Wait For Your Love - Troy Otto // FTWD

4 - ❝ 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯. ❞

austin watched as riley secured the last stall. he couldn't help but admire the brunette. she's told him so much about herself, what she did before the world fell, what she wanted to study, and what she wished for her life to look like after graduation. a part of him was grateful for the end of the world as it gave him the opportunity to meet riley, a girl who he once lived over a thousand miles away from.

riley glanced at him, noticing how he was staring at her. "what?" her heart skipped a beat. "how gross do i look?"

"not gross at all." austin assured.

"then why are you staring me like that?" riley asked as she approached the blonde.

"i'm just..." he started. "i'm just really happy that you're here. you and your family have made fine additions to the ranch."

the two began their walk to the eatery. austin and riley were able to complete their tasks much earlier today as the stalls weren't so dirty and riley had already learned the basics. "well, we just wanna make ourselves useful, my godmother most of all."

austin nodded, recalling how madison volunteered to join troy and a few others to outpost alpha since they had gone radio silent for almost three days now. "what'd she do before the world fell?"

"guidance school counselor." riley answered.

"really?" austin asked. "i would've guessed a cia agent or something."

riley couldn't help but laugh. "yeah she can be pretty badass, even before the world fell. she's inspired me. i had this one kid relentlessly bully me in 5th grade and after so many pointless parent-teacher conferences, she sighed me up for boxing classes. on my first day, she could tell how nervous i was, how reluctant i was and so she said 'riley, you're a sweet kid. your big heart is one of my favorite things about you but when someone tests you, and uses who you are to their advantage you repay them, ten folds.' and so i took her words to the heart and after awhile i got really good at defending myself."

austin smiled as she fondly recalled the series of events. "and what happened with the kid that was bullying you?"

"i knocked him on his ass." riley stated. "sent him home crying like a tall baby. he never bothered me again after that."

"that's awesome." austin commented. "your godmother, she knew what she was doing."

"she always does..." riley said. "i'm very thankful to have her."

the two exchanged smiles before arriving to the eatery. "riley!" valeria ran up to her.

"val." riley smiled at the sight of her sister who was wearing a huge smile.

"i made a friend." the girl said.

"what? who?" the older girl asked. valeria pointed to a half full table. a girl who looked around valeria's age with blonde hair and hazel eyes sat on the emptier side of the table. she smiled widely when riley made eye contact with her. "she seems sweet."

"she is, it was kind of gross at first but she invited me to play uno with her and well..." valeria trailed. austin chuckled at valeria's 'gross' comment. "she's just as competitive as i am and she can get quite ruthless."

"she sounds fun." riley said. "we should all play uno some time."

valeria laughed, thinking of how competive her entire family was. valeria can so vividly recall everyone playing monopoly for her birthday and the game slowly turning more and more chaotic. at one point lucas threatened to throw a chair at riley. he literally grabbed it and positioned it at her. the game eventually came to an unsatisfying end when valeria threw a game piece in nick's eye. it's still a mystery if she was aiming for his eye directly or not. in her defense she was only 8 and he had stolen all her property. "oh we totally should." valeria said before she rushed back to her new friend.