Y'ALL I AM SERIOUSLY LOVING ALL THE FEEDBACK THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'M GLAD YOU LIKE THE STORY! DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GIRL MEETS WORLD OR THEIR CHARACTERS!
Chapter Nine *If Tomorrow Never Comes*
"Damn," Lucas mumbles as he peers out through his windshield. The rain is coming down hard against the glass. It's unusual for the weather to be so hectic in New York, but it definitely matches Lucas' mood.
He had finally stopped the tears from coming out of his eyes. But his heart still hurts. All of this hurts. He knows him and Riley are supposed to be together, but now it seems impossible that they ever will be. She doesn't want to hurt her best friend, which Lucas gets completely. But what about their happiness? She never thinks about herself. She never puts herself first.
Lucas punches the steering wheel, wincing at his still injured hand from the last punch he made. He doesn't want to be unhappy anymore. He doesn't want to keep going on without Riley being his girl.
Suddenly, Lucas felt himself lose control of his truck. It is hydroplaning in the rain, the wheels losing traction in the ground. Lucas thinks back to when his Pappy Joe was teaching him to drive. What was he said to do at a moment like this? The thought pops into his mind, steer into the skid, that's it! But it's too late. It's happening too quickly, so Lucas slams on his brakes.
His tires jerk and spin, and Lucas begins to wonder if his truck is going to stop. But it finally does come to a halt. Lucas is frozen in fear. He is panting at the close call that he just had. He ignores the stinging feeling of panic that has filled his whole body.
The truck is still. The rain continues to pour rapidly down from the sky, but Lucas can't move right now. The initial shock of it all is overwhelming. He tries to calm his breathing. He slowly breathes in and out, and feels himself begin to relax some.
But then he realizes where he stopped his truck. An intersection. He took a deep breath and moves his foot to press on the gas pedal, but then sees movement out of the corner of his eye.
The next moment felt like a scene straight out of a cheesy movie, where he sees his whole life flash before his eyes.
He sees him riding the sheep he fell off if when he was a little boy. He sees him and his grandpa mending the farm back in Texas and going on all those fishing trips. They always had a great time catching fish together and bringing it back up to the house to fry them.
He pictures when he moved to New York, and how he scared he was to move to a big city. Him sitting on the subway, thinking he didn't want to be there. Him thinking about running away to Pappy Joe and not looking back. He sees how everything changed when Riley fell onto his lap. He didn't feel dread anymore about living in the city.
So many different faces fly across his mind. Maya. Zay. Farkle. Smackle. Mr. Matthews. His Parents. Pappy Joe. But there is one face that Lucas can't seem to get out of his head. Riley.
Her face is permanently etched into his brain. All the feelings, all the things that happened, came rushing all at once. he could see everything, hear everything. It is like a movie playing in his mind, a movie he never wants to leave.
The moments are wonderful in their own way.
Him holding his jacket over her head as they watched Maya make the sprinklers on the ceiling spray down. Feeling that close next to the girl he didn't expect to see again, was amazing all in it's own.
The library. He opened up to her about wanting to be a veterinarian, and she was completely interested in his story about birthing a horse. Their first moment opening up to each other.
The dance, where he had his arms around Riley. Her smiling at him and him smiling right back at her. It was the first time dancing with her, and it felt right.
The student elections. When he had been feeling so low and homesick, wanting to see his friends in Texas. Her and Maya making that video for him, which had made his homesickness disappear. And then him riding into the gym, on his white horse, making Riley feel like the princess she is. His princess.
Their first date. Him walking into the subway station and begin blown away by her beauty. He had said he would remember it forever, and he still believes it today. Them sharing their first kiss together, with smiles and happiness.
Her telling him he's just a brother to her.
Her acting strange when him and Maya went on their date.Riley's face when Farkle told everyone her secret. That she still loved him. That she didn't see him as a brother, but as more.
Her actually saying she loved him out loud.
Them dancing under the lights at the party. Dancing to that song. And kissing with so much passion and love that it almost took full control.
Her saying they could never be together. Him telling her they will be.
All of it came in a rush.
He wishes that he was still by Riley's side, kissing her, telling her how much he deeply loves her. He should have stayed. He should have fought harder for her, because she is worth it. She is worth everything.
He hopes she knows how much he loves her. He hopes she knows she is everything to him. He hops she knows that she will forever be his first love, his only love. If he never sees her again, he hopes she knows all of that.
He never thought the last time was going to be the last time. He thought there would be more. He thought he had forever. But he doesn't. That is what he thinks as the other vehicle slams into his side.
