His Texas Girl// Lucas Friar

Girl meets Bear Part 2

Lucas POV:
"Well, I'll stick around here as long as it takes because I am a supportive friend." Zay says as I hold Ari who doesn't want to get down from where I hold her.
"Hey, Riley, what about just this once, I can be the unsupportive friend?" Maya asks Riley.
"Absolutely. Live your lives." Riley says and Maya opens the door. "Oh but before you go, one quick story" she finishes.
"Hey, a story" Maya responds walking back in.
"Once upon a time there was a little tiny Riley and she was given a bear" Riley begins before going on to tell the story of how she got the bear and why she loved it so much. "And the little girl loved the little be for the rest of her little life."
"Whoa! Great story! That was so good. Guys, let's go" Maya says trying to get us to leave with her only to see everyone sniffling or looking sad or in Ari's case her head buried in my neck probably thinking about the necklace her dad gave her when she was little.
"Oh no" Maya mutters when she looks around.
"We have to find that bear you guys" Zay says saddened by the story.
"Oh no" Maya says louder this time before her phone starts to play music again signaling another taco announcement.
"Everybody has gone Taco loco! I don't think there's anybody in New York City that doesn't have one of Paco's Tacos!" The announcer exclaims through the phone.
"You're wrong, Paco!" Maya yells at her phone.
"We have to find that bear, you guys." Zay says again before they all start to look around for the bear.
Ari pulls her head out of neck and looks at me giving my a quick kiss on the lips before I put her down.
"You alright baby?" I ask holding her hand in mine.
"Yeah bubs im okay. Come on let's go find that bear" she says before we start to look for the bear.
After a while of looking Ari and I ended up helping Riley look in her room for the bear. As we look through her closet Ari and I continue to send each other funny faces trying to get the other to laugh when Riley calls our names.
"Lucas? Ari? Do you two have anything from when you guys were a kid that you still hold on to?" She asks causing Ari to giggle knowing what I was about to say.
"One thing. It's kind of dumb though." I respond.
"No it's not. It's actually really cute charming" Ari responds causing me to smile a little.
"What is it?" Riley questions.
"When I was like four years old, my Pappy Joe gave me something called a sack of gold. It was a little canvas bag and it had drawstrings to open it." I explain.
"Lucas, are you guys rich?" She asks seriously causing Ari to giggle.
"I thought so" I reply before closing the cabinet in the bay window and sitting down pulling Ari down so she is seated on my lap.
"I kept it for years. Then one day, I saw that Zay had his own little sack of gold too. And I said, "Hey, Zay, you got a sack of gold?" And he said, "Yeah." And he opened it up, poured the whole thing in his mouth, chewed it, and blew a bubble." I tell Riley and Ari giggles quietly before I tickle her side causing her to squeal.
"Bubs!" She exclaims laughing before she calms down.
"It was bubblegum" Riley asks.
"Yes, his was" I reply.
"Yours was real gold?"
"Yes. I believed it was. And I still believe it is. 'Cause I am never gonna open it up to find out any different." I explain.
"Yeah it was really funny when he found out. He came to me and told me about what happened with Zay and was like "how am I supposed to Marry you now that we don't have money for a wedding Ari?" And mind you we weren't even dating yet we were like 8 at that point." Ari says laughing.
"Ari? Do you have something you still hold on to?" Riley asks.
"Yeah. I actually have it here." Ari replies cuddling into me.
"What is it?" Riley asks her.
"This necklace here" she says pulling it out so she could see it. "When I was like 4, my dad had worked a really log shift at work and he didn't want to tell me a story so he did a quick and awful one before telling me that he loved me tons. At that point I thought of the biggest number I knew which at that point was 3000. So me knowing that I loved my dad so much replied with I love you 3000. Then he turned off the light and said "wow 3000. That's crazy." Before proceeding to tell me to go to bed before he sold all of my toys." Ari continues laughing as she remembers her dad. "We continued to say I love you 3000 all the time and on my 6th birthday he gave me this necklace which has an engraving that reads "I love you 3000" on it. I know that when I look at this necklace I'll always remember him and all the times we shared together, and though our time was cut short unfortunately, he'll always be watching over me, and he knows that I love him 3000" Ari finishes and at this point she has tears running down her cheeks and I know one probably escaped my eye.
"That's so cute" Riley awes Ari's story. "It's funny about these things we hold on to. And how life lets us know when it's time to let it go." Riley says.
"Yeah. Sometimes it's just a little bag of bubblegum." I say.
"Or it's a simple necklace" Ari says looking Riley.
"But if the right person gives it to you, then it's gold" I finish.
"Now come on let's start looking for this bear" Ari says smiling at Riley making me happy that they got along. I know how much it bothered Ari that they weren't really friends and how it made her feel like she didn't belong.
"Guys?" Riley says calling our attention again.
"Yeah" we reply.
"You guys really are great together" she says before she stands and starts to look around again causing Ari and I to smile at each other before we too start looking around.