nineteen - Almost Is Never Enough
‘’Ryan!’’ Auggie cheers. Spite the baby diaper that matched the theme with the Happy New Year’s pageant being displayed diagonally across his bare torso, he still ran around Riley’s company who she invited over as a little get together and opened his arms out for a hug.
‘’Hi Auggie,’’ She grins, picking him up and allowing him to wrap his arms around her stomach and his arms around her neck. She hugs him back as she walks further into the Matthew’s household.
Topanga Matthews, Cory Matthews and Riley Matthews stood by the stairs, smiling as she came over.
‘’The year couldn’t pass by any faster, huh?’’ She smirks.
‘’Hi, Ryan,’’ Topanga chuckles. She watched Ryan having a little struggle pulling Auggie off of her.
‘’Okay, hun,’’ She clears her throat. ‘’I gotta put you down now.’’
He squeezes her closer. ‘’But I’m selfish. I haven’t seen you in five ever.’’
‘’Yeah,’’ A rebellious blonde came up from behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘’So am I, you know,’’ She shrugs. ‘’As one of her best friends.’’
‘’Fine,’’ He pouts. The strength he held around Ryan became lighter for her to pull him off. She gently sets him back on his two feet, but she remains her bent position as she spoke to him. ‘’I’ll tell you what? When the ball drops, you can stay right by side. That way you can have me all to yourself.’’
His posture straighten, grinning. ‘’You got yourself a deal.’’
Ryan leans back up giggling while he ran off, back upstairs to his room. He was most likely going to go and change his clothes. The brunette turns to her best friends and holds her arms out for a group hug.
‘’Ugh,’’ Maya groans. ‘’It really does seem like it’s been five ever since we seen you.’’
As the trio pulled away from the hug, Riley genuinely questions with arched brows, ‘’How was Massachusetts? Were they nice?’’
Ryan Collins had missed recent classes because her soon to be guardian, Jimmy Moore had planned another trip out of the country. Only this time, this plan was to see his family that had decided to move out of the city. He wanted Ryan to meet the people he grew up with given her original couldn’t provide that.
‘’It was so nice,’’ She spoke softly. The smile on her face showed that she was genuinely happy. Living under Jimmy’s care was almost as welcoming and comforting as it was being with her mother. Almost. But, she couldn’t be ever more grateful to have someone like him care for her. ‘’His whole family was so nice, and funny. They want to come out to New York to get to know me more.’’
‘’Sounds like you’re contempt, Ryan,’’ Mr. Matthews chimes in.
‘’I truly am, Mr. Matthews,’’ She smiles at him. ‘’I haven’t felt this good in a long time.’’
The doorbell hand rang, disrupting their conversation.
‘’I got it,’’ Riley announced as she dashed off. Ryan watched as Riley opened the door, revealing Farkle Minkus and Isadora Smackle wearing matching knitted sweaters. On both sweaters, it read, I’m with this genius, with arrows pointing at each other.
Farkle had took Smackle’s coat and hung her’s and his own on the coat rack while Smackle gave Riley one of her significant awkward hugs. But, they seemed to be improving the more she encounters with the group.
Ryan turns to Maya and tugs at her arm. ‘’Let’s go say hi.’’
Maya shakes her head, her lips pursed as she does so. ‘’I’m good. I’m gonna go sit down anyway.’’
Ryan didn’t let her arm go when she tried to walk away. Her blonde locks swifted while turning to face her. Ryan furrows her brows and asks, ‘’Are you sure? You okay?’’
She flats her lips and nods her head. Though her gaze wasn’t meeting eye to eye. ‘’Yeah, I’m good.’’
Ryan jerks her head back as Maya walked off towards the window to take a seat. She was sure to question that later, Ryan had thought to herself before shrugging it off. Ryan then walks towards the front door, where Riley, Smackle and Farkle seemed to have switched places.
Riley stood in the doorway while Smackle and Farkle stood across from her on the inside. Ryan snuck up from behind and around Farkle just coincidentally when Lucas did the same with Riley, entering the residence.
Ryan furrows her brows, noticing Riley’s odd features that shifted when he made himself known.
‘’Unless my third wheel tries to intervene,’’ Smackle snapped at Lucas Friar’s presence.
‘’I’m not your third wheel, Smackle,’’ Lucas scoffs. ‘’I just arrived at the same time.’’
‘’You make weak points, bubba,’’ Ryan adds on, a playful smirk sketching her lips before stepping forward to develope him in a hug. Lucas had hugged her tight and she honestly have never felt more relieved.
It felt like they had drifted after Texas, but given that the two had time apart, it assured both that not having one another in their lives felt foreign, especially in Lucas defense. The sense of knowing they would always feel this way, convinced Ryan that neither one of them were going nowhere.
During the hug, Smackle retaliates, ‘’I agree with Ryan. Desperation doesn’t look good on you, Lucas, even though everything else does.’’
Lucas and Ryan slowly depart from their hug with furrowed brows.
‘’Smackle!’’ Farkle scolds.
‘’Which part was I not supposed to say out loud?’’
He had relaxed when wrapping an arm around her. ‘’You can say whatever you want,’’ Farkle turns to look at Lucas and entitles, ‘’She’s mine.’’
‘’Tell her that!’’ Lucas exclaims.
Lucas began to head off towards where Maya sat as Farkle and Smackle headed for the couch. Ryan Collins decided to be a third wheel, more of so she could catch up with Farkle.
‘’Hey, Smackle,’’ Ryan greets, smiling wide as she approached. Since Farkle sat on the end of the couch, Ryan chose to sit by him but on the floor, given the end of the couch was taken by a couple of school girls. ‘’Mind if I third wheel?’’
She clings closer to his side. ‘’As long as you know, he’s mine.’’
‘’Of course,’’ She perks. ‘’Sisters before misters.’’
‘’Riley has till midnight,’’ Farkle blurts out briefly. Furrowing her brows, Ryan tilts her head to the side, wondering how to context this information.
‘’To do what?’’ Smackle asks, just as clueless as Ryan. That is, until she remembered the secret only Farkle and Ryan had figured from Riley’s case on the love triangle.
Her face fell from realization, she cooed, ‘’Oh. Okay.’’
‘’What don’t I know?’’ Smackle begins to question. As a girl, Ryan knew she was growing insecure and left out, even if the secret was meaningless and irrelevant towards Smackle. But she didn’t want her to feel bad, regardless.
‘’You’ll see at midnight,’’ Ryan smiles. ‘’Remember, sisters before misters.’’
Smackle shifts in her seat. ‘’I’ll take your word for it, sister.’’
She couldn’t help but grin wider. She was growing close to her, trusting her.
It wasn’t long into the party before Charlie Gardner approached the area, Farkle, Ryan and Smackle sat at. He sets a board game called the Couples Game onto the coffee table.
Riley approached his side by asking, ‘’Whatcha’ got there, Charlie?’’
‘’It’s the Couples Game. Wanna play?’’
Attention was alarmed when Lucas bursts from the blue, ‘’What is it?’’
‘’Shows if you’d be a good couple or not,’’ Charlie explains. ‘’Wanna play?’’
Riley Matthews, Maya Hart and Lucas Friar exclaim in unison, ‘’No!’’
Charlie tilts his head to the side, taunting him. ‘’What’s wrong, Lucas? Scared?’’
Maya slowly approached the couch while Lucas stopped from where Smackle sat, taking her presence as his line of boundaries. He looks him up and down and shakes his head. ‘’No, I’m not scared of anything. Let’s go.’’
Ryan was looking up at him, now cocking a brow. ‘’But when I showed you an episode of The Walking Dead that one time-’’
Lucas quickly defends himself by holding a hand up to shush her. ‘’It was three in the morning and the basement makes a lot noises.’’
‘’Riley,’’ Charlie turns to Riley who was intently eyeing Lucas. ‘’I think you might find this interesting. Would you like to be my partner?’’
She then turns to him. ‘’Sure.’’
Lucas turned to find Maya sitting a decent distance by Smackle as Riley and Charlie also got on the floor. They took up an end of the coffee table together as Lucas asked Maya in a competitive tone, ‘’You and me?’’
‘’Sure.’’
‘’Count us in,’’ Farkle pipes up.
Smackle smiles. ‘’I like it better when we’re on the same team, my former nemesis.’’ Farkle pulls her close to his side. ‘’And now I go like this,’’ She then leans her head on his shoulder and relaxed her tense posture.
‘’Okay, first question is for us,’’ Riley had the pack of cards in her hand. She slipped one out and read aloud, "What is your partner's favorite movie snack? I know this. It's popcorn and licorice.’’
‘’When something funny happens and she thinks she's laughed too hard, she looks around the theater to see if anybody heard her. And if she thinks something scary is gonna happen, she reaches out and grabs your arm,’’ Charlie shows off his evident knowledge, so proud to finally have the girl of his dreams.
Lucas smiles and adds ‘’And she doesn't even know she did.’’
‘’It's not your turn, Friar!’’ Charlie snaps.
‘’And that wasn't the question, Gardner!’’ He fires back. ‘’What's her favorite snack?’’
‘’Gummies,’’ He answers with no hesitation.
‘’Yeah, but what-’’
‘’Red.’’
‘’Yeah, but what does she-’’
‘’She bites their heads off first so they feel less pain.’’
Ryan was eyeing him as if he had three heads before looking back at Lucas with those same features. ‘’He's like a creepy creep-creep!’’
Maya shrugs her shoulders. ‘’Why are you interested?’’
Lucas holds a hand up to his chest, countering, ‘’I'm not.’’
Maya leans forward to pick up the stack of cards. ‘’Okay,’’ She hands it to him and asks, ‘’You wanna pick a card for us?’’
‘’Yeah.’’
Ryan also took noticed of how forceful Maya had smiled it him. It looked painful even when she dropped her small grin. As Lucas slides a card out, he reads, "How would you describe your personality: library or campfire?’’
There was a pause. An extremely awkward and intense pause. If things weren’t weird before they did now.
‘’Oh. Well, you know,’’ Lucas sticks the card into his mouth, chewing it up.
Ryan grimaced while Maya scolds, ‘’Huckleberry, it's just a game.’’ She takes the stack of cards from his grasp before pulling out a card. "Is it possible to love two people at the same time?"
Ryan furrows her brows when witnessing Maya tense at the question. Did she love someone else? Who would it be?
The blonde looks away from the card and met Lucas’ confused gaze. His brows were furrowed as he was still munching on the game card.
‘’Um,’’ She chuckles nervously before stuffing the game card into her mouth as well. ‘’Yum!’’
‘’Our turn,’’ Smackle reaches out for the cards that Maya hands over. She swipes a card out of the stack and reads, "What is your partner's most ticklish place on their body?"
‘’Uh, Farkle and Smackle,-’’ Riley furrows her brows.
‘’How would they possibly-’’ Maya continues Riley’s question.
‘’Know anything like that?’’ Lucas finished.
Smackle tickles a patch of hair on his head that was around the area behind his area. As if some sort of dog, his body seemed to have paralyzed as he lets out a strange noise. ‘’Huh!’’
Ryan shakes her head. ‘’Leave it to Farkle to end the year off with a-’’ She deflates, left dumbfounded. ‘’I don’t even know what to say to that.’’
‘’Okay. Um,’’ Riley leans over on the table to pick up the cards. She turns to Charlie and smiles, ‘’We'll do one more. Have you ever kept a secret from somebody you love?’’ Riley immediately sets the card down and announces, ‘’Game over.’’
Ryan tilts her head to the side. ‘’Why? Because you know secrets are dangerous?’’
‘’No, Ryan,’’ She shoots her a pointed look while standing. ‘’Because it's almost midnight.’’
‘’A lot of people should know what happens at midnight,’’ Farkle adds.
‘’Okay, it's time to go up to the roof,’’ Lucas stands up, chuckling nervously.
Ryan was too far for Riley to reach as she stood so the brunette marched over and grabbed Farkle by the collar. She pulls him to the door and retrieves Farkle’s coat and her own before storming out.
Ryan was quick on her feet to grab her coat from the pile by the door and stormed out. By the time she got to the roof, Farkle had exclaimed, ‘’No more time!’’
She walked closer, her arms folded across her chest as Farkle continues. ‘’We made a deal, Riley. We’re not starting off the new year with lies between friends’’
‘’I’m lying for my friends,’’ She corrects.
‘’But this’ll hurt them more than you know,’’ Ryan counters. ‘’That’s why you’re lying. But, guess what, Riles? We’re all still going to be your best friend, so when they do know, you all can figure out the next step.’’
‘’Do any of you know what to do?’’
‘’Though this is new to all of us,’’ Ryan shakes her head. ‘’This isn’t the way to do it. Not your way.’’
Farkle nods in agreement. ‘’All I know is that we should always tell the truth.’’
‘’Farkle,’’ Her gaze shifted over to Ryan. ‘’Ryan, if you really care about me, I know that you will do the right thing.’’
Farkle looks over at Ryan before looking back at Riley, nodding, ‘’We do and we will.’’
Footsteps gotten closer and louder, revealing those pair of heels belonging to Smackle as she held onto Farkle’s available side.
‘’Hi, Farkle,’’ Smackle switches gazes between Riley and Ryan. ‘’Hi, two girls who’s not going to be with Farkle at midnight because I am because he’s mine.’’
Farkle walks off with Smackle towards the ledge, meanwhile Ryan went to take a seat over at the bench. The roof began to get crowded from all of the guests from downstairs.
She giggles as Auggie came over to take a seat next to her.
‘’Hey, booga-looga,’’ She greets him with a funny nickname as he climbed on the bench. ‘’You know,’’ She crosses one leg over the other. ‘’I heard that you have a wife and that you’ve been married for like, fifty six years?’’
‘’Yeah,’’ He breathes out. He stared at his breath that became visible in the frigid air. ‘’Ava Morgenstern. She’s a real hassle.’’
Ryan giggles again. ‘’Yeah? Well, the most complicated ones are the best ones to keep. They’re the ones who really care about you.’’
‘’Really?’’ He cocks a brow.
She flattens her lips into a thing and bops her head. ‘’Mhm.’’
‘’Do you have a crazy one in your life, Ryan?’’
She shakes her head. ‘’I haven’t found my crazy one yet, hun. I was thinking about going to you but I didn’t even know you were married!’’
He smacks his forehead. ‘’Argh! I forgot to wear my ring.’’ He leans close to her side and whispers, ‘’Don’t tell Ava.’’
‘’Oh,’’ She nods her head, smirking slyly. ‘’You’re secret is safe with me.’’
‘’Hey,’’ His eyes were narrowed under his bang of curls. ‘’I just realized, this is my first New Year’s where I ever made it to midnight.’’
Ryan holds her hands up as people around them began to countdown. ‘’Ah! We should celebrate. Once it hits twelve, we’ll head back down for some sparkling apple juice.’’
He furrows his brows. ‘’Seriously, how do you not have your crazy one?’’
She looks away and sighs. ‘’I don’t know. But, I’ll-’’
She felt Auggie drop into her side, falling deeply asleep just when the countdown reach to two. She carefully slides her arm out, allowing him to fall into her lap. She pets his curls as people cheered the new year.
And for a split second, she forgot all about the deal with Riley. It’s a new year and although she was spending it alone, she felt happy to know that this year was going to be a good one. She was at a good place at home and her friends. Nothing could possibly change that.
‘’Riley still loves Lucas and Lucas likes Ryan.’’
Ryan looked up with wide eyes. ‘’What?’’
Maya shakes her head. ‘’I’m confused?’’
‘’He likes you, he likes Riley and he likes Ryan,’’ Farkle simply explained. Yet, there was nothing simple about the situation. Ryan’s small brown eyes shifted over to Lucas who had look stuck.
‘’Lucas,’’ She calls. ‘’Is this true? Is this why you been acting so weird to me?’’
He couldn’t lie, there was no excuse in the world that can save from this. Both Lucas and Riley need to face the music.
‘’I’m sorry, Ryan.’’
She sunk further into her seat. She couldn’t believe it, her best friend, the one she spent a little over a week at their house at, met his Texas side of the family, supported him through bull riding had feelings for her.
‘’Ryan,-’’ He calls again. He was scared, he was already falling for two girls as it is. With a third in the mix, it was all just sorts of messy. But even worse, he was afraid how this would affect their friendship.
‘’Don’t apologize, Lucas,’’ She forced a small smile. ‘’You can’t control how you feel.’’
Ryan managed to lift Auggie from the bench as she stood without waking him up. She settles him on her hip, letting his head rest on her shoulder as she says, ‘’I’m gonna go put him to bed and then I think I’ll just head home.’’
‘’Ryan-’’
‘’Happy New Years, guys.’’
She smiles at everyone before turning at the heel of her foot and walking away. She didn’t mean to hurt his feelings, but this just wasn’t the way to start off the new year.
Ryan Collin's Outfit For The Chapter!