Perfect | RL Oneshot
A/N: I’m sorry I made this so long. I feel like 4,224 words is a lot for a one shot that was only supposed to cover one quote but hey-ho, it is what it is. Hopefully this is okay anon xo
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Riley Matthews and Lucas Friar have had an unofficial thing going on since 7th grade. Ask anyone around and they’d tell you the two of them belong together. Despite how obvious it is to others, they just can’t seem to get it right. The constant on and off again romance, the will-they won’t-they of it all has become a sort of pattern between them. Something, or in some cases, someone, always seems to come between them.
But finally after the incessant back and forth they decided to try. Actually, Lucas finally got up enough nerve to ask her out.
It was the summer after sophomore year and somehow the group of friends convinced their parents to let them spend the duration in Texas. Since both Lucas and Zay are originally from there they know how to get around, it also helps that Zay's grandfather owns a ranch that has plenty of rooms to accommodate the teens.
Their first night in Austin, Lucas couldn't help but notice the attention Riley was getting from the overly friendly boys next door. Zay made a point to note they were also flirting with Maya and Smackle but he didn't care about that if he was being honest.
He knew Riley wasn't technically his but still, that didn't stop it from bothering him.
That night the six of them are invited to a bonfire. After Farkle and Zay make some jokes at Lucas' expense about how he acts around campfires, they decided to go. Much to Lucas' dismay.
It was unfortunate for him that the mere mention of his hometown was enough to inspire cruel jokes about a time he hated being reminded of.
Last year he had the displeasure of being caught in a "love triangle" with Riley and her best friend Maya. Not that there was ever a choice that needed to be made. He always wanted Riley, there was never any doubt about that.
But after Riley broke his heart saying she only saw him as a brother, he let himself get caught up in the moment with the wrong girl. Luckily he was smart enough to pull away before anything actually happened but he's still hassled about it by the gang every chance they get. Except for Riley of course, just like Lucas she likes to pretend that trip never happened.
As the six of them are getting ready for the evening, Lucas relents his worries to the guys.
"I don't like how cozy Mickey was being with Riley." He admits while adjusting his boots.
"Southern hospitality." Zay comments, not really paying attention to his best friend's concerns.
"I think it was a little more than hospitality."
"What's the problem?" Zay snaps, jumping up from his spot on the bed. "Just because you're too chicken to start something with Riley doesn't mean everyone else will be."
"He's right you know." Farkle adds, buttoning up his flannel. "If you don't like it, do something about it."
"I will."
--
The six friends meet up with their neighbors outside at the elected time.
The bonfire was on the beach which was only a few miles away so they all pile into Mickeys jeep. Mickey's brother Jamie sat passenger, leaving only the three seats in the back.
Farkle climbs in first, his girlfriend Isadora follows suit taking his lap. Zay gets in next, helping Maya up and she reluctantly sits on his, making a comment about him "not getting any funny ideas." Lucas is the last of the guys to get in, taking up the last empty seat.
Riley hesitantly climbs in, sitting snugly on the broad shouldered blondes lap. Feeling the heat rush to her cheeks as his arms brush against her waist.
When they arrive at the bonfire, they all split off and do their own thing. Farkle and Isadora go for a walk hand in hand, Zay and Maya chat up the people that were already there when they arrived and Lucas has noticed that Riley seemingly disappeared.
He walks over to the others, confused as to where she could have possibly gone off to on her own.
"Have you guys seen Riley?" He asks out loud to no one in particular.
The sun was starting to set and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't worried.
"Riley?" One of the attendees there perks his head up. "Is that the brunette with the cute dimples and tight body?"
Lucas clenches his jaw and nods slightly, "that's the one."
The ginger haired boy smiles knowingly, "Mickey invited her to go on a walk...if you know what I mean."
That was all Lucas needed to hear. He tried to repress his instincts to get angry, focusing his energy on finding Riley. He trails up the beach, calling out her name but gets no response.
He continues on until the bonfire behind him is barely recognizable and to his surprise the first person he sees, isn’t Riley but is Mickey.
The taller, much older boy, hastily walks pass Lucas, clutching at his nose, mumbling under his breath. Lucas looks ahead and sees her, sitting on the rocks near the water staring out at the ocean.
Picking up the pace he jogs over to her, silently assessing the situation before he took the spot next to her. She didn’t flinch or move in any way to acknowledge his presence. She just kept staring straight.
She breaks the silence first. “Mickey kissed me.” She confesses, now looking down at her hand. Lucas can feel his jaw and fist clench up at the thought of someone else being with her like that. He couldn’t get the picture out of his head.
“…So I punched him in the nose.” She continues, a slight smirk playing on her pretty face as she turns to look Lucas in the eye.
There’s an instant feeling of pride he has when he hears her say that. Mostly he was shocked, Riley was never one to resort to violence, but knowing she was more than capable of defending herself especially against someone three times her size, made him proud. He couldn’t help but smile.
“I’m sure he deserved it.” He nudges her playfully.
They sit in silence for a moment. He couldn’t speak for Riley, but there was something about being around her that was calming. She made him feel at ease, which said a lot to him seeing as how just 5 minutes ago he was ready to throw a few punches at Mickey himself.
He watches the way her eyes shine as she looks out at the water, how her usually chocolate colored curls and eyes turn a beautiful caramel color as the sunset hits them. He couldn’t look away. Which, unfortunately for him, she noticed.
“What?” She asks, perking an eyebrow up at the boy who still hadn’t looked away.
“You’re really beautiful.” He says softly, taking in her features.
She looks away, turning her attention back to her hands. “You’ve never told me that before.”
“I haven’t?” He asks, genuinely surprised. She shakes her head gently but smiles sheepishly at him.
“That’s weird…because I think about it all the time.” He adds, shrugging his shoulders.
“You do?” Her voice shakes.
The look between them is one they’ve shared many times. Usually in the privacy of each other’s company, but it’s a look Lucas could never forget. The way her eyebrows lift slightly and her eyes gloss over, that starry-eyed look is permanently cemented in his brain. And he knows for a fact, his expression mirrors hers.
“Well yeah, because I think about you all the time Riley…” He scoots in closer to her so their thighs are pressed against each other. “I think about us.” He continues, not wanting to let the moment get away from him again.
“Us?”
He nods his head, unsure of what to say next. Finally, he builds up enough courage to speak. “I want us to be together Riley. Not unofficially, not friends with benefits, I want the real deal and I want it with you…is that something you’d be up for?”
“Absolutely.” She answers almost immediately, a big grin on her face. “I want to be with you too, Lucas. I always have.”
Riley rests her head on his shoulder and for a second it feels like the weight of the world has been lifted. They stay like that for a while, just feeling the rise and fall of each other’s chest, listening to the sound of each other’s heartbeats, staring out across the beach. It was a perfect moment.
“So, why aren’t you at the campfire?” Lucas asks.
Riley smiles to herself, “I’m more of a ‘watch the sunset over the water’ type person.”
“Yeah.” Lucas chuckles, intertwining their fingers, “So am I.”
------
A year later and they’re still together. No bad breakups or trouble miscommunicating feelings. They’ve never had a deeper connection and Riley is still waiting for the punch line. In her mind there was a reason it took her and Lucas so long to finally come together. To her, their relationship is too good to be true.
She tries not to let her insecurities get the best of her and for the most part it works, but every now and then when it’s quiet, she can hear that nagging little voice in the back of her head spewing doubts into her mind.
It’s the summer before senior year now and their one year anniversary was approaching. Riley decided it would be special for numerous reasons.
She wanted it to be perfect. And since they couldn’t fly back to Texas for their anniversary she wanted to recreate their moment on the beach.
A little apprehensive about what could go wrong, she asks their friends to help, swearing the actual reason behind it to secrecy. Lucas knew the six of them were going to Montauk for a weekend but he was under the impression that it was just a fun little adventure before they started senior year.
And for a little while that nagging voice in her head had subsided. That is until about 2 weeks before their trip, when Gia Monte came to visit.
Riley knew very little about the girl who grew up in Texas with Lucas and Zay. She knew she was pretty, she had seen the pictures Lucas’ mom kept of the three of them as children playing outside in the mud. She knew she was athletic and really competitive, at least that’s how Lucas described her. Zay, however, remembered her as someone who was annoyingly in love with Lucas.
She didn’t know what to expect when she got word of their childhood friend spending the summer in the city. She was worried they all wouldn’t get along, but more so she was paranoid this girl’s arrival would throw a wrench in her anniversary plans with Lucas.
Still, she tried to be a good sport about it and did her best to pretend she was happy to meet the other brunette Lucas used to spend all his time with.
There was this weirdly heavy tension in the air as Lucas introduced the two of them. Riley couldn’t help but notice how beautiful this girl was, they had certain things in common like the color of their hair and eyes, but this girl was taller, leaner and with a cool edge to her that Riley only wished she could reach someday.
What made it all worse was how nice she was. She couldn’t hate her even if she wanted to. It wasn’t her fault she grew up with the boy Riley harbored strong feelings for.
Everyone was civil and polite to the new comer, trying to make her comfortable as possible. Except Smackle of course. She let everyone know exactly what she was thinking. “Am I the only one that notices an uncanny resemblance between Riley and Gia?” She asks rather loudly.
“Guess Lucas does have a type.” Zay jokes, until Maya elbows him in the side, getting him to see the look on Riley’s face.
“So what are your plans for the summer?” Gia asks, running her perfectly manicured fingers through her short choppy brown hair.
“We’re going to Montauk.” Smackle answers and everyone glares at her. She sinks back into her chair, realizing her mistake.
“What’s that?” Gia persists, looking amongst the group of friends.
“It’s in Long Island.” Lucas replies, “You’ve never been?”
She shakes her head no and Riley can see the urge Lucas has to invite her along. She chews on the inside of her cheek, waiting for the inevitable to happen.
“You should tag along.” He offers, his eyes darting over to Riley for a quick second. “I’m sure there’s room.”
“I don’t know Huckleberry. This trip was Riley’s idea, maybe we should ask her first before inviting strangers along.” Maya gives him a death stare. “No offense.” She looks to Gia who shrugs it off.
“Riles?” Lucas directs his attention to his girlfriend, waiting for a response.
She hesitates for a moment, feeling all eyes on her as she ponders her decision. “Sure.” She smiles politely. “The more the merrier right?”
--
Once they arrive at their stay, a waterfront cabin on Fort Pond that Riley found for a reasonable price on Airbnb, the six of them start to unpack the two cars they traveled in.
The cabin easily accommodates 6, even though there were only two bedrooms, there was also two couches and a hammock outside if anyone was feeling brave enough.
“The sky looks kind of dark.” Maya comments, helping Riley remove the rest of their belongings. “Did you check the weather for this weekend, Riles?”
“Sunny skies all week.” Riley answers, avoiding her best friend’s eyes. She knew if Maya took one good look at her shed be able to tell something was wrong. And truth be told, she was embarrassed as it is that this was bothering her so much. The last thing she wanted to do was complain about it.
“Hey –.” Maya snaps for her attention. “What’s the matter? Talk to me.”
“It’s nothing.” She sighs, lugging the bags upstairs to the rooms.
Maya follows her up, knowing their conversation was far from over. She watches as Riley aggressively throws Lucas’ bag on top of the bed. She couldn’t help but find the whole thing amusing.
“What is so funny?” Riley asks, when she finally looks up at her best friend who’s sporting an obnoxious smirk.
“You!” Maya chuckles, shaking her head. “Why do you do this to yourself? You could’ve just said ‘no I don’t want your hot friend joining us on a trip that I planned’…Ranger Rick would’ve understood.”
“Would he though?” Riley asks, feeling completely exasperated.
Before Maya could answer the question, Lucas comes barging in. “Hey Riles did you – oh, didn’t know you were up here Maya.”
“And where were you?” Maya asks using her accusatory tone.
“Uh…out back helping Zay start the grill?” He answers, confusion coloring his face. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine.” Riley chimes in before Maya could. “What’s for lunch? I’m starving.”
--
The skies clear up for the most part and the now group of 7 spend their afternoon outside, playing around in the sand.
Riley watches on as Lucas, Zay and Gia throw a football around. She’s so wrapped up in her own mind she doesn’t see or hear Smackle take the spot next to her.
“So tonight’s the big night.” Smackle says, interjecting her thoughts. Riley gives her an uncertain look so she continues, “Your anniversary dinner with Lucas…remember?”
“Oh yeah…I don’t see that happening.” Riley sighs, putting her attention on the ground. She draws circles and flowers in the sand as Isadora continues to speak.
“But you put in so much effort.” The raven haired beauty scrunches up her face. It was clear she didn’t understand the logic behind Riley’s decision. “You worked extra hours at Topanga’s to be able to afford this, you asked each of our parents’ permission, you set the whole thing up, I don’t understand…what changed?”
Riley doesn’t answer, instead she directs her gaze on the threesome throwing around the ball.
“Oh…” Smackle shifts in her spot, realizing what this was really about. “I suppose this is all my fault. I should not have brought up Montauk in front of her.”
Riley whips her head back to the bespectacled girl sitting on her right. “This isn’t your fault Izzy.” She smiles sweetly at her friend. “I’m just being Riley…”
“One of the best things to be.” Smackle says offhandedly.
Riley smiles to herself, pulling Smackle in for a hug.
--
As everyone is outside, cleaning up their mess, Riley heads to the kitchen to cook up some food for the anniversary dinner Smackle convinced her to still try and have.
One by one her friends trail in, all telling her about the party they’ve been invited to up the road. Apparently some guy really took a liking to Maya and told her he was throwing a big summer bash and that she could bring all her friends along.
Although the party sounded fun, Riley was finally feeling excited for her dinner with Lucas. As the 6 of them start to get ready, she pulls Lucas to the side.
“So I was thinking…hoping actually, that you’d stay with me here tonight.” She whispers as she takes him by the hand and leads him to the back.
He furrows his brows together, “You don’t wanna go to the party?”
“Don’t get me wrong it sounds like a lot of fun but I thought an anniversary dinner would be better.” She smiles, showing him the setup she laid out for them on the beach.
“I 100% agree.” He smiles, picking her up and spinning her around in his arms. He places a soft kiss on her lips and all her paranoia from earlier seemed to vanish.
Everything was going smoothly. While the others were off partying, Riley and Lucas sat on the sand, enjoying the food she made and reminiscing about their first year as a couple together.
Unfortunately as the night went on, the sky grew darker and darker. Halfway through their meal, Riley feels a raindrop trickle down her cheek.
“Oh no.” She mutters under her breath as she looks up at the now grey sky.
Slowly the rain starts to fall as the couple hurriedly pack up the picnic basket and the beach blankets. By the time they’re done, the rain starts to pour down harder, soaking them from head to toe.
“Stupid rain!” Riley yells as they run back over the sand dune to get to the cabin.
“I thought you loved the rain.” Lucas laughs as he shakes the water from his hair once they’re back inside.
Rough sounds of thunder and lightning echoes through the house as Riley tries to answer his question. “Not when it ruins my hard work.” She pouts, ringing the excess water from her long locks.
“Aw c’mere.” He smiles, placing his hands on her cheeks to pull her in for a kiss. Right before their lips touch everything goes black.
“What the hell was that?” Lucas asks, feeling Riley holding onto his body.
“I think the power went out.” She raises her voice to be heard over the rain. “It’s the storm.”
“I should call the others, check in and see if Gia’s doing okay. We don’t normally get storms like this in Austin.” He says, not giving much thought to it. Riley rolls her eyes in response, thankful that the pitch black room would hide her snark.
“Help me find some flashlights.”
The two blindly search their way through the unfamiliar cabin, feeling around inside of drawers and cabinets to see if they get lucky.
Riley wanders off, feeling around the kitchen but gets distracted by a buzzing noise. In the corner she sees a screen light up, as she gets closer she realizes it was Lucas’ cell. Curiosity getting the best of her she picks up the phone. The incoming messages were displayed on his lock screen, all of which were from Gia.
Gia: Wish you were here Gia: This party is lame! Gia: Is your dumb picnic over yet? Haha Gia: Miss you xx
“Riles, I found one.” Lucas says cheerily from behind her, flashing the bright light at the back of her head. “Riles?”
Riley spins on her feet, storming past him but not before shoving his phone into his chest. “You should get that.”
Completely lost, Lucas looks down at his screen and sighs in frustration as he chases her up the stairs, dropping the flashlight in the process. “Riley! Wait!”
When he gets to the room he can just barely make out her silhouette but from the sounds he was hearing he could tell she was packing up her bags.
“Where are you going?” He asks, his eyes finally adjusting to the darkness.
“Home.” She answers flatly, stripping the wet shirt off her body.
Lucas catches a glimpse of her bare skin in the moonlight and tries not to get distracted. Before he could ogle over his girlfriend he wanted to make sure he still had one.
“This whole trip is a disaster.” She can hear herself breaking down but she does her best to keep it together long enough for her to finish packing. “First her, and then the rain and the stupid fuse box…I just wanted it to be perfect.”
“I’m sorry Riles, I didn’t know this was an anniversary trip!” He defends himself, feeling completely guilty. “I swear to you if I did, I never would’ve invited her.”
Riley slows down, taking in his genuine tone and catching glimpses of the sincerity in his beautiful green eyes. “I’m sorry too, I just--.”
The sound of his ringtone goes off, interrupting her mid-sentence. They both glance down at the screen, seeing who the caller was. Gia.
“Of course.” She scoffs under her breath, flinging her bag over her shoulder as she heads for the stairs.
Lucas stumbles down the stairs after her, completely in awe at how she so stealthy (and quickly) moves around in the dark. She was a super klutz when the lights were on but apparently in complete total darkness she was a graceful gazelle.
He watches her grab the keys off the counter and head outside towards the car. At this point the rain is still coming down but it’s not as brutal as before. He catches her right as she’s opening the door and takes it upon his self to slam it shut.
“You’re being insane!” He yells, he was passed apologizing for something he had no control over.
“Yeah well you knew how I was when you asked me to be your girlfriend so.” She fires back.
“Riley in case it isn’t obvious to you, I don’t like Gia.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “I’ve wanted you since middle school, do you really think I’d give that up to be with someone I barely know anymore? Do you really think that little of me?”
“This isn’t about you!” She yells back, unaware of how loud they were actually being.
“Like hell it isn’t!”
Both of them failed to realize the others had returned from the party and were all getting out of someone’s car. Their friends all huddle underneath the porch, giving them enough space to hash things out but still able to hear them clearly.
“Why?” Riley asks, hearing her own voice quiver.
“Why what?!” He pushes, showing his frustration.
“Why me!” She pauses, letting it sink in. “Why do you want to be with me?”
“Because…” He answers softly.
“Because what?!” She persists.
“Because I’m in love with you!”
Somehow he was able to hear the sharp breath escape from her lips as he said those six words. The stunned look on her face told him to go on.
“Fuck I’m so in love with you, you can’t even imagine.”
He steps closer, closing the gap between them. “You’re stubborn and you always think you know what’s best, but you’re also the sweetest person I’ve ever met, and you’re kind and selfless and smart and funny and your crazy beautiful…I love you Riley Matthews and if you need to hear why I love you or why I want to be with you, I’ll spend the rest of my life doing just that.”
“Now who’s insane?” She whispers softly, smiling up at him. She wraps her arms around him and pulls him down into her embrace, kissing him ardently. “I’m in love with you too.” She smiles.
“That’s real sweet you two but maybe you should get your asses out of the rain before you catch a pneumonia!” Zay screams from over on the porch.
Hand in hand they run back over, joining the rest of the group. They all were smiling, but none of them seem surprised. They knew Riley and Lucas were in love long before they did.
As they start to pile back in to the cabin, Riley reaches out and grabs Lucas arm to stop him. “Lucas?”
“Yeah?”
“Happy Anniversary.” She smiles at him.
He kisses her again, pressing his forehead against hers once they pull away. “Happy Anniversary, love.”
Although different than she expected, it was still the perfect night.