New chapter means new friends. Riley and Damon eat some ice cream, and talk about identity. Riley realizes something and Damon confesses something. Things are getting real good. I'm satisfied with the way I wrote Damon, and I hope you guys like him as much as I do! Just to be clear, Damon is going to play a very large role in the story and in Riley's life so he's here to stay! Hope you guys enjoy!

TIMELINE OF THE STORY:

- GMW: Season 3, post-Girl Meets High School, before Girl Meets Triangle. Riley is 14.

- TVD: Season 3, but Season 4 never happened completely. Elena is in a vampire-coma, Klaroline happened. Klaus is a hybrid. The Originals went to New Orleans. Stefan and Damon still love Elena.

I DON'T OWN GIRL MEETS WORLD OR ITS CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO MICHAEL JACOBS AND DISNEY! ALSO, I DON'T THE VAMPIRE DIARIES OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO KEVIN WILLIAMSON, JULIE PLEC, AND THE CW! This story is a work of fiction.

REALIZATION - challenge

After everything that just happened, this moment in time takes the cake for weirdest event today, Riley thought as she sat there with a tub of ice cream on top of her lap. She was laughing, and for the first time in a long time, it was actual real laughter and not forced laughs coming out of her.

"Okay seriously, Phish Food is a disgrace to humanity" Damon argued, jokingly. The man, that up until a few minutes ago was a stranger, was sitting casually beside her with his own tub in one of his hands as they talked like longtime friends on one of the numerous benches found in Central Park.

It was sort of weird to Riley. She found herself so comfortable with Damon, as if any signs of danger seemed to vanish. He offered a certain type of safe aura that kept Riley at peace despite not knowing anything about the man. They literally spent about 10 minutes deciding on which Central Park bench was the best prime location for sitting, and right after, Riley was not impressed by Damon's choice of ice cream, making him go off to another ice cream vendor to buy her preferred flavor.

"What?! Phish Food is the best ice cream flavor that's ever existed. I know that, the whole of New York knows that, and I'm pretty sure God knows it as well!" Riley replied with a smile on her face. The two of them had started a fun little debate over which ice cream flavor was the best, and she was actually enjoying having this constant back and forth conversation with Damon.

"Yeah you're lying to yourself if you think that Phish Food is the best thing ever, kid. I honestly feel bad for you because you've been tricked to thinking that, and you know what it is? It's the Justin Bieber. We ALL know that Half Baked is the real deal, its the Michael Jackson of ice creams! Like think about it, who wants some Justin Bieber ice cream when they can have Michael Jackson!? Boom your argument is invalid, and I have won" Damon said, smirking. Riley let out a giggle and accidentally snorted out some of the ice cream in her mouth.

"So what are you, an ice cream connoisseur? Is that why you're here in the middle of the afternoon? So that you can test your theory about ice cream flavors on a Central Park bench?" Riley teased.

"I'm here for the same reason why you're here" Damon said solemnly, changing the tone of the conversation altogether. Riley blushed and looked down to her arms; her bruises reminded her of what she ran away from. "I'm running away."

"What? What are you running away from?" she murmured as she kept her eyes down, avoiding Damon's face.

"Uh uh uh, I'm not answering any of your questions until you answer mine. Besides, those look like they hurt, lemme help you get those cleaned up" Damon said sternly as he gently picked up both of her hands and examined them. He shook his head and let out a sigh; Riley was embarrassed over the attention to detail the man was giving her and tried not to look directly at her own wounds. "Yup, these look bad. Wait here, I'm going to get some stuff to treat you with."

"W-wait, you really don't need to he-" Riley was cut off by Damon running away to get supplies. She let out a small laugh at the man's persistence and leaned back against the bench to look at the sky in an effort to distract her from the numbing pain coming from her arms.

What would dad think if he found out how I was skipping school, and eating ice cream with a stranger?, she thought to herself. She bets her father would absolutely go bonkers if he found out about her current predicament. Her mother, would be worse of course. She would never let Riley out of her sight ever again.

Who cares what they think? They're too busy noticing Maya, it won't be a surprise if all they greeted with you with today was news about that damn Triangle, a small voice at the back of her head argued. Riley shook her head as if to chase it away, but deep down in her heart, she knew that it was speaking the truth.

The brunette started smiling as she thought of the kindness Damon was showing her. She didn't even know the guy, but he was more friendly towards her than her friends were nowadays. She couldn't help but feel a sort of pull towards the man. He offered her a type of brotherly-love that she never knew she needed. If Riley was being completely honest, Damon actually reminded her of Maya. He was so proud and gave out this no-bullshit image, but like Maya, Riley was sure that he had something hidden behind his hard, confident look.

"Okay, I'm back! Here, give me your arms" Damon said, announcing his arrival. In his hand, he held a small plastic first aid box. He sat down and held Riley by the forearms. Carefully, he gently placed her arms on top of his lap, and began cleaning them with antiseptic. Riley bit her lip and winced at the sting of the cleaning medicine, and Damon gave her a small comforting smile.

"Why are you helping me anyways? I'm just girl you met in the park" Riley asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"You looked like you needed a friend" Damon answered honestly. Riley felt tears in her eyes, but she willed herself not to cry. What Damon was saying was true; she did need a friend, someone to confide in.

"But you're not my friend" she insisted. "Besides even if you were, why would you be MY friend? You seem like a nice guy, don't waste your time on girls like me"

"Here's the thing, kid. I'm not. I'm not a nice guy" Damon explained in a sad tone. He started to wrap her arms in bandages, and Riley smiled as she noticed him placing small butterfly band-aids on her split knuckles.

"Then why help me? You trying to prove something, Salvatore?" she challenged. Finally, Damon finished his task, and gave her an eye-roll. Riley was surprised because despite him treating her wounds, not once did he inquire about how they came to be. Truthfully, she was thankful that he seemed to pay no mind over the actual explanation of how she got them in the first place. She didn't think she could handle explaining it to him; it was still too early to say.

"No, I have my reasons just like how you have your own reasons, Matthews. I mean, you seem like a nice girl who should be surrounded by many friends, but here you are, sitting on a park bench, eating ice cream with a stranger" he said. Now, the two of them were locked in a heated game of stares, all other things were ignored. "Honestly, there's something about you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, I feel sort of drawn to you. And like not in a freaky pedophile kind of way, so you can relax about that. No…you seem so small, so unprotected. I keep getting this urge to wrap my arms around you and shield you from the world and all its fucked up ways" he finally let out. Riley gave him a wild look of shock at his words, but he just shrugged.

"Wow" Riley whispered, not able to form any coherent thought from her new friend's confession.

"Yeah…weird shit, right?" Damon chuckled at her questioning look.

"You really don't hold anything back don't you?" Riley giggled. She gathered that Damon constantly swore left and right, not even caring about who he was talking to.

"Me? Why should I? You're not a little girl, Matthews. I know you've heard people swearing and cursing before. Swear words are normal. It's about time you started learning to not give a shit about what other people thought about what you say" he replied. Riley's heart lifted at Damon's words. For the first time in her life, she had met someone who treated her as an equal, someone who didn't judge her. "Besides, you look like you need to let out a few words of your own."

"I mean…no…that's not me" she mumbled incoherently. No, she was Riley Matthews, all-around good girl, always doing the right thing, never said a bad thing in her life. Saying curse words was just not in her nature.

"Do you really know what does and what doesn't define you?" he replied with a raised eyebrow. Riley sighed; he was right. She didn't know who she really was yet, she's just been following everyone else's definition of who they wanted her to be. Her parents wanted her to be the good older-sister. Her father wanted her to be the star-student. Her friends wanted her to be old klutzy Riley, the girl who gave it her all. Even Lucas expected her to be Riley, his pretty brunette that knew right from wrong. She was tired of letting other people decide who she could and couldn't be. She wanted to be her own Riley Matthews, and she had a feeling that Damon would help her get to where she wanted to be.

"You're right….um…asshole?" she agreed, adding the word at the end to try to get used to the idea of swearing. She frowned for the word didn't feel right in her tongue yet. Damon let out a loud snort at her ending statement and patted her back endearingly.

"Yeah we'll work on that" he replied as he continued to chuckled over her attempt at cursing.

"What makes you think that I'm coming back here?" she teased. Riley couldn't help but doubt her newly formed friendship with the stranger she had just met.

"Because you don't seem like the type of girl who gives up on a challenge, and I'm definitely up for one, myself" he grinned as he stole some of the melting ice cream in the tub still lying on Riley's lap. Riley rolled her eyes at him and gave him a glare.

"So what, is this- am I a challenge to you?" she asked in a small voice. Riley liked Damon, and the idea of having someone she could trust, someone who didn't judge her based on previous notions, was enticing to her.

"Well, its also an excuse to eat ice cream in the afternoons so why not, right?" he answered as he started to pack away his first aid box. "I'm running away from my life, and something tells me that you are too. Why not run together?"

Riley looked at Damon, judging his words as he spoke. She really wanted to trust this man. Her heart told her that he was someone safe. She wanted to get to know Damon Salvatore, and she knew that the more time she spent with the guy, the more she'll find herself.

"Oh yeah and you owe me one anyways so the next time we meet, you're getting me some good ol' Half Baked" Damon said cheekily. Riley shook her head in joking disgust, and grinned back at him.

"Uh no way! I'm Phish Food all the way" she answered stubbornly.

"Just you wait, kid. I'm gonna change your whole world" Damon laughed as he spoke about their little ice cream debacle. He placed an arm around her shoulders, and together they laughed as they ate their melting ice cream in the middle of the cheeriness of Central Park.

Riley didn't know it yet, but she had a feeling that his statement would hold up in the long-run.

So there you go. Riley's made a friend in Damon, and Damon's found someone special in Riley. I really love writing them bickering, so expect more of this Riley/Damon interaction. Next up, the great ice cream debate continues, and Riley faces reality yet again! Please follow and favorite if you like the story, and if you can, please review, I need inspiration and it would also be nice to know how you guys like the story so far. Hope you guys enjoyed!