Riker Imagines

Imagine for Kaeley

“Riker!!” “Jade look this way!” “Hey Darren! Darren!” You clung tightly to your boyfriend’s arm as you made your way down the red carpet. Photographers were everywhere; the camera flashes were blinding. “You ok?” Darren murmured in your ear. You nodded feebly. “I’m fine. But if you would like to head inside sometime soon, that’d be great.” You hinted quietly. He laughed and pecked your cheek. “Hint taken.” He whispered back. He took your hand and began walking down the red carpet once again. Riker and his girlfriend, Little Mix’s Jade Thirwall, followed closely behind. “Awwh going inside so soon?” Riker pouted playfully. The four of you paused and quickly posed for a group of photographers before continuing towards the venue. Darren gestured to you. “Kaeley’s not a big fan of crowds.” He commented. Riker scoffed. “I knew that already dude…we’ve only been best friends since birth.” You turned around and smiled at Riker. He winked in return. He wasn’t exaggerating; Stormie and your mother had been best friends growing up. Therefore when they had children, those children also grew up to be close friends. They had fully expected you and Rydel to become the super-close ones. No one could have ever predicted that it would be you & Riker. Despite the slight age difference, and obvious gender difference, the two of you had been absolutely inseparable growing up. Your parents had pretty much allowed the two of you to do everything that same-sex best friends did, including sleepovers. Even once the two of you hit your teenage years they continued to allow Riker to stay the night with you or you to stay the night with him. A few years ago you had gone to visit Riker on the Glee set. He had introduced you to Darren and the two of you had hit it off right away. You had been together ever since. Truthfully, you were a bit surprised that Riker had been so accepting of your relationship with Darren. Darren was 26, making him seven years your senior. You had only been 17 when he’d first asked you out two years ago. Riker had always been incredibly protective. You couldn’t count the number of guys he’d scared away over the years. You remembered the first vividly. A little boy had attempted to kiss you on the playground when you were five; Riker punched him right in the nose. According to your mother’s version of the story, Stormie had been laughing too hard to discipline Riker afterwards. Of course you were just as protective over him; just not in the violent way like he was. You breathed a sigh of relief as you stepped into the venue. Darren took your coat and handed it to an attendant standing nearby, Riker doing the same for Jade. You caught his eye while the others were looking away. He smiled wryly and stuck his tongue out. Neither of you were into the “Hollywood” lifestyle. You preferred sweatpants and movie nights at home to evening gowns and fancy parties. You knew for a fact Riker felt the same way. You watched as Jade slipped her arm through his and began following him into the ballroom. Both yours and Riker’s family had asked the two of you a thousand times why you weren’t together. You always laughed them off; Riker was your best friend, nothing more. Things were perfect the way they were.
**one week later**
“Popcorn?” “Check.” “Blanket?” “Check.” “Pillow for when Kaeley gets too scared to watch the movie?” “Hey!” you laughed. You reached over and smacked Riker’s arm. He used the pillow as a shield to prevent any further abuse on your part. “Hey now, none of that.” He joked. He tossed the pillow onto the floor before spreading out the fuzzy blanket over the both of you. Stormie came walking into the living room from the direction of the kitchen. “Ok guys, I’m off to bed. Behave yourselves.” She said sternly. She leaned over and pressed kisses to both of your foreheads before flipping off the lights and walking upstairs. “Ready for this?” he asked ominously. You rolled your eyes. “Riker I guarantee you’re going to be the one begging to change the movie in about twenty minutes. Just play it.” You nudged him playfully. He nodded obligingly and hit ‘play’.
**
About thirty minutes into the movie, he suddenly turned to face you. “What do you see in Darren?” he asked. You snapped your head over to look at him. “What?” you questioned. He laughed lightly, realizing that he had taken you off guard with his question. “You know…what do you like about Darren? What makes you want to be with him?” he repeated. You looked away, thinking. You had never been asked that question before. You began to panic slightly as you realized that you didn’t have an answer. You really didn’t know why you were with Darren. Because he’d asked you out and you’d said yes? Because he hadn’t bothered to break up with you yet? Why WERE you with him? You looked back over at Riker. He was staring at you expectantly. “I…don’t know.” You admitted finally. He raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Seriously?” he asked, disbelieving. You nodded slowly. “Yeah, seriously. I didn’t really think about it until you asked but…I don’t know.” He stared at you for a few more moments. “Then why are you still with him? You’ve been with a guy for two years and you can’t even tell me why you love him? Or…DO you love him?” He asked, scooting closer. You felt anger rise inside of you. You stood up suddenly, towering over him. “Why is it any of your business??” you snapped. He glared up at you, growing angry as well. He jumped up from the couch and turned to face you. “I was just asking!” he said defensively. You stepped closer to him, crossing your arms. “Well why do you love Jade?” you demanded. He opened and closed his mouth; clearly you had caught him off guard. “Well…I, um…she…” he stammered. You smirked. “Clearly I’m not the only one without an answer.” You said smugly. He scoffed. “Well to be fair I’ve only been with Jade for a few months. You’ve been with Darren for what, a few YEARS?” You rolled your eyes. “Riker why are we even talking about this?” you asked tiredly. He shrugged. “Because I don’t think Darren is good enough for you.” He said simply. You scoffed. “Riker….YOU were the one who set us up!” you cried. He rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Yes, Kaeley. I know that. And back then I thought you two were great together but now…I don’t think so.” He crossed his arms stubbornly. You rolled your eyes and threw your hands up in aggravation. “You know what Riker, let’s try something new. I’ll mind my business, and you’ll keep your nose in your own. Got it?” you snapped. You shoved him roughly out of your way and began to walk towards the staircase. Before you had taken more than two steps you felt him grab your arm. He whirled you around to face him. “Kaeley, wait…” he started. You yanked your arm roughly out of his grasp. “Leave me alone.” You muttered. Before you could turn away to leave he locked his hands around your wrists. “Kaeley, would you listen to me for two seconds-” “No, Riker! I don’t want to hear it.” You snapped, attempting to free yourself from his grasp. It was no use. You finally stopped struggling after a few seconds and looked up at him. “You always do this, Riker! You never think anybody is good enough for me. I appreciate the concern, but stop. It was fine when I was a 14 year old kid, but I’m almost 20. I’m old enough to make my own decisions!” you cried. He shook his head. “Kaeley-” “I’m not done yet!” You interjected. “Riker, why? Why can’t you just accept that I’m happy with Darren and let me be?” you asked exasperatedly. He released your hands & looked down at the floor. “Because I’m jealous.” He mumbled. You froze. “What?” you asked quietly. He ran his fingers nervously through his hair again. “I’m freaking jealous!” he said louder, looking up at you. You opened and closed your mouth, unable to form any actual words. “What?” you asked again, stunned. He groaned and threw his head back in frustration. Before you could open your mouth to form a coherent sentence he took two steps forward and grabbed your arms once again. He yanked you towards him so that your body was completely pressed against his. Moments later you felt his lips meet yours roughly. Without thinking you locked your arms around his neck, pulling yourself even closer. He rested his hands on your hips and pushed your back against the wall. You felt his lips part beneath yours as you tangled your fingers into his hair. You were completely lost in his embrace. His lips left your mouth after what felt like ages and began planting small kisses along your jaw line, making their way towards your neck. You immediately snapped back to reality. “Riker…Riker, stop.” You said breathlessly. He pulled back and looked at you, breathing heavily as well. “What’s wrong?” he asked. You shook your head and pushed him to the side. You made your way back to the center of the living room. “Riker, you’re with Jade. I’m with Darren. We can’t…we shouldn’t have…” you stuttered. You turned around to look at him. He was making his way towards you. “Kaeley, yes we can. I don’t care about Jade; I care about you. I’ll break up with Jade, I’ll break up with her right now…” He trailed off once he noticed the expression on your face. “What?” he asked nervously. You shook your head slowly. “But, Riker, I do care about Darren. I can’t hurt him like this.” You said quietly. He dropped his head down to look at his feet. He didn’t say anything. You made your way over to the door and turned around to look at Riker once more; he was still looking down. “I’m sorry.” You whispered, before throwing open the door and stepping out into the cold. 
**two weeks later**
“Is everything ok, Kaeley? You’re really quiet tonight.” Darren said worriedly. You snapped your head up to look at him. He was staring at you from across the table with a look of concern on his face. You nodded quickly. “I’m fine…just tired.” You lied, faking a smile. He smiled as well before going back to his dinner. You sighed as you looked back down at the pasta on your plate. You could always fool Darren, unlike Riker. You hadn’t successfully lied to Riker a day in your life. You frowned as you thought about Riker. You hadn’t spoken to him since the night he’d kissed you two weeks ago. The kiss…oh that kiss! It had messed with your head big time. You’d never, ever, been kissed with so much passion before. Not by Darren, not by anyone. You moved the spaghetti around on your plate absentmindedly. You hadn’t really thought of Riker as anything more than a friend before. Sure, he was hot. Smoking hot. But so what? All of the Lynch boys were. There was just something about the way he had kissed you that night, the way he’d looked at you in the few seconds before your lips met. It gave you butterflies just thinking about it. You heard silverware clinking from across the table. You looked up to see Darren laying his fork down. “Kaeley seriously…what’s going on?” he asked, reaching across the table to take your hand in his. You shook your head. “Not here.” You said quietly. He nodded and turned to flag down your waiter.
**
About thirty minutes later the two of you were walking slowly down the boardwalk a few minutes away from the restaurant. Neither of you had spoken for what felt like ages. Finally Darren stopped walking. He tugged at your arm, turning you around to face him. “Kaeley, I’m really starting to worry. What’s up?” he asked, looking down at you. You shook your head and looked down at your feet. You felt tears welling up in your eyes. “Darren, I don’t think we should be together anymore.” You said quietly. He slipped his hand underneath your chin and tilted your face up to look at him. “Why?” he asked, tears beginning to form in his own eyes. You felt the tears spill over and slip down your cheeks. You hated hurting Darren, but you weren’t being fair to him. It wasn’t fair for you to keep him hanging on when you knew you had feelings for someone else. You wiped away a few tears that were beginning to drip off of your chin. “Riker kissed me a few weeks ago. It completely caught me off guard but…” “But you haven’t been able to think about anything else since.” He finished. You stared at him in confusion. He chuckled, though you could see the pain in his brown eyes. “It wasn’t hard to see where that was going. Kay, I’ve literally counted every single day with you as a blessing. Because I know you love Riker. You have ever since the day we met, probably before. I could always see it in the way you looked at him, and the way he looked at you. You’ve never looked at me like that. I always knew that one day you’d realize it. And I’d lose you.” He finished quietly. You looked back down at your feet. Love. Did you love Riker? You thought back over the long 19 years that you’d known him. You loved spending time with him. You loved having sleepovers at his house and waking up next to him on the living room floor. You loved the way he looked in the mornings, his blond hair falling messily across his eyes. You loved when he wore his glasses because he was too lazy to put in contacts. You loved how his usually straight blond hair curled up at the ends whenever he got sweaty. You loved the way he laughed, especially when something really amused him. You loved his hugs, the way he wrapped his arms around you tightly and rested his chin on the top of your head. You loved breathing in the scent of his cologne and burying your face in his favorite Hollister hoodies. You loved the little gleam he got in his eye whenever he had an idea that he couldn’t wait to share with you. You loved watching him onstage; he played with so much passion, completely losing himself in the music during every show. You loved…him. You felt a slight smile break out across your face. The perfect guy had been standing right in front of you the entire time, how had you not noticed? Your smile dropped when you remembered Darren. You slowly raised your head to look at him. He was looking down at you with a pained smile on his face. “You know I’m right.” He said quietly. You nodded. “Darren, I’m so sorry-” you started. He lifted his finger and placed it over your lips. “It’s ok. Besides, who am I to stand in the way of true love? Kaeley, you are an amazing girl, and Riker is a lucky guy.” He finished, dropping his hand back down to his side. “Now go get him.” He said, jerking his head in the direction of the highway. You scoffed. “Darren, it’s almost midnight.” You laughed. He half-smiled. You could tell he was trying desperately to mask the pain he was feeling over losing you. “We both know you can’t wait until morning. Just go.” He leaned forward and gently pressed a kiss to your forehead.
**
You leapt out of the car once you pulled into the Lynch’s driveway. You left the keys dangling from the ignition, not even stopping to shut the door. You bolted up the pathway to the front door. Before you had the chance to knock it swung open. Riker was standing breathlessly before you in only jeans. Clearly he’d been changing upstairs in his room when he’d seen you pull up. “Kaeley?” he asked, confusion evident in his voice. You were breathless as well. “Riker, I love you.” You said quickly. His jaw dropped slightly. “What?” he asked quietly. You stepped inside and pushed him backwards until his back hit the wall. You tangled your fingers into his hair and stretched up on your tiptoes. You felt your lips meet his, the same sparks from two weeks before returning. He responded immediately, looping his fingers through your belt loops and pulling you even closer. You completely lost track of time, lost in the feeling of Riker’s lips beneath yours. “Um…hey, Kaeley.” You heard a male voice behind you. You whirled around immediately. Rocky and Ross were standing awkwardly in the doorway. “Hey guys, what’s up?” Riker asked casually. You felt yourself blushing. Ross smirked wordlessly as he walked around Rocky and made his way towards the living room. Rocky laughed as he shut the front door and began to follow in the direction Ross had left. “Didn’t even stop to shut the door.” He mumbled as he left. You turned around slowly to face Riker. He was leaning against the wall, smiling happily. He stepped forward and pulled you closer to him by your waist once more. “Just so you know, I broke up with Jade last night. So I feel completely free to do this.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to your again.