A/N: Next chapter everyone! And now I gotta wash my hair because IT'S GROSS. I always hate the summertime because I'm my laziest... (And hygiene tends to suffer a bit hahaha) Also unrevised. Sorry about that. I got lazy.

Thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate it! Thank you for the support with my vocal blunders lol! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own GMW, because if I did, crack ships would become canon ships... and I guess canon ships would become crack ships? Which I would probably then ship instead... and then make canon, but then the crack ships turned canon ships would become crack ships again and so I'd ship them but then because I would make them canon I would ship the newly crack ship ships which I would make canon... huh.


Riley sneezed, sniffling and blinking when she felt a little disoriented.

She looked up at the sky as she and Brandon climbed the hill in the park near her complex that she was leading them up. The air was much more humid and sticky than it had been when she'd snuck out of her room and met him at the corner of Bleecker a little while ago. Not to mention that most of the sky was hazy with clouds. She honestly hoped it didn't start raining before she got to show him what she wanted to show him.

Riley sneezed again, this one a little more high pitched, and she had to stop walking for a minute, her vision dancing the slightest bit from the force of her sneeze.

"You okay?" Brandon asked in concern.

"Yeah. Probably just allergies."

But her throat was a little more scratchy than it usually was when she had allergies. She cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the tickle and then smiled and pointed to the top.

"We're almost there anyway."

Brandon followed her up to the top of the hill. This was her favourite point in the city. She liked to come here and sit and think when being at home got a little tired. It overlooked the Hudson River in the distance. During the day, she could watch boaters travel down the river and the ferry boat rides. Normally, the night time would make the water look ominous and somewhat treacherous, but not that night. That night, it was just mysterious. A little dark, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Riley sat down at the top of the hill and patted the seat next to her with an inviting smile. Brandon sat down next to her, watching the water curiously.

"So where'd you take me?"

"This is my secret spot. But I don't come here to watch the water. I come to watch the stars." She blushed slightly in embarrassment, "I guess I should have checked the weather forecast though. Clouds are covering them."

Brandon let out a little chuckle, staring up at the sky with Riley, trying to see if they could catch any stars hidden behind the clouds. Riley sighed, mentally disappointed that she couldn't show him the best part of her spot.

"How did you discover this place?"

"Well… This one time a while ago I got lost trying to get out of the park to find the subway actually." Riley giggled, tucking some hair behind her ear when it fell onto her face. "So I sat here waiting for Maya to show up to rescue me, and I kind of realized I liked it. It was kind of a weird moment for me, you know? I just was sitting here, looking at the sky and it just hit me: Earth from a different planet might also look like a star. And our galaxy from a different galaxy probably looks like a tiny little star too. And I just realized that there's so much to see out there. So many other galaxies and possibly universes out there and we just live in one very tiny fraction of one universe. It makes me wish I could just go there sometimes. So sometimes I close my eyes and if I dream long enough, I can imagine I'm in a new world. It's weird and doesn't really make sense, but those are the things I think about when I sit here."

And then Riley gasped and snapped her gaze to him, feeling a little self-conscious.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to talk so much!"

But he didn't look bothered by it. Brandon was just watching her pensively, his dark eyes dancing from the light from the flagpole nearby them. His lips were quirked up in something of an impressed smile.

"That's deep."

Riley sighed contentedly, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her forearms on them. "And this is a great place to think. And to write. To observe the world around me."

"Do you come here often to think?"

"Yeah. Despite how clumsy and goofy and, okay, admittedly bubbleheaded I am, I'm not a ditz."

"I never believed you were for a second."

And Riley's breath hitched at his soft words, and she averted her gaze, shyly tucking her loose hair behind her ear, a bashful smile on her lips.

"Oh."

What was this? Her heart was racing so wildly in her chest. She wondered if he could hear her heartbeat from where he sat beside her. That nervous, anxious jittery feeling was starting to crawl into her body once again.

"What made you decide to bring me here?" His tone was just curious, no disparaging depth to it at all.

"You showed me some of your world. So I wanted to show you some of mine."

He nodded, and they fell silent for a bit, staring at the horizon. Riley fought her instinct to start rambling about the first thing her mind came up with and she firmly took hold of her bottom lip in her teeth, forcing herself to keep quiet and not ruin the moment with her goofy gander mouth.

And then Riley felt a droplet of rain on her forehead and looked up at the sky with a soft gasp. Another few more dropped, hitting her arms and then her head once again. The clouds that had been covering up the sky were much darker than before, looking like they were almost right above their heads.

"Looks like it's about to rain." Brandon said nonchalantly, a brow slightly raised as he also watched the sky.

Riley groaned, a pout forming on her face.

"Just great… I literally chose the worst day to ever have an outdoor date and I messed up everything and there weren't even any stars tonight which I really wanted to show you and I know you must think I'm a complete idiot for making such a stupid mess of everything and I don't even know why I messed up so bad and now it's going to rain and you're going to leave and I should have checked the forecast, but I wasn't thinking that at the time because I was so scared and jealous of your really pretty ex and I wanted to keep you from going over to her place so I set the date for tonight and I know it was a terrible thing to do but I don't want to lose you because I'm—"

"Riley."

Riley's eyes widened immeasurably and she spun around to face Brandon in surprise, her hair swinging around her face. That was the first time he'd ever said her first name.

Brandon leaned over, his hand cradling her neck, and pressed his lips softly to hers. Riley's eyes fluttered closed as he kissed her, her heart skipping beats. It was sweet and made her heart warm.

When he pulled away, his face still close, she stared into his eyes, a little dazed.

"Y-you said my name..."

Brandon smiled and gently moved some hair caught on her lips out of her mouth.

"Got a mouthful of hair with that one."

Riley blushed to her roots at how tender the action was. And also because she was always messing up kisses one way or another. He had kissed her again, though. And it had sent her in a tizzy because now she was confused. He hadn't wanted to ask her out before. But he'd kissed her again! What did that mean?

"Brandon…" she started quietly, holding her breath a little anxiously, "Do… d-do you still think I'm cute?"

His gaze softened. "Of course I do."

"Then… why didn't you ask me out again? Did you not want to go out with me?"

"Riley, I didn't want us to go out with each other based on a favour. I wanted you to ask me out because you wanted to go out. Not because I forced you with an agreement."

And Riley felt an elated smile tugging on her lips. It hadn't been because he didn't like her. It hadn't been because he didn't like her! She felt like the heavy weights in her heart had just been lifted off of her chest.

"I never felt forced!" Riley replied emphatically, "I really did want to go with you! I mean, at first I was kind of scared because back then I thought you were The Rebel and I thought I was going to get turned into bread, but when you asked me if I trusted you and I realized I did it stopped being an obligation and I did get curious about it so I never felt forced, I mean, maybe a little challenged because you were kind of making fun of me—"

A loud clap of thunder suddenly cut Riley off, and she jerked in surprise, blinking at Brandon wide eyed. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

And then another clap of thunder opened up the clouds and a torrent of rain crashed down on them. Riley squealed as they were almost immediately drenched in water, the rain pelting them heavily as it cascaded down from the sky.

"Let's go!" Brandon said with a laugh.

They hurried to their feet, and as Riley scrambled to get up, she tripped on her feet where the tie of her sandal got caught on the strap of her other sandal. With a yelp, she almost tumbled forward, but Brandon caught her arms, keeping her steady. Riley looked down at her feet through the haziness of the rain and could see that her shoe was broken.

"My shoe just broke!" she shouted over the roar of the rain, wiping her wet hair out of her face so she could see more clearly, "What do I do?"

Brandon turned around and stooped in front of her. "Get on my back."

"What?" She was a little surprised.

"I'll carry you."

"O-okay."

She picked up the broken shoe from the ground and climbed on his back, the smile on her face one of the brightest she'd ever had. When she was settled and he had his arms firmly under her thighs to support her, he stood up. He was warm and comfortable despite the rain assailing them and his arms holding her up felt strong and protective.

As he walked through the rain back towards her apartment complex, she laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes in bliss.

It hadn't been the best date, but she sure as heck liked the way this had ended.