Chapter 17

Riker POV

"Riker?"

"What?"

"I want to talk."

"About?"

"I want to talk about all the memories we've had so far. And if anything happens to either of us, at least we can remember this time, right now."

"Ok."

"I'll start. I think we should start with the day we met. I thought you were the strangest guy I'd ever met."

"Why!?"

"You asked me to show you around town, and I didn't even know you!"

"Oh…"

"And then the whole kayak thing was insane!"

"Yeah…"

"It's hard to remember what came next… But I remember the night I was crying. And you came down to the beach."

"Yeah. I kind of made you tell me what was wrong. I'm sorry for that."

"If you hadn't though, we probably wouldn't be together right now. But on the other hand that's also kind of how everything started with Dylan. You dumped his stuff in through the sunroof. But if tonight goes ok, it'll all be worth it."

I smiled.

"I remember that night I came over when you were home alone. I think that's when you had your first nightmare with Dylan."

"You made me feel safe."

"I remember taking you out to lunch in Lake George that one day when you were upset with your uncle. We ended up staying for dinner."

"Yeah, that was pretty cool. I feel like that's the day I really got to know you… Wait! Do you remember earlier that day? You made a mound of dirt, trying to impress me or something."

"It was a sandcastle! And it wasn't dirt! It was sand! And I was just trying to make you feel better."

"Ok, ok. Calm yourself. Remember when you convinced me not to drive to California?"

"Yeah. You stayed at my house instead."

"And then of course I couldn't sleep, so you came down and we slept on the couch together."

"But you also taught me a bunch of things I'll never forget."

"Like what?"

"Like girls can do anything guys can do. Remember when we played videogames, and you were so much better than me?"

"Yeah… What else?"

"Well, you also taught me that it's ok to be scared sometimes, even if I'm a guy."

Riley smiled.

"Yeah…"

"And you also taught me something else. And no matter what, I'll remember this one forever. You taught me that I should be able to do things, and not care what other people think."

"Like what?"

"Going for a walk in my pajamas."

Riley laughed.

"I remember that! That whole time when I stayed at your house, I think that's when I started… maybe, possibly falling for you…"

I smiled.

"Well I thought you were beautiful ever since I met you."

"Awww. Thanks. Oh my gosh! Remember that morning I pushed you off the dock?"

"Yup. I picked you up and jumped in with you to get you back!"

"Well Rydel helped me get you back for that by whipped creaming your face!"

"Now that was a pretty awful thing to wake up to!"

"It was so funny!"

"Not for me!"

"Whatever… Remember the time we went swimming, and I pulled you underwater because you thought it was too cold, and you were taking forever to get in?"

"Yup."

"And then the time I didn't tell you about Dylan texting me, and you got mad."

"Why'd I get mad?"

"Because you could tell I was keeping something from you, and you thought it was Dylan related."

"Oh, right. But we kind of made up when I saved you. Remember when Dylan showed up? You guys were down at the beach, and he tried to hurt you."

"Yeah… You saved me… And then you went swimming in skinny jeans to try to find my phone, and your pants fell down!"

"I'm never doing that again! And I kept pressuring you to call the police, and you blew up at me…"

"But we made up."

"And then you got mad at me again."

"Well you were acting weird, and after I told you basically everything, I didn't think it was fair that you wouldn't tell me something!"

"But then I promised to tell you within a week, and I did keep that promise!"

"Yeah… But before that, we went tubing and you almost died!"

"Kind of. My shoulder hurt so bad. I'm still kind of scared of… all that…"

"Tubing?"

"Yeah."

"Well if we survive tonight, I'll have to have my dad take us out again sometime. And if you're hurt or anything, tell me this time!"

"I will!"

"And then that's when we had the whole fight about you not telling me something."

"I was so scared I had lost you as a friend like… forever. I knew you were really mad."

"But then you amazingly saved the night by bringing me out on that boat."

"That was one of the scariest things I've ever done."

"Driving a boat?"

"No! Telling you that I loved you. And what made it even worse was that you didn't say anything for a second, and I thought I'd made a huge mistake! I'd been trying to decide since like forever whether or not to tell you. I didn't know if I should risk making our friendship weird if you didn't like me back."

"But I did."

"Yeah."

"And then you fainted."

"Yeah…"

"I thought that was funny. So that was like the best night of your life then. Right?"

"Yeah. Until your dad called and told me you were in the hospital."

"Oh. Right…"

"Riley, you don't know how upset and scared I was. I finally had you as my girlfriend, and now you might die. It was awful!"

"And then you wrote me that song."

"Yeah. That's the fastest I've ever written a song before."

"Then what?"

"Then I sang you the song. And you still didn't wake up. I was so mad it didn't work. And then I thought this was it. It was the end for you."

"And then?"

"And then you woke up, and I pretty much died! Riley, I was so relieved! But then you didn't remember anything."

"You eventually told me what happened to me. And then we went down to the docks so you could sing me your song."

"And I ended up carrying you back up because you were so hungry, you felt sick."

"And then… the nightmares started… But it was kind of ok because you came over."

"And then your phone obsession started."

"Yeah… So then my dad decided to go camping. Worst. Idea. Ever."

"It wouldn't have been so bad if it didn't end in Dylan almost killing you."

Riley rolled her eyes.

"It was still bad because we got lost!"

"Well yeah…"

"But then we had our first kiss!"

"Riley, I was so nervous about that!"

"Why?"

"Because it was with you!"

"Well… And then you decided you wanted to take me on another camping trip. I thought you were seriously insane!"

"And you almost missed it because you didn't get up until like 30 minutes before we left!"

"But you helped, and it was ok. Oh! And then remember Ross and his scary story?"

"That was awful!"

"And then you found out I was on pills…"

"Yeah. And we had our first pretty serious fight as a couple."

"That was your fault though. You made me tell you I didn't take my pills."

"Yeah, I know it was my fault. But you got me back really good."

"I made you walk into a spider web! That was pretty awesome. I remember you looked so scared!"

I could just feel my cheeks burning.

"Awww! I'm sorry, Riker!"

Riley gave me a side hug.

"Ok, what else happened to us?" Riley asked.

I was relieved she changed the subject.

"You ran away in the middle of the night."

"That was also your fault."

"How was that my fault?"

"You didn't want to share a tent with me, remember?"

"Oh. Right… Well I didn't appreciate walking into a spider web!"

"Still, I'm your girlfriend, and you should've been nicer. Ellington picked me up and took me out for pizza. Why do you have that look on your face?"

"What? Nothing."

"Tell me!"

"I just… I rushed home that day. I remember getting home, and you weren't even there. We found a note from Ellington, and he'd taken you out for pizza."

"So?"

"So, I thought he'd taken you out."

"Like on a date?"

"Yeah…"

"Riker! That's insane!"

"I just felt so… jealous…"

"Awww, that's so sweet. But we made up, so everything was ok."

"And then all you wanted to do was stay in bed."

"Oh… Yeah… And you tried to get me out of bed that one night. We had an argument, and you kind of ended up in the lake…"

I looked over at Riley.

"Yeah, and I better not end up in the lake, again."

"Uh… I'll have to think about that…"

"Riley."

"Kidding! Oh and then remember I hid in your closet!? That was so funny! You were so scared because you thought I left."

"That was not funny, Riley! That was really scary!"

"And then I think I broke up with you. I felt bad because I knew I was crazy, and I didn't want you to have to deal with it anymore."

"But Riley, I didn't care! I loved you."

"I know. I stopped taking the pills, and you took me to Lake George. And I think we got back together again."

"Yeah. And then on our way home, we saw Dylan run across the street."

"That was one of the worst feelings ever. And then you spent the night. And I fell out the window!"

"Oh yeah… That was… Bad… And then I got ice water thrown on me!"

"That was hilarious!"

"It was not!"

"Yes it was!"

"Well somewhere during all of this, you started your window obsession."

"Right… And then we had a popcorn explosion!"

"That was pretty funny."

"But you know what wasn't?"

"What?"

"When you pretended to be Dylan, and then I almost killed you!"

"Ugh! That was awful. I should never have done that. And then you took more pills, and that broke my heart."

"Why?"

"Because I hated seeing you act like that!"

"Oh… Well then we had another fight because I was crazy. But you got rid of the pills, and helped me get back to normal."

"Yeah. Remember when the power went out while you were in the shower?"

"Yeah. That was scary. But then the next few days were pretty awful too."

"Why?"

"It was your uncle's stupid party you made me go to, and Ryland's thing, and I thought you cheated on me."

"Oh, right. But I didn't."

"I know."

"I don't even know if we broke up that time or not. But I think we fixed things when Dylan came to your house and stuck that note to your door with a knife."

"How scared were you when you were on the phone with me?"

"Riley, when I got your call, I was at some pizza place. When I heard you say Dylan was there, I climbed on top of the table to get to you!"

"Really!?"

"Yes! And I sped home like crazy! When I got to your house, I was so relieved when you jumped into my arms."

"I was so glad to hear your voice."

"And then I couldn't believe you wanted to just hand yourself over to Dylan like that!"

"I didn't want you to be in any danger!"

"So then we got Shane and Rick, I think."

"Yeah."

"And you made me think you went to meet Dylan that night!"

"I didn't mean to! I was just hungry!"

"I know…"

"And then you completely blew up at me for no reason at all!"

"I was just tired."

"And then we got roped together. That wasn't fun. Especially when you wouldn't move!"

"I made you laugh, though!"

"Because it was so ridiculous, I just couldn't believe it!"

"And then Rocky found the rock and the note."

"That's funny."

"What?"

"Rocky found the rock. It just sounds funny."

I rolled my eyes.

"And then you had the fantastic idea of sneaking out. Dylan cut your brakes, and we almost died."

"And then he posted the picture."

"Yeah… And left a note in my bedroom when we ran over to your house."

"You went to the police agreeing to do the plan, and now we're here, remembering all the memories we've had."

"Yeah… I feel like time flew by."

"But if we make it through tonight, we have the rest of our lives still ahead of us."

"Yeah…"

Riley leaned over and kissed me.

"Riker, what if it doesn't work? What if their plan gets screwed up, and something happens to one of us?"

"Riley, the police pretty much have everything figured out. They wouldn't be letting us do this if we were seriously in danger."

Riley sighed and looked out across the lake. I put my arm around her, and held her close.

"I know it's my birthday, but I just want it to be over already. I want to be ok, and I want you to be ok."

"I know. But we probably will be."

Later…

Riker POV

"Riley, come on. We're supposed to be there at 9:45 so they can put wires on us and go over the plan again."

"Coming…"

Riley slowly walked over to meet me at her front door. She had changed her shirt, so now she was wearing the one I gave her that said R5.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be…"

I took Riley's hand and walked her out to my car. We met up with the police right on time. They had us wear wires so they could hear what was going on. Basically the plan was that there were already a bunch of police hiding in the woods right now. Riley and I were going to go to the woods and meet Dylan. We would ask him questions and basically get him to admit to what he'd been doing, and that he was going to try to kill Riley again tonight. And once we had that evidence, the police were going to catch him, and put him in jail.

I drove Riley over to the parking lot of Cat Mountain. Before we got out, she wanted to talk for a second.

"This is it. Right?" Riley asked.

"Yup."

"Riker, if we don't make it… I love you."

"I love you too, Riley."

Riley and I kissed one last time before we took on this challenge. Riley hugged me really tight. We finally got out of my car, and started walking toward the woods.

This is it. Here we go…