It's Not What You Think

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi stood at the gate to the school waiting for her best guy friend to join her. It was the weekned before Riley's birthday and since she knew he was probably going to spend the weekend with his fiance, she had taken the opportunity to set up something really fun for him. It had been a while since the roommates had done something alone. But, Riley seemed intent on delaying the whole event. "He is worse than a girl" she mumbled as she impatiently tapped her foot on the ground. It had only taken her about an hour dress and get ready.

If he didn't show up and soon, there would be no way that they would make it in time. And he knew that she hated waiting, so she couldn't understand what was taking him so long. It was her biggest peeve of all. That was why she had mentioned the time they had to leave by several times that week. "C'mon Ril" she mumbled again. Don't you want to know your birthday gift? she wondered as she glanced toward the path again.

 

[Riley Smith]

Riley paced up and down his rom. He knew that Cyni was aking him out tonight but he did not know where or to do what. He thought it was probably a birthday present but she what dropped no hints about what she had in mind. He didnt know if he should dress smart or dress casual. He took out a shirt from his draw and stuck it on. He decided to go with what ever was first out of his draws. He had to hurry and dress as he knew Cyndi was not the most patient person in the world and he ha a suspion that sh had been waiting for a while.

Riley opened his bedroom door and walked down the stairs. He flt a little stupid doing this but he knew he would enjoy what ever she was going to do. "Im hurrying before yo say anything." He said reaching the bottom step and looking at her. "Where are we going?" He asked

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

"Finally" she exclaimed when Riley showed up. At least he looks nice she thought to herself. If he planned on taking long and keeping her waiting, she was glad that it had at least been for something. When he asked where they were going, Cyndi raised her eyebrow at him. She'd gone nearly a month without telling him where she was taking him for his birthday, and she was going to make him wait a bit more. "Un-Uh...not yet" she said with a laugh as she grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the school. They needed to get further away from the school before they'd be out of the spell zone.

Once they were far enough away, she stopped and turned to Riley, reaching into her pocket as she did so. In her hand was a plain black piece of cloth. She held it up and gestured for Riley to turn around. "Turn around Ril...I'm going to apparate us there, but I need you to put this on." She nodded her head and then added in a sing-song voice, "I promise it'll be worth it."

 

[Riley Smith]

Riley sighed and looked at her. He thought that she must had know that he hated surprises. He always had even as a child, he liked to know what to expect so he could prepare himself. He pouted slighted and folded his arms across his chest and made himself look like ten year old that cant get their own way. "Fine then." He said then followed behind her out of the school.

When Cyndi stopped him Riley grinned at what she said next. He had had some pretty good experiences when i came to blindfolds. He did a he was told and turned around and closed his eyes. "Are you taking me to a strip club or something." He said hopefully but also with humour in his tone.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi shook her head at Riley as he pouted and crossed his arms. She knew he wasn't very fond of surprises but she didn't expect that. At least he was going along with it. When he turned around, Cyndi moved in closer and placed the blindfold over his eyes. She paused as she listened to what he said. " No way!" she laughed as she quickly tied a knot and then moved around to be in front of him. She held up her hand and waved it in front of his face. "Can you see?" she asked, hoping he couldn't. "I'll give you a hint, since you're being so good and not asking too many questions. We're going to do something with a whole bunch of people, mostly muggles probably." She bit her lip, biting back a laugh as she waited to see what sort of idea came to his mind. With Riley, you never knew sometimes.

 

[Riley Smith]

Riley stayed still as she put the blind fold on him and laughed at her reaction to his strippers. "Hey cant blame me for trying." He joked as she said something else. "No i cant see. You better not shave me now cyndi." He laughed then shrugged. "Ok well that narrows it down i guess." He said waiting for what Cyndi did next as he couldn't see he was relaying on er sense of direction. He did trust her enough for this which was probably good news for the both of them. "You know i have to rely on your direction skills and leadership now. Has your apperation skill improved much?" He asked with a cheeky grin on his face

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

She smacked his arm lightly and rolled her eyes, though thankfully he couldn't see. Now that she was sure the blindfold was working, Cyndi was ready to apparate them away. She reached for his hand and was just about to grab it when he asked about her apparation skills. She stuck out her tongue at him, and then remembered that he couldn't see. So, she did the next best thing and smacked him in the arm again. "Maybe I'll lose you somewhere over the Ocean and then you'll never get your present" she teased back.

Gripping his hand tightly, Cyndi's heartrate sped up. She didn't like apparating much and she'd only side along apparated a few times before, and she'd never been the one doing it, so she was nervous. Please don't splinch... she wished as she concentrated on their destination. Closing her eyes, she spun a bit and knew that she'd been successful when the sounds coming from the school had faded and were replaced by the sounds of people walking by. The pair were in the middle of a dark alley in Perth, Australia and Cyndi hurried to get Riley and herself out. She hated alleyways, but it was the only place where wizards could safely apparate in muggle areas. "We're almost there" she said excitedly as she still held onto Riley and slowly led him towards the arena. "You can take off the blindfold now."

 

[Riley Smith]

Riley laughed as he felt her smack his arm. There really wasn't much he could do back because he couldn't see anything to hit. Not that he would have really, Riley didn't believe in hitting girls as he had watched his father do it so many time before with his mother. "Maybe but then who could you know that matches my amazingly good looks and awesome sense of humour, not to mention my god cooking skills. Im a rare breed, wait no come to think about it, im the last of my kind." He said biting his lip and chuckling. He would have winked at her but because of obvious reasons he didn't as there was no point in doing it.

Riley took hold of Cyndi's hand and held it tightly in his own. He felt his feet leave the ground as she apperated them to where ever it was that she was taking him for his birthday. He was used to the feeling of Apperating now after doing it so often but it didn't mean he liked it any more, just tolerated it more than anything. When his feet touched the ground again he had to admit to himself that he was a little surprised that he had actually landed on his feet and not on his head. He was doubting if that would have happened earlier but it seems that he had under estimated his best friend

Before he could do anything, like talk to her, he was being dragged around again. He didn't like the feeling of not being able to see. What if there were hot girls around? He couldn't look at them. Never the less at least he had Cyndi to look at, he was a looker that was for sure but she was officially off limits for him. He had nearly blown their relationship out of the window the last time and there was no way he would risk it again like that, he was too un-loyal and he knew that she deserved better than that. When she told him that they were nearly there Riley sighed in relief. It meant that he wouldn't be walking blind for much longer, it also meant that he could see his surprise that Cyndi had got him and refused to tell him.

Riley was even more relieved when he heard Cyndi say that he could take the blindfold off now. He grinned. "Oh good, i think i have forgotten what sunlight looks like now." He joked as he pulled the material off over his head. He blinked a few time first before anything really registered with him. He looked around at all of the masses of people that seemed to be around. He didn't mind all the people, he was a people person and liked being in big groups so this wasn't a problem for him. The next thing that he noticed was the huge stage just in front of them. There was a big drum set on there ans microphone stands and a few big guys with 'security' written on their jackets. It had clicked in his head that they were going to watched a gig of some sort but what or who it was going to be, was still a mystery to him. He couldn't think of her letting slip anything about this before so he didn't have a clue at all about who it may be.

Riley bit his lip as he turned to Cyndi. He wondered if she would tell him now or just make him wait even longer. He knew which on sounded most like her but he also knew the one that he wanted it to be and well they were both different. "Are you going to make me wait again?" He said putting on his puppy dog face again. He didn't like waiting on things like this, no matter how patient he was. One thing that he didn't like about Cyndi being his best friend was that she knew him all too well which meant she knew what got on his nerves and what he hated. It also meant she knew what he liked and how to take him smile. He liked the fact that she knew him better than anyone, well maybe apart from Adele but he thought that maybe Cyndi did know him better than her. He liked that she knew him more than others, it made their friendship more special and strong.

Again Riley turned his attention to his surrounding to see if he could spot anything that would give away what they were going to be watching here. He looked around and decided to look at the people first, and something he would have just let slip usually was the Muse shirts, but there were just a few too many people wearing them for it to be coincidence and he spotted a few shop stalls that were selling them, and other items with the Muse name written all over them. Riley actually felt a little silly that he didn't notice it before when he first took off the blindfold but then again he wasn't sure what he was looking for then but he did now and he had found it. He now knew why they were here and what Cyndi's present was. He knew that he would love it. Also it showed again how much she knew him, as Muse was his favourite band.

He turned back to his room mate and immediately trapped her in a bear hug. He could smell her perfume of what ever it was that she was wearing, it smelt nice. Riley continued to hug for at least a minute before he released her. Riley was still smiling widely like a Cheshire cat but he couldn't help it he was just so happy. "Oh my gosh Cyndi you know me too well. Thank you so much." If he had not already been in a relationship with her then he would have kissed her now, but he knew that that may be a little inappropriate so he kept his 'loving' locked up for a more suitable time, probably when he was next with Adele or when he next came across some girl who he could take to a hotel. "How did you know?" He asked her happily, his speech still quick but he as just too excited about the whole thing, he couldn't control himself. He had wanted to see muse since he was still in school but he had never got the chance to do it and when ever he did get around to it they were always sold out of something like that. He was just happy that he was here now and he couldn't think of anyone else that he would rather be here with then one of the most important person in his life

(woah im sorry that its mega huge but I started writing a just couldn't stop )

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

With a glance around, Cyndi knew that it wouldn't be long until Riley was able to guess what they were in Australia for. She was glad that he'd simply allowed her to lead without many questions because she wouldn't have answered them anyway. It seemed that Riley knew that well enough though because he didn't speak again until he'd taken his blindfold off. "The sun won't be up for much longer" she joked back, and actually she hoped it would hurry up and finish setting. The concert wouldn't begin until then, and she was eager to see the band that her roommate listened to often.

As Riley looked around, Cyndi waited for him to put two and two together. She bit her lip to keep from chuckling as he glanced at the stage and the security and then the t-shirts that the people around them were wearing. When he asked whether he would have to wait again, Cyndi giggled. "Maybe..." she teased and then shook her head, "No...I guess you've suffered enough." Before she could say anything more, Riley turned back to look at the scenery. She chuckled to herself. She'd been just about to tell him, but he knew her so well that he assumed she wouldn't say a word.

When she saw the light of recognition in his eyes, Cyndi's expression grew smug. In Riley's bear hug, Cyndi laughed, glad that her friend seemed to like the gift so much. He'd forced her to listen to Muse when they had tried dating and she had liked the band. Cyndi patted Riley's back and laughed again, this time a little nervously because he was still holding onto her. She hoped he wouldn't try to kiss her or anything because today was supposed to be a fun time and that would just make things awkward. When he finally released her, Cyndi adjusted the tube top she was wearing and beamed. "Glad you like it. Happy Birthday!" She looked to the stage which was pretty close to where they were seated and then looked back at him to answer his question. "How'd I know you like Muse?" she asked, pretending to be confused. "You only listen to them all the time." She giggled, "I read that they were going to be here in Aussie when I came here during Christmas break, and I knew I had to get you tickets." She put her arm around her friend's waist and pulled him towards their seats. It felt great to have her friend back.

 

[Riley Smith]

Riley laughed out loud as he looked at the stage and back to Cyndi. "Thanks I love it." He said shaking his head in disbelief and moving forward to th very from where the railings were to keep people back from the stage. He looked at her when she said that he made her listen to them all the time. He would usually com up with a come back but this time he copied her reaction and stuck his tongue out at her. "Thats just because i like you to know the best band ever. You will be listening to Bon Jovi and Nickleback and maybe a little bit of nightwish soon when your a home." He joked and lent against the meal railings. "Well im happy you did this. Thank you Cyndiloo." He said smiling at her and watching the sun setting behind her head. "The sun is setting." He said nodding in the direction.

(kept this one short for you )

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi listened to Riley and then shook her head at him. He was always trying to introduce her to muggle music, probably because she mostly listened to the magical bands. Most of the muggle stuff he listened to was pretty good though. "I've never heard of that Nickle-whatever group, but I've already listened to Bon Jovi" she said, adding a silent so there to the end of the sentence. "My mum likes them" she added to explain how she'd heard of the group. She did too actually.

Leaning against the railings with him, Cyndi smiled again. "I'm glad you like it Ril..." she responded and then nodded her head. "Yup...they should be coming out any minute." She glanced back at the seats and giggled to herself. It was funny to her that people usually bought seats for a concert and then spent nearly zero time actually sitting in the seats. Most of the people around them were either leaning on the railings like they were or milling around the aisles.

 

[Riley Smith]

Riley laughed as she said that she had heard of Bon Jovi. Music was the one thing he knew about best in the muggle world he wasn't big on Wizard bands. "Well there really is hope for you." He joked as he nudged her side. He had not actually met her parents yet. He thought it strange. "You know i haven't actually met your parents yet." He said looking at her pursing his lips as he thought. "Do you think that they wold like me?" He asked curiously. He wondered if her parents were anything like she was, he would like them either way.

Riley returned her smiled "Im glad that your lad that im glad." He said with a chuckle and a wink. Now there was something that he had never said before.It was kind of a tongue twister. "Oh good, What do you think will be their opening song?" He asked as he bit his bottom lip. "I think it will be Undisclosed Desires." He said, mainly because it was his favorite Muse song. He looked behind him as he sat down on a eat at the very front. More people were stood up than sat down. Riley would probably stand up when the music actually began.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

"Whatever.." she laughed as she rolled her eyes at him. It wasn't her fault that she'd spent more time growing up around magical people and listening to magical things. Her mother was the only muggle she knew and her mother liked most magical things too so there wasn't much muggle music played in her house. With an odd look, Cyndi realized that Riley was right. She'd never taken him with her to England when she'd gone to see the family and they had not made the trip to New Zealand since moving to England. "We'll have to fix that then. It'll be fun for you to meet them, or at least my mum. She's a great cook...better than you even. I think dad's in India though. If we go after the school year, you'll get to meet Charlotte and Jr." She smiled at him. "I think you'll be fine. I kind of never got around to telling either of them that we uh dated, so they don't know anything about that." It was probably a good thing too because if her dad knew about him cheating on her it wouldn't be pretty. She had to swear Charlotte to secrecy about the whole thing because she had the feeling that neither of her parents would be happy to hear that she had dated her roommate. It had taken her a long time to convince them that living with a guy was ok.

Cyndi thought for a moment. She didn't really know the names of the Muse songs so in the end she shrugged. "I dunno. I just hope they play their new single. I love that song!" she exclaimed as she took the seat beside Riley. "Did you tell Adele I was taking you out?" she asked a bit nervously. She didn't want Adele getting the wrong idea especially if she found out after the fact. With a guilty start, Cyndi realized that she hadn't told Cameron. She definitely didn't want him getting the wrong idea. Things were going so great between them, but she actually hadn't even told him that she and Riley had dated either. She figured that she probably should and soon before he found out some other way.

 

[Riley Smith]

Riley laughed at Cyndi' come back. He had always been involved in the muggle world, unlike the rest of his family. Riley didnt want to follow what his family did and while they were all into magic and such he was playing with muggles and such. He may not have known a great deal about them but at leant he knew something and didnt hold a prejudice like other wizards he knew. When Cyndi said that it would be fun too meet her family, Riley grinned widely. He was actually quite looking forward to this. He wondered if hey would be anything like her, if they were then he knew he would get along with them perfectly. "I think after the school year would be better. I wont have to worry about lessons then. Also why now meet nearly everyone in one go." He said nudging her side. When she said that she had not told them about ow they dated Riley was relieved It meant less complication and more chance of them getting along. "Oh good i think hat is for the best." He said looking away from her and up to the stage.

Riley looked at Cndi with a raised eye brow. "Oh realy. My mind has gone blank. Whats the name of it again." He said with a smile wondering i Cyndi actually knew the name or was just pretending. "I think i mentioned it in passing We were, well kind of busy so i dont know if she was paying too much attention to what i was saying." He said scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Oh would you look at that the band is coming no stage." JHe said looking at the people walking onto the stage. He grinned widely and stood up as they began to play a song

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi nodded her head in agreement. "That's settled then. I'll let my mum know." She looked away just as he did, not wanting him to see how relieved she was that he wasn't upset that she hadn't told her family about dating him. She had never meant for him to find out how few people she had shared their relationship with, not wanting it to hurt him. It was complicated.

Biting her lip, she tried to think of the name of the song. It took her a few moments and she listened to him mention that he had sort of told Adele that he was going with Cyndi before it came to her. "So, she probably---Resistance! That's the name!" she exclaimed, interrupting herself when she remembered the name of the single. A look of triumph crossed her face for a brief second before her eyes narrowed and turned towards Riley to scold him for not making it clear to Adele where he'd be. Before a word could come out though, Muse was coming onstage, and Cyndi, Riley and everyone else around them stood to cheer the band on. As they took the stage, the song that Riley had been hoping for began to play and Cyndi smiled, happy that he'd gotten his wish. This was all for him after all. She looked excitedly to her friend and then turned her eyes to the stage to watch the lead singer perform. As that song ended and they moved onto their second song began, and Cyndi cheered wildly.

 

[Riley Smith]

Riley grinned as Cyndi said it was settled and that she would let her mum though. Thy would have to do it after the exams his timetable was kid of busy with lessons and family and the wedding. He actually couldnt wait for that day to come, to make Adele his wife. Adele Smith. The name brought a smile to his face. He didnt really hear what Cyndi said and t was the second song beginning to play that made him snap back to reality. He cheered as they began to play.

Some time later

Riley sighed as the concert ended. People were starting to leave but Riley wanted to hang around a bit. They had just spent a few hours jumping around he wanted to take Cyndi for dinner after all she had just taken hi to this so he wanted to do something nice for her. Riley looked to his side at Cyndi and smiled. "Ok well now is time for me to do something for you. I hope your hungry." He said with a big grin

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

The concert was amazing and as Muse left the stage after their third encore, Cyndi clapped loudly and cheered along with everyone else. "Ohman! That was...sort of magical!" she winked at her best friend knowing that only he would get it. Everyone else around them were clearly muggles. She watched everyone head for the exits, but like Riley, Cyndi was in no rush to leave. Reluctantly, she finally stood up realizing that sooner or later the security would head over to get them out of the place anyway.

She turned to her roommate as he spoke. "Food sounds great actually" she said grabbing his arm so they could head to the door and not get separated. She wasn't in a huge rush to head back to New Zealand. Australia was a beautiful place, and she couldn't wait to enjoy a bit more of it with one of her best friends. "Do you have anywhere in mind?" she asked as they left the arena.