Power Or Love

Stepping out of the restaurant with quite some takeaways, Riley took a good look at the name and chuckled.

"Though the name sounds strange, the food tastes nice." Riley said as they walked towards the alleyway which they came through earlier.

"You only ate one, so how do you know if they all taste nice?"

"If one tastes that nice, I can bet all of my savings on the fact that they all taste nice."

Natasha smiled. Just as they got into the alleyway, she glanced at what he was carrying.

"Hey, did you decide to get more of the chocolate soufflé for your family?"

Riley subconsciously raised the bag containing the chocolate soufflé up and looked at it. A sad smile appeared on his face.

"No, it's mine."

Seeing the sad smile on his face, Natasha suspected that he and his family were not on good terms. She smiled and decided to cheer him up in her own way.

"What about the steak frite, don't tell me that's also yours."

Riley did smile, and she knew she definitely did succeed.

"Not mine, I got it for Richard, he loves steak, though I've never seen him eat it with chips, but I'm sure he would love it."

Seeing him with a smile as he spoke about his so-called big brother, she kinda wished he would smile this way if he ever spoke about her with others. She also wanted him as a brother.

Their happy moments didn't last long, cause Riley screamed out in pain. The perpetrators stood some distance in front of them with big smirks on their faces, not showing an ounce of regret from throwing a big stone at Riley's wrist. The stone had rough edges, and had done a good work at piercing into Riley's soft skin. The bags which contained the foods he got from the restaurant were now on the floor and blood came dripping from his wrist to the bags.

Although the blood coming out of this wrist was not much, he looked panicked. Natasha who had been looking at Riley's wrist all those while, looked up to see his face, to check on him, but what she saw was a panicked look, she suddenly got angry. Just who were these idiots seeking death. She turned to look at them, with a deadly stare, but upon seeing them, she understood why Riley looked panicked.

Four boys stood there, blocking their way, each of them with a bag full of hard and rough stones. Natasha knew she had no hope of winning them in a fight, so she decided she and Riley would run back the way they came. Turning back, she saw another five blocking their path, each with his own bag of stones.

She gnashed her teeth, cause she knew they were hopeless and were completely at their mercy. Sweet talking, she knew not how to do, and she was sure that Riley was also dense in that area, so, there was no talking their way out of this.

Natasha looked at both sides and at Riley who looked completely lost, he stood still, but he was shivering. She felt helpless for a second and was just about to scream when she noticed that the boys were yet to throw another stone at them. Did the boys just enjoy seeing them both panicked. She decided to use this to her advantage, she was not going to let such an opportunity pass by. Get hit and still not know why or who sent them, no, Natasha never rolled that way.

"Stone me all you want, just leave him out of this."

Natasha hoped that they would do as she hoped. Afterall, by saying what she said, she made it seem like she knew that whoever sent them asked them to go for her.

"That won't do girl. We came for you two."

Yes

She screamed in her mind. Sooner or later, they would go on spilling everything.

"But you are right about one thing." said the same boy who spoke earlier.

Natasha took a good look at him. Seeing him acting all bold and fearless, she assumed he was either the leader or he was the one who came up with such a shitty plan.

"We would stone you to our heart's content. Afterall, you had so much fun while you exposed Everett's secrets. How you got your hands on that video and his past, we do not want to know, all we know is that we would make you suffer for making Everett have to live a sad life."

Natasha scoffed out loud. Were they kidding her or what? The only one who lived such a sad pitiful life was Riley.

" Sad life you say, but why does it seems like he lived like a king, having more than one lover."

If she could still find a secret that could ruin his reputation completely, she would happily ruin him completely. It's all thanks to people like him, that the innocent were always blamed for falling in love.

" He had nothing but one lover, you yourself should know that. Didn't you write it out yourself, how he thought of the dangers of turning her down. I would have you know that he didn't get the scholarship on a platter of gold, NO. He worked his ass hard, reading day and night, just to grab a green branch that was being offered to him. He didn't want his hard work to be in vain. All he wanted was to make his family proud of him. A boy who never had a big dream suddenly had one, do you seriously think he would let it go so easily."

" And just what does this has to do with Riley?"

She was pissed off, she looked pissed off, did sound pissed off. If Everett knew he had a dream, then why involve an innocent boy in his messy life.

" He freaking found someone he loved, someone he could be himself around, someone who understood him, someone who showed him love, someone who freaking made him feel loved, just which human in their right senses would not pursue such love? Is he at fault for falling in love with someone else, even though he knew he had a girlfriend he only saw as a friend?"

Natasha didn't feel an ounce of remorse for Everett, all she still felt was hatred.

" Then why didn't he choose him over her? "

This was something she herself was curious of. And would it not be better if Riley also heard it. Won't he like to know why Everett kept him waiting back then for two months with such a stupid promise .

And as though she was right, she noticed Riley raise his head up a bit, but still did not look at their faces. His body was now calm, just a bit tense. It was obvious he also wanted to know why.

"Anyone with a big dream would choose power over love."

Silence engulfed the alleyway. Natasha got what she wanted, Riley knew what he dreaded knowing. And the boys felt fulfilled that they finally made Riley know he was nothing compared to power. Afterall, anyone with power could get their hands on whatever they wanted.

What was expected next was the throwing of stones.

"Guys, we have to leave."

Everyone looked at the boy who ran into the alleyway to deliver this message.

"Some men dressed like bodyguards seem to be approaching this...."

They all could see four heavily built men behind the tenth boy, luckily for them, the end of the alley was quite a distance to where they were. They all ran through the other way, passing by Riley and Natasha, the smile on her face annoyed them. It was obvious they had played right into her trap. They ran into the street where the French restaurant was, running as fast as their legs could carry them.

Seeing the men stop right in front of her, her smile disappeared. Hearing Riley hiss in pain, she went into panic mode, remembering he had an injury on his wrist.

"Let's go Riley, you have to get your wrist treated."

He moved forward, took a pause, looked at the food he bought displayed on the floor. While the boys ran past them, some had trampled on the bags, thereby making a mess. He took a deep sigh and continued moving.

Natasha and one of the body guard exchange glances, and off he went into the other street where the French restaurant was.