Girl Meets Wedding Bells(Joshaya & Rucas)

Girl Meets Saviour

'Riley!' Lucas throat had turned dry from all the shouting and the ocean's salt water. He placed his hand against a large, nearby rock so he was able to remain somewhat still as big waves rolled past him and Thomas. He looked into the water, desperate for any sign of his girlfriend. Lucas caught a glimpse of brown hair a few yards further. Without thinking, Lucas dove underwater and swam to where he thought he had seen Riley. He hadn't realized how deep the bottom was here and he had to push himself further, trying not to wince as his arm scraped against one of the giant rocks. He saw Riley, who was just a few feet removed from him. Her eyes were wide open and she was wildly shaking as she tried to free herself. Lucas immediately saw what the problem was. Riley's foot had gotten stuck in the small space between two of the rocks when she had been pulled underwater and because she was in such panic, she couldn't get herself out. Lucas wanted to tell her to stop kicking and trying to wrestle herself free, but as soon as he opened his mouth, salt water started to stream in and he could feel oxygen flowing out of him. He needed to handle quickly, because the lack of O2 was starting to get to him, and to Riley, of course, for she had been even longer underwater than him. He gently took Riley's foot in his hands and managed to pull it away from the rocks. He then put his arms around Riley, whose eyes had fluttered shut. Lucas had a hard time returning to the surface. He'd used most of his power already, and he didn't know for how long he'd already been without oxygen. With all the strength he had left in him, he pushed himself - and Riley - away from the ocean's bottom. It seemed like ages before he broke through the water's surface and took a deep breath, letting his lungs fill with oxygen and coughing out all of the water in his mouth. Riley, who was still in his arms, showed no sign of life. 'Thomas!' Lucas cried out. The surf instructor took the brunette out of the Texan boy's hands and placed her carefully on top of his surfboard. He pushed her towards the shore with urgency. Lucas followed. As they reached the shore, Thomas immediately started checking Riley's pulse.

'I can feel it', he told Lucas. 'Her heartbeat.' Lucas forced himself not to be relieved just yet. He didn't know what would happen to Riley. 'She may need mouth-to-mouth if she doesn't-' Thomas was cut off by a loud cough. Riley was coughing up what seemed like gallons of water. Her eyes opened again. When she attempted to sit, Thomas gently pushed her back on the surf board. 'Easy, Riley, easy', he said. Lucas was trying to get control of his breathing, but he was too in shock to do anything. 'R- Riley?' he asked. After coughing up more water, Riley looked up at him, panting.

'You are lucky to have this boy with you', Thomas told Riley, nodding at Lucas. 'He saved your life.' Riley sat up and let herself fall into Lucas' arms, before Thomas could tell her to keep still and lie down. She broke down into tears and made deep, primal sounds as she sobbed against Lucas. 'Hey', he said. 'Hey, Riley, look at me. You're okay now. You are safe.' Those words made Riley cry even harder. Lucas turned to Thomas. 'Could you call her parents?' he asked. Thomas nodded. 'My phone's somewhere around there', Lucas told him, pointing at where he'd been sitting earlier, before the accident. 'Be careful with her', the surf instructor said. 'She's still in shock.' He then noticed the blood on Riley's foot and lower leg, where the rock had scraped her skin. 'I'll bring something for that too', he said, looking at the wounds. Lucas nodded. 'Thanks.'

An hour later, Riley's wounds were all cleaned up, as was the scratch Lucas had gotten while saving Riley. Riley's parents, Josh, and Maya were sitting around the brunette. 'How- how are you feeling?' Maya asked her best friend. 'B-better, I guess. All thanks to Lucas and Thomas', she said, flashing the two boys a grateful look. She was shaking, even though she had a blanket wrapped around her to keep her warm. Maya had felt powerless when Thomas had called Topanga and told her about the accident. She had insisted on coming to the beach to see how Riley was doing. Something bad happening to her best friend had always been one of Maya's biggest, most awful nightmares. Cory, Topanga and Josh had been shocked when they'd received the news and they had rushed to the beach immediately.

Riley realized she'd gotten extremely lucky. If she had been underwater for even a few seconds longer... Who knew what would have happened. Lucas had risked his own life for her and she didn't know how to thank him. For the past hour, she had been trying to tell him how grateful she was, but no words could even remotely show Lucas how she felt. 'Thank you so much', Riley said for the gazillionth time. She pressed her lips against his for a few seconds before realizing everyone was watching them. Cory walked over to where Lucas was sitting and plopped down beside him. Riley thought her father was about to give her boyfriend one of his ''stay-away-from-my-daughter'' lectures, but instead, Cory patted Lucas on the back and said, 'I have no way to thank you for what you just did, son. You saved my daughter.' Tears were glistening in his brown eyes that reminded Lucas of Riley's. 'I will always do my best to keep her safe', Lucas told Cory. 'I know you will, son, I know you will.'

Cory then awkwardly pulled Lucas in for a hug, but they parted after a few seconds. 'Well, um, that was nice of you, sir', Lucas said. 'Yeah, well, let's not do that ever again', Cory replied. Lucas nodded. Riley looked at the two of them, smiling for the first time since the accident. She then caught Maya's glance. The blonde gave her a wink and then also looked at Riley's father and boyfriend bonding in their weird way. Topanga was also watching this, and as she smiled at her husband and Lucas, she put her arm around her daughter, silently vowing to make her feel protected forever.

'I'll just let you be together for a while', Thomas, who had already risen from where he had been sitting, told the group. 'Get back here!' Maya said, as she pulled him back to the sand. 'You helped Riley, and I need you to know that means the world to me', she said to him. 'It's my job, Maya.' 'I know, and I'm really grateful for what you did. Riley is one of the most important persons in my life.'

'I know', Thomas replied. 'How?' Maya asked. 'It doesn't take that much time with you two to figure out how much you love each other. You mean the world to her, and she does to you.' 'Yeah', Maya said, looking at her friend. She had been so relieved when she'd gotten to the beach and saw Riley was okay. In shock, yes, but alive. She couldn't stand the thought of Riley getting hurt. 'Yeah', Maya said again. 'She really does.'

Hi everyone :) Thank you all so much for reading this new chapter, I hope you all liked it. A special thanks to those who voted on previous chapters and to those who added this story to their reading list, I appreciate it a lot :) I wish you all an amazing day!

Love,

♥