Chapter 11
"Hey beautiful." Lucas whispered, stroking her hair.
"Hi." Her eyes opened slowly, then immediately widened realizing who was here. "Oh my God! Did we?"
"No, I just stayed over. Which is why I have to get back before everyone wakes up." His lips touched her forehead. "Riley, please let us in. We're going to come knocking on that door later and i'd really appreciate it if you opened it." She nodded. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Okay." The dancer hated that he was leaving, she'd actually slept, only for 5 hours but the fact she did sleep was pretty phenomenal. "I'm sorry I made you stay."
"You didn't. You didn't want me to, I kept bugging you." The brunette smiled lightly. The jade eyed man kissed her head again and watched her slowly fall back asleep. He stood at the door with his fingertips on the handle. "I love you." He whispered and closed the door.
"I love you too."
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"Lucas, how do you know she's going to open the door this time? I'm getting extremely discouraged." The blonde whispered.
Josh coughed. "It never hurts to try. She's my niece and your bestfriend. She went through a rough patch in her life, well more than rough. More like a ditch, she needs help getting out."
"Yeah, Josh is right Maya. Besides, I have a feeling that today will be different." Her blue eyes glared and moved to knock on the door.
"COME IN!" Maya's eyes widened and she flung the door open to run into her best friends arms. "Hi peaches." The blonde jumped and wrapped her legs around Riley, both men were surprised that she could hold up the blue eyed girl.
"Ew, your sweaty." Maya hopped down and Riley hugged the other important people in her life. "Are you okay? You had us worried." Her brown eyes traced the floor.
"I um, i'm okay. I'm sorry I keep shutting y'all out."
"Y'all?" Lucas questioned.
"I need to quit hanging around you." She smiled at the quarterback. "Anyways, instead of pushing those away who want to help, i'm going to try and rely on those people. And, i'm really sorry." The dancer stood on the sides of her feet, clearly nervous. "I love you guys, and next time I try to hide away in my cave, slap me."
"If we can get to you." Josh divulged.
Riley laughed and turned to the one man who always knew how to reach her. "I think Lucas could get you into my cave if he wanted." Everyone smiled and gave her a group hug. "Now, he invited you both over, so I don't know what this is about. If you guys want to converse while I practice, be my guest." The dancer turned on her heels and faced the mirror.
"Wait, I thought you said Hillary was going to revamp your routine?"
"She did. She sent me the video this morning." The brunette pointed to her laptop. "Hillary lives and breathes dance almost as much as I do." Riley wanted to brag on herself a bit. "Oh, one thing I did forget to tell you. I did 11 alesecondes." The blonde jumped up and down and hugged her again.
"Seriously, you're gross." The blue eyed girl admitted, Lucas found her positively attractive. He was terrified what was going to happen when he went home tonight but was at peace with the fact this is what he wanted to do, and had to do while his father was in town.
Riley started practicing while her friends conversed in the corner of her sanctuary. "This dance is supposed to be about Auggie. So I did a little research." Maya's eyes glared, still confused. "Maya can you draw a portrait of Auggie and like blow it up, really big? Where the audience can see it?"
"I can, but why? Won't that throw her off her game? Seeing his face? And, I don't think they're allowed to use props." The blue eyed girl turned around. "You can't use props, can you?" The dancer didn't answer, she was too caught up in the routine.
"It isn't a prop, it's decoration? Josh, I need shirts made. I can get you the cash." He didn't want to say that he'd be emptying his account before he went home. "Purple shirts, one for us 3, her parents, and 5 for Auggie's CF friends, i'm going to pay for them to fly out to LA."
"Lucas!" The blonde was shocked.
He didn't acknowledge what she was saying. "Like I said, purple shirts I want them to say Auggie's army. Also, while you're ordering them can you find purple roses?" Josh nodded his head still confused.
"Why are you doing all of this?" Maya whispered.
"Auggie wanted her to win, she deserves to win, and hopefully we can raise awareness for CF while we're at it." His green eyes looked at Riley and smiled.
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"Mr. and Mrs. Matthews?" Lucas crept into the living room.
"Oh honey, call us Cory and Topanga. It's so formal the other way." He chuckled and sat down across from her parents.
"Okay Cory and Topanga, I was wanting to get some information on Auggie's CF friends. We need a few for Riley's routine, to help raise awareness." Her parents glanced at each other still confused. "This dance is for Auggie. Maya, Josh and I are working on a few things, and i'm going to fly a few of his friends out there."
"For this one dance?" Cory questioned. "Well, I guess it'd be twice."
"Is that a bad idea? I don't really know travel wise how that would work. I just assumed."
Topanga placed her hand on his. "The notion is wonderful, we'll talk to a few of his friends' parents and see what they say. It never hurts to try."
"I'll pay for the flights if that's an issue. I know it seems silly for one dance but i'm going to talk to the organization that put on the auction and see if they can send someone out to collect donations." Mr. Matthews rose from his chair and hugged him.
"You're a wonderful man." Topanga mumbled.
"Thank you." He whispered trying to hide his blush. "I also wanted to talk to you about something and see if you think your parents, Mr. Matthews, would be okay with it. Um, it's a long story so i'll just dive right in. I don't know if y'all knew this but my parents own some land in Texas, and i'm being forced to date our neighbor several hundred acres away so eventually my dad will get their land and get more money." Topanga's jaw dropped. "If I don't i'm going to be kicked out of my house. But, I don't want to be with her, i'm not happy with her-"
"Mr. Friar, what are you getting at here?"
"I'm going to tell my dad tonight that i'm not going to stay with her and i'm going to need a place to stay till I go to college at least. I was hoping I could stay with Josh." Mrs. Matthews slowly nodded.
"You really think he'll kick you out?" Uttered Riley's mother.
"I know he will." Lucas was surprised he wasn't more upset about the notion.
"What about your mother?" Cory questioned.
"She's in Texas right now with her mom. I'd like to think she'd stick up for me but I don't really know." They sat in silence for a few moments. Lucas despised this situation. "Can you ask your parents sir? Please, I can pay rent. I plan on emptying my account." The parents stared at each other and smiled.
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"Dad, can I talk to you?" Lucas peeked his head in, and around the office door.
"I guess. What's up?" Mr. Friar leaned back in his leather chair and saw his son with a bag dragging behind him.
"I've decided to break up with Lindsey. For good, I don't want to be with her and I shouldn't be forced to." He left his bag on the floor and sat across from him, with only the desk seperating them.
He started laughing maniacally. "You're a selfish bastard." Mr. Friar exclaimed as he rose from his chair. The quarterback followed his lead preparing for the worst.
The jade eyed man sighed. "I'm going to go. I've accepted the consequences for my actions." The quarterback snatched his bag off of the ground and left the office. He sauntered down the stairs when he heard footseps behind him. Lucas was tackled to the ground and got knocked in the jaw. "GET OFF OF ME!" His strong arms pushed his father off of him. "DON'T TOUCH ME AGAIN!"
"YOU TAKE LILY AWAY FROM US AND NOW THIS!" His father's face was red, Lucas knew he'd wanted to do this since his sister died and unfortunately it was all coming out tonight.
His son saw red. "LILY WASN'T MY FAULT!" His hand moved for the door when his father pushed him. "Don't dad!" Mr. Friar swung and punched his son in the eye. The quarterback dropped his bag and tackled his dad into the steps behind him, making jabs at his stomach. "I'm 18 years old, you're done controlling me, you're done with me. Like you've always wanted." Mr. Friar lifted his hand and knocked him in the mouth. Lucas raised his fist and punched him in the face several times, it wasn't until he thought of Riley that he stopped and ran, leaving his bag, his father, and his family behind.
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Lucas stood in Riley's backyard outside of her dance room. He heard the music and even though he was afraid to knock his hand moved. "COME IN!" The quarterback opened the door and smiled seeing the dancers face. She turned on her heels after seeing him in the mirror and her jaw dropped. "Lucas what happened?" She ran towards him and held his face in her hands. "Are you okay?" His left eye was swollen and black, his jaw was bruised, and his lip was busted letting the blood fall freely. Her arms wrapped around his neck. "MOM! DAD!" Her eyes turned back to him. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
"Riley, what's wrong?" Her mom ran into her sanctuary and saw Lucas. His strong arms wrapped around her not letting go.
"Get me some ice!" She exclaimed. "Lucas, please what happened?"
"I got into a fight with my dad." He whispered and squeezed her tighter.
"Your father did this to you?" She pulled away far enough where they could touch foreheads.
"Here Riley. What's wrong?" The green eyed man raised his head to show his battle scars. "Lucas! Honey." Her mother moved to hug him. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry sweetheart. Are you okay?" He nodded and clutched the brunette's hand. "Riley, take him to the bathroom get him cleaned up. Your father and I have some things to discuss." The lawyer was fuming, as she stormed out of the garage.
"Okay." She was confused as to what was happening, how her mother knew what was happening. And what her parents had to discuss, but did as instructed. The brown eyed girl led him to the bathroom and pulled out the alcohol and cotton balls. "I'm so sorry Lucas." She worked to clean the cuts on his hands. "How did this happen?"
He smiled slightly and raised her chin. "I told him I was breaking up with Lindsey." Riley started smiling and felt her eyes fill up with tears.
"I asked you not to do that." She whispered, trying to contain her excitement.
"You didn't have to." He stroked her cheek, removing the one tear she let fall. "If I didn't already tell you then I certainly meant to."
"But now look at you." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "You're all beaten up."
"You should see the other guy." He joked. "I was sick of being unhappy. You make me happy Riley." Her long arms wrapped around his neck as he squeezed her tight, they sat in silence continuing their embrace before Lucas spoke again. "I missed you. I missed this." The brunette was about to reply when Cory knocked on the door.
"Hey, come on out to the living room you two. Bring the ice."
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"So, he blamed me for my sister passing away and I lost it after he punched me. I tackled him into the stairs, and punched him in the stomach. He knocked me in the jaw, and after I got in a few punches I stopped and left. My bag is still there and I feel like crap, I shouldn't have done that." Riley furrowed her brows.
"He attacked you first."
"He's my father." He divulged. "You're supposed to respect your parents, that wasn't respectful." She laid her head on his shoulder.
"You stopped Lucas, you had to get him off of you to get away." Mr. Matthews mumbled. He turned towards his wife. "So my wonderful wife, what now?" Topanga had her arms folded.
"He needs his stuff. Myself and a police officer will take him over there tomorrow to collect his things. What about your truck? Is that in your name or your fathers?"
"He paid half, and I paid half but it got moved into my name when I turned 18." The lawyer nodded.
"Bank accounts?"
He coughed and after excusing himself said, "I cleaned them out. The accounts are in my name but I don't really trust him, he may have some sort of control over it that i'm not aware of. Speaking of, I should get the money out of my truck." Lucas rose from the couch. "Excuse me. I'll be right back." The door slammed shut and the brunette sat up straighter.
"He can't live there you guys!"
Cory put his hand up. "Honey we know that, he's 18 and can live where he wants."
"Let's just wait till he gets back to discuss this." Mrs. Matthews mumbled. They sat in silence and a minute later the door flew open again.
"Sorry, I didn't want to leave it in my truck."
"Don't apologize son." Cory divulged, which made the jade eyed man extremely happy. "We have a safe we can stick it in, if you prefer."
"Put this on your eye Luke." The brunette passed him the bag of ice as he plopped back down on the couch beside her.
"My wife and I got to thinking after you talked to us earlier, and first off we are extremely sorry for what happened to you. No one should ever have to go through that and we understand that you can't stay there."
He scoffed. "I'm not allowed to stay there anymore."
"Right." Topanga uttered. "We haven't talked to Amy and Alan yet, they're out of town enjoying their retirement. But, you are going to stay here. Indefinitely." His strong, bruised jaw opened slowly.
"Are you serious?" Riley questioned, this was the first time she'd smiled this big in a long time.
Cory cleared his throat. "There's obviously going to be some rules, since there is clearly something going on between you two." His green eyes locked onto her doe eyed brown ones. "But yes, he's going to stay here. I trust you Lucas and i'm hoping you won't break it."
"No sir, of course not. Can I like-can I hug y'all?" Both of her parents stood up.
"You don't have to ask." Mrs. Matthews whispered as she wrapped her arms around him. The dancer wiped a tear away and lightly clapped her hands, he was back now and she may not have felt whole, but she was pretty damn close. "Now, since your father assaulted you would you like to press charges?"
"No, absolutely not." His voice was so stern, no one dared to argue.
"Sleeping arrangements, for now. Riley you'll have to start sleeping in your room again." Her shoulders dropped, remembering all the pictures that were in there. "Lucas, until we can get our spare bedroom cleaned out are you okay with staying on the air mattress in the garage?"
"Yes m'am." He looked towards the ground, clearly nervous. "Thank you both so much, i'm really sorry to put you out but i'd like to pay rent. Please tell me how mu-" The jade eyed man was cut off by Mr. Matthews' hand.
"You will not pay rent. But, like Riley there will be chores. Cooking once a week, dishes once a week. We'll take care of laundry but you and our lovely daughter will work on the yard. Riley pool duty, Lucas yard work and I think that should be plenty fair." Both of the teenagers nodded.
"After school tomorrow we'll go get your stuff okay?" Topanga and Cory intertwined their fingers and smiled. "Goodnight you two." Her parents left them alone in the living room. Riley leaned into him while Lucas kissed the top of her head.
"I can't believe you're staying here." She whispered.
"Yeah, me neither. Especially since it's obvious how I feel about you." The brunette chuckled lightly.
"Are you okay though? That couldn't have been easy." The dancer raised her head and moved her body to face him. "I hate that you did that for me."
"I really like you Riley, a lot. But, I didn't just do that for you." Her head moved to the side. "I did it for me, it was time to be happy and stand up to him. I'm okay, I prepared myself for it, I knew what was going to happen. Besides, I consider your parents more like mine anyways." Mrs. Matthews was listening in the hallway and grinned slightly.
"Really?"
"Yeah, your dad called me son, which could just be a term of endearment but your mom was genuinely worried. I don't know they just, they really care about me and show it." Riley hugged him again.
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"What are you doing?" The brunette had her arms crossed staring at her bedroom wall.
She exhaled heavily. "Just looking at pictures." Lucas sauntered towards Riley and put his large calloused hand on her waist. "Me and Auggie."
"Are you going to be okay staying in here?" He whispered, which sent chills down her spine.
"I hope so." Her fingertips caressed Auggie's face in the picture. "But, tonight isn't about me." She turned on her heels and looked into his eyes. "How's your face?" He chuckled lightly.
"It looks worse than it is. It'll look better in the morning. Man, it's still weird knowing i'll wake up to you in the morning."
"I don't like seeing you hurt." The dancer whispered.
"I'm not hurt. I'm relaxed, and at ease for the first time in awhile." The brunette jumped on her bed.
"Do you think he'll be there tomorrow?" He sat down on her bay window and shook his head.
"Yeah, he isn't going to walk out of the house with a bruised face. Too much pride." Riley just now noticed he was shirtless, and was in awe of how amazing he looked.
"Well, i'll come with you tomorrow." The brown eyed girl pulled off her sweatpants and revealed her spandex.
"No you won't. I'm not going to put you in danger." He demanded.
"What danger? You'll be there, my mom will be there and a cop will be there. Besides, you saw what I did to Charlie." The jade eyed man chuckled at the memory.
"Yeah I remember, but his words can hurt just as much as a physical assault. You aren't going."
She flew backwards to lay on her bed. "You're killing me man. I just want to be there for you, like you have for me." He smiled lightly.
"I really like you Riley." He sauntered towards her and kissed her head. "Sweet dreams beautiful girl."
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Lucas stood behind the police officer, but in front of Mrs. Matthews while they were waiting for Mr. Friar to answer. "Are you sure he's home?"
"Yeah, i'm sure. His car is here." The officer nodded his head and knocked again.
"MR. FRIAR OPEN UP PLEASE!" The deadbolt unlocked and the quarterback took a deep breath. His father's face was bruised and slightly swollen, it was evident that his father got really angry, really fast seeing his son and the cop.
"What's this about?"
"Your son is coming in to collect his things and we will all be gone. Could we come in? Or would you prefer to step outside?" The policeman spoke.
"Neither, he can come in to collect his stuff. I don't give a damn. I want that truck back." Topanga stepped out from behind Lucas.
"Actually, the truck is in his name. We have the title to verify that. Lucas, we'll be right outside if you need us." The quarterback nodded his head and moved past his father. The suitcase was still on the floor in the foyer, and he ran upstairs to grab a few more things.
"Couldn't come here without an officer, you couldn't face me like a man?" His father uttered.
"I faced you like a man last night, and no matter how shitty you are, you're still my father. I'd prefer not to kick your ass anymore." The green eyed man put a Dr. Seuss book in his bag and a few pictures.
"So what now?"
"I guess that's for me to figure out. Isn't it?" Lucas stopped moving and dropped his head. "I'm sorry that you feel the need to blame me for what happened to Lily. I'm sorry I wasn't everything you've wanted out of a son. And, i'm sorry things have to be this way. But this is all on you, you gave me an ultimatum, your happiness or mine." He set the bag on the ground and filled another one with the few pairs of shoes he had. "A parent should never ask their child to do that, but then again you never treated me like a son. Even before Lily passed away."
"Because I didn't coddle you, that's why you're making the biggest mistake of your life?"
"I'm not making a mistake, for the first time i'm actually doing the right thing. Not leading someone on because my father is greedy, and ridding myself of the guilt you continually place on me." He put one bag on his shoulder and picked up the other one. "I hope you are happy dad, i'm finally out of your hair." His son slid past him and walked down the stairs as his mom was walking inside the house.
"What happened? Luke? Why's there an officer here?" Lucas hugged his mom. "What happened to your face?" She saw her husband. "Did you two fight?" She looked horrified.
"Your son is leaving he decided to break up with Lindsey." His green eyes glared. His mother knew?
"You knew? You knew he was making me decide?" She reached out for his arm to try and calm him down. "NO!"
"Lucas-"
He was irate and shoved her hand off. "I don't even want to hear it. You are just as greedy and crappy as he is. Don't call me, don't talk to me, don't try to find me, and you both have fun living with the guilt of not being able to see your son, and eventually your grandchildren." He opened the door and let a tear escape. "As far as i'm concerned I don't have any parents."
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"Riley?" Lucas drug himself into the garage and hugged her. "She knew, she knew and she didn't stop him." The brunette stroked his hair and felt a tear fall on her shoulder.
"It's okay." She pulled away and touched foreheads. "Look at me." The dancer whispered. "Let me see your beautiful eyes." He smirked and opened his eyes, even with one bruised they were breathtaking. "There they are. You deserve so much more than that, you deserve to be happy." Lucas found another reason he loved Riley, she was affectionate. He'd spent his entire life trying to fulfill unlikely standards and never got praise when he did, the quarterback hardly got love from his mom but, the dancer gave it to him. His lips crashed onto hers, and her body tingled in places she never felt. "Wow, um we can't do that. My parents-"
"They're gone. Dinner." She bit her lip and kissed him again, he gripped her hair and pulled her in close to him. Lucas' lips touched her neck, causing her to giggle, his strong arms picked her up and put her against the door.
"Oh my God." The dancer ripped off his shirt and smiled at his abs. Lucas leaned back in for a kiss when she stopped him. "Um, I should probably tell you-"
"I am too." He whispered, forcing a wave of relief to wash over her body.
"So, i'm going to assume you don't have-"
Riley was interrupted again. "Nope." Her feet touched the floor and they both laughed. "That wasn't very romantic anyways. No matter how bad I want it."
"We want it." The brown eyed girl corrected as she eyed his body. "Seriously though, how do you look like that? You eat terribly!"
He slapped his abs. "I work out and I have a high metabollism." Her eyes rolled as she walked over to the stereo with a few things running across her mind. "I really like you Riley."
"I love you too Lucas." She messed around with her stereo. "Do you think you could-"
"What'd you say?" His green eyes brightened.
"I didn't finish what I was saying that's probably why you don't know. I was asking if you could-"
He shook his head. "Riley, before you started asking for my help, what'd you say?" The brunette furrowed her brows, thinking back to just 30 seconds before.
"Oh my God." Her hand draped over her mouth.
"Yeah, did you say you loved me?" Lucas' smile was seductive and completely adorable as he sauntered towards her. She was in shock, "Riley Matthews, did you say you loved me?"
"I mean, I don't, I mean I do, I just-"
He grabbed her face and crashed his lips onto her. "I love you too."
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