Author Note: Here is the fic I wrote for the winner of my giveaway when I hit 1000 followers on tumblr. The Prompt was: Riley moved to London (Topanga's job), and Lucas flies to see her. The prompt was picked by BeckyM4577. I hope you guys all enjoy it. The walking tour that Riley goes on at night is jack-the-ripper-tourDOTcom
Walking Tour
It was a Saturday morning, Riley had spent her Friday night in, completing her homework. So, she did what had become a habit since moving to London three months before. She dressed in comfortable clothes, grabbed her phone, earbuds, her purse, leaving a note for her family that she would be back in time for dinner.
She grabbed a ride on the tube before she reached her destination. She got a hot tea to go from a local shop and started on her day. She walked through the streets, snapping pictures and then sending them off to Lucas.
It had been painful to talk to him at first, she missed him. It surprised her how she missed him more than she even missed Maya. When she realized that, she felt her heart start to break. So, she decided to do the only thing she thought she could, take him around London with her.
Every Saturday she sent him pictures, and after he woke up he would start sending her pictures throughout the day. Just him and he city, as though he was taking her on a tour of his New York.
One of her favorite things would be when she got that first picture from him, usually of the morning sunrise in the city.
They would tell each other where they were, what they were seeing. Sometimes they sent each other videos of street performers.
But at the end of every Saturday Lucas would tell her how he felt.
I miss you
Riley looked at the words he sent her. She smiled sadly, she missed him to, she just couldn't tell him how much. It wasn't fair to him, not with an ocean separating them. Besides eventually he was going to move on, right? Some other girl had to be circling him, their always had been.
I miss you to.
She sat on a bench outside the building she lived in now, the flat was huge but it didn't have the same charm as their apartment in New York.
What walking tour are we doing next week?
She smiled, loving that he considered it them, together on this tour.
The Jack the Ripper tour, it's at night though.
You, Me, an evening tour of about one of the most notorious serial killers, I can't wait.
Riley smiled before taking a quick selfie as she blew a kiss, and sent it off to him. If only he was with her, but even if he was he would just have to leave and an ocean would separate them once again.
She slipped her phone in her bag and went up to the apartment. Auggie was playing on his tablet, Cory was reading a book, and Topanga was cooking. She greeted them and excused herself to go shower before dinner.
The rest of the night she would check her phone for the pictures Lucas would send, tonight he and Zay were at a Knicks game. She was beyond jealous of course.
Sunday, she spent the day with her family, Cory had insisted they check out at least one historical site a week, figuring he didn't have long before Riley and Auggie really made friends and forgot all about him.
During the week, Riley went to school, feeling suffocated in the uniform she had to wear. She focused on her work, trying to keep up with everything and enjoying the challenge of not having her father as a teacher.
When Friday night came, Riley sat on her bed, staring at her phone, debating on if she should text him or not. Then she finally did.
7pm my time, Jack the Ripper tour, dress warm, it'll be dark and foggy, perfectly creepy.
It's a date.
Riley sighed if only it really was. She put her phone on to charge before crawling into bed, deciding that tomorrow she could at least sleep in.
In the morning, she got dressed for the day, making sure she had plenty of layers on for the cold evening she was going to be facing.
She took pictures of her view, of her room, boring stuff really.
She didn't receive a single picture from Lucas until later that day when he sent a picture of a book cover about Jack the Ripper.
A few minutes later he sent a selfie of him someplace it was familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it.
She went to her mirror and posed, taking a selfie of her outfit for the tour and sent it off.
You're beautiful.
You're way too sweet.
Only on you.
She had dinner with her family, expecting Lucas to send her pictures of whatever party Zay dragged him to, or playing video games in Farkle's room. But none came.
Maybe this was it, this was the end of the last thing connecting them.
She grabbed her hat and gloves, before grabbing her bag and leaving. Her father tried to keep her at home, but she reminded him she already paid for her ticket.
It was about fifteen minutes before the tour was set to start when Riley arrived at the junction of Whitechapel High Street and Commercial Road. She saw the tour guide with a sign and went to check in.
She took pictures, including a selfie she sent to Lucas. In the distance, she heard someone's phone ping with a message. She looked around, knowing she was being ridiculous. She saw several couples, a couple of boys a few years older than her.
It was just a coincidence.
She was fascinated by the tour, taking video almost the entire time. Her phone wasn't going to have much storage space left by the end of the night.
When the tour ended Riley's, phone began to blow up with messages from Lucas.
You should see my view right now.
It's breathtaking.
I've been stunned by it all evening.
This girl in front of me is the most beautiful girl in the world.
Riley read the messages, was this what they were now. People who talked about other people to each other? It had only been three months, yet here he was, telling her about some beautiful girl that wasn't her.
She looks sad.
He had to be kidding her.
Now she looks a bit angry.
Why are you telling me this Lucas?
A picture showed up next, it took Riley a moment to rationalize what she saw. How did he get this picture? She looked around, and that was when she saw him, not even fifty feet away from her.
He waved to her, biting his lip, his stomach full of butterflies as Riley ran past the rest of their tour group who were chatting.
She stopped in front of him, blinking as she took him in. He was wearing his Yankees hoodie, he had on the beanie she'd sent him after she'd been in London for two weeks. "What are you doing here?"
"I missed you."
"How did you get here?"
"Plane." He smiled as he reached to her, taking her hands in his, "I just, I needed to see you again."
She threw her arms around him, she didn't have the words as she clung to him. She didn't even realize she was crying until Lucas wiped her tears away. "Hey don't cry Riley, please."
"I'm just so happy to see you." She confessed, "I wasn't sure if I would ever get to see you again."
He held her, she still smelled the same, she smelled like home. "I would never let that happen."
"You wouldn't?"
"No, I need you, I missed you, and I know that you are my heart." He held her hand in his, kissing it softly before placing it over his heart.
She could feel the happy tears in her eyes before she kissed him. It was different than their kisses in the past. It held months of longing, missing each other, and promises of the future all at once.
When they breathlessly broke apart she looked into his eyes, "Where are you staying?"
"A Youth Hostel, the one you always say I should stay at when you send me pictures."
Riley nodded, "But wait, you need to have someone your age to stay, who did you come with?"
"Josh, he wanted to see your family. And it was the only way I could convince my parents to let me come for the short time we're here for." He studied her under the street lights, she had no idea how beautiful she was, she had no idea that he wasn't complete without her.
"My parents will be so surprised."
"They knew" Lucas confessed, "It was part of the deal. We had to tell them we were coming."
Riley chuckled, "That's why my Dad tried to get me to stay home."
"He secretly likes me." Lucas held both her hands in his, "Could I walk you home?"
"I would love it if you did." She guided him in the correct direction, "But let's walk slowly, I want to breathe in every moment we have together."
After they walked a few blocks Lucas stopped her, "Riley, um, the others don't know I came."
"Why, how is that possible?"
"I didn't want them to try and stop me. They think I should move on, but that's not possible."
She bit her lower lip, "I understand, I think."
"You know" he started as he tried to gather whatever courage he had left, "we don't tend to do things the normal way, we do what we do."
She nodded, "Yeah, we do."
"So, I'm hoping that maybe, as we navigate the next few years, we find a way to still do that together, even if an ocean separates us. I know I can't really be your boyfriend and you can't be my girlfriend, and if you met someone I would understand, and if I met someone I would hope you would understand, but God I would be jealous if you did, and I want you to be just as jealous if I did."
"I would be terribly heartbroken and jealous if you met someone else." Riley confessed, "I know we're still young, but you're my other half."
"So, I'm thinking, is that the summer after we graduate high school we go to Paris together."
"You still want to go to Paris with me?"
"I always have." He caressed her cheek, watching the way she leaned into his touch, "and maybe we can figure out visits between now and then."
"I like the sound of that." She covered his hand with hers, "When do you leave?"
"Wednesday, I've got Farkle taking notes for me in class."
"Good, then we'll get to hang out a bit more." She let her fingers dance over the back of his hand, watching the way his lips quivered with anticipation before she kissed him, feeling him hold her close, as she held onto him, wanting this moment, and every moment with him last. "It's only a few more blocks, but if I'm not home soon, my Dad will have you on the first flight out tomorrow."
"Lead the way" he knew he would follow her to the ends of the earth and beyond.
When they arrived at the flat her parents and Auggie were entertaining Josh with tales of their adventures in London. Part of Riley wondered if she could just sneak past them with Lucas, but as soon as they were in the door Cory was on his feet, "So you came all this way just to see Riley, why?"
"I missed her sir." Lucas gulped as he looked at the man only now realizing they were about the same height.
Cory threw his hands up, "Pittsburgh!" He cried as he looked to Topanga, "I told you this was going to happen."
Topanga rolled her eyes as she stood up and put her hands on his arms, "Cory, he's not moving here." Then she looked to Lucas, "You're, not right?"
"I don't think my Mother would like that very much." He confessed.
"See Cory, just calm down."
Riley stood up straight, "But Lucas and I do plan to visit each other as often as we can. And we've decided that when we graduate high school, we're going to go to Paris, together."
Cory knew it had only been a matter of time, "I can't afford a wedding in England, I could barely have afforded one in New York!"
"We're not getting married Mr. Matthews." Lucas knew it was a lie, if his heart had a say they would get married as soon as they legally could, hell he would say vows to her right now if she wanted him to.
"Not yet, but I know the story. You two are just bigger, bolder, we had Pittsburgh, you've got London!" He collapsed on the couch shaking his head.
"Ignore your father, he's just dramatic. It's good to see you Lucas, I'm glad that you and Josh were able to come together." Topanga gave him a hug, "Now, we expect that both you boys will join us tomorrow. We're going to give you a nice little tour of the city, and if you behave, we can think about letting Riley and Auggie stay out of school Monday and Tuesday so that you can all do something together, the four of you."
"That sounds wonderful, thank you Mrs. Matthews."
Josh put his hand on Lucas' shoulder, "Come on Western Hero, we've got to get back to the hostel. We'll see you all in the morning, night all."
"Good night." Lucas smiled to Riley as they slowly released hands.
Riley watched them leave and then turned to her father, "Dad, calm down, would you?"
"He came to another country to see you, I knew the minute I saw the way you looked at each other it would end up like this, but I thought maybe after we moved across an ocean it would slow it down."
Riley smiled, "He did come to another country to see me. But don't worry Dad, I won't marry him until we're at least sophomores in college."
"Graduate college first." Topanga put her hands-on Riley's shoulders, "Promise me that."
"Yes Mom, I promise. I'm going to go to bed, it's been a surprisingly, wonderfully long night." She practically skipped to her room, pulling her phone out to set the new wallpaper and lock screen to a picture of her and Lucas.
She saw several messages from Maya about how no one knew where Lucas was, not even Zay. She smiled and sent a reply.
Maybe Lucas ran off to join the Rodeo, or he got abducted by aliens, or he flew across the ocean to see me.
She didn't wait for Maya's reply, instead she changed into her pajamas, got ready for bed, and let the sweet dreams of Lucas take over her mind. That piece she had felt that was missing was back, and now she knew who it was, she knew she'd have to hold onto it as best she could with the time and space that separated them.