I used to like going for a walk after dinner. It relaxed me. I had always liked to watch people, try to think where they were going, who they were, what did they want in life. I used to walk fast; I always did. It's something I got from my mom. I liked to walk and just walk until I didn't know where I was. Sometimes I discovered new places, sometimes I ended up with an objective. Like, if I was walking and I happened to be close to Ace's house. Hey, let's go see the Nolan family. If I found myself walking near my favorite diner; hey, let's get some food. It'd be like that. I remember I loved it. It made me calm before sleep, always so hyperactive myself.

But after my mom got sick, I stopped. I didn't know exactly when, I didn't remember the day, but I remembered the day I realized I stopped doing it. I was in Paris and both Nico and I had had a very heavy dinner. One of those dinners that your stomach gets all bloated and you think you're thirsty but when you drink water you make it ten times worse. Those dinners you get all sleepy and just want to lay in the couch. It was one of those nights, I felt the pull. I put on some sneakers and told Nico I was going for a walk. He nodded, but I remembered his confused expression.

I walked, I discovered streets and places that I had never seen. I compared them to home. I compared everything to home back then. Just when I was walking, as if it had been something really natural that I did every night, I remember thinking I used to do that before. I used to love it. How could I forget? But most importantly, why would you stop doing something that you loved so much?

That august night, I started to walk again. I did it in Paris almost every night but I hadn't done it at home since my mom died, in my city. I felt a little anxious, like I had only wasted half the energy that I have stored for that day.

I would say I did it unconsciously but maybe deep down, I really knew where I was going. It had been three days since I sent those flowers to Riley. She called me right after and thanked me. She said she was doing 'fine', but I could hear in her voice that she wasn't. She had always been like that, not wanting to show her emotions but doing too little to hide them. She couldn't. Just like me, she was an open book.

I texted her the days after and she said she got a visit from her family. Her sister Camille and her nephew were staying in a little hotel not too far from her. I knew why they were there, and it wasn't exactly because she was doing 'fine'. Don't get me wrong, it's not like her family didn't visit, but last time I was with her, they visited because she didn't want to be alone. Because she wasn't doing 'fine'.

So, I assumed it was that time too. Because why else would they visit when the kids were about to start school again?

In conclusion to all this, I found myself walking towards her apartment. It was a good 40 minutes' walk from my place, but it was worth it. I really needed to move my legs. That only reminded me, that I had to start working out. Maybe I'd start swimming again. I used to love it. And since we're resuming things that I loved to do, why not start again?

I stepped into her building at 9.04 pm with an ice cream tub in a bag. I had to do it, otherwise I wouldn't have had an excuse. The door in the entry was open so I didn't use the intercom and went into the elevator. I heard some murmurs as I approached her floor. When the doors opened, I saw the light coming from her place. Her sister and nephew were there. Shit. I hadn't seen them since I went to their house for thanksgiving. And I think the last thing they knew; I was the guy who dumped Riley and went to Paris. Great, just fucking great. I couldn't just go downstairs again; they were already looking at me. I smiled the best I could and stepped forward.

Camille had Keith's arms wrapped around her waist. He looked tired. He was much taller than the last time I saw him. He was probably 7 years old now, if my memory didn't fail me. Camille looked a little chubbier and Riley looked as incredible as always. She was only wearing a big t-shirt that covered her underwear but I got nervous just imagining that she wasn't wearing any pants under that.

"Look who decided to show up! It's the Parisian boy! Last thing I knew, you dumped my sister, what are you doing here?"

Called it.

"Camille!" Riley exclaimed, hitting her lightly on the arm.

"It's okay. I deserve it." I chuckled humorlessly. "I was just... I thought maybe you would like some ice cream." I said raising the bag.

"I want some." Keith nodded quickly, trying to fight his heavy eyelids. He probably didn't remember me.

"No way, buddy." Camille patted his head as Riley laughed adoringly. "We're going straight to bed."

He humpfed and kicked the floor but not too energetically. He really looked tired. What the hell had they been doing?

"We better go." She spoke again, eyeing me suspiciously. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah." Riley licked her lips after putting on a little smile, her cheeks growing fiery.

Camille still looked suspicious before she glanced at both of us and put on a little smile of her own. "Okay, see you tomorrow." She pulled her son closer to her body as she began to walk and looked straight at me as she whispered, "whatever you do, wrap it up."

I laughed and coughed at the same time, not expecting that comment at all. I was expecting something more like a 'don't hurt her' kind of thing.

Riley, who surely heard that, was now completely red, opening her door wider and lowering her head so I didn't notice. "Don't mind her, she's a little tipsy."

"And you?" I asked, stepping inside.

"Uhm... A little, yeah." She nodded and closed the door. "We've been out."

"Where?" I asked sitting down on her couch-bed, currently a couch.

"To the new funfair they set up behind the park."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"It's new from this summer." She added. "You'd like it."

"Then I'll go." I smiled.

"How come you're here?" She asked grabbing the bag from my hands and taking the melted ice cream to put in in the freezer.

"I don't know. I was thinking of you." I shrugged.

I liked staring at her. Sometimes I knew she noticed and changed her expressions. Like right now. She got all serious, trying not to show how my comment had affected her and kept a blank face as she kept the ice cream inside the freezer.

Sometimes I caught her staring at me too. I had this weird habit of keeping my mouth a little open when I was thinking or watching something and I tried to close it and look all serious and attractive. If you haven't done it, you're not a normal human being.

"Oh." She just said.

I noticed the daisies in a vase with water on the counter and smiled. "You like them?"

"Yeah." I noticed she smiled and then it's like she remembered that she wasn't supposed to. Like she didn't deserve it. "It's a pity they'll dry... During the day I put them outside, so they get some sunlight. They're prettier outside too."

"How's your family doing?" I asked, nodding to the door.

"They're great. Camille's little shop is busier than ever, she's planning on expanding it."

"Wow, that's great." I smiled.

"Yeah." She gave me a little smile as she approached the couch. "Jeremy's doing fine too. Little Lauren still struggles with talking, she's kind of a slow learner but she's getting there." I remember that girl, she was so beautiful and her eyes were so curious. How would she look now? I wondered if it would be weird if I asked to see a picture. She sat down and let a considerable space between us two. "And Keith... well, you saw him, he still has all that energy even when he's exhausted. They're planning on having another baby."

"No way!" I chuckled excitedly. For some reason, that news made me excited. "Three kids, wow."

"I know." She nodded with a smile of her own. "Crazy how time flies. And here I am, 25 and I just discovered my boyfriend is gay." She scoffed and got serious all of a sudden. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to go there."

"Hey, at least you're young. I'm 27 already." I chuckled getting comfortable on the couch, my arms behind my head.

"You're right! I totally forgot you're an elderly man." She laughed.

"Hey, I'm aloud to say it. You're not." I laughed pointing at her.

She smiled and got comfortable too, leaning back on the couch. Sighing, she glanced up at the ceiling. "Did you have a plan?"

"What do you mean a plan?" I turned to look at her, and since she wasn't looking, I enjoyed that for a little bit. Watching her. Watching her brows furrow when she was thinking, watching as she bit her lips and did that weird thing she always did with her fingers along her thigh. As if she was writing whatever she had in mind.

"Uhm... A plan for the future. Did you imagine things would go like this?"

Riley still didn't look at me. Her gaze fixated on the ceiling. "No." I licked my lips. "I had a plan, I think everybody has one, even though they'll try to tell you they live day by day and shit like that. "

"What was your plan?" She asked quietly, now turning to look at me.

"I think it changed throughout the years. I remember wanting to be a famous soccer player, then changing it to physical therapy when I became more realistic. What I kind of always had in mind is that I wanted to get a girlfriend in college, then propose after we both finished our studies. Something like that. Spoiler alert," I made a funny face and looked at her, "that didn't happen."

She chuckled and got back to staring at the ceiling. "I had a plan too. With Max. I'd be married by now."

"Wow."

"Yeah." She sighed. "I'm glad that didn't work out."

"Me too." I smiled boyishly.

She chuckled and got up quickly, her hand leaning on my leg. "Ice cream? Wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure."

"Help me with the couch? I think we'll be comfier in the bed."

Riley didn't even have to explain me how this shit worked. I was so used to transforming this bed into couch and couch into bed. What surprised me is that it wasn't that bad. Normally these things would kill you back. Although my bed was ten times better, that's why we used to stay in my apartment. Even though we knew we would be completely alone in hers.

"What was that movie that we liked so much-?" She came back with the ice cream and two spoons and opened her eyes in surprise at how fast I had opened the bed.

I took off my shoes and arranged the pillows against the wall so we could lay back. "What movie? Toy story?" I chuckled.

"No, not that one." She handed me the ice tub.

"The lion king, Peter Pan-"

"Luca!" She laughed.

"Frozen. We loved Frozen."

"I was meaning more like an adult one." She laughed leaning back.

"Porn?" I asked and chuckled at her face turning red. "Riley, we didn't really watch adult movies." I wouldn't mind watching porn, though. I was really horny lately and the last time I watched it with her we did some pretty amazing things. That's when I learnt she liked that I choked her.

"No." She shook her head quickly and took a spoon of ice cream. "It was-" She thought about it for a moment, spoon inside her mouth and rolled her eyes. "Forget it." She licked the back of it and I stared at her lips, how her tongue slid along the surface, imagining how the same mouth had been- "Aladdin?"

"What?"

"Wanna see Aladdin?"

I cleared my throat and sank my spoon in the ice cream. "Oh yeah, yeah." I nodded quickly.

At some point of the movie, Riley fell asleep. It didn't surprise me, though. She had spent the whole day outside with her nephew, who was tireless. I decided that was my queue to leave, so I got up and put the ice cream in the kitchen. I went back to the bed and stared at her. There was something I really wanted to do but I didn't know if it was okay for me to do it. I finally decided to do it and climbed up on the bed again, giving her a little kiss on her forehead before gripping the sheets. Just when I was pulling them up, Riley turned around, an arm around my waist, making me lay down beside her. I stayed still, my breathing speeding up as Riley only got comfier. Her head was now on my chest, her leg on top of mine, hugging me tight with her arm.

"Riley." I whispered. "I- I gotta go."

"Stay." She mumbled groggily against my chest. "I don't wanna sleep alone."

Well, turned out I dind't wanna sleep alone either.

"Okay."

I couldn't fight the smile that curled up my lips and closed my eyes, caressing her hair with my palm.

What did all of this mean for her? I didn't know, but I was more than pleased to find out.

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Hey guys! I know, kind of a boring chapter but I wanted to leave it like that.

Thoughts about it?

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