Her Protector

Memories of Us

New York City. April 6th, 2030. 12:07 P.M.

Lucas entered Riley's penthouse after Riley lets him in. He walked down the hallway and entered the living room while Riley enters the kitchen and fixes him something to drink. Lucas sits down on the couch and looked at Riley's cell phone that was sitting on the coffee table, noticing the photo of him and Riley on his 18th birthday.

"I never gotten rid of the photo. I kept photos of you and me together on my phone. I wanted to remember some of the happy times that we've shared together." Riley said as she enters the living room, handing Lucas a glass of iced tea with a lemon wedge on the glass. Lucas smiles at Riley and took a sip of the iced tea.

"Still have the photo of us together on my 18th birthday as well." Lucas said as he sits his glass down and took a deep breath. Riley began to notice something wrong with Lucas and sits down next to him on the couch.

"Lucas, what's wrong? Today's your birthday. You're supposed to be happy not sad." Riley said.

"I'm sorry, Riley. It's just that I have some things going on in my mind and at home." Lucas said.

"Well, you can talk to me about it. I'm always here to listen." Riley said as she sits her hand on Lucas' hand.

"I don't know if I should tell you." Lucas said.

"Lucas, I can handle it. You can tell me." Riley said as she held Lucas' hand. Lucas looked down at Riley's and looked back up, staring into her brown eyes and looking at her adorable smile.

"Yvonne and I got into a fight. Apparently, she made some plans for my birthday. She made reservations at Lure Fishbar and she got upset about finding out that I will be working on my birthday. She wanted me to switch to the day shift instead of working on night shift. And get this, she accused me by asking me if I'm still in love with you." Lucas said.

"Well, are you?" Riley asked.

"Am I what?" Lucas asked.

"Are you still in love with me?" Riley asked as Lucas got up from the couch and walked over to the window, looking at the New York skyline. Riley got up from the couch and walked over to Lucas to try to get an answer from him. "Lucas, please answer my question, do you still love me?"

Lucas looked in her eyes and turned his body to face his ex-fiancée as he held both of her hands.

"I...I...Riley, I.... Please, I can't answer that." Lucas said.

"No, don't avoid this. I want you to answer my question. Do you still love me?" Riley asked.

"I do, Riley. I still love you and I know that you do too. I regret ruining our relationship and ending our engagement because of me drinking and me hitting you. If I could turn back time, we would still be together instead of being apart." Lucas said as Riley turned her body and looked at the window. "Hey, remember the time that we went ice skating on our date at Rockefeller Center while we were in the ninth grade at Abigail Adams High?"

"Yeah, I remember that. I remember that we were skating and I keep falling on my butt and you keep helping me up. You were graceful out on the ice. You showed me how to turn on skates and I showed you how to fall gracefully. I also remember that we went paintballing one winter morning because Zay suggested paintball for us. Not to mention that we had a blast. You and I worked together taking down the other players and it brought us closer. I realized that I could truly depend on you to have my back." Riley said smiling at Lucas as they remember their dates on December of 2016.

"Hey, you talked me into doing yoga together. Zay and Farkle were making fun of me until Vanessa and Smackle took yoga with them. Although, I have to admit, it's pretty hot for me and you to do yoga together and watching you try to master the various yoga poses can be both hilarious and hot." Lucas grinned at Riley. Riley chuckled for a bit and smiled at Lucas before turning to him. Lucas turned to Riley and smiled at her,

"We had a lot of great memories together." Riley said as she looks at the jean jacket that Lucas is wearing. "I see that the jean jacket still fits you since high school. Looks like time has been good to you. You wore that on your 18th birthday. You also wore that when we first went to Abigail Adams High. You wore that when you said..."

"That I said that you were just too much for me. That was our first fight." Lucas said. "Sorry, if I brought up a bad memory."

"It's okay." Riley said. "I know that you still love me, but we're both happily married. You're married to Yvonne and I'm married to Charlie. We can't ruin that. You will always be my friend. Always."

"I know." Lucas said.

"Look, I don't want you to be down on your birthday because of your fight with Yvonne. I know a great Chinese restaurant in Chinatown that we could go to. It's the same restaurant where we went to for your birthday dinner before we went to the birthday party at the bakery." Riley said as Lucas smiled at her, remembering the restaurant where they had his birthday dinner.

"I remember that place. China Panda. We both had the supreme flounder and dumplings." Lucas said.

"I'm glad that you remember." Riley said as she hugged Lucas. Riley hugged Lucas a little longer than usual and kissed his cheek until Farkle walked in on them.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Farkle said as Riley and Lucas separate themselves.

"Hi, Farkle." Riley greeted her best friend with a hug.

"Hey, buddy." Lucas said.

"So, how about it? Birthday dinner at China Panda. You, me and Farkle?" Riley asked.

"Sounds good. Hey listen, when we go out I'll have to make sure to call it in." Lucas said.

"Alright. I'll be right back, I have to call Karma and talk to her about something. Then, I'll check up on Charlie to see how he's doing." Riley said as she grabbed her phone off of the coffee table and left the room, leaving Lucas alone with Farkle.

"Okay, could you please explain to me what was that all about?" Farkle questioned Lucas.

"What was what?" Lucas asked shrugging his shoulders.

"The extra-long hug and the kiss on the cheek. She kissed you on your cheek again. "And don't lie to me. You're a terrible liar. I know that you're still in love with Riley. Don't you know that she's married to Charlie?"

"Yes, I know that. I'm not an idiot. I still love Riley. Nothing's going to happen between us while we're alone." Lucas said.

"What about Yvonne? How would your wife feel about you being around Riley if you're still in love with her? Let's not forget the paparazzi and the tabloid reporters for TMZ and Just Jared. They'll think that you're Riley's rumored boyfriend." Farkle said.

"Relax, Farkle. Everything's going to be fine. No one is going to bother us. Now, just relax because today is my 30th birthday and we're going to have a great time." Lucas said.

"I thought that you and Yvonne had plans." Farkle said as he sits his bag from Five Guys Burgers and Fries down on the kitchen counter and grabbed a plate.

"We did but I'm supposed to work today and Yvonne got pissed off at me." Lucas said.

"Who can blame her?" Farkle asked as he ate a french fry. Lucas gives him a look and playfully slaps him in the back of his head.