COLD TO THE TOUCH || RILAYA

T E N // P A R T O N E

Riley's POV

Seeing Maya wink and bite her lip at me made the waves of feelings start again. Sure, I liked her before, but Lucas is mine and I've been waiting forever for... us to happen. I don't want to lose that and I doubt he does too.

"I've missed you," I say, holding my arms out for him to hug me.

"I've missed you, too," he says as he accepts the offer. He quickly jumps back and takes a deep breath.

"Y-You know, Maya misses you too. A lot more than anyone else, I bet," he stutters.

"Yeah, Maya's a great friend."

"Is that it?" he blurts out. Lucas quickly covers his mouth and paces back and forth.

"It's fine, but what do you mean? What does that mean?" I ask with a chuckle. Lucas takes another deep breath that concerns me.

"Lucas?"

"I just don't know if this will work."

The words sink in like a poisonous snake bite. I've been waiting so long to have my prince sweep me off my feet and carry me to safety and now he's dropping me into a black hole.

"You're joking right? We're perfect together, Lucas! We both like eachother, we both want a relationship-"

"But what if we both want a relationship with two different people, Riley. What if this isn't what God wanted to happen?" he interrupts. I look away, trying to hide the tears.

Is this what a breakup feels like?

"Is there someone else? Is someone else making this conversation happen?" I snap at him.

"No, not at all. Riley... I love you. But I think you were right before. I love you as my sister and you love me as your brother. I'm sorry, but I just think that she's a better person to take care of you," he answers, walking closer to the bed.

"She?"

Lucas pauses, covers his mouth again, and paces around the room.

"Who is this girl you're talking about? I'm straight, I'm hetero, I'm-"

"You two care deeply about each other," he cuts in, "You two are closer than any two friends I've ever seen."

No...

"You two love each other unconditionally, you two even kiss each other's cheeks!"

This can't be...

"Holding hands, linking arms..."

But she...

"Riley?"

I look up to him with tears filling my eyes.

"But we're just friends... right?" I ask, holding them back.

"No Riley. We're just friends. We've been the friends. You two haven't. You just haven't realized yet until now."

Lucas comes close to me and hugs me tighter than he ever has before. Even if we aren't a couple, it still feels good to be in his arms. But not as good as Maya's.

"What do you mean I haven't realized it? What about Maya?" I ask, impatiently.

"You really haven't noticed?"

"No-"

I pause, thinking deeply about how she's been acting around me.

"Wait... all the blushing, compliments, physical contact..."

I look up to see Lucas smiling.

"She loves me..." I say under my breath.

"Definitely not in the way you've expected," he jokes.

"Yeah, definitely..."

There's a moment of silence before either of us speak.

"Please tell me you've felt the same. You had to of," he says as he sits onto the bed.

"I haven't-"

"Riley. We may be brother and sister, but that doesn't mean we lie to each other."

"Third grade," I start to say as I wipe my eyes, "Maya grabbed my hand and brought me to the bathroom. I asked her what was wrong. She told me she'd tell me in the bay window, but all she needed was someone to be there. Of course I'd be there for her, but when we sat on the sink together, she kissed my cheek and rested her head on my shoulder. That's when I knew... or thought."

"Trust me, Riley, you knew. You know that there's something different about you. I know that you're crazy and unique, but there's something more and you can't deny it," he said with a smile.

"I guess..."

"You know."

I heard a bang outside and both Lucas and I looked outside. We then saw that Maya was watching through the window with everyone else behind her. I laughed and smiled at her. She returned the smile and bit lip, which gave me the rush of feelings again.

"You're blushing," Lucas pointed out.

"R-Really?" I stutter, looking into the mirror on the table. He started laughing, hugged me, and stood up.

"I love you. I hope you get out of this jail soon so we can see you during school," he says with a wink. I smile back, but I don't get the same exciting feeling I get with Maya.

I hear Lucas close the door behind him and I sigh, thinking about everything. Thinking about how Lucas was right. I do love her. I do love her. Wow. I do love this girl...

"Hey Riles."

I look up to see Maya standing in front of the curtains with a side smile. I stick my tongue out at her and giggle.

"Hey Peaches."

-- TO BE CONTINUED --

Author's note:
This chapter is short because it will be continued in chapter 11 in Maya's perspective.