p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Riley. Riley wake up. Riley!" he screamed, tears rushing down his face. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Riley laid motionlessly as blood escaped her body. Her warm brown eyes lost all life inside of them, taking a part of Brandon's heart along. In the distance sirens wailed, but he didn't care anymore. She was gone. There was nothing else important in the world besides that fact. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon entered the house, flicking on the light switch. The house was deadly silent, which honestly he wasn't surprised at. It was eleven, Sophia and Alex would definitely be asleep by now. He wondered if they had put up a fight with Riley before he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon clapped as hard as he could, grinning at his daughter up on stage. Sophia looked gorgeous, /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"like an actual princess /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"he thought affectionately. She kept waving to the crowd, a microphone in hand. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Thank you! Thank you so much" she kept repeating./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon turned around to tell Riley how proud he was of his baby girl, when he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon slammed the door of the trunk down, rubbing his hands together. Behind him, his firstborn, Alex stood, with one box left beside him. Turning around Brandon gave him a sad smile, before giving him a huge hug. Being the same height, his chin could easily reach over Alex's shoulder, meaning teardrops could easily fall onto his sons shirt. Separating from his son, he waited for Riley to bounce over and give a long winded speech on how much she loved him and how he better stay safe and keep up his grades when he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon was at a loss of words as Sophia made her way outside the room in her wedding dress. Her jet black hair was pinned up in soft curls, gently falling to her shoulder. A small crown rested upon her head, to which he smiled at. Her dress flowed out from her, lacy colorful flowers sewn upon the white fabric. Her thin sleeves trailed down to her fingertips, golden threads mixed with the silver. A necklace hung loosely from her neck, several chains leading down to a grand diamond flower in the middle. He offered her his arm and together the two made their way down the long stairs where her future husband was awaiting her. Brandon eagerly searched for Riley, wanting to see her expression when she realized how gorgeous her daughter had turned out to be, when he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon watched his son pace around nervously as he waited for any news on his child. Eventually, the nurse called him in and Alex ran to his wife, and a wailing child. Brandon followed him, excitement bubbling. at the prospect of meeting his first grandchild. Wailing sounds came from the room to which he chucked at. Crying was good, crying meant the baby was healthy, crying meant that everything was okay. Alex was beside his wife holding his daughter. He motioned for Brandon to come over, and gently handed her over to him. Brandon looked down at her, a smile in place at seeing another human on this Earth. He turned to let Riley have a chance at seeing her when he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon knocked on the Matthews door, waiting for Auggie or Ava to open up. He slowly gave a hug to them, his back causing problems once more. The two of them were about to start dinner and naturally, started to set a plate for him. He nodded to them, before making his way towards Riley's old room. Everything was still the way it was when she had left it. The bed was as messy as ever, her closet door slightly ajar and the window was left open waiting for a person to crawl through. Auggie and Ava never had the heart to change any of it which Brandon now appreciated. Slowly he made his way to the old window sill and sat down. Memories flooded him, ones where it was Maya and Riley scheming, ones where Lucas and Riley sat, talking, ones where it was Farkle trying to flirt with Riley. Ones where it was just him and Riley sitting together in silence, falling in love. Memories of just the gang laughing and crying together, all kinds of memories came back to him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The sun was starting to set, its warmth dying away as the cold night took over. Daytime animals started to say goodnight to each other, while nocturnal ones woke up to a new night. The city's noise failed to decrease, cars continuously blaring, people yelling. Riley would have liked it, he knew that. But she wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"And as his eyes closed one final time, he knew he wouldn't be either./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Riley laid motionlessly as blood escaped her body. Her warm brown eyes lost all life inside of them, taking a part of Brandon's heart along. In the distance sirens wailed, but he didn't care anymore. She was gone. There was nothing else important in the world besides that fact. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon entered the house, flicking on the light switch. The house was deadly silent, which honestly he wasn't surprised at. It was eleven, Sophia and Alex would definitely be asleep by now. He wondered if they had put up a fight with Riley before he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon clapped as hard as he could, grinning at his daughter up on stage. Sophia looked gorgeous, /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"like an actual princess /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"he thought affectionately. She kept waving to the crowd, a microphone in hand. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Thank you! Thank you so much" she kept repeating./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon turned around to tell Riley how proud he was of his baby girl, when he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon slammed the door of the trunk down, rubbing his hands together. Behind him, his firstborn, Alex stood, with one box left beside him. Turning around Brandon gave him a sad smile, before giving him a huge hug. Being the same height, his chin could easily reach over Alex's shoulder, meaning teardrops could easily fall onto his sons shirt. Separating from his son, he waited for Riley to bounce over and give a long winded speech on how much she loved him and how he better stay safe and keep up his grades when he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon was at a loss of words as Sophia made her way outside the room in her wedding dress. Her jet black hair was pinned up in soft curls, gently falling to her shoulder. A small crown rested upon her head, to which he smiled at. Her dress flowed out from her, lacy colorful flowers sewn upon the white fabric. Her thin sleeves trailed down to her fingertips, golden threads mixed with the silver. A necklace hung loosely from her neck, several chains leading down to a grand diamond flower in the middle. He offered her his arm and together the two made their way down the long stairs where her future husband was awaiting her. Brandon eagerly searched for Riley, wanting to see her expression when she realized how gorgeous her daughter had turned out to be, when he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon watched his son pace around nervously as he waited for any news on his child. Eventually, the nurse called him in and Alex ran to his wife, and a wailing child. Brandon followed him, excitement bubbling. at the prospect of meeting his first grandchild. Wailing sounds came from the room to which he chucked at. Crying was good, crying meant the baby was healthy, crying meant that everything was okay. Alex was beside his wife holding his daughter. He motioned for Brandon to come over, and gently handed her over to him. Brandon looked down at her, a smile in place at seeing another human on this Earth. He turned to let Riley have a chance at seeing her when he remembered. She wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brandon knocked on the Matthews door, waiting for Auggie or Ava to open up. He slowly gave a hug to them, his back causing problems once more. The two of them were about to start dinner and naturally, started to set a plate for him. He nodded to them, before making his way towards Riley's old room. Everything was still the way it was when she had left it. The bed was as messy as ever, her closet door slightly ajar and the window was left open waiting for a person to crawl through. Auggie and Ava never had the heart to change any of it which Brandon now appreciated. Slowly he made his way to the old window sill and sat down. Memories flooded him, ones where it was Maya and Riley scheming, ones where Lucas and Riley sat, talking, ones where it was Farkle trying to flirt with Riley. Ones where it was just him and Riley sitting together in silence, falling in love. Memories of just the gang laughing and crying together, all kinds of memories came back to him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 11pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The sun was starting to set, its warmth dying away as the cold night took over. Daytime animals started to say goodnight to each other, while nocturnal ones woke up to a new night. The city's noise failed to decrease, cars continuously blaring, people yelling. Riley would have liked it, he knew that. But she wasn't here anymore./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7181818181818183; margin-top: 11pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Verdana; color: #444444; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"And as his eyes closed one final time, he knew he wouldn't be either./span/p