A/N: I know I'm super duper late but my internet sucks so much and everything janked up but here is an update and I have a few more chapters already written. Let me know if you want them all at once or if you want them daily or something.
"Why do you keep looking at me?" Riley asks after the sixth time she feels his eyes on her face. "Do I have something on my face? Does my hair look weird? What is your problem?"
"No actually it's what you don't have on your face that I've been staring at."
"What?" Riley asks, blinking.
Lucas smiles at her. "You aren't wearing all that eyeliner. I like you better without. You have really pretty eyes."
Riley blushes and looks down to hide it. "Stop that," she mumbles. Apparently, he hears anyway.
"Stop what?" He asks, confused.
"Stop complimenting me. It sounds like flirting and I don't like it." Riley has no idea where that came from but she doesn't take it back.
"I'm not allowed to compliment or flirt? That's not fair. If I don't get to compliment you, you don't get to look at me like that."
Riley looks at him, extremely confused. "Like what? This is how I look at people."
Lucas shakes his head. "No you glare at people. When you look at me and let your guard down a little, you are much more approachable. You also have very pretty eyes, glaring or otherwise."
Riley blushes, completely thrown for a loop with how to respond, so she doesn't. She looks down and keeps walking.
••••••
They wander through town, talking a little about music and books, but nothing deeper. As Riley starts to loosen up, Lucas points out a diner and offers to buy her lunch. She's about to refuse when her stomach growls and he looks at her knowingly. They head in and sit down at a booth across from each other. Lucas orders a cheeseburger with fries and looks at Riley in surprise when she asks for the same thing. She just smirks at him.
"What? Can't handle a girl that can eat more than you?" She challenges a little.
"Maybe I'm just shocked a girl as skinny as you eats burgers."
"Never judge a book by its cover," she responds, popping a fry in her mouth.
They continue their conversation from earlier until Riley gets really quiet. Lucas can tell she is thinking something over and leaves her be. When she looks up at him, she looks a little troubled.
"Lucas, why were you in the park last night?" Riley doesn't know why this question pops into her head, but she realizes there is no reason for him to have been there.
He looks down sheepishly before looking back at her and saying, "I was actually looking for you. I had been outside until dark pretty much and you hadn't walked back by so I got a little concerned and decided to see if you were in the park. I was about to head back home when I heard you scream."
At this, Riley pales. If someone like Lucas hadn't cared, even though she had given him no reason to, she could've been dead in a ditch by now. She looks back up at him and whispers, "Thank you."
"Riley, you already thanked me. I'm just glad I was there," he said sincerely.
"That's what I don't get though. Why were you there? What made you worry about me. I have been in no way friendly to you since day one, yet you cared enough to look for me. I don't understand."
"I can't tell you why I care. But I do. No one deserves to have anything like that happen to them. Not even someone who pretends not to care when they care too much." Riley's eyes widen when he says this. He sees right through her. It's kind of unsettling.
She smiles a little at him and continues eating.