My Neighbour

forty two

James

"Is she okay?" Uncle Alex asked and I shrugged
"Harry's here now so I'm sure she will be" I smiled
Did I want to be the person to be able to help Riley? Yes but I know for a fact it was her dad. They have this form of communication that nobody will ever understand. Even to this day I don't but I'm glad they have it
"Harry?" Aunt Sammie asked
"Riley's Dad" Mum confirmed making me nod
"They are quite the pair" Dad laugh
"You can say that again" I replied leaning against the post by everyone

--

It didn't take long for Riley and Harry to emerge from the house with smiles on their faces. It was nice to see her smiling again, not her usual smile. It's more then that
"Hey" She smiled looking up at me as she hugged me, I wrapped my arm around her kissing her temple
"Hello" I replied with a smile
"Harry! Let's introduce you to everyone" Dad said guiding Harry towards the family
"Thankyou" Riley whispered looking up at me
"For what?" I asked and she chuckled 
"I know you called him James" She responded, I smiled down at her
"I would do it all over again in a heartbeat" I said making her blush before hugging me again 

I had decided that after the day Riley had, she deserved to a nice evening out, I told her to get ready before informing everyone that we would not be around for dinner. Most of the adults were gushing over the news of what I had planned while the kids teased
"James wait up!" I hear Harry call as I was putting one of the last things needed in the car
"Everything okay?" I asked and he nodded before pulling me into a hug

"What's this for?" I asked hugging him back
"For being there for her when I wasn't" He replied still holding this hug
"I'll always be there for her, I'll always be there for both of you" I reminded him as we pulled away
"You know, you are one heck of a guy James, I'm glad Riley has you" He smiled making me smile
"You raised one hell of a daughter" I reminded him
"You love her don't you" he said looking at me with a slight hesitation. I looked up at before before trying to hide a smile
"Yeah, Yeah I do" i replied making him smile even more before pulling me into another hug 

--

Maybe an hour later, Riley and I were on the road, I knew that what I had planned was going to be almost perfect for Riley. Or at least I hoped it would be 
I've never really planned anything like this or even thought something through this much. But for Riley? It's more then worth it

"What is this place?" Riley asked as we pulled into carpark near a cliff edge
"This is what we call the LookOut" I smiled jumping out the car grabbing some of the things
"The LookOut?" Riley asked and I nodded
"It's named that because you can see the entire town, up here nothing can bother you. There is little to no service, it's just us and the view" I smiled placing the blanket down on the floor 
Riley looked at me and smiled before taking a seat next to me, I went to the car for one final trip before joining her
"It's really pretty" Riley said looking out on the view, I chuckled sitting behind her with my legs either side of her
"I can think of something even prettier" I whispered into her ear pulling her in close by the waist
"Charmer" She replied looking up at me before pressing my lips against hers

"I want to tell you something" I whispered to Riley as she continued to look out into town, She hummed in response before turning to smile up at me
"What's that?" She asked and I bit my lip slightly wondering if this was the right time or if it was too soon
"For the first time in my life, I'm doing something right" I started making her look at me confused
"For the first time in my life, I've found someone I'm scared of leaving, that I'm scared of losing" I continued making Riley offer me a sweet smile leaning up to place her hand on my cheek
"For the first time in my life, I've found someone who can put up with my weirdness, someone who doesn't see it as a need to change" I said smiling down at her placing our foreheads together 

I looked into her big brown eyes knowing that it was now or never in this 
"I've found someone that I've fallen stupidly, madly, deeply in love with" I said making her smile

My breath hitched the second the words left my mouth, I don't know what Riley is even thinking and it's killing me
I looked down at her again seeing her smile still not faltering.
"It was too soon wasn't it" I said looking away, Riley chuckled lightly placing her hand back on my cheek
"Congratulations" She said making me look at her confused

"you made the girl who swore off of love fall stupidly, madly, deeply in love with you too" She said with a wide smile covering her face

I pulled her in close crashing our lips together 
She couldn't have said anything better
"I love you" I whispered as we pulled away
"I love you" She replied kissing me once more