Harry's P.O.V

"Riley....." I say after she lets me in. Suddenly her face turns somber and she looks so broken. I wrap her I my arms and she breaks down in tears. I hold her tight as she cries and I try and soothe her. "It's alrite Ri, I'm here." I say as we slump down to the floor against the wall. She sobs harder into my chest, balling my shirt in her hands.

"H-H-Harry, I'm s-sorry." She sobs. Why is she apologizing?

I shake my my head and begin to sway from side to side attempting to comfort her. "There's no reason to be sorry love. Everything is alrite. Don't worry." I tell her as I smooth her hair. My heart breaks as she continues to sob. After a few minutes her sobs quiet but I continue to hold her and rock her. "I'm here Riley, I'll protect you now." I say quietly. I feel her grip on my shirt loosen and her hand slides down a little. I look down and notice that she's fallen asleep.

I pick her up as gently as I can, trying hard not to wake her. I make my way up her stairs and look for her room. Once I find it I place her on the bed gently and pull the covers over her. I move a couple of stray hairs from her face and tuck them behind her ear. "I'm the one who should be apologizing, I should have been there for you." I whisper to her. I get up and kiss her cheek and walk out quietly. I head down the stairs but as I am reaching for the door, Riley's parents come in. They look surprised by my presence and Riley's dad takes a defensive step in front of his wife.

"Uh, hi." I say awkwardly offering my hand to him. He shakes it while studying my face. Once realization hits him he shakes a little less tensely.

"Harry? Dawn, I think its Anne's son Harry." He says as his wife takes a step inside. A smile spreads on her face when she realizes who I am and she hugs me quickly.

"Oh goodness how you've grown! You're even more handsome than I remember!" I blush at her statement. "Riley told me she saw you but now that you're here I can't believe it." She says removing her coat. "How are you darling? How are your mum and dad? And Gemma? I'm sure she's gotten even more beautiful!".

Riley's dad looks at me laughing. "Dawn give the poor lad a moment to answer will ya?" We all laugh at this.

"Well my mum and dad split up but she met a great man named Robin who I have become very close to. My dad lives in London, I see him every now and then. Gemma is doing great as well, she's in uni now." I say smiling.

"That is so good to hear. I'll have to have your mother and Robin over for dinner one day. Hold on, where's Riley?" She asks realizing her daughter isn't present.

I shift awkwardly and run a hand through my hair. "Um she's, upstairs sleeping. She kind of tired herself out. She was uh... She was crying when I got here." I explain keeping my hand on my neck. They exchange a worried glance then look at me.

"Harry why don't you and Tim go have a chat in the living room while I make us all some tea?" She says looking at her husband. He nods and gestures toward the living room and we go in and have a seat.

We sit down across from eachother and I fiddle with my hands nervously. I look at Tim when he takes a deep breath and leans forward in his seat. "Has Riley told you why we moved back to Holmes Chapel?" He asks. I shake my head and he takes another deep breath. A few minutes go by and Dawn comes in with the tea. We thank her and she takes a seat next to her husband.

She starts, noticing her husband is struggling to find the right words. "Riley has always been such a kind girl, you know that from when you two were kids." I nod my head taking a sip from the mug. "Well when we first got to America everything was great. Riley made friends rather quickly, not finding anyone as sweet as you of course." She says smiling. I can feel myself blush again, she continues. "Well everything was great, until she got to high school." She takes a long pause. Tim wraps his arm around his wife in a loving gesture and he takes over.

"She was doing really well, making friends and bringing home fantastic marks. One day she came home extremely excited. She ran to us as soon as we got home and told us that she was asked out on a date. I was extremely skeptic considering my little girl was only fourteen, but eventually she and her mother convinced me to let her go. We knew the boy, his father and I had met a few times at the golf course so I trusted him and knew she would be fine." He pauses and takes another deep breath. "The next day she wouldn't leave her room. My wife and eye went to check up on her, she looked like she hadn't slept the entire night. She showed no emotion, just told us she didn't feel well. Days and weeks went by and she just stood like that, no emotion, just going through the motions of life. Her close friend Samantha tried to help us reach her but after a while she gave up. We took her to a doctor and they diagnosed her with chronic depression." My eyes widened at this. How could Riley go through all of that? My stomach whirled, if I was there I could have helped her overcome it all, I wouldn't have given up on her. "I realize this is a lot to take in Harry, but seeing that you are her friend we think you should know this." He says breaking me out of my thoughts.

"It is a lot, and I wish I could have been there to help her through it. I never would have guess any of this had happened. She seems so..... Happy." I say shaking my head.

"And she is darling, now that she's back home." Dawn says sitting closer to me. She reaches a hand to place on mine "Ever since she got here and saw you and Louis she's been happier then ever." She says giving me a reassuring smile. I smile back at her slightly.

"There's another thing you should know Harry." Tim says. I look at him and his face has gone pale. "The reason we finally decided to move back. Riley.... She uh...." He struggles with what he's going to say next.

"Dad...." We all look towards the entryway to the living room entryway and Riley is standing there. She looks at her parents then at me. "Let me be the one to tell him.... Please..." She says. Her parents both nod and they get up.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I ask her as she sits next to me. I place my hand on her knee and he starts playing with my fingers.

"Better, sorry about that. I haven't....." She shakes her head "I haven't cried like that in years." She finishes. She looks at me a gives me a little smile.

A few minutes pass and I decide to speak "Listen, you don't have to tell me now if you're not ready." She looks at me and smiles. God I love that smile. She's still playing with my fingers, I can stay like this forever.

"Thank you Harry, but as my best friend I think you deserve to know." My heart cringes when she says best friend. Oh Riley if only you knew that I want to be so much more. She takes a deep breath closing her eyes.

Riley's P.O.V

I take a deep breath inhaling his scent hoping that it will give me the strength I need to tell him my secret. He takes my hand in both of his and I open my eyes. I stare into his amazing green eyes, they're full of concern and I know the concern is only going to grow. I don't want him to pity me, I just don't want there to be anymore secrets. "You have to promise me something first." I tell him.

He looks confused for a minute but then holds his pinky up. "Anything." He says.

I entwine my pinky with his, holding it while I speak. "You can't treat me different after I tell you. The last thing I want is for you to pity me, I've had enough of that from my own family." He nods his head in agreement and I go back to playing with his fingers. It's surprisingly calming. "At the end of the last school year...... I.... I attempted suicide." I say looking straight into his eyes. His green eyes widen and his face pales. I knew this was a mistake. I continued though "I spent a while in the hospital, mostly for therapy. When my doctor suggested a change of scener I immediately thought of coming home and since I've been here I haven't felt any sadness. I've been at peace because I have you back." I finish. He looks as if he's deep in thought.

We sit in silence for a while until he finally speak. "I'm sorry I never kept in contact with you." I guess the confusion on my face shows because he continues speaking "I just feel that if you had someone to talk to then you wouldn't have felt so empty." He looks sad. "I could have helped you." He finishes dropping his eyes to his hands. My heart sinks at his words.

I grab his face in my hands and make him look at me. "Hey, don't you dare try and blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done. We were kids when I moved, I never expected you to try and keep in touch. The only person who could have stopped me was me. Alrite?" I tell him. His sadness diminishes luckily. "I'm just happy you're here now, and that's all that matters okay?" He nods his head. I release my hold on his face only to wrap my arms around him in a hug. He pulls me closer and I feel safe.

"I won't let anything bad happen to you." He says. The vibrations from his voice along with the depth in his words send chills throughout my body. I smile widely.

I release from from the hug and smile at him. He finally smiles back showing the dimples I love so much. I poke his dimple and he laughs at me.

"You're the only person to have ever done that you know that?" He says. I chuckle and shrug my shoulders.

"It's cuz I'm special." I say giggling.

"Yea you're special alrite." He says and I can hear the sarcastic tone I his voice.

"You're gunna regret that styles!" I say attacking him. I remember him being extremely ticklish when we were younger so I go straight for it. He erupts into a fit of laughter. "TELL ME IM AWESOME!" I demand continuing to tickle him.

"NEVER" he says between laughing. "I WILL NEVER SURRENDER" he proclaims still laughing. I tickle him harder. "OH GOD RILEY! IM GUNNA WIZZ MYSELF!" He says laughing harder. I love his laugh, he sounds like a big kid. "ALRITE ALRITE!" He's finally breaks. I cease my tickling so he can catch his breathe. I wait for a minute. "Riley, you are..." He starts but a mischeaveous smile breaks on his face "THE LAMEST HUMAN ON EARTH!" He says squirming away from me. He manages to get out of my reach and runs around the couch.

"You are so dead when I get you Harry." I tell him lunging after him. He darts out of the living room and runs for the dining room. He runs to the other side of the table and sticks his tongue at me when I enter.

"I never realized how slow you were Riley!" He taunts as I circle the table. "It's like I'm watching a slow motion movie." He says as he pretends to run in slow motion.

"Thats it! You're mine!" I say running as fast as I can. I reach out and am able to grab his waist, making him lose footing and we both tumble to the floor in the hallway. I manage to find a way to pin him as we squirm on the floor. We both are catching our breath when my mum comes in.

"What on earth are you two doing? It sounds like a herd of elephants was running through my house." She says crossing her arms. Harry and I both look at each other and burst into a fit of laughter. "I realize you were kids the last time you saw each other but you aren't kids anymore, no running in the house." She says as she walks away shaking her head.

We laugh for another minute or so before we finally calm down. I keep his arms pinned down and stare at him. "So where were we, I think you have something to say to me sir." I tell him.

He chuckles. "You realize your mother is right. We aren't kids, which means I am a lot stronger than you are and I can easily flip you over." He says raising an eyebrow.

"Oh can you?" I say in a challenging tone. As soon as the words are out of my mouth he smiles mischievously and flips us around. My eyes go wide at our new position. He leans down close to me. Shivers run up and down my body as his breath hits my face.

"Riley is awesome." He says smiling. I smile back at him and he gets up, holding a hand out for me to grab. I smile widely as I grab my hand then I pull as hard as I can, rolling out of the way as Harry comes tumbling back down.

"I know I am." I whisper in his ear, hopping up and running to the kitchen.

Notes

Sooooo I thought I'd put a little humor at the end because this chapter was pretty depressing in my opinion.

Two updates in one day lol. I just needed to write, I am having such a great time writing this story. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do =].

How long do you think Harry and Riley are going to stay friends?

comment and let me know!!!!!