A/N: Hey all! I'm back with another one shot. This one is a few months after the ending of Broken Wings. It's not *the* sequel that I've been planning, just *a* sequel. The sequel I'm working on is slowly coming along, and should be up sometime later this year if all goes well. This story is lightly based on Josh Turner's song, Lay Low, along with me wanting to go into the middle of nowhere right now thanks to all of the college stress…
Disclaimer: Don't own Girl Meets World, just the plot :)
Riley let out a frustrated sigh as she gazed out of her bedroom window and stretched her legs out on top of her window seat. She had been doing the same thing for the past week since she and her family had returned from their annual summer trip to Philadelphia. Three weeks had passed since she and her friends had graduated, the weather was perfect, and she had all the time in the world. So everything was great, right?
Wrong.
She was bored out of her mind. Both Maya and Farkle were at some sort of convention with the rest of Farkle's family, and Lucas was returning from Texas at some point that day. Originally, Lucas wanted Riley to come along with him, but it was around the same time of the Matthews' Philadelphia trip, so Riley couldn't go with him. They kept in contact with each other quite often, but nothing compared to seeing the other in person. Quite frankly, Riley missed him. A lot. And she couldn't wait to see him again.
There was another thing that bothered Riley.
She needed to get out of the city.
Riley couldn't take it anymore. The amount of people, the noise, the lights… it was too much for her to handle anymore. She needed to get away from it for a while; go to the middle of nowhere. Going to her grandparents' house helped relieve her nerves for a while, considering they lived a ways from the main part of the city, but her body needed more.
With another sigh, Riley stood up and headed to the kitchen for something to drink and possibly for a quick snack. She was in her own world for most of the short walk, but was brought out of it when she heard her father's voice.
"…she'd enjoy that."
Riley raised an eyebrow as she stepped into the kitchen. "Who'd enjoy what?" she asked. She looked up to see her father and Lucas standing near the dining room table, both of them looking at her and smiling.
"Lucas!" she breathed as she jogged over to him and wrapped her arms around him.
He returned the embrace and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I take it you didn't miss me at all," Lucas joked.
His teasing earned a playful slap on the arm from Riley as they released from the embrace. "Very funny. When did you get back? I thought you were going to call me."
Lucas nodded at Riley's words. "I was, but I needed to talk to your dad about something before I talked to you."
Riley's eyes drifted from Lucas, to her father, and then back to Lucas. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt you guys?"
Cory chuckled as he shook his head. "No, you came in right at the end of it. Now that our conversation is over, I'll let you two talk," he explained just before he headed out of the room.
Riley smiled at her father as he walked out of the room, and then returned her gaze back to her boyfriend.
"So, I wanted to surprise you with this over dinner," he began, pausing for a moment when he saw Riley start to frown. "Hey, don't blame yourself," Lucas said to reassure her, knowing what was running through his girlfriend's mind at the moment. "This works, too. A couple of months ago, my mom bought a cabin up in the Catskills. I haven't been up there since she purchased it, so I was wondering if you wanted to go up there with me for a few days. Check out the area, relax, and not worry about anything for a while."
Riley's lips curled into a huge smile. "Of course!" she exclaimed as she tried to contain her excitement. She was finally getting what she wanted. Time out of the city with her loving boyfriend.
Lucas returned the smile. "I thought you might."
"Can we still go to dinner, though? I really missed being with you."
Lucas extended his hand and gave her a courtly bow. "Whatever you wish, my love."
Riley bit her lip and blushed slightly as she took ahold of his hand. Whenever he did something like that, a warm feeling would grip her heart and her stomach would do an excited flip. Lucas knew exactly what to do to make her feel better, and Riley loved every moment of it.
"So, when are we going to head up there?" Riley asked as they walked out of the apartment.
"Tomorrow morning too early for you?"
Riley shook her head. "Nope, sounds good to me. I honestly can't wait!"
Lucas smiled at Riley's excitement. "Your dad thought it was a good idea. To him, it looked like you needed a break from the city."
"That's putting it mildly," Riley half joked.
It was hard for Riley to keep her eyes open as she walked over to the couch and set her suitcase down next to it. She didn't mind leaving at five in the morning, but considering she hadn't gotten up at four in a long time, her body was definitely not used to it at all. Riley turned around to see her parents sitting at the dining room table holding mugs of coffee, equally tired, if not more tired, than their daughter.
Riley let out a quiet sigh. She wished that she would wake up a bit more by having some coffee as well, but there were two problems. Caffeine had no effect on her, and she couldn't stand the taste, no matter how much she enjoyed the smell of it.
"You two going to make it?" she commented.
"Hopefully," Cory said groggily. "If Lucas gets here soon."
"Amen to that," Topanga added as she set her mug down on the table.
As if on cue, the intercom buzzed and the sound of Lucas' cheerful voice filled the room. Riley walked over, buzzed him in, and waited by the door for him.
It didn't take long for Lucas to enter the apartment. Once he opened the door, he gave everyone a pleasant smile. "Morning everyone," he greeted as he gave Riley a hug.
"Morning Lucas," Mrs. Matthews responded, looking as if she was going to fall back asleep at any moment.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Riley nodded, and Lucas walked over to pick up her suitcase. "We'll see you in a few days," he announced.
Both of Riley's parents nodded. "See you then," Cory responded. "Drive safely."
"Will do," Lucas responded before he wrapped his free arm around Riley's shoulder and they headed out the door.
As they walked down the stairs, Riley leaned her head on Lucas' shoulder. "How are you so energetic this early in the morning?"
An amused smile spread over Lucas' face as he let out a soft chuckle. "Guess I never really kicked the habit of getting up early. That's what I get for being raised on a farm. I turned into a morning person."
"I'm a morning person," Riley argued. "Just not this early."
Both of them laughed as Lucas helped Riley into his truck, tucked her suitcase in the back seat, and climbed into the driver's seat. Before he started it, Lucas picked up the thermos that was in the cup holder closer to Riley. "For when you're ready to enjoy it, some vanilla chai."
Riley smiled softly and shook her head. "Are you trying to win 'boyfriend of the year'?" she joked as she took the thermos from him and put it back into the cup holder.
"Nope," Lucas responded as he turned on the stereo system and the calming music of Celtic Woman began to play. "Just trying to make sure you have no worries on this trip."
"Well, you're doing a good job of it so far. Just make sure you relax yourself."
"That won't be a problem," Lucas replied as he started the truck and drove down the street, beginning their vacation together.
OoOoO
Riley's eyes fluttered open as the sun's rays gently brushed over her face. Just from looking out the window, Riley couldn't tell how long she had been asleep… heck, she didn't even realize she fell asleep until just now. As she straightened her posture, Riley blinked a few times to help readjust her eyes to the brighter light that was now present throughout the day. She glanced out the window, and noticed that the sun was quite a ways up in the sky, making the sky a beautiful light blue as it continued to sail on.
"Morning, princess," Lucas said, his voice having a hint of a musical tone to it as he spoke. "How did you sleep?"
Riley inhaled deeply and stretched a bit as she shifted towards him. "Pretty good, actually," she responded as she reached for her chai, which was still pretty warm. "How long have I been sleeping?"
"Nearly three hours," he replied as he turned down a different road. "You dropped off soon after we started out. We should reach the cabin in about an hour or so."
She nodded as she shifted her focus to the passing scenery and took a sip of her chai. The houses were getting fewer and farther apart, there were more trees in abundance, and farming equipment roamed the fields. Standing in front of them were the rolling hills that marked the beginning of Catskills. Riley sighed as the corners of her lips tugged into a small smile. She could get used to this view far too easily.
Who knows, she thought. Maybe someday I'll live in a place like this. Of course I'll bring Maya with me.
The end of her thought brought her much amusement. Maya wasn't exactly one for country living, especially the thought of what Lucas had been brought up in. But she did enjoy the more wide open spaces, like the area of where Riley's grandparents lived. They had already promised that they'd try to live in the same area so they could spoil each other's kids rotten.
A thought suddenly popped into her head. "Lucas," she began. "How can you stand the city?"
Lucas bit the inside of his cheek as he thought about Riley's question. "When I first moved there, I really didn't want to. I didn't like the feel of it. Crowded areas, people pretty much everywhere you look… but the people I've met made it worth it," he replied as he took ahold of Riley's hand. "Why do you ask?"
Riley's eyes shifted downward as she shrugged. "I don't know. I've been in the city all of my life, and I don't like it one bit; I would rather be in an area like this," she said as she gestured to the area surrounding them. "I was just curious as how someone like you could adjust to it."
"Justified question. But in all honesty, I would like to move when I get the chance. The city is right for many people; I just don't consider myself to be one of them."
Riley nodded at his words, and then returned her gaze to the passing fields, often imagining what it would be like to live in certain houses that they passed.
The two of them didn't say much of anything else for the remainder of the trip. Every once in a while, they would exchange glances at each other, and Lucas would mindlessly stroke his thumb on the back of Riley's hand.
Despite having an hour left, the rest of the drive seemed to pass rather quickly. It wasn't long before the trees became denser and the paved road turned into one of dirt. Soon after the transition to small town to middle of nowhere happened, Lucas turned down one more road and pulled up to the cabin.
Riley's mouth dropped in awe as the trees seemed to pull back their curtain of leaves to reveal the cabin. It was a small two story log cabin that had a beautiful deck built onto the front and a stone chimney on the outside wall closest to them. There were a couple of trees near the roofed deck, and several bushes stood alongside its railing.
Lucas parked his truck and looked at Riley, smiling at her obvious surprise. "Like it?"
"Not at all," she breathed. "I love it! This place is amazing!"
The two of them got out of the vehicle, grabbed their bags, and headed inside. Once they stepped inside, Riley glanced around. Currently, they were in the small living room, adorned with a love seat and a couple of chairs that were crafted with thin tree trunks. Behind that was the kitchen area, along with a door in the far left wall. Just to their left was a staircase that went to the outside wall, then turned right and headed upward.
Lucas led the way inside, first heading into the kitchen to stock the refrigerator with the food he had brought in the cooler. Riley followed slowly behind him, still taking all of it in.
Once Lucas had finished, he turned back around to face his girlfriend. He smiled as he watched her look around at everything that she saw. "Enjoying it?"
"Very much."
"Your room is through that door over there," he began, gesturing in the general direction with his head. "I'm going to go put my bag upstairs then head out to turn on the generator." Before he left, Lucas gave Riley a quick kiss on the cheek and headed up the stairs, which creaked under his weight as he scaled them.
Riley picked up her suitcase and headed towards the door she saw earlier. She placed her hand on the knob and slowly opened the door. As she stepped inside, the gentle smell of cedar filled her lungs. Riley took a couple strides towards the bed and placed her bag at the end of the footboard. The only thing she unpacked were her toiletries, and she brought those into the small but cozy bathroom, whose door wasn't that far from the bed's headboard. She didn't really see a reason for unpacking everything since they were only staying there a few days. If they were staying a week, then she would have.
Once she declared herself 'unpacked', Riley walked up to the paned window that was on the opposite wall. The view, of what she could see, was amazing. The trees that stood a few feet from the window seemed to thin out a bit, and off in the distance, Riley thought she could see some sort of rock formation.
She was brought out of her daze by a knock on her door and Lucas speaking to her. "Anything you want to do first?"
Riley nodded as she approached him. "A nice walk sounds good to me. Is that okay?"
Lucas nodded in response as he offered her his arm. "As you wish."
Riley shook her head slightly and smiled as she took ahold of his arm. The two of them headed out of the cabin, not really walking in any particular direction. Once they reached the edge of the clearing that surrounded the cabin, Lucas spotted a narrow path and led Riley down it.
As they continued to walk in the lovely silence, Riley rested her head on Lucas' shoulder and let her eyes gaze at everything that surrounded them. For some reason, the way the different types of trees stood so close together reminded her of Narnia. She knew it was kind of silly to think of them in that way, but this was as close as she was getting to the imaginary world as she could.
The summer breeze began to blow gently, causing the leaves high above them to rustle, and it sent a few of them that had blown onto the ground fluttering by them. Despite the breeze's warmth, it sent a chill through Riley's body. Whether Lucas felt it or not, he readjusted his arm and wrapped it around Riley's shoulders, and brought her closer to him. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the wooden scent of the air, and closed her eyes, allowing Lucas to guide her. If there was something that Riley liked more about this area than the sights, the sounds and scents came close.
Riley sighed as she shifted her focus more towards the rhythm of their walking, which seemed to be in time with Lucas' heart beat. Both were slow, calm, and strong.
OoOoO
The two of them remained this way for quite a while. Every few moments, Lucas would look down at Riley and couldn't help but smile each time. It was amazing how relaxed she already looked, despite being out here for only a few hours. He always found her to be lovely, but out here, her beauty seemed to enhance. Lucas couldn't point out what it was; all that he knew was that it left him speechless. She seemed to be as if she were truly home.
After a few more minutes, Riley's eyes fluttered open and she raised an eyebrow. "What's that noise?"
They stopped in their tracks and both of them listened more intently. After focusing on it for a few seconds, Lucas smiled. "Come on, I'll show you," he replied as they started off again.
It wasn't long before they reached a small clearing, and what Riley saw amazed her. It was a stream that had a waterfall that trickled down a rock formation at the other end of the clearing. Riley released herself from Lucas' hold and continued to look around. Once she was a few feet out, she looked up towards the sky and twirled around, the pebble shore crunching underneath her feet.
"Can you imagine star gazing out here?! It wouldn't be as good as back at the cabin, but it would still be so amazing!"
Lucas chuckled as he approached her. "That it would be."
"I could stay right here forever," she said, twirling once again.
"Well, there's just one problem with that."
Riley stopped and faced him. "And what's that?"
"We kinda need food."
Riley bit her cheek as she felt her stomach start to rumble with hunger. She must have been so absorbed in everything around her, that she hadn't been paying attention to her empty stomach.
"Yeah… that we do."
Lucas took ahold of Riley's hands and smiled. "How about we head back for lunch, and come back out here a bit later?"
Riley nodded and smiled. "That sounds great."
OoOoO
Riley and Lucas didn't head back out to the waterfall until well into the evening. After lunch, they got so wrapped up in conversation that they didn't realize how much time had passed. By the time their conversation came to a close, it was almost time for dinner.
Once everything was put away from dinner, Lucas packed a few things into a bag and the two headed back out. No matter what Riley did to find out what Lucas had brought, he refused to answer until they were there.
Immediately after they reached the stream, Riley turned to Lucas and asked, "So, are you going to tell me now?"
Lucas chuckled as he set the bag down near a fallen log. "Partly…" he dragged out as he pulled a small box of matches from the bag and began to collect some twigs and sticks. After walking a few feet away from the fallen log, Lucas rearranged some of the larger stones into a circle, and placed the sticks and twigs in the center of the circle. Once he was satisfied with the layout, he struck a match and lit the tinder, allowing the small campfire to come to life.
After keeping an eye on it for a few minutes to make sure it wouldn't die out, Lucas stood back up and headed over to his bag. What he pulled out made Riley squeal in delight.
In his hands were graham crackers, chocolate bars, a bag of marshmallows, and tongs. Riley hadn't made s'mores in years, and quite frankly, she missed it. Trying to roast marshmallows over the stove top in her parents' apartment just wasn't the same.
OoOoO
After eating about three s'mores each, the two of them went and leaned up against the fallen log. Once they were in a comfortable position, Lucas wrapped his arms around Riley and began to watch the fire turn into a small bed of coals.
Riley on the other hand, was looking up at the stars. Like she thought earlier, she wasn't able to see much, but it was still beautiful none of the less.
The two of them were silent for quite some time; the only 'conversation' being the small glances they would give each other. Finally, Riley broke the silence.
"Thanks for bringing me up here. So far, it's been absolutely perfect."
Lucas gave her a caring smile before he leaned in and kissed her. "You're welcome."
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Riley asked.
"Whenever I'm with you, I'm having the time of my life."
Riley felt herself start her cheeks start to heat up, but something landed on her cheek, helping them cool down a bit. She looked up and noticed that the stars were gone; they were now covered with dark clouds. Another raindrop fell on her forehead, then another, and another, until the rain started to come pouring down.
The two of them jumped up from their spots, quickly gathered everything they had brought, and ran back to the cabin as quickly as they could. With each passing moment, the rain came down harder and harder, making it nearly impossible to see two feet in front of them.
Luckily for them, the small clearing wasn't that far from the cabin. But by the time they were inside the cabin, both of them were dripping wet.
"Geez, I've never been in rain like that before," Riley commented. "It was actually kind of fun."
Lucas chucked. "That it can be," he replied as the sound of the rain pelting the rooftop increased to a steady roar.
Riley wiped her nose and sighed. "As much as I don't want this day to end, I'm rather tired."
"Don't worry about it," Lucas responded. "We still have tomorrow to enjoy. I'll see you in the morning," he finished as he placed a kiss on his girlfriend's forehead.
Riley nodded as they bid each other goodnight, and then headed to her room to find her towel and her pajamas. Once she was able to find those, Riley towel dried her hair, peeled off her wet clothes, and proceeded to get ready for bed. As she brushed her hair, she relived the memories that she had made just on this day alone. Riley sighed as she set down her brush and proceeded to braid her damp hair.
After that was done, Riley turned down the covers and crawled into bed, someone surprised at how soft the mattress was. Once Riley's head hit the pillow, she fell asleep instantly.
Riley awoke to the sound of the rain tapping on her window. She rolled over onto her back, inhaled deeply and opened her eyes. She just had the best night's sleep she had in a very long time. As much as she wanted to roll back over and fall asleep, her body wanted her to get up. With a sigh, Riley got to her feet and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower. Once that was done, she slipped into a pair of jean shorts and a t shirt, and headed out into the kitchen area.
Her bedroom door creaked as she opened it, announcing her presence. Riley's eyes drifted over to the love seat that was in the living room, and saw Lucas' emerald eyes looking back at her.
"Morning, sunshine," he greeted as he set his book on the coffee table and walked over towards her.
Riley smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. "Morning," she replied softly.
"Sleep well?"
She nodded. "You know it. So what have you been up to?"
"Not much," he replied. "Trying to read. The wording of it is harder to understand than I thought."
An idea popped into Riley's head, and she smiled up at him. "Why don't you try reading it allowed? Sometimes doing that helps give you a different perspective."
Lucas returned the smile. "Okay then."
The young couple made their way over to the love seat. Lucas picked up the book from the coffee table as Riley curled up right beside him.
Lucas flipped to the beginning of the book and started to read.
"A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate. The hour, some little time before sunset, and the place, the West Barricade, at the very spot where, a decade later, a proud tyrant raised an undying monument to the nation's glory and his own vanity.
"During the greater part of the day the guillotine had been kept busy at its ghastly work: all that France had boasted of in the past centuries, of ancient names, and blue blood, had paid toll to her desire for liberty and for fraternity…"*
Riley raised an eyebrow as Lucas continued to read. She knew this story.
"…And so the crowd rushed away from the Place de la Gréve –"*
"Hold it," Riley said as she positioned herself to face Lucas.
"Hold what?"
Riley gave him a playful smile. "What are you doing?"
He returned her smile with a sly one of his own. "I'm afraid, dear lady, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"This is the beginning to The Scarlet Pimpernel… you read this soon after we got together!"
Lucas chuckled and threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Okay, okay… you got me. I didn't know what we could do together inside since it's still raining pretty hard."
"You could have just suggested we do this."
"Yeah…" he admitted. "But this way was more fun."
Riley playfully shook her head and curled back up. "Okay, continue."
As Lucas continued to read, Riley closed her eyes and focused on his voice. Despite having read the book herself several times, it was interesting to see what Lucas emphasized on. Depending on how he said certain words or phrases, Riley saw different images than what she usually saw. And it was quite fun!
Lucas continued to read on for about six more chapters before they took a break for lunch. Afterwards, they returned to reading for another couple of chapters, and then decided to talk for a while. There wasn't much that went back and forth between them, but it didn't matter. As long as they were together, that was fine with them.
OoOoO
Lucas' eyes drifted over to Riley, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. They had picked up reading again after dinner, but Riley didn't make it through two chapters before she had drifted off. The two of them stayed like this for a while, mostly because Lucas didn't want to disturb her sleep. But it was time for the both of them to start getting ready for bed so they could head out early tomorrow.
"Hey Riley," Lucas whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Time for bed."
Riley let out a sigh before she responded. "Mmkay…"
The two of them stood up, and Lucas walked Riley to her room, well aware she probably wasn't awake enough herself to do it on her own.
"Goodnight, princess. Sleep well," he bid before he kissed her on her forehead.
"Night Lucas," she breathed, and she returned the kiss before she dragged herself the rest of the way into her room.
It didn't take Riley long to get ready for bed, considering she did most of her packing earlier that day. Once Riley crawled into bed, a small smile spread across her lips.
Best vacation ever, she thought, just before she drifted off.
*Opening to The Scarlet Pimpernel. I do not own it
A/N #2: So how was that for an in between? If you would be so kind as to leave a review before you head out, it would be much appreciated :) ~cowgirlangel95 out!