Chapter 33 – Midterm Stress

It had been two weeks since they returned from New York, Riley sent her parents texts almost every day and talked to her brother every night before he went to bed. She was happy that they were surviving even with two new babies in the house but she had also realized that she had started to fall behind because of it. She missed her family and her old life, she was beginning to regret moving to Pennbrook and wished that she was at home to see her new siblings every day. She also knew that this was probably the cause of her upcoming midterms, her father was no longer her teacher and she didn't know how she was going to handle the tests or the papers, she was trying but it didn't feel as though it was enough.

Lucas had also stepped away from her because of his own midterms, they only saw each other during class but hadn't been near one another since they started studying for their test and writing their papers that had been due right before midterms.

"Is he bored with me?" she said to herself. Maya was studying in the room next door but her best friend still saw her boyfriend on a regular basis, Farkle and Smackle still went on dates, and Zay was studying with his mystery girl.

Riley was afraid that they were drifting apart even though they had been happy just a few weeks before. Instead of confronting her problem she continued to study well into the night, she missed eating twice and kept going because if she didn't pass her test she would have to deal with bad grades and her parents' disappointment and she didn't want to disappoint anyone. She slept at her desk and woke up to study the next day only taking breaks so that she would go to the bathroom and eat a powerbar she had found on her desk under all of her papers. Every time her stomach cramped she ignored it and kept studying. She had decided to deal with her feelings towards Lucas after midterms were over.

What Riley didn't know was that Lucas was the one who snuck the powerbar onto her desk, he had been working a part time job at the veterinary school so that he could gain some experience while he was in school. He had started the day after they had returned and wanted to surprise Riley on their one-year anniversary, which was just a few weeks away. He wanted to see her smile and be happy for him that he was getting something out of going to veterinary school. But he started to notice the little things that she was doing, such as not eating anything and never leaving her room other than to go to class. He was afraid that she was going to end up in the hospital because of it so he snuck powerbars into her desk so that she would find them when she was hungry.

As the days went by he began to worry because she wasn't talking to him, her eyes had dark circles around them and she wasn't smiling like the ray of sunshine she was. He knew that he needed to confront her and at least make she that she got some sleep, he was doing alright in his classes but he knew that they were both struggling because it was a new environment. That's when he realized that this had all changed when they had returned from New York, the stress of school had only become a problem because they weren't dealing with it together. He knew that he needed to confront the problem head-on but first he wanted to do it with food so that he would at least make sure that she ate a proper meal. So he went out to the nearby student union to get her a sandwich, he picked up a soda an apple and a slice of chocolate cake for Riley. While getting himself some chips a banana and a cookie with his sandwich. While he was walking back to the dorm he got a small bouquet of daisies to give to her. He wanted his princess dancing sunshine to come back from wherever her mind had wandered.

Riley had been reading the same page for the last hour, she couldn't concentrate anymore. She knew that she had the entire thing memorized but she couldn't remember what was on the page at all. A knock on her door broke her out of her slump.

"Come in," she said but her voice came out hoarse. She realized that she hadn't drank anything all day and her mouth was dry. Lucas walked in and tried to smile but she knew that he was holding back a comment instead he handed her a bouquet of white and pink daisies and smiled at her. "What are these for?" she said but it sounded harsh to her. She noticed his face when she had said it, he had a sad look in his eyes as he watched her.

"I'm sorry that we haven't had the chance to hang out or go on dates or anything since midterms started," he said trying to smile. "I figured we could have an impromptu date right now," he pulled out the bag of food and looked at her.

"Sorry that came out a little harsh it's just that I haven't seen you in a while and I thought," he stopped her before she could finish.

"You thought the worse, but I should have told you sooner about what was happening. Although I did notice how you've been acting and I was scared that you were going to fall apart so I'm sorry that we haven't talked in a while. I missed you, your voice, your smile, and our conversations," he genuinely smiled at her for the first time since walking into the room. "I brought some food and although it's not a five-star meal it has to be better than those powerbars you've been eating."

"How did you?" she said wondering about how he knew about her current eating habits.

"I'm the one who snuck them into your desk… I was worried about you," he said putting his arms around her. "Now let's eat because we're going to need all of our strength to study."

She shook her head, "I've studied enough, maybe what I need is some down time with my boyfriend."

"Alright then let's have a picnic here in your room, because it's too cold to go outside," he said taking the flowers and putting them in a small cup she had on her desk filled with water. He pulled her blanket off of her bed and neatly placed it on the floor and placed several sandwiches and drinks on top.

"Lucas you didn't have to do this," she said feeling guilty that she had ever thought about him leaving her. He was always doing nice things for her but she was always insecure about his feelings.

"Of course I did. I was getting worried about you. Come on," he pulled her away from her desk chair and hugged her. "Now let's eat."

For the first time in days Riley saw food and let herself be hungry, instead of eating slowly and trying to look cute she shoved her sandwich in her mouth almost choking when she took a really big bite. Lucas laughed and handed her a bottle of grape soda, her favorite, with a napkin to wipe her face. Riley chugged the soda down and continued to eat. Instead of talking the two of them ate in silence, every once and a while Riley would steal a glance and admire the fact that he truly cared. Even when she was acting completely moody. Once they were done Lucas pulled out a cake and handed it to her but she shook her head.

"I'll save it for later, I haven't really eaten a full meal for a few days so if I ate too much right now it would just make me sick."

"Okay, I'll put it over here and you can eat it later, not let me tell you about why I haven't been around lately," he said to her. She settled herself next to him and looked up at his face memorizing the loving looks he gave her as he explained his new volunteer job for the veterinary school. She loved how passionate he was about animals, and how his eyes lit up when he talked about what he did there.

When he was done she looked up at him and kissed him on the cheek, she wanted to say thank you for the food and for everything he did but instead of pulling away she wrapped herself around him like everything depended on her feeling his warmth against her skin. She missed him and for the first time the closeness felt as real as breathing. She felt alive for the first time in two weeks. Her hands pulled at his short hair but instead of pulling away Lucas deepened the kiss and pulled her to the floor. He tasted like pastrami on rye, his lips were soft against hers and she felt the sensation she had had a few weeks before where just the smell of him drew her close like a drug she couldn't resist.

Her hands drifted down his back feeling every muscle as they moved, not once did they pull apart from one another. His body was as close as he could possibly be considering the fact that the two of them were still fully clothed. She felt like she was on fire every time his hands roamed down her arms and towards her waist. When she noticed that his shirt had been pulled up and she felt his skin for the first time she realized what was happening, she was lusting for her boyfriend in a way she hadn't before, and the more she felt the more she wanted.

The door to her room slammed out breaking them out of their make-out session. She heard someone say something but it didn't register. Riley felt as though she was coming out of a haze, as though Lucas was a drug and she had only been given a small taste.

"Oh god this is not something I wanted to see," Maya said breaking Riley out of her boyfriend induced haze.

"What are you talking about?" Riley heard her Uncle say from the hall before walking in and see Lucas on top of his niece. "Get off of her now."

Riley instead buried her head in Lucas's shirt and groaned, "This isn't happening," she said hearing Lucas chuckle.

"Come on Josh I think it's time to have the talk about the birds and the bees," Maya said. "Well at least before you kill Ranger Rick over here for feeling up your niece. And Riley please leave your room and shower you've been in there too long lately."

"She will Maya," Lucas said trying not to laugh.

"Are they gone?"

"Yes, we may have let that get too far," he said to her as she straightened herself out.

"Um Lucas," she said looking at him. "I like doing that but we need to dial it back for a while."

He smiled at her, "If you're not ready I won't force you to do anything."

"No it's not that…um… I think I'm ready it's just that… well I want to pass my tests first and maybe finish the semester."

"That's fine with me, I'll wait. We can figure all of this out together."

"We can still make out though just not around Maya, Josh… or anyone else."

He laughed and nodded at her, "We'll study together too because I think we need that right now, I missed you the last few weeks and I shouldn't have stayed away, I just thought that you were studying really hard."

"It's my fault too, I thought you didn't want me anymore."

"That is not true and don't ever think that. You and me are meant to be together, it was written in the stars."

"Aww, I would kiss you but my uncle is here and he might kill you if we don't leave this room right now."