Wait For Your Love - Troy Otto // FTWD

9 - ❝ 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺. ❞

one of the trimbols horses showed up at the ranch, the day after they left. riley only knew of this because of nick. he barged into the cabin at dusk to inform madison. they soon went out with jeremiah to investigate the situation. riley couldn't go to sleep afterwards, it's not like she was doing much of it before nick came in but now it was going to be near impossible.

why couldn't things ever just be fine. the constant whiplash riley was getting ever since the world fell was maddening. riley dragged herself out of bed and went to the kitchen. she made herself some crappy coffee and went outside to sit on the balcony.

as badly as her mental health was, she tried appreciating the beauty that nature had to offer. the sky was light, a mixture of warm colors slowly disappearing as the sun came to a full rise. she wasn't the biggest fan of birds chirping but it was nice, in this moment. while the world was going to shit, the birds carried on with their lives. how easy it must be to be a bird. you're born, you learn to fly, you hunt, you sleep, you mate, and you give birth to some eggs that will soon repeat the cycle. how easy and how simple that must be.

"what're you thinking about?" austin appeared from the bottom of the staircase.

riley tightened the blanket around her. "austin?"

"riley." he said before taking a seat beside her. "how are you?"

riley tried shaking off the startled look on her face. she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss the blonde haired boy. in a way, he reminded her of the sun rise and all those beautiful warm colors in the sky. she smiled softly at the comparison. "you were there that night, austin. what do you think?"

"yeah, i'm sorry." austin said. "i wasn't of much help."

"there was nothing you could've done." riley said. "unless you have a secret cure for what my mom turned into."

"god, i wish." austin said.

"do you think it's possible, though?" riley asked.

austin shrugged, looking into the distance. "it's good to have hope."

"good... or foolish?" riley questioned.

austin stared into her brown eyes before shrugging and looking back off into the distance. "probably both but it doesn't matter. what does matter is how you feel. and if being a fool is what keeps you going then so be it."

—

staying away from troy wasn't easy but hanging out with austin made it less hard. riley felt bad when she thought about using austin as a way to distract herself from troy. but then again austin was her friend. they were friends. this is what friends do for each other.

"it's true." austin laughed, watching as riley tried holding back her laugh. "i broke my arm and fractured my tailbone."

"shit..." riley let herself laugh. austin was recalling the events of christmas 1998. he was 8 years old and he had pulled an alnighter trying to catch santa. kids with such a mission would usually try staking out on top of the staircase or behind a the couch but not austin, no, he decided he'd stake out on the roof, beside the chimney with a blue tarp over him.

unfortunately for austin, it began snowing and before he knew it he started slipping off the roof. "my parents were pissed but my sisters found it hilarious."

"i could only imagine." riley said once she gained control of her laughter. "it reminds me of the time my brother broke his wrist skateboarding. he was trying to impress some girl he liked but absolutely ate shit instead. it was scary but funny at the same time. payback for all those times he overpowered me in our fights."