Beside Him

Chapter 6// Mother Daughter Love

"Next time, you're getting a lot more than a coffee." I said once we were sat in the car.

He nodded sarcastically I grinned.

"Where to now?" I asked, taking a bite out of my cookie.

"A surprise." He muttered and said nothing more. I shrugged.

At this point I only had a half left of my awesome cookie. I bit my lip and did the most selfless thing I have ever done in my life.

I leaned forward and put it in front of his mouth.

He shook his head as if saying, no thanks and I shoved the cookie into his face.

He glared at me before opening his mouth and taking a bite.

I smiled softly, as he ate a the cookie, his eyes widening in surprise at how good it was.

"I hate to say I told you so." I said shrugging and tried to hand him the cookie. "Actually, I love to say I told you so. So I told you so."

He smiled slightly and I stared as he did. God, I'm so creepy.

"I can't take it, River. I'm driving." He said and I frowned.

I retreated the cookie, seeing him slightly pout making me laugh my head off.

I broke off a bit of the cookie and held it to his mouth. He shot me a grateful look before continuing chewing and driving.

"You full?" He muttered once I'd finished feeding him and I nodded.

"I think I'm gonna puke if I don't get out of this car though." I said. He shook his head to himself.

"Sometimes, you say the most British things." He muttered and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Oh yeah, like what?" I asked back, crossing my legs Indian style beneath me.

"Oh my gosh. Bloody hell. Puke. Nonce. Prick. Piss off. Hella. Shagged. Calling every human you come across 'love' or 'darling'. Not pronouncing your T's." He said, counting them off his fingers.

I raised an eyebrow with a small smirk. "I thought you couldn't use your hands 'cause you were driving."

His ears went red, his smirk falling. Mine only got bigger.

"You know, Archie," I started saying something I knew I would regret. "You're actually a really nice guy."

He gulped, his hands on the wheel tightening. For a second I thought it saw him smile, before his expression went blank.

"Don't get used to it." He muttered and I bit my lip.

"I wouldn't dare." I replied, picking up my hot chocolate from the stand. Just as I did, I heard the song 'Father and daughter' by Paul Simon play on my phone.

I smiled, remembering the day me and dad had both changed our ring tones to that song for whenever the other called.

Swiping the accept I put it on loud speaker. Archie shot me a surprised look that I ignored.

"Ello, baby girl." My dad's voice came through and I smiled.

"Ello, father dearest." I replied. "Everything ok?"

"Yes. Just making sure you're alive, baby girl. I got a call from school saying you didn't come in. I told them you were ill. Is everything ok though?" He asked, concern lacing his words.

My smile grew. "Yeah everything's fine. I just decided to skip and went out with a...friend." I squeaked the last word, not knowing whether it was true or not.

"Ooh. A boyfriend. Maybe he can be your date to Amanda's wedding." He said excitedly and my smile disappeared.

"When did I say boyfriend? And no, I would never put a human being through that. I'm not a monster." I replied with a small laugh.

"I can tell it's a boyfriend because of how you questioned it. You get your observant skills from me, baby girl. Anyway I--" here he paused and came back to the phone a few seconds later. "Your...er...your mother wants to talk to you." He muttered and I sat up straight immediately as if a reflex.

"No dad don't make me--" I was cut off.

"Rivi." My mother's voice came through and a chill ran down my spine.

"Mother." I replied, in the same cold tone. I was no longer smiling,I'll tell you that.

It'd been two years since I'd last heard her cold voice.

"You are going to Amanda's wedding." She announced and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, sure." I replied sarcastically. I practically heard her seeth through the phone and I gulped.

"If you want to continue being a part of this family, if you want to continue being a Harrison, you will attend this wedding. That is the last I will hear of it." She said angrily and I licked my lips.

"Mother-" I started but she cut me off.

"Oh come on! Stop being so immature!" She screeched and I gulped back the ball in my throat. "Vincent was always too good for somebody like you. You know that. He was made for Amanda just as Amanda was made for him." She finished. I gritted my teeth.

"Yeah, you're right. A cheater for a cheater." I repeated my dad's words from yesterday.

"That is it. I have just about had it with you and your dramatic behaviour. Amanda is better than you in every sense and somebody as beautifully sculpted as Vincent would obviously go behind your back for somebody as perfect as my daughter. Get that through your head. And if you take another random day off to hang out and doing drugs with a stupid boy, I will have you shipped off to boarding school so that no Harrison ever has to see the disgrace again."

By now I was in tears again, my bottom lip quivering. I didn't even remember that Archie was in the car with me, listening to my mother be a b***h.

"Ok, mother."I whispered, wiping my eyes and biting my bottom lip.

"My name is Clara. You will call me Clara. The only one who has the right to call me mother is Amanda. Neither you, nor your brother will call me anything other than Clara." And with that she cut the call.

I licked my lips, shoving my phone back into my pocket. Two seconds later, another phone call came through, the same ring tone playing.

I knew it was dad, trying to apologise for mum. But I didn't care. I simply turned off my phone and looked out of the window, wiping away at tear stained face one last time.

It was only when Archie cleared his throat that I realised that I was in his car. I licked my lips, opening my mouth to say something, anything.

But he beat me to it. "Your mom's a b*tch." He said angrily and I stayed looking out the window.

"Don't say that." I muttered and he snapped his head over to me so fast I thought he'd broken his spine.

"Are you mad?" He said in disbelief. "Did you hear the type of things she was saying? How can you call a b***h like that your mom?"

I looked at him with a lazy smile. "She's still my mother, Archie. She's the reason for my still being alive. I have to love her and even if I didn't, I still would." I shrugged.

He stopped the car at a red light, turning to me with a look the same look in his eye as earlier.

"You're so-- god I see a new side to you everyday." He said, still looking me in the eye.

I smiled softly, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"I'm just awesome." I muttered carelessly, expecting him to make another sarcastic comment.

He didn't, he just nodded before turning away.

"Agreed." I barely heard him say and I bit my lip, hiding a smile.

"I didn't know you had a brother." He said after a few minutes of silence.

A smile unknowingly came to my face. "Yeah, Jamie Harrison. No one even knows he's my brother. No one's seen him. He still lives in England but we talk everyday and I do visit him whenever the holidays arrive. I call him Bubby he calls me Chubby." I say with a small shrug.

"Oh." Is all he said, a small smirk playing at his lips.

God, I do miss my twin brother.

"We've arrived." He muttered and I looked over to him. "Get out."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Say it nicely and I'll consider it." I answered and he rolled his eyes.

"River, get out of my car." He said,tired of my antics.

I crossed my arms. "Say it nicely and I will consider it." I repeated and he gritted his teeth before giving me and obviously fake smile.

"Please, princess, would you kindly step out of the car?" He said sarcastically and I frowned jokingly.

"You gotta put some soul into it. Come on King I thought you could do this." I said dramatically and he rolled his eyes before getting out.

I quickly scrambled after him when I realised he really was gonna just leave me there in an unfamiliar area with an expensive car.

D*ck.

"So where are we going?" I asked, pulling his hand into mine.

"Get your Ebola ridden hands off of me." He said disgustingly. Although he could have easily gotten his hand out of mine, he made no move to.

I narrowed my eyes at him, interlocking our fingers now.

"No. Anyway, where are we going?" I asked again, starting to get annoyed. I hate, I mean hate surprises.

"Meeting with the boys." He replied.

I raised my eyebrows, swinging our interlocked hands.

"You have friends?" I asked as kindly as I could. He shot me a hard glare.

"Shut it, Tiny." He snapped and I returned his glare, snatching my hand out of his.

I didn't actually care that he'd called me Tiny but I wasn't gonna miss at the opportunity to make him feel guilty.

I sniffed slightly, forcing tears to come to my eyes. His eyes widened. "I'm really self - conscious about my height! Your such a d*ck." I muttered, wiping away my crocodile tears.

He looked scared for a second before his expression changed into one of guilt. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to make sure I didn't burst into laughter.

"I-- er...I'm sorry, princess. I didn't mean that. I just-- I don't know. If it helps I like your height like it is. I mean, 5'5 isn't too shabby." He muttered, his hands going through his hair.

I couldn't hold it anymore. I burst out laughing.

He blinked before his expression turned to rage.

I laughed my head off, tears streaming down my face. Every time I tried to get them to stop, I kept picturing his traumatised face and the laughter started again.

"Funny." He muttered but I saw him fight a smile.

I beamed up at him. "I didn't think you were capable of feeling the simple emotion of guilt, knowing your history as a heart breaker."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not one to usually feel guilty. But you're such a smiley person that making your cry is something that can melt even the coldest of hearts." He said casually as if it didn't make my heart turn into a big mush. "Well, apart from your b*tch of a mother's."

I rolled my eyes at the comment, wiping my face. Then I interlocked our hands, which got a dirty, playful look from him.

"So tell me about your friends while we walk twenty more miles. Which you for some reason couldn't have just driven." I muttered the last bit.

"You'll see when we get there. The place is always packed. Even at--" here he looked at his rolex "--half nine in the morning."

My eyes widened. "Oh Lord. I finally found a person who says it like me." I said in awe and he looked at me as if I'd lost it.

"What?"

"Someone who doesn't say, 9:30 but half past nine. Or 8:45 but quarter to 9. That's good. I would've abandoned you if you were one of those people." I said with a shrug. He rolled his eyes. "Ok so seriously tell me about 'the boys'."

"Er...Ok. well first there's Jayden. Trust me, you'll have a hard time believing he's my best friend. But don't call him Jay or anything. He hates it when anyone who isn't a friend calls him that. Then there's Callum, he's a lot more like me. Doesn't really talk but he gets his point across. There's Kyle who's just an i***t. And Lance." The fact that he didn't add anything to his description made it obvious he didn't like him very much.

I shrugged. "Whose most like me?" I asked, genuinely curious.

He looked at me for a second before glancing at our interlocked hands.

"I don't think anyone can be anything like you. But I guess it'd have to be Jay." He muttered and I broke into a grin.

"So you're saying I'm best friend material?" I asked excitedly and he rolled his eyes.

"I said nothing of the sort. The only material you are is the type I use to wipe the sh*t off my shoes."

I gasped, this time actually slightly hurt. But I quickly shook it off. How was he to know that that was the first ever insult my mother had ever said to me?

He didn't.

"I'm kidding, River." He said, his eyes boring into mine. I grinned.

"I know, Archie." I replied with a grin. He replied with a simple mutter under his breath about how 'British ' I was.

Loser.

"We're here, now can you let go of my hand so that it can get some blood circulation?" He said shaking his hand.

I smiled softly before releasing his hand.

As soon as I stepped into the park like area, I felt as if on cloud nine.

"Have I died and come to hot boy heaven?"I whispered in awe, lacing my hands together under my chin.

"You're so weird." Archie said quietly, shaking his head.

I grinned, knowing for sure that today just got a hell of a lot more interesting.