-Okay, so I lied. Here's the next updated chapter right now! Hopefully there's fewer mistakes, but again please forgive if there are-

The next morning Riley woke up for the first time in what seemed like forever without her alarm wailing at her and by God was it a good feeling. She rolled over to look at the digital clock and saw that it was already past 10 so she got up to face the first day of what she felt was freedom. Being able to wake when she wished, and dress how she wished, and drink as much coffee as she wished was a heavenly thought and thinking of coffee she pulled on her least frilly blouse and skirt and padded out to the kitchen to brew some.

Spying her reflection in the metal of the fridge she pulled at the mess of curly red hair and almost wished for her mother to tame it back into a perfect braid that she could never seem to do on her own. Huffing loudly, she turned away. She'd deal with the mess at some other point.

As she riffled around all the cupboards to find the ingredients and utensils used in coffee brewing, she remembered her roommate. She looked down the hallway cautiously as if he was going to jump out of a dark corner. It would be considered rude to not offer him some, wouldn't it?

She set the electric kettle up to boil and made her way down to the end room. However, she hesitated when she raised her hand to knock. She didn't want to annoy him, but at the same time she didn't want to be rude and not offer him coffee. She hovered nervously by the door until she reasoned with herself that if she didn't at least try to from a friendship with her roommate, her summer was going to end up being awkward at best.

She knocked lightly on the door, almost hoping to get no answer, but she heard a loud groan and a crash from within the mysterious room. Worried, she opened the door slightly, peeking in, and what she saw amazed her. The walls she could see were covered in wires with small flashing lights leading to computers and electronics she couldn't name. Desks lined the floor with desktops and laptops running coding, or some other techy things that Riley couldn't understand. Then, she looked to a double bed pushed against the wall opposite the door. She saw Matt lying awkwardly with covers bunched up around him, one of his arms nearly touching the floor next to a vintage alarm clock much like the one she had on her side draws at home. It was practically the only thing not digital in the entire room.

She cleared her throat, trying to wake see if he was awake. He didn't react. "Um, Matt?" Still no reaction, "Matt?" She said a little louder.

This time he moaned again, burying his face in the pillow to get away from the light she was letting in, "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted some coffee? Or tea, if you'd prefer. I think I saw some cocoa as well," She faded off slowly, hoping he wouldn't be angry she was in his room, though technically she was still outside the threshold.

There was a pause. She waited, thinking maybe he'd fallen back to sleep, but after a few moments, she heard his voice muffled through the pillow,

"…Black, 2 sugars."

She smiled, backing out of the room, "Alright, I'll be back soon," She closed the door and retreated back to the kitchen. In all, she thought this was a good start to a companionship.

Once the coffee was made, hers with milk and his without, she walked back through to his room. This time she just opened the door and called out her return, "Here's your coffee," She smiled again, seeing he hadn't moved and placed both mugs on his side table, "Matt, I've got the coffee," she repeated.

She shook his shoulder and received another groan, but this time, he rolled over and sat up. His black hair was decidedly ruffled and the once perfect eyeliner was smudged across his eyelids, as well as the fact that, although she tried to ignore it, she noticed he was shirtless, wearing only a pair of boxers.

"Didn't I say you can't come in here…?" he said drowsily, as if he wasn't quite sure if he was still asleep or not.

Riley both nodded and shrugged, "Well, yes, but I was making coffee, and I thought you might like some," She picked up her mug again and took a sip, slowly backing out of the room,

"Oh, okay," was his only reply. He too took a sip of the coffee and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

She took this as a dismissal and finally reached the door, all while trying to avoid looking at the less than clothed boy. She didn't know whether to say anything to him, so she closed his door without a sound and returned to her bedroom. It was the second day of her vacation and she'd already seen a man in his underwear. Her mother would be horrified.

Her phoned made a loud beep and she saw that Aria had invited her to meet some more of her friends. Didn't expect to meet any of her friends on this trip. She thought to herself. Still, it would be rude to decline, so she pulled on her shoes and made her way to the elevator.

When the doors opened, she was surprised to see many more people in the penthouse than she'd seen the previous evening. What was even stranger was that all of them wore some purple. Whether it be a shirt, or shoes or accessories, everyone wore something. They seemed nice enough, though; acknowledging her as she passed them looking for her aunt and helping locate the businesswoman. They pointed her to the upstairs dining room bar, and she saw her aunt along with Pierce and a brunette woman she didn't know sitting at the long table. None of them looked too happy.

"Is everything okay, aunt Aria?" The blond woman looked up as Riley entered, nodding for her to sit down at the head of the table opposite her.

"There's something I never told your mom," She began, looking, for the first time Riley had ever seen it, lost and concerned, "I never told anyone, actually,"

The other woman looked up, "It's probably better if you just tell her," She advised, "Cut all the rest out,"

"Well, the thing is… I'm not exactly a CEO, though I'm a boss, of something…"

Riley was getting quite confused at this point. What was so bad that Aria had to lie to her own family? "Aunty, it's okay. I'm sure it's not that bad," She smiled, trying to help defuse some of the tension.

"Riley, you don't understand how serious this is, you can't tell your mom." Riley immediately sobered up, looking down at the table, "The only reason you're here is because I lie to her constantly. She would never talk to me if she knew the truth,"

"Boss, seriously, Shaundi's right. You have to just say it," Pierce said, "Stop dragging it out,"

Aria nodded, taking a deep breath. "Riley, I'm the leader if the 3rd Street Saints…"

Riley thought she was ready for anything, but apparently not, "That really dangerous gang that took over Silwater and Steelport? You're the leader?" With every syllable her voice was getting high and louder, her tone becoming furious, "You're the leader of the gang that was all over the news, the gang that kills people?!"

It was at this point that fate decided to play a cruel joke as someone yelled "LOOK OUT!"

Riley stood up just in time to see a missile explode in the pool, "What-?" Aria grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the bar just as the gunshots started,

"It's the damn Morningstar!" The brunette called Shaundi shouted, firing at a group getting off a helicopter,

"Stragglers," Aria huffed, "Didn't they get the message that we shut them down?" She turned to Riley, whose eyes were watery, "You need to run to the elevator and get the Hell out of here," She put a ring of keys into her hand, obviously meaning for her to drive her car, and Riley couldn't even voice that she didn't have her licence, let alone know how to drive.

"But what if they shoot me?" she said in a small voice, a single terrified tear making its way down her face,

Aria did her best to give her a playful smile, "You'll be fine, kiddo," She gave the girl a quick hug, hoping her gang hadn't seen her have a soft moment, and leaped over the bar guns blazing.

Riley edged her way quickly to the side of the bar and peeked over, looking for any immediate dangers. Men and women in black and pink shot the Saints in purple, blood spattering everywhere as people from both sides went down. She saw Aria running straight into the fire, avoiding bullets like some sort of superhero and taking down Morningstar after Morningstar. Anyone that got in her way became mincemeat at her feet.

Pulling herself back into the present, she looked around for any Morningstar her way. Seeing none, sprinted to a pillar, hiding as she heard shots hit the bar. She took a deep breath, noticing how far she had to go with so little cover, and heard a break in the shots. She wiped the wetness from her cheeks and began to run, ignoring all other sounds and sights other than the elevator.

By some miracle, as she approached it, it opened. She sprinted full speed into it and hurriedly pressed the close door button, not caring who was in the elevator with her.

"What the hell was going on in there?" She heard a distinct English accent say. She turned and almost cried to see Matt standing there, "I heard an explosion, but I didn't think anyone was attacking,"

"Aria said it was the Morningstar or something," Riley said shakily, "I don't know what's happened," She didn't want to think what was happening up there, and looked down at her hands, almost forgetting the keys she held. "Do you have you licence?"

He nodded, "Don't you?"

Riley handed him the keys, "I come from a really small town. You can walk from one side to another in 20 minutes flat. I never needed to learn," She tried to slow her breathing and calm herself, but she still felt a scream in the back of her throat and tears in her eyes, "Is there anywhere we can go that's safe?"

Again, he nodded, "My old apartment should be fine, hardly anyone knew I was ever there,"

The elevator pinged and the doors opened to the lobby. Thankfully, it looked as though all the Morningstar had come by air so no one blocked their rush to the parking lot. Riley pointed out the car Aria had used the night before, and before long, Matt was driving them away from the explosions and gun shots.