Broken Souls {l.f. + r.m.}

I'll Always Stay

L U C A S

She was walking up to me with a slight grin across her face. She's so amazing. I wondered what she would say. What if she says no? What will I do? I'll try to act as tough as possible, but she'd probably see right through me. She knows me so well, and even though I've only known her for 3 months, I know her. I know exactly what she's thinking or feeling when she slightly clenches her fists, or when she gently furrows her eyebrows. Even though we only met this year, I felt like I'd known her forever.

She walked over to me, a slight skip in her step. All my anxiety fluttered away. I could never feel any more at home with Riley. "Hi there, stranger." She smirked at me. Okay. Good sign. She's calling me one of her nicknames. "Hey Little Cricket!" We chatted a little bit about how classes were, and I found out Riley had found herself a girl friend. I felt a twinge of jealousy appeal in my veins. Don't question it. Of course I loved that Riley had someone who could get her and all her girl stuff, but I didn't want her to drift away from me. "Okay, Lucas. I think it's time to talk about this." oh crap. "Lucas, I know this may come as a surprise, and I'm sorry, but.." she's dumping me. I can't take this. I'm not as strong as I thought I was. Why? Why me? I'm such an idiot to think she would go out with me. "Of course I'll go out with you, you dork." she chuckled. I was about to cry, until I heard those beautiful words escape that perfect mouth. "Thank God Riley." I sighed a breath of relief. I don't know what I would've done without her. We talked some more, and I couldn't stop smiling. "So this guy tried to pull my shirt off today. Do not get mad, Lucas." "Riley, how the hell can you tell me not to get mad, when some random pervert tried to pull your shirt off!?! Tell me his name. Right now, Riley. RIGHT. NOW." I lost it. I can't even imagine this. Some freak touched her. Not even a pat on the shoulder. He pulled her shirt off. "Lucas, I don't know his name. And even if I did, I would never tell you because I can't let you do something like that for me. I'm telling you this in full confidence. That wasn't all he did. He pushed me up against the lockers. And he breathed on my neck. He grabbed my butt." I was in rage. He. Touched. Her. I could not breathe. I was already imagining a slow and painful death for this idiot. He was going to die. I was going to slaughter him and make him pay for how he treated her. "Riley, he's gonna pay. Trust me with this. He touched you. He is gonna think again." I somewhat heard Riley opposing my ideas, but I didn't give a crap. She grabbed my chin and put her face really close to mine. I felt the sudden urge to kiss her, but I didn't. I wanted to save that moment. Because my moment will be my moment. "Lucas Aaron Friar. Swear on Han Solo's grave that you will not hit or hurt him. I need to trust you on this, ok?" Darn it. She got me. "Fine, I swear, Riley, but if he lays his greasy hands on you one more time, I will kick his sorry ass to the curb." She smiled at me. She let go of my chin, and she stood up and gave me a hug. One that meant something. Not like all of our other hugs. This one was different. She breathed into me. Her arms wrapped around me, and she cried. She sobbed in my arms. "Lucas, I was so scared. I was so afraid." she teared. "Shhh Riley. Shhh. I am here. I will always be here. Right now, just stay here in my arms." We stood there for centuries. I felt complete. The bell rang, but we stood there. We didn't care. We had all we needed. We had each other.

The days following were hazy. Riley started to blossom. Sure she was strong before, but now, she was different. I guess she was secure now. I had given her that.

We finally went on our first date. We went to some small town pizza shop and shared a huge pizza. God, she's hot.   I kept thinking to myself as she ate her pizza like an animal. I could never see her as anything less than incredible. Soon it was thanksgiving, and Riley actually invited me to eat with her and her family. I knew it was a big deal because her family is pretty tight ever since the whole Elliot situation, and she was really excited about this. Of course I agreed; I couldn't let my girl down. I dressed up in my best shirt and tie. I needed to make a good impression on the Matthews family. First, we had Mr. and Mrs. Matthews. Riley's parents weren't a problem. They knew me already. I had picked up and dropped off Riley every day. They had fed me and made sure I had all I needed. Second, we had Auggie, Riley's younger brother, but he loved me. It felt nice to have a connection with my girl's brother. But the hardest part of Riley's family was her grandparents. Riley's grandparents are very protective of her, Riley being their only granddaughter after all. Riley absolutely adored them, though, so I needed their approval for sure. I heard Riley's apartment doorbell ring, and my heart jumped in my chest. It was them. "Hi, Riley, honey! Give me a hug!" her grandmother said. After their greetings, Riley whispered in my ear to come. "Show time, babe." I stood up and walked over to meet them. "Grandma, Grandpa, this is my boyfriend, Lucas Friar." I stook my hand out to shake theirs. "Hi, Sir, and Ma'am." Somehow I had made a fool of myself. They started laughing at me. I furrowed my eyebrows, and Riley squeezed my hand. She wanted me to just let it all go. Laugh with them. Oh great. I am a laughing stock in the Matthews household. "Oh, boy, you are handsome. Give me a hug!" Riley's grandmother told me. Suddenly, a 20 year old looking guy walked into the room. "Hey guys! What's goin on?" He said. Suddenly Riley ran up to hug him. I didn't like this. He was older than us, better looking. Why would Riley bring me here for this? She wanted me to watch her hug some sharp looking stud. They laughed together, looking like models in some tv commercial. "Oh, haha, Uncle Josh, this is my boyfriend, Lucas Friar." What? Uncle? She has an uncle that's 3 years older than us? That's so freaking weird. I'm so confused. "Hey what's up? I'm Josh, Riley's and Auggie's uncle." I introduced myself, and Josh and I talked some more. Josh and I actually had a lot of interests in common. Even though life wasn't making any sense at that point in time, it was all worth it. I had Riley Matthews by my side.

After Thanksgiving was over, Riley and I were closer than ever. Our relationship was at its peak. Everything had worked itself out. I took Riley to Texas to meet my dad, and he absolutely adored her, probably more than me. It was almost Riley's birthday, and more than ever she wanted snow. Riley grew up in New York, where there was this crazy thing called snow. For her birthday, I completely decorated her room with fake snow. I convinced Riley to sleep with Auggie for a week because of his "nightmares", and I decorated her room. On the ceiling, I had made strings of cotton balls and taped it up there. All over the walls and ceilings, I hung white string. By the time I was finished, it was a winter wonderland. Riley was a hopeless romantic. She loved all those movies where the guys asked the girls to go steady. On her birthday, I went over to Riley's house for their celebration. After all our friends left, I had stayed to clean up. Riley and I were finally the only ones awake, and I had put a blindfold on her luscious eyes. "Lucas, babe, what are you doing?" She giggled. I lead her to her bedroom, and took the blindfold off. She stared at the beauty that lay before her eyes. "Lucas," she began to tear, "I love it so much." She hugged me and cried.

After she let go, I got down on one knee, and I took out the box. "Riley Matthews, you turned my world upside down since the second that I saw you in my dreams. Ever since then, every moment with you has turned me into a person that I wanna be." I opened the box to the promise ring. "will you please go steady with me?" Riley gasped, but then smiled that familiar, perfect smile that I would never forget. "Lucas, I would be honored to go steady with you." I grabbed her into my arms and spun her around. It was a moment of complete happiness. Riley took a picture of us so that we would never forget this feeling. After about an hour, I was getting really tired, and I didn't want to disrespect Riley or her parents, so I told her I was gonna pack up to leave. "Lucas," she looked at me with her deep brown eyes, "can you please stay?" I didn't know what to do. She was somehow sad, or lonely, something. She needed me. "Of course, Riley, I'll always stay." She changed into a t shirt and the cutest pajama shorts I had ever seen. I smiled at her. She acted so shy with me, even though she knew she didn't have to. "Here, I grabbed these from some old boxes in the attic. They're my dad's old ones." She said as she handed me a pair of pajama pants and t shirt. "Thanks, babe." I changed into them, right there, in front of her. I had no shame with Riley. I loved her. I had nothing to hide. I went to sleep on the floor, but Riley just laughed at me. "What are you doing on the floor, cowboy?" I explained to her that I didn't know if she was comfortable with us sleeping in the same bed. "You are my world, Lucas, and you mean a hell of a lot to me." She kissed me, not just, a simple peck on the lips. She really kissed me, and I kissed back. We went back and forth, but it wasn't kissing, not the way I saw it. We connected. We showed our passion and love for each other in a way, more physical than words. I stopped her after it got to too much. That night, nothing happened more than that kiss. We waited.

The next day, Riley and I woke up early. We made breakfast for everyone in her house. I was afraid at first, not sure how Mr. and Mrs. Matthews would react to me sleeping over, but apparently, they had talked it over with Riley before, and they were over joyed that I had stayed. We got ready for school, and we skipped there, ready for anything and everything. No matter what hit us, even if a freaking meteor hit our sorry school, we wouldn't care, because we were unstoppable. Riley and I were powerful, capable of any and all obstacles that lay ahead.

{ Dang 2000 words :0 I really wanted to update this chapter with some of my greatest ideas. It came out better than expected. Love yall}