old friends

take care of her for me, ok?

mrs. leishman
You always were so sweet.
I hate to stress you, honey.
You don't have to do this
if you don't want to

Clay
ma'am it's really no trouble
i hate seeing riley like this anyway

mrs. leishman
What can I do to repay you?

Clay
oh you don't need to
really

i just really care about riley
message deleted by sender

i care about how her and aj feel
and i know they probably wanna
be strong in front of you

mrs. leishman
Clay honey your momma raised
you right

Thank you so much

Clay
of course ma'am
i wish i could do more

mrs. leishman
You're doing more than
enough sweetie

Take care of her for me, ok?

Clay
always
message deleted by sender

yes ma'am
i will

clay had been completely lied to, but he honestly could care less.

he had seen right through it the second she sent the text. he had just tried to assume that he was overthinking, but once he got a text from her brother, he realized something worse was going on.

riley didn't know that he had been texting her family. sure, it made him feel bad, but she had lied to his face and refused to let him be there to comfort her in her hardest times. clay wasn't gonna let that stand.

so he decided that if she wouldn't cry anytime except late at night, he would make late at night the best time.

and that's how they ended up in their current position. riley sitting in the passenger seat, staring at the phone on her lap that was flipped upside down, waiting for something to happen.

and clay was driving, like always, the roads ahead of him almost empty. it was eerie, really, to see orlando this quiet. and his car too, it felt more quiet than it had ever been, despite music playing and clay humming along to the ones he knew.

he glanced over at riley every now and then, always wishing to see her pretty smile lighting up the room.

but she never did.

she never did, and it hurt more than he'd like to admit.

he removes a hand from the wheel, setting it on riley's thigh and shaking her gently.

that gets her attention fairly quickly, and she jumps slightly. clay raises his eyebrow and removes his hand, taking a turn into an empty target parking lot.

"talk to me."

he says simply, pulling into a spot and turning the car off.

"nothing to talk about," she says, leaning back in the seat and glancing out the window, "i'm fine."

clay laughs slightly, "i didn't ask how you were," riley looks over at him, "i told you to talk to me."

riley's silent, mentally debating whether fighting him is worth it or not.

he's a smart guy, he knows her probably better than she knows herself. he'd figure it out pretty quickly, especially considering she hasn't exactly been herself the entire time they've been out.

"can we just go home, clay?" her voice is small, and in that moment clay almost breaks down.

she sounds tired, more tired than he's ever heard her. she sounds weak, and he hates it. she hates it too. she hates sounding weak in front of anybody, especially not him.

"ri-"

he's cut off by a small sniffle. he looks over at riley.

her head is dropped into her hands, her back and shoulder shaking slightly.

he immediately hops out of the car, rushing around to the passengers side. he pulls the doors open and pulls her out, unbuckling her first of course.

he wraps his arms around her, swaying slightly side to side and mumbling reassurances into her hair. he's not even sure if she can hear him, but it makes him feel better, so he keeps doing it.

she cries.

and cries.

and cries.

and for once she doesn't entirely hate being weak in front of somebody.

for once she doesn't have to be strong for somebody else.

clays a big boy, he can take of himself and his own feelings. he doesn't look up to riley, not that she knows of at least, and she doesn't have to pretend to be okay for him. she can just be. she can feel the things she needs to feel, and she likes that. it's comforting.

"look at me." he says softly once she's calmed down some. she looks up, meeting his emerald green eyes. geez, they're pretty, aren't they?

how is it possible for somebody to be so beautiful while literally being in an empty target parking lot? it makes no sense and it isn't fair in the slightest.

"did you hear a single thing i just said?" clay laughs.

riley shakes her head, cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment.

"we're going to my house and we're gonna watch a movie, ok?" she nods and he leans in, placing a gently kiss to her forehead.

he mutters another, "it's gonna be ok, ri. i promise." before kissing her forehead again, hugging her even tighter than before.

riley believes it. she believes it with all her heart.

in those moments, in that night, everything is okay.

that night there isn't a stupid virus threatening to take away everything she's held dear, everything she's looked forward to for years.

there isn't the overwhelming possibility that her moms bone marrow transplant will go terribly wrong, and she'll be stuck without a mom for the rest of her life.

there's just her, clay, patches, the forehead kiss, and whatever stupid movie clay decides to put on.

and if cuddling with clay and patches is the only thing that will make riley believe that everything might just be ok... well, then i guess everything might just be ok.

----   --  -  --   ----
didn't know what to write
hopefully it isn't too bad
hope u guys like it

anyways i'm gonna go brush my teeth have a good night