InsaneJournal

Thought you had all the answers
to rest your heart upon
but something happens
don't see it coming, now
you can't stop yourself
now you're out there swimming
in the deep

I made my place by the door I didn't know what I was waiting for It felt just like home Except no grass, no yard, no pictures hung NAME: Riley Hayes NICKNAME: Ry. AGE/BIRTHDAY: 28, December 19th. GENDER: Female. AFFILIATION: It’s complicated. BIRTH LOCATION: Chicago, Illinois. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: - Height: 5’7” - Eyes: Blue - Hair: Long, dark brown - Build: Slender DISTINGUISHING MARKS: A tattoo of a black shamrock on the inside of her right wrist. SEXUAL PREFERENCE: Heterosexual. PERSONALITY: Before she had her still beating heart ripped out of her chest and stomped on in front of her, Riley was a kind soul with a good head on her shoulders and a positive outlook on life. Even after her mother died, she was the one to help cheer her father up and get him through the day. It seemed like she always had a smile for anyone who needed it and was more than willing to go the extra mile to help out a friend in need. After Conor left, she slowly began changing. At first it was just that her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes but as the years progressed, she started to become sarcastic and her sense of humor turned dry. Anyone who was interested in being more than just a friend was held at arm’s length, her still tender heart too afraid of being broken again. Today, even with all of her attention and energy focused on her ailing father, she still seems distant and a tad bitter. In addition to that, the Irish temper she had been so good at keeping in check finally began to rear its ugly head. Riley had always had a sharp tongue, but it has been only recently that she's stopped trying to control it. I could see across to the park And there were friends They were laughing hard They looked just like my own With no face, no name, no voice I know FAMILY: - Father – Seán Hayes, [55]. - Mother – Shannon Hayes, [Deceased] PERSONAL HISTORY: Riley was born on a cold December night to Seán and Shannon Hayes who couldn’t have been happier to welcome their daughter into the world. Growing up, Riley was doted on by both parents and through them, learned to love and be grateful for everything she was given. She might not have been born into the wealthiest of families, but they had each other and that was what really mattered. Her father taught her the importance of taking pride in one’s work, his pub being his greatest accomplishment second only to his daughter. She didn’t realize the importance of it back then, but her father was a close friend of Patrick O’Meara’s and as a result, held a certain standing within the community. A lot of the meetings between the Irish leaders were held at her father’s pub and so Riley spent a lot of her time around the sons of the men who came to visit. One son in particular, Conor O’Meara. To Conor and the rest of the boys, Riley was always just the kid sister who tagged along and tried to fit in. For the most part, they humored her and even taught her how to throw a proper punch. Really it was an ideal situation for Riley because no matter how dirty or scraped up she was when she came home, it was never her fault. Those older boys should have known better than to teach her football or let ride on the handlebars of bikes! Too bad their parents never believed them when they said it had all been Riley’s idea. Sometimes being a girl really did pay off. As the years went on, Riley went through her awkward and lanky phase and the older boys she used to hang out with went on to go through high school and then college. Riley did exceptionally well in school, she thrived when it came to retaining information but more than that, she loved to learn. Life was good right up until the summer before her Freshman year of high school. Her mother had been out of town visiting a friend and on her way back, she was run off the road by a drunk driver and killed instantly when she slammed into concrete wall. Both Riley and her father were devastated but somehow they managed to pull through the tragedy and continue on with their lives. Riley ended up graduating from her Catholic high school with honors but rather than run off to a university, she opted to stay back and attend community college so that she could be closer to her father. Even though he had put on a brave face over the years, she knew that he was still struggling with the loss of his wife and since he had given her everything in his power, Riley couldn’t bear to leave him alone. Seán wasn’t exactly thrilled that she was putting off her college aspirations, but Riley was very good with convincing him that it made more sense to get all of her general education classes out of the way closer to home before breaking the bank to attend a university. Staying home ended up turning out better than she could have ever hoped. She was eighteen, going to school full-time and working at her father’s pub part-time when Conor came back from college. Riley had always thought highly of Patrick’s boy and might have even had a crush on him when she was younger, but when he walked into the pub that day, she could have sworn that her heart had stopped beating. He was taller than she remembered and had filled out quite handsomely. She probably shouldn’t have even recognized him, but it was all in the eyes. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought that she would have been able to catch his attention, but a year later, luck seemed to be on her side and she spent the next two years in a whorl-wind romance that she had previously believed only to exist in books and movies. Riley was in love, her father couldn’t have been happier and life was completely and utterly fantastic. Or it was right up until Conor had to leave for a while. Something had come up, something that required him to leave Chicago so that he could "deal" with it. Riley had tried to put on a brave face, but even though his note had promised that he would come back and asked her to wait for him, she could feel her heart break in two. Life without Conor just wasn’t the same and she put off transferring to another school for a year so that she could get her head in a better place. If things couldn’t get any worse, two years later and a semester before she was scheduled to graduate from the University of Chicago, her father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was given five years to live. At that point any dreams of getting her degree were lost and she threw herself into taking care of her father. Riley refused to let him give up and took over the pub while he underwent surgery and chemotherapy. From there the bills started to pile up and her father had to take out a second mortgage on pub to help make ends meet. Riley had no one to turn to and felt like she was drowning in a sea of hopelessness. Conor had been gone for three years at that point and showed no sign of returning. Patrick O’Meara, while sympathetic, wouldn’t give her any information about his son. He told her that the less she knew, the better. Desperation started to set in when all of the “past due” notices started to arrive but just when it looked like they were going to lose everything, the bills stopped coming. Riley couldn’t understand it and it took a lot of phone calls for her to discover that one Dante Morelli had taken care of everything for her. Dante had always been there in the background, coming into the pub a few nights a week and always offering to walk her home. She never could understand why he seemed so intent on “wooing” her but his act of “generosity” forced her to stop and finally notice him. It had been five years since Conor had disappeared and Riley felt like she had no choice but to humor Dante and show some form of gratitude. She finally started to accept his dinner invitations and would accompany him to movies. Dante was convinced that she was “his girl” now but Riley never did anything more than give him a kiss on cheek. Her father didn’t approve at all but what was she supposed to do when spending time with Dante meant that her father could continue his treatments and lengthen the amount of time he had left? To Riley, it was a small price to pay. Over the next two years her father went through highs and lows while Dante stood by to pick up the pieces. Somewhere in there he had proposed to her, promised that he would take care of her, but she used her dying father as an excuse to put off her answer. She just couldn’t think about getting married when her father had less than a year to live. At first, Dante seemed to understand but there was an uncontrollable rage brewing underneath the surface. Riley barely had enough time to notice anything was wrong before word that Patrick O’Meara had been murdered turned her world upside down yet again. Suddenly it was no longer safe to walk the streets and Dante was furious with her for helping plan the funeral. Everything was spinning out of control and to top it off, it was only about to get worse. I met someone at the bar He had a great smile and a great heart It felt just like love Except no fear of losing and it wasn't tough WEAKNESSES: Conor, her father, not knowing when to back down and walk away. TRAINING/DEGREES: -Graduated from high school with honors. -One semester shy of earning her B.A. in Literature. SPECIAL SKILLS: Has a head for business and a knack for tending bar. RESIDENCE: A small apartment with her father. OCCUPATION: Storylines THE FRIENDS Anyone she grew up with or currently knows. PB && OTHER Negotiable. Other PB; Olivia Wilde DISCLAIMER; I am not Olivia, she is entirely her own. This journal is FAKE, so get over it. I finally made it I made a clean getaway I finally made it I made a clean getaway And I miss you I miss you every single day

Life keeps tumbling you heart in circles
till you let go
till you shed your pride and you climb to heaven
and you throw yourself off
now you're out there spinning in the deep.