riley woke up in her bed, feeling strong arms around her. she had no idea how she got here nor did she even remember falling asleep. "hey babes, you fell asleep while khalil and i were playing the game." she heard ethan next to her.
"figures." riley nodded, sitting up to stretch. she pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time. 11:30 pm. she felt bad for sleeping on ethan when he came over to spend time with her.
"you wanted to talk, what's up?" ethan questioned setting his phone down, ready to give all his attention to her.
"oh yeah, it can wait till later on honestly." riley told him, feeling nervous to talk about it now. she just wanted to know his plans but how is she supposed to feel if it might hurt her.
ethan moved to his side, propping his head up. "you sure?"
"yeah i'm actually not in the mood to talk about it yet." she laid back down under him just as her stomach started growling.
"hungry?" he chuckled, rubbing his palm over her tummy.
"very." riley huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.
"well the only thing open at this time is waffle house."
"that's fine. i can down some waffles for sure." she agreed just thinking about the waffles she loves to have.
"you're a trip, riles."
++
riley sat beside ethan in waffle house feeling pure déjà vu. it felt like only yesterday when they had their first kiss and riley actually was content in her own skin. she still felt that way but then again riley was a true believer that no matter what, everything came back to bite her in the ass.
so at this very moment she felt scared. ethan not telling her his plans made her not feel reassured. even if he doing this on purpose or not, riley didn't want to be disappointed later on when there is plenty of opportunities to tell her now.
and now she felt frustrated. ethan would never do her that way.
"riles, is something bothering you?" ethan leaned over, pushing her hair out of her face that she was hiding behind as his other arm was around her protectively.
she sighed before taking in a deep breath. she couldn't find herself to look him in the face. "i just wanted to talk about you."
"what about me?"
"anything, just you. sometimes i feel as if it's always been about me."
"we talk about me but you know i like making sure you're straight. that's always been the thing here, riles."
she shook her head, slowly. "okay well not anymore. i just want to make sure we're on the same page."
"alright, talk to me riles. i'm kind of confused."
riley just decided to go ahead and tell her dilemma. "have you thought about what college you want to go to? you kinda toss those things aside but i want to know this process before you just lay it out on me."
"i've thought about it, yes. but riles, i actually don't want to talk about this. and whenever and whatever i pick i will definitely tell you. i'm still deciding." ethan chuckled from nervousness. with one arm still around riley, he propped his elbow up on the table and rubbed his face as if this were about to frustrate him more than it did.
"ethan, im trying to be a good girlfriend here." she sighed, starting to feel bad that she could possibly be pressuring him.
"and that you are. c'mon let's just live in the moment."
"i still don't know what that really means to me so."
"probably slipping stuff in people's drinks."
"you got jokes huh?" riley said but ended up laughing any way. she thought about it for a second. "well i think it's those little moments we have where you make me feel like the only girl in the world." she shrugged.
"that's a good one. maybe it's when i hang out with you and i don't know which riley i'll get everyday but she's still the best." ethan confessed easily.
she had to stop herself from smiling so big. "okay that's cute."
"or all these moments where we just lay together and i'm making you feel special as you should. i'm pretty glad to cuff you before any other guy would." he added.
riley rolled her eyes playfully, at this point she couldn't try to stop her blushing. "that wasn't even going to happen."
"you don't know that. just like you didn't know i clearly liked you." he flashed a smile.
"liked?" riley questioned even though she knew what he was trying to say. she was just hoping to hint at something more.
ethan intertwined their hands, ready to spill everything from his thoughts."i still like you. maybe more than like, i'm pretty infatuated with you, riles."
riley was now sure her heart was beating over the limit. "i haven't figured it out yet but i think i'm infatuated with you too, ethan." truth to be told, they both knew they are in love with one another. ethan just needed a perfect time to confess and riley has always been the one deserving of perfect timing.
++
i got a little lazy with this one but send me ideas that y'all wanna see bc i'm ending this story soon and i want y'all to be happy with the ending ! :)
