"Are you almost ready, babe? We really need to be going," Lucas was pacing the living room back and forth, never one to be late. They were supposed to leave ten minutes ago, but his girlfriend had been locked in their bedroom for the last twenty. "If this is about shoes, Riley, any pair you pick will look amazing."
The lock clicked, as the door swung open. The young woman marched out distraught. "It's 7:20, Lucas. 7:20! She's never missed one of our phone calls before, something is wrong, I just know it." Hitting redial, she lifted the phone to her ear and listened as it rang and rang, painfully unanswered. "I just don't know what to do…should I call Farkle to see if he's heard from her?"
"Deep breaths,' the boy encouraged calmingly. "I'm sure everything is fine. She probably just got busy. That happens, you know—getting busy…losing track of time. So don't overthink it, she will call back when she can." He grabbed the keys to his truck from the hook and slid them into the pocket of his gray slacks. "But we really need to leave, our reservation is at eight and if we don't make it in time then they'll give our table away." Smoothing down his unsually slicked hair and patting the breast his sports coat, he assured everything was in place and walked over towards Riley. His forehead was glistening, and his hands were clammy, as he needed this night to go perfectly, however so far it was off to a rocky start.
Avoiding his request, she shook her head feeling frustrated. How could he not be worried? Maya was his friend too, after all. "Lucas, this isn't like her. She always answers when I call. I'm telling you, I have a bad feeling and quite honestly I don't have the least care about our reservation when there's even the slightest possibility of her not being okay." Her voice broke, as her mind spiraled down into every different scenario that could explain the situation. Barefooted, she stepped towards their kitchen and laid her weight into one of the chairs at the table, with her phone positioned directly in line of sight.
Lucas crept down into the empty chair adjacent, checking the time—7:28 now. The restaurant was a twenty five minute drive into downtown, meaning if they had any chance of making dinner then the two needed to leave within the next seven minute period, assuming traffic would even be on their side. Pinching hard on the bridge of his nose, he was trying his best to remain patient. "Look…I promise she's okay," he encompassed the girl's clenched hands, "why don't you just keep your phone out on the drive and wait for her to call back while we head to the restaurant? Staying here and waiting won't solve anything babe, so we can at least not jump to conclusions and carry on according to our plans."
"How can you even think about food right now?" She was mystified; practically appalled that he was disregarding everything she had been trying to say. "Do you not understand that this could be serious? Lucas, there is zero part of me that desires to slip on my heels knowing that she could be hurt, let alone wants to drive away to some fancy restaurant and pretend as though everything is just dandy while we sip wine and feed each desserts. What's wrong with you?"
It struck a nerve. For the boy's entire adolescent he had worked so arduously to control his temper and stay balanced. But for even longer than that, he realized his voice had gone unnoticed…his opinions seemingly unimportant, and his value, for some reason, always ranking as in Riley's standings as 'not valuable enough.' "What's wrong with me?" He released his grasp from her delicate fingers and dropped tight fists onto the tabletop, strong arms resonating with a minor pound. The pound was nothing compared to the intensity of his words. "What's wrong with me? Riley, it's our seven-year anniversary and I can't even take my girlfriend out to dinner without her being so caught up in the life of her best friend. Seven years." Tears were welling up in his eyes now, feeling vulnerable, but needing a release. "For seven years I have taken a back seat, played second fiddle, while doing everything I could to make you happy. I've exhausted each bone in my body just to try and make you smile each day. But still, it's not good enough...It will never be good enough for you."
Riley watched him carefully, uncomfortable. There was only one other time she'd seen her boyfriend cry, and that was four years ago when his Pappy Joe had passed. This robust statue of a man, always sturdy and unruffled, now seemed so fragile and defenseless. "Not enough?" she broke the silence. "Lucas, how could you ever think you're not enough for me? You're the most amazing man I've ever met," she professed genuinely.
"Then why don't you ever come to me? You never just come to me. Any time you have a problem, you go to Maya. Any time you are excited about something, you go to Maya. When you're lonely and just need someone to talk to, you call Maya. I planned this whole special night for us, and still here you are, waiting on Maya…" He sighed, opening the side of his jacket and removing an unopened ring-box. Placing it on the center of the table, it was now the focus of both their sets of eyes. "You know, I never thought you'd agree to move here with me…I figured it was a one in a million chance when I asked. But you said yes. You said that you were ready to go all-in with me and start our life together."
"And I am," Riley interrupted. "Lucas, I left everything I've ever known just to be with you. I love you, and moved across the entire country so that we could take on this new chapter together."
"No…you didn't." His voice was low, barely audible. "You moved here physically, but mentally you are still in New York. For seven years, I wanted to be the one that you could lean on, and trust to take care of you. I wanted to be your knight in shining armor, to sweep you off of your feet and show you what fairytale love was supposed to feel like. I thought coming here, just us, we'd have that opportunity. That away from it all, you'd finally let me into your world and create a new one with me." Overcome, he shifted his gaze up from the ring-box and locked teary eyes with the glazed ones across from him. "But you've still got one foot standing firmly in New York. We will neverbe able to move forward so long as it stays there. All I'm asking for is a chance, Riley—a chance to prove to you that you can trust me…a chance to prove to you that I can be the person to shoulder your problems, or be excited with you when something great happens, or talk to you when you just need to hear a voice. I wantto be that. Why won't you let me be that?"
Riley had no words. Hearing him openly express such neglect shattered something precious inside. She had absolutely never intended to make him hurt, or to make him feel like he wasn't the single most important person in her life. She had been careless—It's easy to be wrapped up in something familiar, but to surround oneself in the unknown and expect old habits to fit perfectly into a new routine was thoughtless. "Lucas…" she tried to gather her thoughts, and was piecing them together cautiously. "I didn't know you felt this way…I promise you that I didn't mean to ever make you question where you stand in my life." Again the Austin atmosphere seemed blatantly quiet and stagnant. Suffocating almost, and any ambient noise would be a godsend at this point. But here they were, just the two of them, four acres from any other commotion. "I want-"
The phone rang, breaking her mid-sentence. It was 7:41 now, and flashing upon the screen was Maya's picture. Both of them stared at each other, awkward and self-conscious. "Answer it," Lucas spoke up. "Just answer it." He grabbed the ring-box from the table and walked towards the rack by the front door to return his dress shoes. There was no way of making it to dinner now, and seven years be damned, he'd have to once again wait for the love of his life to finish what they'd started.
Watching Lucas exit the room, Riley yearned desperately to follow him—she knew he needed that; he needed her to be on his side, tonight of all nights. But reluctantly she bowed her head and answered the ring. "Maya?" Riley questioned, undeniably relieved to be getting the call she'd been hoping for. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Riles, I'm so sorry!" Maya was urgent and the words poured out almost faster than could be processed. "There was this new bar opening tonight that someone asked me to join them at and I just completely lost track of time! When I just checked my phone and saw it was so late past seven, I came outside to call you immediately. I hate myself for leaving you hanging, please forgive me?"
The girl's tone seemed authentically apologetic, and Riley could tell she had made an honest mistake…but here she had been stressing for the last forty minutes, thinking the worst—putting off her own anniversary date, blowing off Lucas's plans, hurting this man she loved, simply because Maya didn't answer her phone on time. It was infuriating and eye opening simultaneously. "Hey, Maya?"
"Yeah, honey?"
"I'll have to call you back another time. You and I, we're going to have to have a talk."
Confused, Maya didn't respond right away. She lingered a few beats, and then relented. "Okay, whenever you want to talk, I promise I'll be here. I won't ever miss another call." It was rough, the second bumpy conversation they'd had since being in different cities. Was this going to be a trend? The girls bid their goodbyes and then returned to their own separate realities.
Riley found Lucas in the closet as he was undressing, in the process of slipping on his pajama pants. He was this beautiful, lion-heart of a man, and he was all hers. She closed the distance before he could even notice her presence, and tugged at his drawstrings to fasten them securely around his waist. Lifting to her tippy toes, she asked for truce with a delicate kiss and then nestled her face securely into the young man's bare chest. "Let's order in. We can binge eat and fall deeply into the pit of a good rom-com on Netflix?"
Unable to hide a smile, he was happy to do anything at all with the girl…solely grateful to have her undivided attention. Taking her chin, he kissed Riley again and nodded. "Thank you," he breathed, "Happy seven years."
Riley led Lucas to the mattress and tugged him down next to her, with her on the left side of the bed as always, and him on the right. It was the coziest place she could ever imagine. She pulled out her phone, seeing a new text notification from Maya, and tapped on the "ignore" option before opening the food delivery app. Together they chose options from three different restaurants, to have a full selection of all of their favorite foods. Turning on the television, they sifted through movie after movie until deciding on one that was long enough to last through their meal, but short enough to leave them plenty of time for the post credits scene—Obviously, they'd still had a lot of making up to do.
A/N: Thankful for everyone that is still out there in the world, reading this story. If it's bored you to tears, I apologize haha. It's funny, when I started this story I had a completely different vision for it, but then the characters kind of took a mind of their own. Today, while at the gym, it randomly occurred to me how I wanted it to end-An ending far from what I'd first envisioned. Now that it has, it's the only ending I can see fit. So hang tight, there's more chapters to come. I just hope no one leaves this disappointed, or feeling like they wasted their time. I write here to warm myself up for the real novel I'm currently working on, to carve away at my own voice. So even if the ending doesn't turn out to be what you'd wished for, just know it's meant a lot to me that anyone would even care to read this. I love all reviews, good or bad, as they all help me to grow. So please review, and please hang tight with me!
-Lauren