A drive in the rain.

"The rain to the wind said,
You push and I'll pelt.'
They so smote the garden bed
That the flowers actually knelt,
And lay lodged-though not dead.
I know how the flowers felt."
Robert Frost

"What happened to you last night?" Riley asked Lucas, putting her bag down on the empty chair beside her.

Lucas switched off his phone. "Hi to you too."

"Forget about formalities."

"Getting straight to the point, huh?"

It was late afternoon, and they were at the café downtown. Lora's surprise. It was called. A cheesy name, but the place itself was actually pretty nice.

According to Riley, it had the best milkshakes and ice-cream, which was why they chose to meet here in the first place. Lucas, Riley, Maya and Josh. They had invited Farkle too, but he had declined, saying he needed to finish some sort of projects.

So far, Only Riley and Lucas had arrived.

"Yup. I wanna get this over with before Maya or Josh arrive."

Lucas didn't respond. He did, however, call the waitress and order two strawberry smoothies.

"How did you know I like strawberries?"

"You underestimate me, Riley." Then, he added. "Some things never change."

Once the smoothies arrived, Lucas asked, "What did I do that was so horrendous last night?"

"You got drunk. You of all people!"

He shrugged like it didn't matter. "I may have been drunk, but I remember telling you that I'm not fourteen anymore."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "What else do you remember?"

His forehead creased and his brows knitted together, like he was thinking. Then, he shook his head and sighed. "That's about it. The last thing I remember was Maya trying to swallow Josh."

Riley released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Thank God he didn't remember what happened after that.

Before she could say anything, Josh and Maya walked in; the buttons on Josh's shirt half undone and hair disheveled.

"You've got lipstick all over your mouth, Romeo." Lucas snickered.

Josh narrowed his eyes, wiping his lips. "You said the same thing to me last night." No he didn't. Riley thought. He used the word face instead of mouth. It surprised her, how well she recalled his words. Every scene from last night was still fresh in her mind. Especially the hilarious one where Farkle had to carry Lucas to his car, and ended up dropping him twice.

"Did I?" Lucas disregarded him, taking a sip from his smoothie.

Fifteen minutes later, Maya and Josh were rolling on the floor with laugher (okay, not really. But they might as well have been), and Lucas had a fake smile plastered on.

Maya wiped a tear from her face, her cheeks red. "You should have been there!"

Riley looked at Lucas awkwardly. He was finishing his second scoop of chocolate ice cream. For once in front of Maya, she was speechless.

Checking her watch, she said. "Sorry, guys. I better get going. Auggie's going to come home soon."

"Say hi to him for me!" yelled Maya while Riley was picking up her bag and getting up.

"Ditto." Said Josh.

"I'll follow you out." Said Lucas, getting up too.

Once they were outside in the parking lot, Lucas pulled his hood up. "Where's your car?"

The sky was overcast and it was beginning to drizzle. Riley put all her weight on one foot. "My mom dropped me off."

Lucas suddenly smirked. "But where's your car?"

Riley shrugged. "Haven't got one."

"You're 16 and you can't drive?"

"I never said I couldn't drive. Just that I didn't have a car." Riley was getting annoyed. "Why are you being so mean?"

"I wasn't being mean." Lucas fired back. "I simply asked whether you had a car a car or not."

Riley shook her head. "Nope, you were being mean about it."

Lucas thought Riley's childishness was ridiculous. However, he didn't say that out loud. "Fine. Would you consider a ride home with me? It's the least I could do since I've been so mean."

"Now you're just being sarcastic." Riley crossed her arms.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Look, Riles. Wanna get in the car with me or not?"

Riley thought for a moment before answering. Not whether to contemplate the suggestion, but to make him believe she was doing so. "Yeah, sure."

Lucas walked over to his blue Camry, and Riley followed. He produced the keys from his pockets and unlocked the car, Riley not waiting to get in.

"Buckle up." Said Riley.

"Huh?" said Lucas, inserting the keys into the ignition.

"You're not buckled up."

"Yeah, I'm not usually the one for belts."

"Just put it on."

His gaze was both threatening and amused. "Scared something might happen to me?"

Riley pursed her lips. "Don't make me say it again."

Lucas sighed and put on his seatbelt. "You're not PMSing, are you?"

Riley fake- gasped. "How could you say that?! And no, I'm not PMSing. You're being a jerk!"

He had backed the car out of the parking space and was now on the road. "How am I being a jerk?"

"You just are." She said vaguely, pushing down on the little button which made the glass roll down.

"Hey, my baby's getting wet!" said Lucas, referring to his car. "Why'd you roll the glass down?"

"I like rain." Was all she said.

"Why?"

"What's not to like about it?" said Riley, a small smile appearing on her lips.

Lucas looked at her like she was crazy. "The fact that it's cold, wet, a dangerous risk to those driving… Shall I go on?"

She rolled up the window a little, but not completely. "I think I get your point. Now let me explain mine."

"Enlighten me." said Lucas with a small, lopsided smirk.

"It also makes pigeons look funny. Rain compliments every sentimental thought."

"Ah. Being poetic, are we?" Lucas chuckled.

"Very funny." She said, scrunching her nose.

"But I agree."

"That it compliments every sentimental thought?"

"No. That it makes pigeons look funny."

"I want to be like a raindrop." Said Riley suddenly. It wasn't what she was thinking, definitely not. But the words popped out before she could stop them.

"Small and blue?"

She tapped on the glass with her finger, watching one roll down the glass. "No. I want to be like a raindrop because I guess I wouldn't mind falling."

Lucas's smile slowly vanished. "What?"

"When you're in so deep, drowning a little more doesn't seem so bad." Riley said in a small voice. She felt Lucas take her hand.

"You're forgetting something, Riley. Raindrops are never alone, are they? I won't let you fall alone either."

Riley looked at him, choking on her words.

"Anyways," he said in a lighter tone, a few minutes later. "You made me forget the subject. Oh yeah, how was I being a jerk exactly?"

Riley smiled at his change of subject. "I don't know exactly. But what I do know, is that something's up. Will you tell me?"

Lucas shrugged like nothing was wrong. "I wouldn't know what you were talking about."

She bit her lip, getting annoyed. "You haven't been yourself since yesterday. First, you stormed off when Farkle and I admitted that you looked like that guy from the mansion. They, you drank and tried to kiss me! If that isn't—"

"I what?" Lucas asked, his voice louder than before.

"You…" Riley couldn't believe she just admitted that. She cleared her throat. "That isn't the point here."

"Right." Said Lucas, tilting his head a little, deciding to leave that topic for another day. They stopped at a red light, and Lucas faced her. "Continue."

"Look, I know it's none of my business." She said slowly. "But I'm kind of worried about you."

"Why?"

"Cuz it looks to me like something's going on. And you're either worried about it, or impacted. Now which is it?"

"You shouldn't worry about me." The light was green again, and he was speeding off. "Nothing's wrong."

A few minutes later, they arrived under her building. "Are you coming in?" asked Riley.

Lucas shook his head. "Sorry. Not today."

"It's okay. See you at school tomorrow?"

Lucas shook his head. "Might be absent. I was planning to take a day off."

"Oh."

"Bye, Riles." He said, leaning in closer so she could feel his breath tingling on her lips, just like last night. His face tilted upwards and he kissed her forehead.

"Bye." She breathed.

She didn't mind him kissing her. She didn't mind at all.