"Do you believe in soulmates?"

The question escapes Riley's lips before she can really think it over. It hangs in the air, filling the silence of her bedroom.

Lucas makes a face as he contemplates the answer, shrugging. "I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"You know me," she says sheepishly, dropping her gaze down to her notebook rather than looking him in the eyes. She doesn't know why she's embarrassed, but something about the question seems so silly she wishes she could take it back. His lack of a decisive response doesn't help matters. "Sometimes I just say things. Ramble, and stuff."

"Yeah," he agrees. She glances up long enough to catch his fond smile.

"I guess I was just thinking… do you remember last year when we talked about chaos theory?"

"Barely, but I think so. Farkle was talking about how decisions impact the universe or something?"

Riley nods, twirling a piece of hair in her fingers nervously. "To be honest, I don't remember like, anything about it, but I was just thinking about this idea of other universes. Universes that are basically our own and yet something is fundamentally different."

"Right."

"And then I was thinking, what about universes that are super different from our own? Like, are there versions of us out there who exist in entirely different decades? Entirely different worlds?"

She's surprised to see him smiling at her when she lifts her eyes again. She's so used to seeing the exasperation in her friends' expressions when she gets off on a tangent, but Lucas has never been that way. He's never seen her tendency to ramble as anything but endearing.

But then again, Lucas has always been a little bit different. A little bit more than a friend.

"What about you?" he asks, propping his hands on his knee and twiddling his thumbs. "Do you believe in soulmates?"

She's not sure how to answer. In some ways, it feels too convoluted to say yes. Too dramatic, too unrealistic, far too cliché and wistful. It's exactly the kind of thing people would expect her to believe and exactly the kind of thing people would laugh at her for.

And yet, sitting there, she has to admit to herself that even if she's not sure they exist, part of her really, really hopes they do. Because there's nothing more comforting to her than being here with Lucas, sharing this space and their conversation and their existence. She hopes that there's a version of him with those twinkling green eyes in all potential worlds, humoring her questions and smiling at her ramblings and making her feel whole. She wishes that no matter universe, no matter what reality, she has him.

But that all feels like too much to say aloud. So she doesn't.

Riley mirrors his shrug, scooting forward and leaning back against the seat of the bay window next to him. She bumps her shoulder against his, tilting her head back and forth. "I don't know. I mean, I love the idea of it, you know? This possibility that there's someone out there who is always meant to be in your life, regardless of circumstance. That's a nice concept."

Lucas nods along to her explanation, absentmindedly dropping one of his hands to link his fingers with hers. She smiles in spite of herself, relaxing and leaning into him. "Well, I can say at least one thing for sure."

"What?"

Lucas brushes his thumb against her knuckles, hesitating as he collects his thoughts. "Whatever other universes there are, whatever versions of me are running around, whatever they're out there doing, I'm sure they're going to find you. One way or another."

She rests her chin on his shoulder, gazing up at him. "How do you know?"

"Because, it's like I said." He tilts his head to look at her, biting his lip before breaking into another effortless smile. "I'd recognize you anywhere."