until I see you again | riley

Outfit

It was almost midnight by the time Juliet began her long walk home. She had went out with a few people from work to grab dinners, and for the first time since Riley left she found herself dressing up. The brief thought of her ex boyfriend brought a slight amount of sadness, it probably always would. Riley David Bennett had been the love of her life, until suddenly he wasn't anymore.  Two years before he had made it very plain and clear that he wanted nothing to do with her anymore, sealing their fate with a kiss. 

Jules shook her head and stopped outside a small copse of trees that she knew lead to a small lagoon. The night was quiet and clear, so why not spend more of it outside? It wasn't like there was anyone at home to miss her besides Blake. The puppy had probably been asleep for hours. 

High heels were not the best footwear for trekking in the sand, even for short distances, so she slipped them off and balanced them both In on hand as she entered the bright moonlight on the other side of the trees. Light danced across the surface of the lagoon, glimmering like diamonds. A relatively large rock provided a comfortable place to sit for a moment, dangling her feet  in the water and wondering what she was going to do with her life next. 

She had just now found it in herself to start moving on. With some help from a friend and a significant amount of work, she had remodeled one of the rooms and moved in to it before placing all of Riley's belongings back in to the old one. Blake had been another new addition, someone to share the house with instead of being alone all the time. the only thing left to do was let one of those pesky coworkers of hers set her up on a date, maybe even with professor bridges. He was a great guy and a good friend, so maybe she would let them. Her musings continued as she stared in to the water, oblivious to the world around her. 

Riley was currently walking along the beach trying to calm down, it had been a rather stressful day for no other reason than it was the anniversary of the worst decision of his life. He had chosen to push Juliet away from him to keep her safe and yet here it was two years to the day and still there was nothing that had harmed her, no death threats not a single thing other than his own stupid idea to pretend to cheat on her with another woman. His fists clenched by his sides, he picked up his feet and started jogging thinking it might be an idea to head to the lagoon and take a quick dip in the water to wash away the tension from his body.

Once he made the turn and was approaching the water he suddenly stumbled to a stop. How the hell did this happen, why did the fates want to torture him, hell why did they want to torture her by having them meet up again like this on this day. Groaning he thought about turning away, running in the complete opposite direction and yet he knew that wasn't going to work. Sighing he walked a little closer and called out.

"I didn't expect to see you here tonight. How have you been Jules?" His heart was racing, he wanted to tell her he was wrong and that he was an ass, all of which was true but if that was the case he should have done something earlier. He should have said something two years ago.

"Riley!" She squealed, obviously startled by her ex boyfriend's appearance in the quiet cove. Juliet's heart was beating fast at the sight of him in the pale moonlight. Even after everything he had done, she still felt twinges of regret and longing deep inside her heart for the man she had once called her true love. 

"I'm fine, I guess. It's just one of those days, you know?" She finally answered with a nervous laugh. This was so odd, seeing him here and now. It almost felt like a dream. "How are you? I haven't seen you in, well, forever." Almost two years to be exact, and In the arms of another woman. It had been too long, but not long enough all the same. 

Hearing her voice was like hearing the past escape his memories, smiling he said, "I am doing alright, I am part of the secret service now so I spend most of my days on the island in a suit... definitely not what I would have expected for my life. How are you?" He was worried she might not want to talk to him for long but he didn't want to have the moment end, at least not yet. How he wished they had been walking together so that he could wrap his arms around her and hold her close to him. Sighing his smile faded a little as he came back to reality, she was no longer his girlfriend, no longer his lover, confidant and best friend. He ruined that all on his own.