Hold Me Close

one : the run

Work. Work. Work.

This is what Riley thinks about 24/7. What else would one expect from a full-time college student? Riley is an overachiever; always have been and always will be.

She always has to be the best in everything she achieves and hopes to become. She always has to have perfect scores and perfect results in all things. How else would anyone be able to get by in life if they did otherwise? This was how Riley thought constantly.

Work. School. Life. Work. Work.

That is why Riley ran. She ran, not only as a good exercise for her body, but also as an outlet to relieve any and all tensions she has. She notices she's been feeling this way a lot recently. Especially since she moved away from home.

Riley usually liked her morning or afternoon runs in the park. She used this alone time to take a well deserved break from studying and/or working part time in her school's library. Running was usually very refreshing.

Today was not the case, however. Finals were fast approaching and Riley felt as if she was procrastinating by running instead of studying. If she wasn't studying, she was failing and the mere thought of failure stressed her out even more.

Riley shakes her head and quickens her pace. Worrying was another one of Riley's many qualities. Or she would say flaws.

Riley looks down at her watch to check the time. It's still pretty early in the afternoon. Now might be a good time for a small lunch at the cafe nearby and then she'll head home and crack open those textbooks as soon as she walked in.

When Riley looks up from her watch, she notices a man standing in the middle of the path. He seems to be holding something but other than that it didn't look like he was doing anything except being an annoying obstacle in the path as if it was the proper thing to do.

Riley only notices him at the last minute so she's not able to stop herself until she crashes into the man and they both tumble to the ground. They lie on the dirt; their limbs tangled into each other and the man resting on top of her.

Riley groans and rubs the back of her head tenderly. Her back aches and she feels a sharp pain in her leg.

The man sits up on his elbows after he collects himself. He looks down at Riley and pulls some of her hair out of her face. Although his hair is probably just as disheveled as Riley's, she is positive she looks very unflattering at the moment. She's sweating and breathing hard and she is sure that she might have broken a bone.

"Dammit," the man curses under his breath. He climbs off of Riley and sits on his knees.

He runs his fingers through his hair before placing his beanie back on his head.

"Are you okay at least," he asks Riley. "Miss?"

Riley sits up and rests her hands in her lap. Her back feels a bit better, but the stabbing pain in her right leg is still there.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little sore but I'll live," Riley says. "How about you? I mean, I practically tackled you."

"Well, my camera is broken. That's for sure." He points behind Riley at a black camera destroyed into pieces. He must have dropped it when Riley bumped into him. Riley covers her face with her hands. She instantly feels guilty and apologizes to the man a million.

"Oh no! Oh my, I'm-- Oh gosh! I am super duper sorry! I can't even-- What did I just do?" Riley doesn't try to stand, so she just sits flailing her arms about in worry.

The man tries to stop her and reassure her that everything would be okay. "No, no. Calm down, miss."

Riley pushes on. "I am so, so sorry! Honestly!"

"Don't worry about it. I have plenty more. I just hope the memory card isn't damaged."

"I promise I'll pay for it," Riley says.

The man grabs Riley's hands and holds them gently. "Read my lips: It's fine. You don't have to apologize or pay for anything. It'll be okay."

Riley wants to believe him but she still feels horrible that she broke someone else's belongings. Trying to reassure her otherwise only makes her feel worse.

He stands and walks over to his camera to pick it up. He checks the card and sighs in relief. "It's all good. I took some pretty nice pictures on here."

Riley tries to stand but the biting pain in her leg renders her plopping back down on the ground.

"Ah," she yelps. "Okay, that hurt."

"What's wrong," he asks.

"Nothing! Nothing. I'm fine. Just carry on with your day, sir." Riley continues to try to stand even though she can barely move her leg. She didn't want to burden this man with her injury after what she did to his camera.

He walks over to her anyway and caresses her leg. "Does it hurt when I touch it?"

"No, don't do that!" Riley shakes her head quickly. "I can barely move it. Do you think it's broken?"

The man doesn't notice anything out of place or dislocated but he isn't a doctor and he doesn't want to give this stranger any wrong answers."Do you want me to take you to a doctor?"

"You don't have to do that," Riley answers quickly gesturing to her leg. "This is my fault."

"No it's not. And besides, you can't walk. You said so yourself."

"I don't need any help, sir."

"What are you gonna do? Crawl yourself home," the man asks sarcastically.

Riley crosses her arms and turns away from him. "Maybe I will."

He sighs exasperatedly and without warning, the man swoops Riley in his arms and sweeps her off her feet. Riley gasps at how effortlessly he did so. She tries to resist but she can't move as much if she doesn't want her leg to fall off.

Riley's body is stiff in the man's arms and she doesn't wrap her own around his neck. She's never been this close to anyone before besides her very best friend. Especially if this person was of the opposite gender.

"Please put me down, sir," Riley urges. "I wouldn't like it very much if you dropped me."

"Why are you fighting my help? Do you not trust me," he asks.

It's not that Riley doesn't trust him. She just doesn't want to be in his way. On top of that, she has to study and this was wasting valuable work time.

Riley was becoming irritable and the throbbing pain in her leg wasn't exactly making the situation any better.

"Listen," Riley says. "If you help me to the doctor, you have to let me buy you a new camera." Riley didn't like that she wasn't doing anything to help him while he's just so comfortably willing to treat her injury. Therefore, she was willing to make a deal.

The man sighs but he knows he couldn't object. He barely met this woman and he can already suspect that she won't take no for an answer. "Fine."

Riley nods with satisfaction."Good," she says. Riley finally wraps her arms around his neck and he begins to walk to his car.

"You know, you're a lot heavier than you look, Miss."

"Please don't drop me."