Title: This mess was yours, now your mess is mine (1/1)
Pairing: Danny/Riley
Summary: She's spent practically all her life fantasizing about the boy next door. Imagining children, and pets and what color cars they'd have. She's even planned out what they'd spend their retirement fund on. (A month long cruise to Alaska, in case you were wondering.) She just didn't realize until it was too late that she'd cast the wrong boy next door as her Prince Charming. [Takes place right after A Love/Fate Relationship]

Author's Note: I have no idea where this came from, or WHY I'm posting it, but I'm trying to clear out all my unpublished fic and/or try to kickstart something creative in my brain. So I hope you enjoy this! (And yay for that finale!)

And I, I never understood what was at stake
I never thought your love was worth it's weight
Well now you've come and gone
I finally worked it out

I worked it out

She is such an idiot.

She's spent practically all her life fantasizing about the boy next door. Imagining children, and pets and what color cars they'd have. She's even planned out what they'd spend their retirement fund on. (A month long cruise to Alaska, in case you were wondering.) She just didn't realize she'd cast the wrong boy next door as her Prince Charming until it was too late.

Danny.

How could she have missed what was right in front of her?

While Ben has been too busy chasing everything in a skirt and making her life hell by not noticing her feelings for him, Danny had been there for her. Had been her best friend and defender for longer than she could remember. He loved her when she was Rigantor. Had never made fun of her size or her competitiveness, and never made her feel like less of a person when everyone else had; even shutting down the voices in her own head telling her she didn't matter.

And now, with her feelings new and raw, Danny has moved on. The look on his face as he walked out with Robyn, the anger and disgust directed at her, she's never seen that side of him. Riley never even thought he had that side of him to begin with. But that was probably part of the problem. She'd been so used to the loyal and optimistic Danny, she never considered him to be more complex, more complicated than what was on the surface.

Like Ben, she had put Danny on a pedestal of his own.

Out of the multitude of names she's been called, most of which she's called herself, they've never made her feel more horrible, more ashamed of her actions than the way she treated Danny's feelings. She had been so afraid of Danny's confession and how it would change everything, that she didn't realize that by ignoring it all together, she had broken his heart...and now everything was different anyway.

Anger blazes through her. Where does Danny get off being so high and mighty? How can he blame her for being scared, when he had kept his feelings a secret for their entire friendship; when an accidental butt dial was the only reason she had found out about his feelings. If anyone had the right to be angry, it was her. Was every moment between them just a way for him to get into her pants? Playing the nice guy while not being a nice guy at all? Had any moment in their relationship been genuine, or was he just waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in and win her?

And as quickly and fiercely as the anger rushed in, it dies out. Guilt eagerly rushing in to make her feel even worse.

She knows Danny. Knows the goodness and love he has in his heart. If he had kept his feelings a secret, it was because he never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable. He had wanted her to be happy, has always wanted it, and never once asked for anything in return. The prom, the treehouse, he was always there for her, encouraging her to follow her heart, even if that meant it took her away from him.

Taking a deep breath, Riley wipes her tears. She doesn't know what she's going to do or how she's going to make things right with Danny, but what she does know is that she's not going to sit here feeling sorry for herself. Maybe there will be groveling, there will most definitely be tears, and in the end, she might lose him forever. But right now she's going to walk out with her chin up and have faith that things will work out.

Title and lyrics by Vance Joy