Chapter 12: Boundaries/Off limits
1081 Words
The conversation at the back steps changed something between the three of them.
Not badly.
Just enough for Riley to notice.
Ethan tried.
He stopped questioning every person who spoke to her. He stopped deciding where she could go before she had answered for herself.
He still watched.
Riley noticed that too.
One afternoon, the three of them were sitting in the living room doing homework when Ethan’s phone buzzed.
He glanced at it.
“Owen.”
Owen looked up.
“What?”
Ethan held up his phone.
“Remember what we talked about?”
Owen frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“The rule.”
Riley looked up from her book.
“What rule?”
Ethan hesitated.
Owen gave him a warning look.
“Nothing.”
Riley narrowed her eyes.
“You’re both doing that thing again.”
“What thing?” Ethan asked.
“The thing where you talk about something when I’m not around.”
Ethan sighed.
“It’s not important.”
“Then tell me.”
Owen leaned back.
“Ethan thinks we should keep an eye on you.”
Riley stared at her brother.
“I thought we were done with that.”
“We are.”
“Then why are you talking about it?”
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
“Because you’re my sister.”
“I know.”
“And I don’t want some i***t messing with you.”
Riley closed her book.
“What if he’s not an i***t?”
Ethan looked at her.
“Then we’ll find out.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“I don’t need two bodyguards.”
Owen smiled.
“We’re not bodyguards.”
“You act like it.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“Riley, listen. I’m not trying to control you.”
“It feels like you are.”
He went quiet.
Owen watched both of them.
Then Ethan said something Riley hadn’t expected.
“Fine. I’ll back off.”
Riley blinked.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“Thank you.”
Ethan pointed at her.
“But there is one thing.”
Her smile disappeared.
“What?”
“If you ever like someone, you tell me.”
Riley groaned.
“Ethan.”
“I’m serious.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to know.”
She stared at him.
“You’re impossible.”
“Probably.”
Riley picked up her book again.
“Fine.”
Ethan nodded.
“Good.”
Owen remained quiet.
Riley noticed.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“If I like someone, do I have to tell you too?”
Owen looked at Ethan.
Ethan shrugged.
Owen smiled slightly.
“No.”
Riley looked relieved.
“Finally. Someone sensible.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t tell Ethan.”
She threw a cushion at him.
Owen caught it.
“Traitor.”
He laughed.
The argument ended there.
At least for now.
But later that night, Owen was sitting alone outside when Ethan joined him.
“You know I meant it.”
Owen looked over.
“Meant what?”
“Riley.”
“I know.”
Ethan leaned back.
“She trusts us.”
“She does.”
“I don’t want anything to change that.”
Owen nodded.
“Neither do I.”
Ethan looked at him for a moment.
“You’re my brother.”
Owen smiled.
“I know.”
“And she’s my sister.”
“I know that too.”
Ethan held out his fist.
Owen bumped it.
There were things neither of them could imagine changing.
The three of them had grown up together.
They were family.
That was the line.
That was the boundary.
And Riley Parker was completely, absolutely off limits.
At least, that was what Ethan believed.
And Owen believed it too.
For now.
A few weeks passed, and the conversation was almost forgotten.
Almost.
Riley had noticed something, though.
Ethan wasn’t the only one who watched her anymore.
Owen did too.
Not in the same obvious way. He didn’t question her friends or tell her where she could go. He simply noticed things.
When she came home upset, he noticed.
When she was unusually quiet at dinner, he noticed.
When she smiled at her phone, he noticed that too.
One evening, Riley was sitting on the kitchen counter, swinging her legs while Owen made sandwiches.
“You’re quiet,” he said.
“I’m always quiet.”
“No, you’re not.”
She smiled.
“You’ve been studying me too much.”
“Maybe.”
She tilted her head.
“Why?”
Owen handed her a plate.
“Because I know you.”
Riley looked at him.
There was nothing strange about the answer.
They had known each other for years.
Still, something about the way he said it made her pause.
She quickly looked down at the sandwich.
“Thanks.”
Owen leaned against the counter.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
That was it.
No interrogation.
No lecture.
No demand for an explanation.
Riley appreciated that.
Later, Ethan came into the kitchen.
“Where’s Riley?”
“Upstairs.”
“Doing what?”
Owen shrugged.
“Probably writing.”
Ethan smiled.
“She hides that notebook like it’s government property.”
Owen laughed.
Neither of them knew that Riley was actually sitting on her bed, staring at a page she had been avoiding.
She wrote slowly.
There are things I can’t tell them.
She stopped.
Then added:
Not because they’ll be angry.
She stared at the sentence.
She didn’t know why she had written it.
Maybe because growing up meant discovering parts of yourself that belonged only to you.
She closed the notebook.
Downstairs, Ethan and Owen were arguing over a video game.
Their voices drifted through the house.
Riley smiled.
They were still the same three.
Still together.
Still close.
But she could feel something changing.
Not between them.
Inside her.
She was becoming more aware of herself.
More curious.
More independent.
And someday, she knew, there would be things Ethan couldn’t protect her from.
Things Owen couldn’t explain away.
Things she would have to choose for herself.
Riley placed the notebook beneath her mattress.
Then she switched off the light.
For now, the Parker rule remained simple.
Family came first.
And some boundaries were never meant to be crossed.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD