A/N: So I don't really like this chapter, it's probably my least favourite, maybe because it took more research, and the dialogue was more challenging, but it needed to be finished. I already have the next two chapters written out so the updates should be more frequent for a while.

Anyways, happy reading. :)

(Last time on Iridescence)

"I'm sorry," Lucas replied.

She rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"I'm sorry that all of those people were too stupid to realize what they were missing. I'm sorry that nobody else sees what I see when I look at you. That they can't see the wonder you have for the world, your optimism, and hope. I'm sticking around Riley, I don't care how long it takes for to me prove it."

Chapter 5: Marvel

The daylight was beginning to diminish, when the shadows of the skyscrapers began to blanket the streets underneath their feet. Riley's demeanor and mood had changed considerably, as there was a skip in her step, and her head felt miles high above the rest of the world. She would claim that it was mainly to do with the fact that it was her favourite time of the day, maybe even the best time of the year. The air was crisp, but with a pink-orange coloured sky as the sun sets, she began to believe that anything was possible again.

"Why am I leading the way?" Riley said, throwing her head back to Lucas who was only one step behind her. "I don't know where we're going."

"You're a fast walker," Lucas replied, gaining an embarrassed blush from Riley. She slowed her pace in response, "but that's okay, I'm just glad to see you enjoying yourself."

Riley tried not to think too much into his words, because the truth was, when she was with Lucas and they were walking the streets like they were now, everything else seemed to fade away.

A growling sound erupted in Riley's stomach and she knew that she was hungry. "I hate to be a spoilsport, I know that this is your tour, but please tell me that you have food on the agenda."

"Oh, ye of little faith, don't you trust me at all?" Lucas teased. "Just you wait. We're almost there."

There next destination on Lucas's tour was apparently in walking distance, and while she didn't mind the exercise, she was beginning to believe that Lucas was going to get them lost; especially since he hadn't lived in New York for that long yet. He was looking down at a small paper map they had found at one of the street corners.

She recognized the area; she'd been there before, though she wouldn't tell him that. The disappointment on his face would be too much and she didn't want to ruin that. They were approaching one of her favourite places in the city; the Rockefeller Center. Holder of New York's greatest wonders; the world renowned Christmas tree, ice skating rink, and Jeff Koon's massive flower sculpture. She could already see St. Patrick's Cathedral just ahead of them, and it was just as beautiful as ever.

Just then, Lucas surprised her by grabbing her hand, and pulling her into the Rockefeller Center revolving doors, which was not only frightening, but also exhilarating.

He grinned at her, pulling a key out of his pocket but keeping it in hand after leading her through yet another set of doors. This time, there was a large set of rustic wooden stairs, climbing around for more levels than she could count from the bottom. Mystery lurked Lucas's eyes in a way Riley had never seen before, and she fought from begging him to lead the way.

He climbed the first few steps two at a time, obviously excited to show her whatever was waiting at the top of the stairs for them.

"Where are we going?" Riley asked letting her excitement get the better of her.

"I can't ruin it now, were so close."

It took a few minutes to make it to the top of the stairs, and waiting for them were large closed glass doors. Furrowing her eye brows, Riley watched as Lucas took the key and unlocked the door.

"Lucas…" she whispered, but his smile was enough confirmation.

The doors swung open, revealing a gorgeous private garden that boasted perfectly manicured greenery. The rooftop was specifically decorated for a wedding; that much was obvious. There was a makeshift isle with an arch at one end of the roof in front of the pond, and empty seating just waiting for the ceremony.

She turned to Lucas, only to find him smiling at her again.

"How… what… who…" Riley stuttered, but Lucas just chuckled.

"Come on, I want to introduce you to someone," said Lucas.

"The flowers! There all missing the hydrangeas," called a women standing in the middle of the isle. "Can someone please find me some blue hydrangeas?"

The women turned at that moment, and immediately softened from her tense posture, relaxing her hands, the moment her eyes landed on Lucas.

"I'm so glad you made it," she said, walking towards the two of them. "You found it okay?"

"It was easy," he shrugged, nonchalantly.

"You were watching the map closer than the sidewalk. You almost ran into like a dozen different people," Riley teased.

"Yah, almost, meaning I successfully avoided them," Lucas said. The woman raised her eyebrows at Lucas, obviously amused, waiting for an introduction and Lucas quickly caught on. "Mom, this is Riley Matthews, Riley this is my Mom, Linda. She designed the wedding dress for the bride this evening."

"It's so great to meet you, Riley," Linda said, with the biggest smile on her face. She was a beautiful woman, with shoulder length slick brown hair, and a fitted red dress on.

"You too," Riley replied. "So you sell dresses and design them?"

"I design a select few, which have only recently been taking off in the market since the move to New York. This experience is a bit different for me, but this particular bride begged me to be here just in case she had a dress malfunction."

"Wow, that's amazing. This venue, I had no idea it was here."

"That's because it costs a fortune to rent, it's beautiful, but you're paying for it. And the renters want the privacy, so it stays a secret."

Riley nodded, just as her stomach growled once again. Linda must have heard it because she grinned at Riley and pointed to a table with refreshments on them. "Help yourself to some snacks. I'll see you kids after the wedding."

"Thanks Mom," Lucas smiled as Linda walked away back to the flowers.

Riley almost ran over to the food table. She didn't mean to be rude, she was just so hungry. After stuffing her face with some cheese cubes and crackers, she looked up at Lucas with a small guilty smile, and shrugged her shoulders.

Lucas could only laugh and join her.

X

After half an hour of laughing and talking, guests for the wedding began to file onto the roof top gardens, Lucas and Riley observed the view from over the ledge. Riley had to speculate about Lucas, she didn't know many guys who would bring her somewhere like this; let alone put this much effort and thought into their outing. But, she didn't want to bring it up; she promised that she would try to trust him.

The sun was almost completely set, leaving purple and orange colours draining the sky.

"Sometimes I just want to get on an airplane and fly as far away as I can," Riley admitted.

"Really?" Lucas asked.

"But I've never been on a plane, and I know the moment I get out of my neighbourhood I would be speed dialing my dad to pick me up, so I could never do it."

"You'll get there," he promised.

"I just hate that I have such a hard time trying new things though," she sighed.

"Where is the first place you would want to go?" Lucas asked.

She thought for a moment. "Peru."

He tried not to laugh, but couldn't help a chuckle from escaping his lips. "Peru? What's in Peru?"

"Machu Picchu. Haven't you ever heard of it?"

"No," he said.

"Well then I'll have to show you a picture. But it's basically these ancient ruins, one of the remaining Seven Wonders of the World. It just looks so amazing."

"Then you should go," Lucas said, pressing his shoulder to hers lightly.

"Maybe someday, when I'm not such a wimp," she joked. The music began to slow down and she saw that the groom and the groomsmen were standing at the altar. "Come on, the wedding's about to start."

X

The first half of the ceremony was beautiful, but Riley would have said those same words for any wedding, because she just loved them. The idea of promising yourself to someone for your entire life was just so satisfying and romantic.

"Someday, I hope someone loves me enough to share every part of themselves with me, the good, the bad and the ugly. The parts of themselves that made them feel small and vulnerable, and the parts of themselves that made them feel triumphant like they were at the top of the world", Riley thought out loud. Not particularly to Lucas, but just as a general thought.

Lucas looked between the couple standing at the makeshift altar, smiling at each other like they were the only two people in the entire world, and Riley who was smiling in adoration.

He took a deep breath.

"My family almost moved to New York when I was in seventh grade," Lucas said weakly, grabbing Riley's attention. She tore her gaze away from the wedding, and looked at him carefully. His expression became serious and sad.

"Why?" she whispered, raising a questioning eye brow.

"I got into some trouble, fighting and stuff. My dad gave me two options; I could get my shit together back in Texas, and deal with the consequences of my actions, or he would ship me across the country to live with my Aunt."

"So you dealt?"

"Yah." There was a ghostly paused as they listened to the Justice of the Peace talk for a moment.

"Do you ever wish you would have done things differently?" she asked, unsure if she really wanted the answer.

"Yes," he admitted. "I mean, people never really forgot about how I used to act, even though I did manage clean up my act and turn my life around. But they never forgot. They would still taunt me. I just learned to walk away."

"So maybe in a different time, if you had moved her before, we would have known each other, and been friends."

"I've thought about that a lot since I moved here," he said honestly.

"You have?" she said, turning her head to look at him in the eyes.

He nodded. "I've thought about how different my life would have been, how different we would have been, you," he paused. "I just imagine that we would have become friends now had I moved here all those years ago or not."

"Oh yeah, we would have been best friends."

"Definitely."

"You would have loved my seventh grade self, I was so optimistic and hopeful it would have made you sick, and I hadn't quite grown into these long legs yet, so I was the biggest klutz." Lucas laughed, probably imagining her just as she described it.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with optimism", he told her. "You would have hated my seventh grade self, I was caught in the wrong crowd, I had no personality, but I was loyal, I'll give you that much."

"I always thought loyalty was the most important part of any friendship," said Riley, as she looked back at the couple just as they locked lips and their guests began to clap and cheer.

X

"You've really outdone yourself," she told Lucas. He just raised his eyebrows at her words. "What could you possibly have planned next?" Lucas looked like he wanted to run down the street, and Riley was about to tell him that he could, just to see him do it.

But he stopped in his tracks and smiled wickedly at her.

"I'm just going to tell you because I am really excited about this one," Lucas said. "The old city hall subway stop. It's not running anymore, but I was doing some research and one of my friends back in Texas had once come to New York on a trip before. Basically he befriended this hippie guy who told him about this really cool coffee house type thing these artists put on twice a year that's really exclusive. Well I got us tickets," Lucas pulled out two green stamped pieces of paper.

"Oooh," Riley reached out for the papers, but Lucas snatched them away.

"No way," he laughed, "that's all you're getting out of me." She playfully rolled her eyes at him, bumping his hip with hers swaying his step.

"But seriously, you've put a lot of thought into this night," she told him.

"Well yeah," he admitted. "I had to impress you, and at least try to one up you. How'd I do?"

"The bet isn't looking to well for me anymore. I didn't think you could pull it off, but I think I'm going to have to give you a three for three."

"Three for three? But you've been to the Berlin Wall monument before."

"I got a new perspective," she said.

"Ah," Lucas nodded, checking his map again to make sure they were heading in the right direction, after a quick left, they descended the old subway stairs entrance. Riley had been down that street numerous times before, but she'd never noticed the stairs. Maybe because they blended in so well with the city.

There was the regular subway layout beneath the streets, except behind the bars that prevented people from entering without a pass, were Christmas lights and Riley could hear faint music playing down the tunnel that she just had to get a better sound of. Lucas tore the ticket apart and slid them into the machine accepting their tickets.

A bouncer eyed them closely, and Riley had to take a step closer to Lucas because the man was so large. Lucas chuckled at her advance, and put an arm around her in assurance.

After descending one more short flight of stairs, the tunnel came into view.

Gold; Riley saw gold bricks, tiles, chandeliers. There were gorgeous sky lights and stunning patterns. It was a shame this stop wasn't available for public viewing because Riley had never seen anything like this before.

"Wow," they both said at the same time upon seeing the stop for the first time.

A long stage was set up over the tracks, and tables with chairs were lining the tunnel.

"Even though this is just happening now, there are some moments that I know I'll remember forever, and this is one of them," said Lucas.

Riley could only nod, because she was still speechless.

A young man in a uniform came over to them.

"Can I show you to your seats?" he asked. They followed, and he led them towards the middle of the tunnel, towards two empty chairs, with empty glasses and drink menus. "Have a great evening."

Live music began to play just then, and spot lights were evaded.

"Lucas?" Riley said. He looked up with the most satisfied smile on his face. "This has been the best day ever."

A/N: Yes! Those stops do actually exist in real life. I've never been, but I found them after doing some extensive research on the secrets of New York. If you could leave a comment on what you thought before you leave this page forever that would be sweet. Chow!