Chapter 15

525,600 minutes.
525,000 journey's to plan.
525,600 minutes, how do you measure the life of a woman or a man?

"Wow, she's incredible." Lucas revealed his dimples, he was just thinking outloud and not expecting a response but Topanga held his arm.

"Yeah, she is."

In bridges he burned?
Or the way that she died?

"Shoot!" Hillary exclaimed in hushed tones.

"What?" The quarterback mumbled.

"She messed up her footing there. I doubt the judges noticed though but still." The coach exhaled, puffing out her cheeks. "High, low, YES!" She started clapping.

Remember the love. Oh, you've got to, you've got to remember the love.
Remember the love. Oh, you know that love is a gift from above.
Remember the love. Share love, give love, spread love.

The brunette sunk to the ground, she seemed more upset today than the routine yesterday. The song ended, and just like the day before there was silence, besides a few coughs and the dancer crying it was quiet. Her family started to clap while the meadow eyed man ran to his love on the floor. "You're done baby, come on." Riley smiled, that was the first time he called her 'baby'. They walked off the hardwood hand in hand, she didn't stop to look at Auggie this time, she pictured him the entire time while dancing and because of the tears and the fact she couldn't see where she was going, Riley was disappointed with her routine.

"Riley! You did awesome!" Hillary hugged her and pulled away clutching her face. "No, you did awesome do not do that!" Her brown eyes traced the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. "I saw you messed up on your footing but that was it."

"Yeah." Maya reiterated. "That was better than yesterday's, I thought."

"My double axle was sloppy, I stayed on my heel when I did my last aleseconde and I couldn't even see where I was going half the time." Josh passed her a jacket and the group stood in silence.

"Baby you did amazing. Don't doubt yourself." Lucas smiled and kissed her head.

"UP NEXT IS BRITNEY FREDRICK FROM CARTER'S DANCE FACTORY IN FLORIDA!"

"I've gotta watch this." The dancer stood at the end of the tunnel with her arms crossed, and the quarterback wrapped his big arms around her, hugging the dancer from behind.

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Joolene.
Oh i'm begging of you please don't take my man.
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Joolene.
Please don't take him even though you can.

Your beauty is beyond compare.
With flaming locks of auburn hair, with ivory skin and eyes of emerald green.
Your smile is like a breath of spring, your skin is soft like summer rain.
And I cannot compete with you Jolene.

"Oh God." Her head landed in her hands. Lucas started massaging her shoulders.

"Riley don't. Her movements are sloppy, her technique is there but she isn't as clean. Hillary placed her hand on the brunette's hand.

"So was mine." The dancer mumbled.

And I could easily understand how you could easily take my man.
But you don't know what he means to me Jolene.
And he talks about you in his sleep, there's nothing I can do to keep from crying.
When he calls your name Jolene.

"Baby you are so much better than her. I promise." His lips touched her temple.

"You keep calling me baby." A small smile approached her face.

"I love it, don't you?" The brown eyed girl nodded and leaned back into his chest.

"AGAIN THAT WAS BRITNEY FREDRICK."

GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW

"You left it out on the floor Riley, that's all you can do honey." Topanga ran her finger nails down the black jacket she used as a cover up.

Riley lifted her head and smiled. "I know. It's too late now, I just can't help but think I let Auggie down. There's no way I won." Lucas put his phone back in his pocket.

"You didn't let him down beautiful. Good news, they finished counting the donations from yesterday, guess how much." He sat down beside the dancer and held her hand.

"How much?" Maya questioned.

"Yeah how much?" The brown eyed girl wiped her eyes and grinned.

"1,803 dollars. That's just from yesterday. They haven't even counted the amount from today." Her family clapped and smiled, Riley snaked her hands around Lucas' neck and kissed him.

The brunette pulled away and placed her forehead on his. "Thank you." She whispered.

"I love you."

"HEY!" Hillary shouted and ran towards the table. "Let's go! Cover ups off." The dancer stripped her jacket and matching pants, tossing them in her bag that Lucas constantly held for her. She ran beside her coach and the rest of the group followed them to the arena floor. "Alright, you get one more shot Riley."

"WHAT?" The dancer came to a halt.

"Top 5, let's go. We don't have a lot of time." Hillary snatched her dancer's wrist and pulled.

Her friends and family glanced at each other trying to figure out what was going on.

"They didn't do that last year, or any years before."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I wasn't expecting it, that's why we're in a hurry, and that's why I should read my e-mails more often."

"HILLARY!" They made it to the entrance of the tunnel.

"I'm sorry, now stretch." The brown eyed girl stayed focus on the floor, feeling a million eyes on her. "Bubble Riley! Stay in your bubble. I'll be right back."

Lucas kneeled beside her. "What's going on?"

"Top 5 solo routines, this morning was semi-finals which is weird because i've never had that happen before. I get one more shot to win this thing." Her eyes remained closed as she spoke. Her voice was shaky, like she was absolutely petrified.

"That's great! So why do you sound so terrified?"

Her eyes opened, releasing a tear. "I have to win this for Auggie. I have to."

"And you will! Look at me baby." His fingers raised her chin. "You're going to win this, but don't forget, this is about you too. Win this for you." Her nerves went from a boil to a simmer and she inhaled deeply.

"Wow, that helped." Her brown eyes moved from left to right trying to figure out how.

"Now, you just have to find the right balance between doing this for Aug and doing this for you. Remember when we danced on the beach?" Riley smiled at the memory. "You were so carefree, and relaxed but you trusted yourself. You danced with your eyes closed, you didn't have to see where you were going. Do that today." Her lips touched his, lightly.

"Thank you. Now go away, I have to stretch." The quarterback chuckled and scurried towards her family.

"How's boy toy?" Britney inched towards her. Riley kept her head down, with her eyes closed. Pretending like she had headphones in. "I saw your dance." She still didn't respond.

"BRITNEY FREDRICK! YOU'RE UP!" Her archnemesis stood up.

"I'm sorry about all the times I was rude about him." Her brown eyes rose from the floor and stared at her, following her until she was at the entrance of the tunnel.

"Bubble Riley. Bubble."

20 minutes and a lot of stretching, butterflies and nerves later Hillary stood in front of her. "Alright Riles, best for last. A few minutes after you're done, they'll announce the winner." Riley nodded and turned around to Lucas. His sexy smirk gave her butterflies, he raised his pointer finger.

"For you." He mumbled.

"RILEY MATTHEWS FROM SPIRIT OF DANCE ACADEMY IN FLORIDA!"

GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW

Riley didn't need help standing up after the routine this time, she rose with a smile. The dancer turned on her heels and jumped into Lucas' arms, her lips crashing onto his. "I did it, it was perfect!" Her hands snaked behind his neck and squeezed him tight, she was crying happy tears and her family surrounded her.

"MY GIRLFRIEND IS AMAZING!" Lucas yelled at the top of his lungs, her stomach filled with butterflies and her cheeks twinged with pain. "You're going to win Riley! I know you are!" The dancer slid down his body and began hugging the rest of her family.

Hillary had to interrupt the celebration. "Riles, I love that you're-"

"But I haven't won yet." Riley interrupted .

"Right, let's take a seat." The brown eyed girl sat close to the center of the floor. Her right hand clutching Lucas', her left was holding Maya's. Cory, Topanga and Josh waited behind her and as usual Hillary was in front of her. "Oh by the way, that was your best performance yet." The coach winked at her student and happy tears filled her eyes.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, UP HERE PLEASE!" There was a long table filled with awards and several women standing around it. "IT IS TIME FOR THE AWARDS CEREMONY FOR THE NATIONAL COMPETITION! WE'RE GOING TO START WITH ENSEMBLES AND WORK OUR WAY DOWN, TEAM AWARDS WILL BE IN 2 HOURS!"

The dancer inhaled and exhaled, dropping her head towards the hardwood. "Baby look at me." She moved her head to the right to see her extremely sexy boyfriend. "You have no idea how proud I am of you."

Riley sat up straighter, and locked on his gorgeous green eyes. "For what? I dance all the time."

A wry smile approached his lips. "You have gone through so much this year." Lucas gulped and kissed her. "Like I was saying, you've been through so much this year and here you are. You were afraid you'd never be able to dance again, you loved me, then hated me, and now you love me again." The brunette giggled, she got distracted when the winner of the ensembles was announced. "Despite everything that you went through with Aug you're still an absolutely incredible person."

"I have an absolutely incredible man to help get me through anything." Her lips touched his. "I relied on the people who love me."

"I love you Riley Matthews." This time she didn't get distracted by anything but his eyes. It was time for the solos and she never would've known if Hillary didn't snap her fingers in front of the brunette's face.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN THIS IS THE LAST SET OF AWARDS UNTIL THE TEAMS LATER. THE SOLOS, LET ME JUST SAY I WAS BLOWN AWAY BY THE TOP 5 FINALISTS. CAN WE GET A ROUND OF APPLAUSE." The arena boomed with clapping hands and cheers. "IN 3RD PLACE-" Riley dropped her head and held her breath. "ANNA WATSON FROM CONIFER CHOREOGRAPHY!" The dancer let out a breath but her eyes remained closed. "IN SECOND PLACE FROM FLORIDA," Her hand squeezed Lucas'. "WINNING A $500 SCHOLARSHIP IS BRITNEY FREDRICK!" A small smile approached her lips, that was her biggest competition.

Hillary turned around and saw the smile. "No, you still have 2 other people to beat." Riley nodded and watched Britney saunter towards the front to grab her trophy and take a picture. The dancer laid her forehead on Lucas' arm.

"IN FIRST PLACE, WINNING A $5000 DOLLAR SCHOLARSHIP AND A GIANT TROPHY IS, DRUMROLL PLEASE!" Her heart felt like it was about to explode. "THIS ROUTINE IS ONE OF THE MOST MOVING THAT I'VE HAD THE PRIVILEDGE TO WATCH IN MY LIFETIME. IN FIRST PLACE FROM FLORIDA IS RILEY MATTHEWS!" The dancer immediately burst into tears and fell into Lucas' strong arms.

Lucas watch her rise from the hardwood, the arena thundered with cheers and applause. Riley was passed a huge trophy, and a check. Her eyes were still letting tears fall when she took the picture. The quarterback pulled his phone out and took several pictures of her walking back.

"Here huckleberry, pass it to me. This is a photo worthy moment." The green eyed man stood up and held his girlfriend. "Beautiful. Now me."

"MY GIRLFRIEND IS A NATIONAL CHAMPION!" Riley's cheeks blushed as she looked towards the ground. All the girls around started giggling and pointing at 'the loud hot guy'. He took a few pictures for Maya and her parents, beaming with pride the entire time.

"Family picture!" Topanga shouted. The quarterback stepped out with a smile on his face, watching his girlfriend. "Lucas, no get in here. You're family." He kept his composure as he stepped back into the picture a random person was taking, but all he really wanted to do was cry. This was his family, his home was with these people, but his future, his future was with Riley.

GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW

Riley was driving Lucas' truck, she was a woman on a mission and he didn't dare stop her. "Where are we going?"

The brunette smiled. "We're almost there." A few minutes later she pulled up the graveyard, she hadn't been here since his funeral. After a deep inhale she turned off the truck.

"You ready for this?" She bit her lip and slowly nodded.

"As i'll ever be." The dancer pulled the purple rose she wore when she won the dance competition out of her purse and jumped out of the truck. Riley sauntered towards his grave, hoping to keep herself composed. She sat down in the grass beside his tombstone, while the green eyed man stayed back to give her some space, still in listening distance though. "Hey Auggie," She stopped and inhaled deeply, "look at that already crying." Her fingertips traced the engraving of his name. "I'm sure you know, because you were there but I won Nationals. I um, the real reason I came here was because I really miss you bubba." Her boyfriend turned around and sat beside her at the sound of her crying. "I brought you this." Riley laid the rose next to his tombstone, and felt chills through her body. "I feel you now. I couldn't have done this without you, and-" The dancer pulled a piece of folded and creased manila paper out of her back pocket, "without this, that you drew for me."

Lucas remembered when Auggie gave that to her, he never knew what was on it but he could tell she looked at it often. Riley unfolded the paper and smiled, the green eyed man felt the urge to cry. "It's all 3 of us. You, me and Lucas at Nationals, i've got a huge check and a trophy. I hate to tell you but the check I did get was small." They both chuckled lightly, she closed her eyes letting some tears fall when he kissed her temple. "I love you Auggie. I'll come visit and read 'Oh the Places You'll Go' at least once a week." She rose from the ground and held Lucas' hand. "Stay with me bubba, always. You're my angel." The couple sauntered away, hand in hand, both trying to conceal their tears.

"The Dr. Seuss book?" He questioned.

"Yeah, it was his favorite. Even as he got older."

The quarterback laughed and opened the truck door. "That was Lily's favorite. I have a copy." Riley hopped inside the truck after kissing him. She knew they'd be long term, and she only assumed it was because they've both been through some tragedies in their lives but they went through them together. In the end though, it only made them stronger. "So now that you've conquered Nationals, what happens now? What's the great Riley Matthews' next conquest?"

Riley exhaled and felt the wind blow, her body got goosebumps. 'Auggie' she thought. "Next. Winwood."

A huge smile approached Lucas' face. "Let's do it!"

GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW

Thanks for reading. Please review. I haven't decided if I want to do a sequel to this or not.