Strawberry Kisses
By: Riley
Summary – Sometimes a day to hang out is all that's needed to appreciate what you have. Fluff. Rewrite of old one-shot –Strawberries- minus mention of Elements/Elementals.
Liberty Park was filled to the brim with those smart enough to take advantage of the beautiful day and the gorgeous accompanied weather. The late spring rivaled the summer's weather, despite the cool undertone that breezed through the grass and the trees, sending out the sweet scents of the blooming flowers as the days went on. The famous Boston park was festooned with emerald leaves that flittered off the trees amongst the blustery wind gusts, little flower blossoms wafting along the wind, raining to the ground along with it.
Spread amongst the sprawling grass were colorful picnic blankets with people of all ages lounging around them; relaxing, eating, and enjoying each other's company. The scents of the different foods drifted along with the wind, mixing in with the scent of the fragrant flowers, was a precursor to the warm summer days, free from school, that were only a few weeks away. But the idea of school and work were pushed aside by those that wanted to be able to relax and enjoy the day as it came to them, a quick break between the monotony and rainy days.
On the far side of the park a young couple took advantage of the day to enjoying a game of soccer. Despite there being only one goal shot upon, as the other end of the field was being used by a father and his two sons, the game was very competitive as the couple continued to shove each other out of the way and bodily blocking the ball from the other when the opportunity arose.
Zack Martin grinned as Riley Jackson took a shot upon the goal and missed it by a few inches. She let out a cry of frustration as the ball bounced off the side post and rolled away. With a slow clap accompanying a fresh bout of laughter the blond teen called, "Nice shot, though now it makes me wonder if you need to get your eyes checked." He walked over to the ball that rested in a thick patch of grass, and placed his foot atop it before rolling it up and juggling it with his knees. "You're supposed to be aiming for that big white net in between the white poles, you know."
"I wear contacts, thank you, my eyesight is fine," Riley commented. Reaching up, she scratched her forehead to hide her pout. "I just missed." Dropping her arm, she huffed, blowing her hair off her forehead.
"Riiight." Zack laughed, continuing to juggle the ball around his feet. In a manner that showed his talent for the sport, he continued to bounce the ball back and forth on his knees before kicking it up high in the air and balancing it on his forehead. He then allowed the ball to drop down to his chest and roll down to his feet once more.
"Show off."
"I try."
His smile was infectious, causing Riley to grin before placing her hands on her hips and starting to walk towards him, her eyes on the ball. Noticing her approach, he dropped the ball to the ground and rested his foot atop it once more. Hard enough so that he could hold onto the ball if she tried a hard kick, but light enough so that he could move it away if she tried any of her fancy footwork.
So far they were matched in score at 2-2, with Riley exhibiting just as much skill at the sport as Zack did. Though he wasn't surprised as she and her siblings played nearly every sport known to man; though he found it funny that they refused to do any sport that was synonymous with the cold (ice skating, ice hockey, skiing, snowboarding, etc.) and managed to have varying degrees of skill at others like golf, tennis, and basketball.
His eyebrows ticked upwards as Riley continued to walk towards him, hands on her hips. "Not that it matters." When she reached him, he grasped her chin and gently shook it, speaking in a baby-ish voice. "Because you're not going to win." Her eyebrows lowered though he could feel her cheeks bunching up under his fingers as she tried her hardest not to smile. He removed his hand from her chin and reached up, gently brushing her hair from her face as he cupped her cheek.
Riley flashed him a sweet smile as she tilted her head, pressing her cheek into his palm. "We'll see about that, mate." Riley darted out her foot and smacked the ball to the side. Zack stumbled, trying to keep himself from tripping over her, before turning sharply and raced after her. Hearing his breaths and quickening footsteps behind her, Riley placed her foot atop the ball and flicked it backwards, ducking out of the way as Zack reached out with his arms to shove her away.
He pivoted on his foot as Riley drove towards the goal and wrapped his arms around her waist lifting her up off her feet just as she kicked the ball. "Gotcha!" Zack twisted the two of them around and watched as, despite his best efforts to stop her, Riley had managed to score the last goal. Riley threw her hands into the air in a cheer as Zack groaned, removing his arms from around her waist. "Damn! I thought I had it." Flicking his hair out of his face, he used the bottom of his shirt to remove sweat from his forehead. "Good game, Ley."
"You too, Z."
Zack brought his hands up above his head and Riley walked over and slapped her palms against his. Smiling, she laced her fingers between his and lowered their hands down as she stood up on her tiptoes so that her face was near his. Her smile widened with sweetness as she kissed him, causing him to instinctively grin like a fool. As he kissed her he was overwhelmed with the scent of strawberries. From the shampoo in her hair to the lip gloss that smoothed over his lips as he brought his hands up and cradled her face in his hands. Riley let out a quiet sigh and kissed him again, her hands loosely gripping his forearms.
"Mmm." Zack licked his lips as they parted, taking the taste of strawberries onto his tongue. "Strawberries."
"Your favorite, yeah?" Riley agreed.
Zack's light blue eyes shined in amusement as a big grin slid across his face, causing his freckled cheeks to lift into a smile that was usually reserved for two reasons; unbridled happiness and mischief.
"You smell good, too," he added.
The Australian teen's face screwed up into an expression that was half amusement, half confused horror. Unsure of how to respond to that, she reached out a hand, effectively dropping Zack's like a stone, and crossed her arms. "I smell like sweat."
"Your sweat smells good, then."
Now stunned laughter escaped the raven-haired teen's lips as her dark blue eyes widened. "Mate, that's fucking creepy."
"Yeah…" Zack's face screwed up as he thought about it. "Yeah, that's not one of my best lines. But let me know if I ever start to do that thing where I speak in a higher voice and try to act coy."
"Why?" Looping her arms around Zack's waist she smirked, tilting her head to the side. "Because you wouldn't be able to take yourself seriously?"
"No, because then I'd realize I'm starting to turn into Cody and that's terrifying enough." He laughed and put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and pecked the side of her head. Giving her a gentle nudge, he turned the two of them towards their set up blanket. Slipping her arm around his waist, the two strolled over to the patch of shade at the base of the largest tree.
With a sigh, Zack sat down on the ground, resting his back against the trunk of the tree. The cool shade from the foliage above chilled him, causing goose bumps to rise from his skin. Bringing his legs up so that his arms rested on the tops of his thighs, he let out a quiet breath, tilting his head back and allowing the wind to blow his hair from his face, chilling him even further. He opened his eyes as Riley nudged his knees apart, causing him to drop his arms to his side and sat down between his legs, and sat between them resting her back against his chest.
Zack chuckled and reached his arms around her, hugging her to his chest. He rested his chin atop her head. "And to think there was a time where you actually hated it when I touched you."
"That's because your hygiene was incredibly questionable," she replied, as if expecting his comment. "Even now I'm not sure if you're wearing a clean shirt." She tilted her head back and pinched the collar of his shirt, gently pulling at it, as if inspecting it.
"That's very true," Zack agreed. "But you can't blame a guy for trying."
Riley responded with a light hum and snuggled closer to Zack's chest, bringing in a deep breath. Zack gently rubbed his fingers over her sides as the two sat with each other, basking in the lovely weather. The two continued to sit in comfortable silence, though Zack's mind moved a mile a minute with thoughts of how nice it was to have time to themselves, not worrying about school, and thinking about how things would continue to move forward. In particular, Zack had been slightly surprised when Riley had finally admitted that she was tired of being unhappy and wanted to be with him. 'Slightly' because he still held onto that hope for as long as he could, reveling in the fact that she would become flustered and quickly, albeit smoothly, change the subject whenever the topic of their relationship was brought up. But it didn't cease to bring him wonder about something.
"Hey babe?" He asked.
"Yeah?"
"When did our relationship start to change?"
Riley made another humming sound before sitting up and turning to face him. She regarded him with a confused expression, thinking. Zack, on the other hand, had to break away from her intense gaze, something he had found to be common between the two of them. She had never been afraid of eye contact and, in fact, it was the first thing he had noticed about her when he first spotted her in the lobby of the Tipton hotel.
He remembered what she was wearing, how her face looked as she took in the extravagance of the hotel, he remembered how her hair was styled—a dark red color as she had just recently dyed it—and noticed her blue rove over the expansive ceilings and chandeliers. He even remembered the way she had looked at him when they made eye contact in the lobby, only seconds before he pointed her and her siblings out to Cody and went over to introduce himself; which culminated in years of being shot down.
"What do you mean?" Riley ran a hand through her hair before adding, "Where'd that come from?"
As the seconds passed a slow smile started to form on Zack's face. Actually, it was more like a mixture of a smirk and smug smile, enough so that Riley raised an eyebrow, as if she already knew what it was that Zack was going to say. "Do you remember the first thing I ever said to you?"
It took her a second of thought to remember. "'How does it feel to have just met the man of your dreams?'"
"Right. I was just wondering when you changed your mind." Zack cracked his knuckles. "I mean, it took you forever to even tell me that you liked me—"
Her irritation was evident in the quick, short breath that left her mouth. "I had a good reason, which I'm not going to go into again."
"And it was good," Zack insisted. "I was just thinking about when we met," he explained. "How, even then, you were quick to turn me down. I guess I just…don't really get what changed your mind."
"Your ability to make me laugh, for one. And you treated me like a person, for the most part, as opposed to something that was always in the way. And that you just seem to get me." She turned away for a moment, frowning lightly. "I realized that all of that could've been thrown away if I didn't say anything. Just like…how I wonder what would happen if my parents were still alive. We probably wouldn't have moved here. I didn't want to miss out on something that could be really good."
"I don't believe that." Resting an arm above his head, Zack reached out with his free hand and looped his pinkie finger through Riley's.
"You don't?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because," Zack hesitated for a second before continuing. "I believe, somehow, we would've met anyway. One of the reasons being your band." He noticed the light grimace that came to her face at the mention of her's and her family's band. They had enjoyed doing it until their foster father pushed them into a rigorous touring schedule. He tightened his grip around her pinkie, watching as she stretched out onto the grass. "But, I think that even if things had been different, at some point or another you would've come to Boston. Who knows the reason why, but I think you would've come here." He shrugged, giving her a meaningful look. "Maybe your Dad could've gotten a job out here, too, like your Uncle Christian. And, if that had happened, where would we be right now? Would we be together, dating other people?" He shrugged. "Not that it matters because even if things were different, you'd still be punching me, even if I don't deserve it."
"And you'd still be protecting me, even if I don't need it." Zack smiled and leaned over her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Riley smiled and reached up; giving him a kiss on the forehead in return and he lay back on the grass.
"Do you want to know my favorite thing about you?"
"My ability to make making fun of you endlessly endearing?" Riley teased.
"That too." He reached up and rested the back of his arm on his forehead, allowing the sun to warm his face. They two were silent for a long time until Zack spoke up with, "And to think of the time I wasted chasing after you…when I already had you…" He laughed as Riley reached across her body and up, slapping Zack on the stomach. "Ow!" Geez, I'm glad she's not wearing her ring this time. Okay, I deserved that one."
"Good to know you've learned something after all of these years." Riley rolled onto her stomach and got to her feet. She then leaned over Zack and grabbed onto his hands, pulling the blond teen to his feet. "C'mon, I know what you'd rather be doing right now."
"Uhh." Zack scratched the back of his head. "Sleep?"
"Other than that." She turned and picked up the picnic basket that lay by her feet and opened one side, reached in and pulling out a water balloon. "You didn't think it could be a nice day like this and we not try to target Moseby as he takes his break?" She wiggled the balloon back and forth in her hand. "It might be one of our last chances to try."
"Cunning, mischievous, and stunningly beautiful," Zack remarked. "I'll be damned lucky to spend the rest of my life with you." Riley smiled as Zack leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Glad you think so." She grabbed onto his hand and the two left Liberty Park, heading in the direction of the Tipton hotel. "But if we get caught I'm letting him know that it was entirely your idea. Because unlike you, Mr. Moseby actually likes me."
"That's because you moved out." Zack smiled and looped his arm around her shoulders as they left the warmth of the sunlight, the breeze of the blossoms, and the scent of strawberries behind.
The End
A/N: That's probably the most fluff I've written in a long time. Anyway, let me know what you think.
Cheers,
-Riles