rucasland, rucas one shots.

happily ever after.

She's free.

It's been two long years of her playing the ideal trophy wife for her ex husband, Charlie, and she's finally free of him and his lies. It was the most unhealthy relationship one could possibly be stuck in. He drank, he cheated, and he was a fraud.

He painted an unrealistic, perfect life in his mind, and when he didn't get it he did what all spoiled brats do. He threw a temper tantrum, even going as far to slap her across the face. He would've done it again hadn't it been for one of his golf friends' wife noticing a red tint to her darling face.

Riley finally found it in herself to escape the hell he put her three, and got a divorce, along with a restraining order. And she's free.

The sky is bluer, the grass is greener, and her life is better. She's cleansed, physically and emotionally. And all she wants is an ice cold beer. Not champagne or a cosmopolitan like she's grown accustomed to guzzling at galas, she wants beer out of a glass bottle, from a bar.

Which is how she wound up sitting on a stool at Johnson's Steak Pub.

The bar was not too busy, and quiet enough for her to hear Carrie Underwood's voice lightly flowing from the speakers. She took a swig of her Budweiser beer, letting her taste buds remember the drink.

"I don't care how bad you miss the strawberry tarts, I'm not sneaking one in my luggage, Zay."

Her eyes quickly shifted in the direct of the familiar voice.

"I'm not doing it. End of discussion."

The man ended the phone call, chuckling to himself.

The light bulb in her head went off at the sound of his unforgettable laugh, and she realized exactly who it was sitting just two feet from her.

Lucas Joseph Friar.

Her first love.

She searched her brain for a proper way to greet someone whom you haven't seen or spoken to in six years. She opened her mouth, and the words came out. Words she hadn't planned on saying.

"I see Zay is still keeping you on your toes." She mentally face palmed herself. You don't reunite with a witty line that verifies you were eavesdropping.

Lucas' eyes widened at that sweet, melodic voice that hasn't graced his ears in years. He jerks his head left to see a beautiful ghost. Riley Addison Matthews.

"Riley?" He whispered, needing confirmation it was the pretty brunette.

"How ya doin?" She quoted her mother's favorite line, that she still uses to this day. He breaks out that million dollar grin that gave her butterflies in her teenage years. Apparently, it still does. She smiled so wide her cheeks began hurting.

"What are you doing here - in a bar?" He asked, amazed by her presence.

"I came here to forget."

His excitement and anxiousness didn't allow him to focus on her muttered words.

"This seat taken?" She quipped, gesturing to the stool between them.

"You tell me." He replied, smirking. She swiftly hopped over beside him, dragging her beverage along with her. "I never thought I'd see Riley Matthews again." He admitted, chuckling.

"You're telling me. I think the last time I saw you, you were driving away in your white truck, to UC Davis. Tell me, how'd college life treat you? Tell me all about your life." She pried, but he didn't mind. She took another sip of her drink, which he was surprised to see her drinking, and she rested her head on her hand.