remodeling and she hadn't been in since. Her dad was walking at a faster pace and was halfway across the building as she slowly made her way, looking over everything. She walked over to a desk that seemed all too familiar, it was her Aunt Sarah's desk. It was pretty obvious it was hers, it had a few pictures of her aunt, her dad, and of course her. Picking up the nearest photo frame she saw her old self staring back at her, she frowned again, taking a few deep breaths as she tried not to remember who she used to be. It was just painful and it ended up more as nightmare fuel when she went to sleep. She set the photo back down and walked over to the only office with its door open and the light on. Owen was sitting at his desk checking a few emails while he waited for Riley, he was in no big hurry and figured he might as well check up on his emails. When he heard Riley's footsteps near the door, he looked up from his computer and waited for her to walk on in. The flowers were still on his desk in the arrangement they were delivered in; when his daughter walked into the room he could see her eyes light up as she saw them. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and she tried her best not to smile. She was lost in awe as she gently touched each flower, taking in their scent. "Told you they were beautiful," Owen chuckled as he closed his emails and shut down the computer. "I swear I don't even know half of these flowers." "Wow, she went all out..." Riley replied as she looked over the little card. "So are you more up for this dinner, then?" he asked. "Yeah..." Riley replied, her gaze still focused on the flowers. *** Riley was really regretting going dress shopping with her Aunt and Piper. She swore under her breath as she grabbed the tenth (she wasn't quite sure what number it was) dress and went back into the dressing room. This one was a slim baby blue dress that had rather slim straps that were just magically supposed to stay on her shoulders. She could hear the older women giggling amongst themselves as she slid the dress on. With the dress halfway on she forgot to take off her glasses which were starting to press hard against her face as they were being crushed by the dress. Muttering to herself, she took the dress back off and took off her glasses, setting them down on the little table next to her. Overall the dress looked really nice, very modest, and didn't show off her girlish figure as much as the other dresses had. This one looked more for a formal dinner and not someone who was trying to dress up for some fancy dinner party. Out of all the dresses she had tried on this was the one she actually could see herself wearing to the dinner. Stepping out of the dressing room, she could hear the audible gasps of the older women standing there. "Well...?" she asked, slightly embarrassed as she did a little twirl to give them a full view of how it looked. "Oh my gosh, Riley. That dress looks amazing on you! You should pick this one, in fact, let me get a picture of you to send to your dad." Sarah said with glee as she pulled out her phone and started snapping pictures before the girl had time to protest. "I agree with your Aunt, that dress looks great on you. I think it suits you well and you look absolutely stunning in it. We'll doll your hair up a bit and you'll be ready for the dinner tomorrow night." Piper said with her warm smile. Riley blushed, she couldn't really help it, she knew that Piper meant what she said and it was comforting. She told them that she liked this dress and it was the one she wanted to wear for the dinner with Ms. Lams. By that time her aunt had gotten a response back from her dad, giving his approval on the dress. It was official then; that was the dress she was going to wear. Heading back into the dressing room, Riley changed out of the dress and back into her comfortable tee and jeans. All that was left of their shopping trip was to find a pair of comfortable flats to wear with the dress. Riley had made it clear on the way over that she was not wearing high heels. Finding the right pair of flats didn't take as long as finding the right dress, which was perfectly okay because Riley had about enough shopping for one day. As they were checking out the cashier, a young woman who was most likely in her late twenties, complimented on the dress choice. The teen agreed, she was pretty proud of her choice and was actually getting hyped up about having the dinner with Ms. Lams. Pretty soon all three ladies were heading out; Piper and Sarah dropping Riley off at home and wishing her the best of luck. Sarah told her that she would stop by a few hours before they were to head out so she could help get her hair done. Riley agreed and thanked them both as she hopped out of the car, the giant bag that contained her dress and flats inside, hanging off from her arm. She walked up the front door, digging her house key out of her jeans pocket and unlocking the front door, waving bye to the women in the car before heading inside. *** It was around midnight and Owen was still wide awake, it was usually around this time that Riley would wake up screaming from her nightmare. He just laid there, in the darkness of his room waiting for her to start screaming before he rushed into her bedroom to comfort her. It had been like this every night since the incident and as much as he wanted to get her to see a specialist, she'd refuse and tell him she was just fine. Sitting up in bed, he checked the time on his alarm clock, it was ten after midnight and yet his daughter had not woken up screaming. Getting a bit worried that something had happened he jumped out of bed and rushed over to her room. He gently opened the door, trying his best not to make the stupid door squeak as it opened ever so slightly. The moon was shining through the window just enough to barely light up the room, but it was enough for him to see his daughter sleeping peacefully. Owen smiled, it was the first time in a long time that she was sleeping and not waking up in the middle of the night. "Sweet dreams Riley... I love you," he whispered as he crept back out of the room, slowly closing the door behind him. Owen smiled to himself as he slowly walked back to his bedroom, right as he reached his bedroom, he let out a yawn, his eyes were getting heavy as he crawled back into bed. Resting his head on the pillow he closed his eyes, picturing his wife lying next to him like they used to. It was usually the only thing that helped him get to sleep and this time was no different. *** There was about an hour before Owen and Riley were to meet up with Emmi Lams, CEO of EWL Industries at the St. Kanica restaurant. Owen was pretty calm at least he was doing a great job of hiding how he was really feeling. He was a bit nervous, as he should be, it wasn't everyday that you go to the fanciest, most expensive restaurant in all of Crimson City. All to have dinner with the CEO of a major company who felt sorry for what had happened to his kid. Riley was sitting in the living room, on one of the dining room chairs as Sarah was doing her hair. Her aunt told her she wasn't going to do anything super fancy, but a few curls here and there wouldn't hurt. So the teenager just sat there as her aunt curled her hair as she sat there in her dress. Sarah had insisted that putting on the dress after having her hair curled would just have to do some of it over again, so to prevent that it was just easier to have the dress on now. Her father was taking pictures with his phone, he wanted to capture this moment as much as possible. His daughter was looking like a mature young woman with each passing minute that Sarah spent working on her hair. When her hair was finally finished being curled, she stood up and stretched, knocking loose the aching in her legs from having to sit for so long. She walked over to her bathroom to finally see how she looked, flipping on the light as she entered. She gasped as she saw how pretty she looked. Riley gently ran her smaller hands through her curled locks just amazed with how good of a job her aunt had done. Her phone was still in the living room otherwise she would have taken a picture of herself to show off to her friends. Riley remembered her dad had taken over at least twenty pictures during the entire process so she'd have quite a few to pick from. Shutting off the light, she walked out and back into the living room. Owen was standing in the middle of the living room, gesturing that she come and stand next to him. "I want to get a picture of us together before we head on out." he said with a smile. "Of course you do..." Riley replied, realizing her necklace wasn't around her neck. She started to panic, wondering where on earth it had gone. "Looking for this?" her father asked as he held up her necklace. "You took it off while Sarah was curling your hair, silly." Riley let out a sigh of relief as she lifted up her hair so her dad could put on the necklace. It had been one of the greatest gifts ever given to her, just by its sentimental value alone. With the little locket hanging just above her breasts, she stood next to her dad, his left arm wrapped around her as they both smiled for the camera. The flash on Owen's phone blinded both of them as Sarah smiled, taking a few more before switching to her phone. Thankfully, she gave them a few seconds to let their eyes adjust before being blinded again by the brief flashes of light. Sarah was finally satisfied with the amount of pictures and walked over to hand Owen his phone. He tucked it into his pocket with his free hand as he let go of Riley with the other. "I put your phone in my other front pocket in case you want it, but we should probably get going so we're not late." he said as they all walked into the kitchen. Sarah looked at the clock displayed on the microwave and saw they had a good 30-45 minutes to get there, "Well you two have fun! Let me know how it goes!". "Of course, we'll text you the entire time," Owen joked as he gave his friend a hug goodbye before following her out the front door. "You better! And good luck Riley, I hope you get some answers to questions I know you've been having for quite some time. I can't wait to hear how it went for you, love ya." Sarah said as she walked away from them towards her car. She stopped to wave goodbye as she slid into the front seat and started the car. Owen and Riley hopped into the other car left in the driveway and followed Sarah out of the neighborhood, eventually splitting ways on the freeway. Owen turned on the radio so they could listen to some tunes as they drove across the city to St. Kanica. If it weren't for the radio blaring the car would have been silent as Riley kept her gaze looking out towards the passenger side window while Owen kept his focus on the road ahead. The sun was starting to set, the skyline a mix of orange, red, and pink. By the time they would make it to the restaurant, it would just start getting dark outside. Pulling up in front of the restaurant, which on the outside looked like an ordinary building, minus the giant canopy with the name of the restaurant attached to the entrance. A few men dressed in suits were waiting outside, the restaurant had it's own valet parking. Owen was a bit skeptical as him and Riley stepped out of the car and one of the valet's asked for his keys. "Um, we're with Ms. Lams' party?" Owen stated as he held out the keys for the valet. "Of course, we've been waiting for you, you must be the Wilkes party, go on in and our hostess for the night will take care of you from there." the young man said as he took the keys from Owen and slid into the drivers side and drove off to park the car. Owen led the way into the building with Riley following behind him pretty close. The place was pretty packed with people, everyone dressed up in fancy suits and dresses. They were greeted by a woman in her late twenties whose nametag read, Lilly. "Wilkes party with Ms. Lams, correct?" she asked politely. "Yes, that would be us," Owen replied, flashing a smile to the pretty young lady. Riley was looking around in awe at all these fancy people, she recognized a few people from the billboards advertising they were running for something in the local government. The food that was in front of them looked absolutely amazing making her mouth water. Lilly led them through the crowds of tables that were kindly lit with a candle in the middle of the table to where a young blonde woman was sitting by herself. Emmi looked over when she heard footsteps getting closer and smiled when she saw Owen and Riley following behind the hostess. Standing up, she thanked the hostess who had led her dining guests over to her table and introduced herself to Riley. "Hello, hello, you must be Owen's daughter, Riley." she said smiling as she held out her hand. Riley nodded and shook the woman's hand, introducing herself in the process. "It's nice to meet you, Ms. Lams." Riley said smiling slightly. "Please call me Emmi, dear. And hello to you Owen, glad you two could make it," she said with a warm smile. "Of course, wouldn't miss out on an evening out with the one and only Emmi Lams." he chuckled in response. All three sat down at the table, Riley was in the middle of the two, staring at the silverware wrapped intricately in a soft white dinner cloth. She wasn't aware just how much she was staring at it until her dad put his hand on her shoulder asking if she was alright. Riley blinked a few times as she looked up to see her father's concerned face. "Yeah, just in my own little world. Sorry." she replied. The three were briefly interrupted by their waiter, who was ready to take drink orders, everyone asked for just a glass of water to start as they looked over the menu. Emmi started the conversation back up asking how Riley was adjusting to the changes. "Good I guess, still getting used to being a girl. It's been a couple months, but I think I'm adjusting well." Riley calmly replied looking at the woman. "Wonderful news, I'm glad to hear that. Your body seems to be doing well too. The human body cannot handle such drastic changes so quickly, which is why my companies process is much slower. Yet here you sit." Emmi said, looking into the young girl's brown eyes. "Thanks...?" Riley replied, not sure how to respond. Owen took over and mentioned that Emmi had gone through a similar breakup like what Riley had gone through. Emmi nodded and told them both about her past lover who had suddenly found themselves wanting to transition and how tough it was to watch the man she loved slowly disappear into the bright young woman she had become. As much as Emmi wanted their relationship to last it just wasn't meant to be. "Ours was more mutual and we're still good friends, she's almost like a sister to me. I hope you and Tamara remain the same." Emmi told her wiping the tears out of her eyes. "Sorry, I get a bit emotional..." "Thank you. I hope to remain friends with Tammy too," she replied with a smile. The two girls kept exchanging words, with each response, Riley felt more comfortable opening up to the woman sitting next to her. Being able to connect to someone who had gone through a similar problem was very helpful and insightful. Owen just sat back and listened, occasionally being pulled into the conversation by Emmi. At one point their waiter had come back with their water and asked if they were ready to order. Emmi told them to order whatever they wanted since she was footing the bill. Owen tried to protest but Emmi insisted since they were her guests and she was the one who in invited them. Owen knew he wasn't going to win this argument and browsed through the menu, deciding on their 20 oz. steak with like five sides. Riley was still busy picking, the choices were so overwhelming. She eventually settled on a light salad to start with baked macaroni to finish it off. Emmi complimented on her choice telling her it was really good. She settled on the same as Riley, it just sounded really good to her. The waiter had jotted down their orders on a little notepad and went off to the kitchen to drop off their orders. As the waiter had left they picked up their conversation back up, Emmi had asked the two if she had gone to any counseling yet to help with any trauma that might have dug deep inside her head. The tone of her voice as she asked made it obvious that she was hinting that it would be very beneficial for Riley. Owen explained that after the incident Riley had made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to see a specialist and at the time he wasn't going to fight with her. Riley had piped up to say that she was fine and wasn't in need of any outside help like that. Emmi knew that wasn't really true and the poor girl was struggling everyday, but she also knew some people were rather stubborn to get the help they need until they themselves finally knew they needed it. She could see the hurt in the girl's brown eyes, even if the girl couldn't see it herself. To push the conversation in a different direction, Emmi put her hand on top of Riley's and gave it a gentle squeeze. "If you ever feel like you need someone to talk to, please don't hesitate to get ahold of me, Riley." Emmi said smiling and letting go of the young girl's hand. Their waiter had come back to refill their half full glasses of water, excusing himself as he went to tend to his other tables in their area. The group continued talking, Emmi giving some good advice to Riley when the subject of today's matters had come up. She told the teen that there would always be those who never quite "understand" things and to make themselves feel better they have to "act out" on someone else. "This Oliver Crane guy sounds like a good person, I'm glad there's still some good people out there who are willing to stick up for you." Riley blushed, she knew Oli had a crush on her, it was clear as day. It also helped that she had been on the other side of the fence so the signs were more obvious. "Yeah, he's pretty nice. If it weren't for him or Carlos I don't know what I'd do..." she had said before taking a sip of her water. The teen went on to explain to the woman who sat next to her who Carlos was and how they were best friends. Owen piped in a few times to add in his own memories of Riley and Carlos growing up together. He had told the story of when Riley got her head pushed into her 6th birthday cake by Carlos and it ended with birthday cake all over the place. Everyone started laughing, their laughs joining with other patrons as they told their own stories to their table mates. It was probably a half hour later when the waiter had arrived carrying a giant tray with big porcelain looking plates full of food. He passed out the food before asking if they needed anything else. Owen told him they were fine and the waiter excused himself. Riley immediately dug into her salad, which was contained in a rather big bowl. She managed to put a nice dent into it before moving onto the baked macaroni and cheese. Owen and Emmi dug into their meals as well. They all ate in silence, letting the sounds of the restaurant fill the void. That was until Riley spoke. "So why did you really invite us?" she asked suddenly. The question catching Emmi off guard, making her cough as she tried not to choke on her chewed up food. "Well... Because I wanted to show you that there are others out there who have a better understanding of what you've been through. You are the only one who has survived that psycho... that alone is a burden that someone your age shouldn't carry." Emmi replied, setting her fork down onto her plate. Riley didn't respond as she pondered on what Emmi had just told her. Owen sat there, still stunned that his daughter would ask that question in such a way. He was happy to see that Emmi took it the right way and answered in a polite manner. Emmi smiled at Owen, reassuring him that all was good. The CEO went on to explain more to Riley why she wanted them to join her. By the time she had finished Riley had regretted asking in the first place. Eventually they had finished their food, waiting for their waiter to come back with the bill. Owen had again asked that he at least pay half of the bill, which was again politely declined. The waiter had come back with a little booklet that contained the check. Emmi opened it and took a peek at the total and laughed. "If you insist here you go," she joked as she passed it over to him. Owen opened it up and saw the price and about fell out of his chair. The total ran over four hundred dollars. He looked at her in disbelief as he showed Riley the total. "So you'll let me cover it now, hm?" Emmi giggled as the booklet was passed back to her. She signed the slip and slipped her credit card into it, setting it on the edge of the table. "I do hope you both had a great night tonight, it's been real fun." Emmi said proudly. "Of course. Thank you for inviting us, it's an honor to sit down with a CEO, this coming from a detective." Owen chuckled with a smile. "Oh please, Owen. I should be saying that to you, you're the hero here. So let me say that it's been an honor to spend the evening with Crimson City's finest." "Well, thank you," he replied. The waiter had come and gone without notice until he told them all to have a good evening. Emmi smiled and pulled out her purse from under the table. It was just a black Coach handbag, but Owen knew that purse was worth quite a bit of money, Sarah had talked about getting one at some point. She pulled out a matching wallet and grabbed three hundred dollar bills and handed them to their waiter. "Thank you for the wonderful service Kevin," she said graciously. "Have a wonderful evening and tell Anne I said hi." Their waiter known as Kevin was smiling as he took the money, "Of course ma'am". He walked away soon after, the way he walked was that of excitement instead of his usual professionalism. Emmi just laughed to herself and turned back to her guests. "Well, I don't know about you two, but ice cream sounds amazing right now." Emmi said excitedly. Owen and Riley were confused as to why they didn't just order dessert. Their host noticed and explained that she preferred a specific kind and St. Kanica didn't have it. That wasn't enough to clear the confusion between the two as she told them they'd take their car to this place. As they walked out of the restaurant the valet guy from earlier came pulling up with Owen's car. "Here you go Mr. Wilkes and Co. Have a great evening," he said, handing him the keys. Emmi gave him a generous tip as they all piled into the car, she took the front passenger seat to guide Owen. Riley crawled into the back seat wondering where they were going. Owen put the car in gear and he started driving towards wherever Emmi was taking them. As he drove he'd keep asking her where they were going and she'd just smile and shake her head. Without much of a choice he blindly followed the directions until they were near the highway, with fast food joints galore. When they drove past a few Emmi pointed to the big glowing sign that read DQ and got super excited. As they stopped at a red light Owen looked over at Emmi with a "are you joking?" look plastered all over his face. She just smiled and nodded her head as the light turned green. *** "Blizzards, of all the things..." Owen said as they stood in line to order their ice cream. "What? They're my all time favorite place for ice cream!" she replied as she stepped forward to order. Owen shrugged as he and Riley were standing behind her, waiting to order their own. Once all three had ordered, Owen pulled out his wallet and pushed Emmi's extended hand away and gave the cashier his card. "This one's on me," he smiled as the cashier swiped his card and handed it back to him. Emmi laughed and told him that was fine, putting her card back into her wallet. The cashier handed them all a little laminated card with a random number on it, letting all three know they'd have their ice cream out to them as soon as possible. Without much choice they went and found an empty booth that looked cleaner than the rest. Owen and Riley sat next to each other while Emmi sat across from them, setting her purse to the right of her. It was about five minutes later when a girl who couldn't be a few years older than Riley came by their table with the ice cream they ordered. Owen had ordered a fudge brownie Blizzard, Riley a Reese's Blizzard, and lastly Emmi had ordered a M&M's Blizzard. None of them waited to start spooning the ice cream into their mouths. At one point as Riley went to put the red spoon into her mouth, she missed part of it and some of the ice cream landed on the tip of her nose. She immediately knew what she had done and tried not to laugh as she reached over to grab a napkin. Owen and Emmi noticed and busted out laughing, giving her a bad time. Riley made a face and started giggling with them, before turning into full laughter. Their laughter got louder, making other patrons look over at them with confused looks. When they had noticed they tried to stop laughing, but it just made it worse as they cracked up again. Owen had said in between his fits of laughter that they should probably shove off before they upset any more people. So they all picked up their cups of ice cream and walked out to Owen's car. As they all sat down in the car they finally calmed down and took quite a few deep breaths. "Holy hell... I haven't laughed like that in years," Owen said in between breaths. "Oh my gosh, you guys are so embarrassing." Riley replied smiling. "You did that yourself, missy," Emmi said giggling still. When they were all finally calm and not breathing so hard, Owen asked where they wanted to go next. Emmi suggested back to their house. She'd have someone come and pick her up as soon as she could, if it was alright with them. Neither Riley or Owen protested so they went back to the Wilkes' house. At the house they all sat in the dining room, still chatting away while Emmi waited for her ride. When her ride did eventually come, she bade the Wilkes a good night and told them how much fun she had. She told Owen that she'd keep in touch sooner than later. The Wilkes walked out with her and waved to her as she crawled into the back seat of some high end SUV. When the vehicle was clearly gone from their neighborhood Owen looked down at Riley and asked her what she thought. "She likes you. Like holy crap Dad, the amount of obvious flirting was a bit too much. Otherwise it was fun. Haven't felt that good in such a long time," Riley told him as she turned to go back inside. "What? No way!" Owen yelled as he followed her into the house. Riley had stopped in the dining room and turned to see her dad's flustered face. The sight was enough to make her smile before she continued walking to her room. "Her dad never got embarrassed like that", she thought as she was walking down the hallway. "She totally does. Have a good night dad!" she called back with a smirk before closing her bedroom door. "Lies and slander!" Owen called back, chuckling at such a thought. He went to his office, it was only a quarter past nine, he still had time to catch up on some emails. Booting up his computer he sat down in his chair and got to work. The keys of his keyboard clacking away as he answered email after email, the night passing by as he did. By the time midnight rolled around, he went to check up on Riley. He slowly crept into her room and saw her sleeping peacefully for the second night in a row. Smiling, he closed the door and went back to his office. It had been an amazing night and right now he needed sleep. When he did crawl into his bed, his mind was only thinking about what his daughter said earlier. Did Emmi really like him...? *** Five months later. February had just rolled it's ugly head around as Crimson City was hit by a bad snow storm. All schools had been out for the past week due to the ever increasing snow, not that the kids minded. They were all out in their snow suits having a blast outside. Whether they were sledding, skiing, or having snowball fights, it didn't matter. Riley and Tammy were hanging out at the Wilkes house. Back in November they had finally come to the conclusion that they could be best friends and despite the hurting feeling that lingered they could push past it. That had helped Riley quite a bit, having some kind of closure had settled any doubts between them. Oliver was still crushing on her pretty bad. She didn't mind the attention, but she had made it clear she wasn't interested in guys. That had helped some, but every once in a while he would give it another shot, which would just lead to her politely declining his advances. Sometimes he came off a bit too strong. School life had gotten easier, there were the few assholes still here and there who felt like they had to make her life a living hell but she pulled through. At the start of the new year she had decided to go to some counseling, from the constant pressuring of her father's girlfriend. It seemed to help out a bit, she had been put on some antidepressant meds that didn't really do a whole lot for her. Her psychiatrist had diagnosed her with a minor case of PTSD due to the incident and over time it should go away, that is if she worked on it. The nightmares that had plagued her for so long weren't as frequent but when they did come, they were absolutely terrible and made her a miserable wreck that day. Her father's girlfriend who coincidentally was Emmi Lams, CEO of EWL Industries. The two had hit it off pretty well ever since the night they went out to dinner with her. It made her heart flutter when she saw them together, they truly cared about each other and it made her long for the same thing. Of course every time she thought about that her thoughts would drift towards her holding hands with Oliver or even sharing a kiss with him. It just made her sick to her stomach every time, she'd constantly remind herself that she didn't like guys. That was part of her problem, not wanting to accept the truth that lay deep in her soul. The man who had changed her had not only changed her appearance, but her entire being. Something in her brain had been rewired and she would fight tooth and nail to dissuade the ever growing sense of self that told her she might actually like boys. At one point she had told Emmi, who she trusted more than anyone about these feelings. Emmi didn't really know how to answer the poor girl other than tell her to follow what her heart told her, it's what led her to her father after all. It wasn't the most ideal answer, but Riley accepted it since she trusted the older woman like she was her mother. The older woman had a better understanding to what was going on with the poor girl then anyone else, it was a foundation that helped build a stronger relationship between them. The two teenage girls, still relaxing in the living room were interrupted by a loud bang followed by Owen yelling profanities from his office. They tried to hold back their giggles as Riley stood up and went to check up on her dad. He was holding his left knee when she came into the room, her hand covering her mouth to hide the grin. Owen just gave her a "don't you dare say anything" look as he set his leg back down gently. "You alright there?" Riley asked, having moved her hand to show off her bright smile. "Yeah I'm fine..." Owen muttered as he turned towards the computer monitor on his screen. Riley shrugged her shoulders and went back to the living room to chill with Tammy. When she left Owen went back to reading emails since he was stuck at home. The city's snow plows hadn't made it to their neighborhood yet so he couldn't make it into work. Not that Chief Henderson minded, he had told his detective to just stay home and keep warm, if they needed him they would buzz him in. He briefly looked over at the two picture frames sitting on his desk. The one closest to him was Cecilia, Riley, and him together, back when Riley was younger and still a boy. He mentally cringed every time he thought of how his teenage daughter used to be his teenage son. It had been almost eight months since the tragic event that had forever changed thei