NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

Title: Nothing Else Matters

Point of View: Lucas'

—

The slam of the door echoed in my ears as I stared blankly at the empty spot where Riley Matthews had stood only five minutes ago. I couldn't wrap my head around what had just happened because I honestly didn't understand what I had done wrong. One minute we were in her family's apartment talking about what we wanted for dinner and the next she was storming out of her room, tears streaming down her face. I had been frozen here, completely in shock, my brain screaming at me to run after her but my body unable to move, like my shoes had been superglued to the floorboards. What had I said that had hurt her so badly?

—

"So I was thinking Chinese. I feel like sesame chicken and Egg Rolls are the perfect food to eat while you're watching a Knicks game," I suggested, scrolling through my phone for the menu for our favorite Chinese restaurant.

"And why is that?" Riley asked, a bemused look on her face as she added little smiley faces to her freshly painted toenails.

"Because… You know I don't really have a reason, I just think that it's a good combination," I laughed to myself and glanced up at Riley. She had this look of pure concentration, like she didn't want to mess up or everything would be ruined.

An uncomfortable silence followed, which was rare for us. There was a time when we could talk for hours and hours on end about the most mundane subjects and not even realize how late it had gotten or that we had other responsibilities that we needed to take care of. But lately I had noticed a quietness in our relationship that didn't quite fit and it was unsettling.

"So… What's Maya up to tonight?" I asked, attempting to get the conversation rolling.

Riley looked up briefly and then back down at her toes.

"Not sure. I think Farkle was helping her with an English project or something," Riley replied, offering nothing else on the topic. Bringing up Maya usually livened up the conversation. Riley could talk about her best friend for hours, relishing in memories that had shaped who she was or retelling funny stories that Maya had told about her mom's past. However, that didn't seem like the case tonight.

More silence.

"Looks like we've forgotten how to talk to each other," I joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. "You'd think now that we were officially a couple we'd have a lot more to say."

Riley's head shot up so fast that it startled me. She looked at me like I was a stranger, threw the nail polish on the bench of the bay window, and stormed out of the room, the door slamming behind her.

—

Oh no.

"Riley!" I yelled at the empty apartment. I had to find her.

I bolted out of the apartment and turned towards the staircase, taking the steps two at a time. She could have been anywhere by now. I could check the library, or Maya's apartment, or maybe she was at Topanga's or-

I stopped abruptly. There she was, sitting on the curb, the rain falling hard and fast, soaking her from head to toe. I ran up to her, but then slowed down when I saw the look on her face. Her expression was a mixture of upset and confused, but mostly hurt. Had I done that with just my words? I would never forgive myself if that were the case.

"Riley?"

She stood up quickly and started walking to the other end of the sidewalk. I ran to catch up with her, blinking away raindrops that were falling into my eyes.

"Riley, please listen to me! I didn't mean what I said! The way it came out was not how I meant it to sound," I blurted out quickly, hoping I was making sense.

"Lucas, just go home!" She yelled over the roar of the rain. She was doing everything she could to avoid my gaze.

"Riley look at me!" She finally stopped walking and slowly matched her gaze with mine. "Talk to me. I know you and I know that what I said up there was not the only thing that upset you. What happened?"

"Lucas, it's not important okay? Can we just forget about it?" Her eyes were pleading with me, but I was determined.

"No." I said this as firmly as possible, hoping she couldn't tell how terrified I was of losing her.

She sighed in defeat, clearly realizing that I was not going to back down without a fight.

"Lucas, this is why I didn't want to become a couple! I didn't want to ruin what we had… I didn't want to ruin our friendship. If we can't talk to each other like we used to then maybe we should go back to being friends!" Riley was biting her lip. She only did that when she was nervous or lying or… Not telling me the whole truth.

"Riley did someone say something to you? About our relationship?"

"What, no! I don't-" she stammered, but then stopped. She knew I had figured it out.

I looked at her expectantly, begging her with my eyes to tell me what was wrong.

"It was…" She took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. "It doesn't matter who it was. But they said that we worked better as friends. That we had more meaningful conversations and we were more comfortable with each other before we became a couple. That you were Mr. Perfect and I was Super Clutz and how that was a terrible combination." She paused and looked up at me, wondering if she should say more. I nodded slightly and she continued.

"They said that we had no chemistry." She said this quickly, like it was a weight that she didn't want to carry anymore and was grateful to be rid of. "And I don't know Lucas maybe they're right! Maybe we were better before we became a couple. You even said we couldn't talk to each other like we used to."

"I was just trying to lighten the mood I wasn't serious!" I countered, desperation in my voice.

She ignored this and continued. "And maybe we don't have chemistry! We don't hold hands, we don't write each other gushy love notes, we haven't even-"

I didn't let her finish. I pushed through the rain and the wind to pull her as close to me as I could. I placed my hands on either side of her face and kissed her like it was the most important thing I had ever done in my entire life. The rest of the world faded away and it was just the two of us kissing in the rain.

"What was that?" she breathed, her words barely audible.

"That was chemistry," I assured her. "Riley, we belong together and not as just friends. I need you to trust me when I tell you that. We haven't been talking like we used to because we've been letting all the noise of the outside world get in and we shouldn't have. What the rest of the world says doesn't matter. The only thing that does matter is how we feel about each other. I like you more than I thought was possible to like anyone and I think that you still-"

"I do," she agreed, nodding quickly.

"Okay. Then nothing else matters," I told her, tilting her chin up slightly so that our noses were almost touching.

"Nothing else matters," she echoed, placing her hands on my shoulders and smiling slightly.

We stood there for a few minutes, our eyes interlocked and our hearts beating faster that I thought was possible. We were frozen in time, like a couple in an old painting. Life was happening around us, but the background was faded so that we were the focal point, the clearest thing in view. I knew that there were a lot of uncertainties, but in that moment there was one certainty that clawed it's way to the top of my mind and made everything else seem irrelevant. I was in love with Riley Matthews. And nothing anyone said was ever going to change that.