Okay, here's the second chapter! Personally, I think it's the best one I've done. I had so much fun writing it! Also, stick around, I have a few comments at the end!

Chapter 10:

A Perfect Match

Riley still couldn't believe that he had told Ben. He tried to pay attention to the show he was watching, but his mind kept wandering back to Alexis and her shy beauty and innocence. "Someone this innocent at her age is rare." He thought. "She's really special." What was she doing right now? He longed to confess his feelings to her and finally hold her in his arms. But what if? "What if she likes me just as a friend?" He asked himself. He had never felt so strongly about anyone before, but being the shy type, he couldn't bring himself to tell her. Suddenly, he felt his cell phone vibrate. He looked at the caller ID. It was Ben.

"Hello?" He said.

"Hey, Riley, we're ready to eat. Meet us in the lobby. Oh, and tell Alexis, too."

Before Riley could say anything, Ben hung up. He grabbed his tan jacket and put it on over his black shirt, then went across the hall and knocked on Alexis's door. He tugged on his jacket collar nervously.

Alexis opened the door. She had put on one of the outfits she had bought, a white, lace-trimmed tank top and a brown peasant skirt.

"Hey, Ben says they're ready to get something to eat." Riley said.

"Okay." Alexis said. "Do you know where?"

"No, he didn't say." Riley answered.

"Well, I'm ready." Alexis said.

She took half a step, then stopped. "Oh, wait, I forgot my purse!" She turned back and got her purse off the nightstand. "Okay, now I'm ready." She said, smiling.

Riley felt his heart skip a beat as Alexis stepped by him. They walked together to the elevator, and Riley found that he couldn't stop watching her. Riley pushed the down button when they arrive. The elevator was very slow, and they were almost on the top floor, so it took the elevator a while to reach them. Finally, the doors opened and they both walked in.

Riley's heart raced. He was so close to her. He tried to remain calm. "I like your outfit." He said, finally breaking the long silence.

"You do?" She said, genuinely appreciative of the compliment. "Thanks!"

He smiled.

The elevator doors opened and the two saw Ben, Abigail, and Patrick waiting for them.

Ben was the first to spot the two. "Hey, what took you so long?" He asked jokingly.

Riley gave Ben one of his 'ha ha, very funny' smiles.

"C'mon, the place is already packed!" Ben said, leading them out of the lobby and into the restaurant. He stopped and talked to the man seating people in hushed tones. "Hi, we have five, but can you seat us three to one table and two to another?"

The man nodded, then Ben turned to the others. "He says that the only way he can seat us is if we sit three to one table and two to another." He exchanged knowing glances with Abigail and his father.

"Why don't you and Abigail sit together, and Alexis and I will sit with your dad." Riley suggested. He had missed the message the three had sent each other.

"No, Abigail and I are going to sit with Dad. You and Alexis can sit together." Ben said.

Riley understood. Patrick and Ben were family.

The man picked up five menus and led Riley and Alexis to their table, first. It was by a window, and through it, they could see the rain hitting the window in the night.

Riley looked at the menu and decided on a burger. Then, he looked up at Alexis. "What are you getting?"

She set her menu down. "A chicken club sandwich."

After they had ordered, Riley asked Alexis about college. "So, what are you studying to be?"

"A historian of Colonial and Revolutionary America." She answered. "But you've never said much about your college career. What did you do?"

"Well," Riley began, "I played the quads in the marching band, and I studied to get a degree in cryptology-"

"You're a code-breaker!" Alexis asked excitedly. "That's so cool! Why aren't you working for the CIA or the FBI?"

"I didn't want to give up my life, so I programmed computers for a small Internet company for a few months, then Ben hired me." Riley explained.

"And where did you go to college?" Alexis asked.

"Pennsylvania State." Riley said proudly. "Okay, now I get to do some of the asking. What's your middle name?"

"What's yours?" Alexis countered.

"Hey, I asked you first." Riley said.

"Alright, fine. It's Renée." Alexis said. "And yours?"

"Alexander." Riley replied. He suddenly saw Alexis shiver. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't realize how cold it would be in here." She said.

"Here," He said, taking his jacket off, "you can borrow mine."

" Really? Thanks." She said.

Riley guessed that as a Texan, she was probably more suited for dealing with extreme heat, not extreme cold. He watched her put the jacket on and laughed softly. The jacket was to big for her and bunched up at the shoulders, giving her the look of a very thin football player. But she didn't to mind or notice.

Their waiter brought their drinks. Alexis was glad to finally have something to drink. Suddenly, a lightning bolt lit up the dark sky outside, and was followed by a low rumble of thunder. Alexis tensed and looked nervously across the table at Riley.

Riley tilted his head in a questioning manor. "What's wrong?"

Alexis looked a little ashamed of herself for being so easily frightened, but answered, "I'm afraid of storms."

"Storms?" Riley asked. "What's so scary about a little rain?"

It was clear to Alexis that Riley had never experienced the ferocity of a North Texas thunderstorm. "In Texas," She said, " a little rain can come with lots of thunder and lightning, hail, high winds, and sometimes even tornadoes."

"Oh." Riley said. "Have you ever been through a tornado?"

"No, but I've been in a few close calls." She answered. "I was in west Fort Worth with some friends on February 5th in 2000 when the tornado hit in downtown."

Riley decided that he should drop the subject. He smiled. "Have you ever watched any Blue Collar stuff?"

Alexis's eyes lit up. "Of course! I love Bill Engvall!"

Riley had found more common ground with her, although it had only formed in the last hour and a half. "So, I guess you've seen "Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again", right?"

"Yup." Alexis said and quoted, " I believe… I'll have a scotch. Oh, wait, I've already got one!"

Riley laughed. "Ron White."

A few minutes later, their waiter brought their food. All through dinner, they talked about the most random things. They even stayed after they had finished and told stories to each other. Finally, Riley checked his watch. It was already nine!

"Hey, Alexis, I think we should go." Riley said.

Alexis nodded in agreement. "Oh, here." She said, taking off Riley's jacket and handing it back to him. "Thanks again. That really helped." She smiled shyly.

They were surprised to see, when they reached Ben's table, that the others had left. So they went back to the elevators.

As they stood there, waiting for the elevator, Alexis looked over at Riley. "I'm so glad we sat together."

The doors to the elevator opened and they stepped in as Riley said, "Me too."

The doors closed and Riley found himself again staring longingly at Alexis. But one thing had changed. Now she was returning his gaze! They stepped closer together. For a moment, they gazed into one another's eyes. Then, without a second though, Riley put his arms around Alexis and kissed her softly.

Alexis was pleasantly stunned for a moment, but then, she wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt so comfortable in his embrace, almost like this was what she had wanted all her life without knowing it.

But it seemed that all too quickly, they came to their floor and were force to part. They walked down the hall hand-in-hand. When they came to their rooms, Riley pulled Alexis to him and kissed her good night. Neither of them wanted the moment to end, and they stood there in the middle of the hall, enjoying the other's warmth and company. Finally, Alexis had to pull away. "We need to get some rest. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

"I know." Riley said. He watched Alexis enter her room and whispered, " I love you, Alexis." She closed the door and he went into his own room.

Riley lay awake on the couch long after Ben and Patrick had fallen asleep. They hadn't asked him any questions, and he figured that they thought he had just been talking with Alexis. His mind kept going back to that moment in the elevator. He had no idea what had given him the courage to kiss her, but now he knew that Alexis loved him as much as he loved her. He drifted off to sleep knowing that from now on, they were no longer 'just friends', and that everything was different now.

Alexis couldn't believe that Riley had kissed her. Riley Poole! She kept reliving the moment. He was so sweet! He hadn't tried to force one of those fakey-movie-makeout-kisses on her. No, it had been a kiss of pure and innocent love. And though he didn't know, she had heard him say 'I love you, Alexis.' as she had walked into her room. The thought made here want to run across the hall and tell him, "I love you, too, Riley!" But what would the others think? Well, she knew Abigail would think it was cute, but Ben and Patrick she couldn't be sure about. Then she remembered looking into Riley's eyes. She had never before noticed just how bright and vibrant his blue eyes were. Their expressiveness intrigued her. Normally, women had the beautiful, expressive eyes. And they were so sincere! She could see in people's eyes when they were doing something they didn't really feel, but she found no trace of such feelings in Riley's eyes. She snuggled deeper into her covers and fell asleep. She couldn't wait until the next morning when she could see Riley again.

Okay, first off, I would like to say, and anyone else who's been through this will say the same thing, that tornado close calls are the scariest things in the world! I've been through four, and I think I've been scared for life. I wasn't in Ft. Worth when the tornado hit there, but I live just west of Ft. Worth and the storm passed over us first (but without the tornado). If you go nbc5i (add . com without the space to the address.FF's being annoying and won't letme type the whole thing in in one piece!)to and click on feed room, then click on February 2000 tornadoes or something like that, they have several cool video clips you can watch, one of which is a skycam video of the tornado as it passes over the building the camera was on. It doesn't look bad, but when you see the aftermath clips, you can see what it did! Also, just a little tidbit of random info (that's me, the Keeper of Random Knowledge!), I looked up the name 'Riley', and found out that it means 'valiant'. I know this will sound a little mean, but I find that name kinda ironic...