#riluca

“You don’t get to say that,” Riley shouted out at Luca, the sounds of the zombies outside the door ones that she heard in her nightmares. “If I stay here and hold the door closed, you get to leave. We can’t both go. And I’m ready, Luca. I’m ready.” There was no escaping this life. Everything he was dead. The world? Dead. The people? The living dead. The future? Unthinkable. Riley had been pushing through, day after day, for so long and she was tired. She was so damn tired. All she wanted to do was give up. To stop fighting and to let the fucking universe win. Because at this point, what were they even fighting for? She wasn’t sure. It felt like every day was a struggle. And that the future she had once dreamed of was all but gone. 

THUMP THUMP

She couldn’t hold the door much longer. Her muscles ached. Her body felt like it was going to topple over from fatigue. How easy would it be to just let the door open and let those monsters have her? Just succumb to their hunger and finally enter the big sleep? So easy, and if it wasn’t for Luca convincing her to keep going, she would do it. She didn’t have anything else to live for at this point, aside from him. Her family was long gone. Any friends she had made through her journey from Atlanta to... where ever the hell she was now, were probably dead too. If she hadn’t met Luca so soon after escaping the hoard that took her traveling party, she probably would’ve given up on the world a lot sooner.

THUMP THUMP THUMP

But things just, they never got any brighter. They never seemed to look up. Around every corner was another zombie that needed to be put down. Another monster that had once been a person with hopes and dreams and desires, who had been taken too soon. THUMP. It was so, so tiring. “Just go!” THUMP THUMP. “You were fine before me and you’ll be fine after. You’re a survivor, Luca.” And she wasn’t.

So she slumped down on the floor of the once office in this convenience store, taking one last look at Luca. He had found a way out, a small hole that had been covered up by the old safe that had long since been picked clean. But he wasn’t there anymore, and for a split second, she had made her peace with the fact that he had run. He had taken her advice and gotten the hell out of dodge. Except, before she could let her body give up completely, she heard the scraping of metal on the tiled floor. Looking to her left, she saw the man pushing the heavy safe across the floor. A barricade. Genius. She had moved just in time for him to place it where she had been sitting, the door cracking for just a second, enough to allow a finger to slip through the crack and be broken off when the door slammed shut again. THUMP THUMP THUMP.

“I’m not the only survivor here. Let’s go.” And before she could put up a fight, he grabbed her hand and was pulling her towards the hole in the wall. Looking back towards the door, it began to bend and break around the safe, but it had given them both enough time to run across the room. To escape. 

She lifted her gun and shot the first few zombies she saw, but once they were out of the store and the clear, she lowered her weapon and focused on getting as far away from this hotspot as possible. She ran, feeling the burn in her thighs and the breath in her lungs. The sunshine on her face and the warmth of Luca’s hand in hers. As they ran back to his bike, he looked back at her and she sent him the smallest smile she could muster.

She loved him.

THE CHRISTENSEN FAMILY || A HOGWARTS AU

Michiel Huisman as Luca Christensen Deborah Ann Woll as Riley Fitzherbert Halston Sage as Katerina Christensen Colin Ford as Elias Christensen Kathryn Newton as Nikoletta Christensen

Without any thought, without hesitation she pulled the door open to see those standing on the other side. Stepping back into the house, to give them room, to let them set their own pace, Riley waited with baited breath as her children stepped through the doorway, allowing her to finally see their incredible faces in person for the first time since her disappearance.

Katerina. Slender, with stunning angular features and eyes that were completely her fathers. A tensness in her shoulders that Riley had seen Luca carry himself. There was no doubt she was the oldest. She was the protector of the twins, it was obvious with her body language. She walked in first, kept mostly to the side but her arm was still there, between Elias and Nikoletta and the rest of the room.

Elias. Her baby boy. But no longer a baby. He was becoming a man. Currently in that awkward phase where he was growing at incredible rates and that meant none of his clothes fit him correctly. But he had eyes that reminded her of her dear brother Julien. They had sunlight in them, and a slight wetness.

And then Nikoletta. The youngest, but no doubt the fiercest of the three. A mess of wild blonde curls that looked especially like a lion’s mane. Her expression was unreadable, unlike her siblings. She took in the room, in both her parents, but Riley couldn’t read her. She seemed curious, though. Maybe on guard. As if she was expecting for there to be a punch line, or a catch to this whole interaction.

Riley bit her lips softly as she looked up from her plate of fries and towards the opposite end of the booth. Her hand continuing the lazy motion of swirling the french fry around in the ketchup on her plate as she thought. It’s not like she was actually debating on if she’d be open to spending time with him again. This night, this insanely, crazy night, had been one of the most fun ones she’d had in months. Luca was different, he was easy to talk to and fun and she didn’t feel like she had to pick her words wisely around him as if to seem more interesting, or whatever the hell she did when she was with her fiance. But that’s just it. She had a fiance. It didn’t matter that this interaction had been nothing but innocent. Meeting each other at a bar after his set and going out to get food at a 24 hours diner was easy to explain. What wasn’t easy was the fact that not even an hour prior to their first interaction, she had come to the realization that he was her soulmate. Which kind of meant, regardless of the good intentions she had, if they were to hang out again, no matter how friendly she tried to be, deep down she knew there was no way she’d keep from falling for him. God they’d just spent six hours talking over coffee and fries and she hadn’t stopped smiling once, so if that was capable now, what would happen if they continued to meet? If feelings developed?

But… but she also told herself who gave a shit? She didn’t love her fiance. She hadn’t for a long time. They were still together because it was convenient because neither of them expected to find their soulmates. That was only an option for people willing to pay a shit ton of money or the extremely lucky, and Riley was neither. So she had been content with settling, with enjoying someone’s company for the rest of her life and that being the extent of it. 

Except now that she met Luca, she didn’t know if she could go back that. How could she when he had come into her life? The blonde continued to debate on if she should even bring up the whole engagement, considering she didn’t know his intent with a second…date? What even was this? Whatever it was, it was nice, and she was begging for more. Minimum two, but there was no maximum. She knew that already. This was someone she could spend forever getting to know. 

Letting the french fry drop on her plate, she let out a soft huff before making to grab her coat and her bag. “I’d really like that, but… I don’t think it’s smart. I’m engaged, Luca, and I don’t think spending time with you is appropriate, considering.” Her stomach was flipping and her heart was clenching at the words that were coming out of her mouth. She wanted to say yes, obviously, but her brain had won over. It wasn’t smart. She wasn’t that kind of person. “Besides… you said you’re not in town much longer, right? I’m booked straight for the next week, I should be home sleeping right now because I have to check out a gallery space in...” she looked at her phone for the time and let out a sighed,” 3 hours. I just… I think we should just remember how great tonight was and go our separate ways.” Now she was chewing on the inside of her cheek as she grabbed the bill of the table. Not exactly able to make eye contact with him as she put her coat on, she held out her hand once she was ready to go. She couldn’t hug him, that was not going to end well. “It was really nice meeting you.” That’s not how she expected her first interaction with her soulmate to end, but it’s what needed to happen. @hexeghoul

The words wanted to bring tears to her eyes. As she laid in his barely broken in bed in a semi-dusty room, cool air nipping at her shoulders and everywhere the thin sheets didn’t cover, Riley wanted to let herself cry for the first time in years. She hadn’t allowed it for some time, maybe since their last farewell, when the two had broken up due to the mark branded on his forearm. Ever since that day, she had made a promise to grow up. To no longer romanticize about her future, one that used to have his face littered across it, but now only spoke of two outcomes. A world where the Dark Lord rose to power, with the likes of her and her family either imprisoned, enslaved, or buried in the ground. Or a world where the Dark Lord was vanquished, and instead it was Luca who met one of those horrible ends, most likely serving his time behind those depressing walls of Azkaban. Either way, she wasn’t exactly happy with either outcome and had realized that she’d have to throw herself into the Order if she wanted the latter to win.

But she never considered this outcome. One where the two reconnected for half a day, bring up memories of what life had been like together. So young, so unaware of how things could break so easily. So in love. So foolish. Even so, she felt herself being to think like this again, like the seventeen-year-old within who still hoped for a future where she could get married to Luca. Start a family, be happy and have a sense of normalcy. It was obscene how being around him for less than a day had already given her so much hope. And saddening that him being around her was the only time he felt that smile forcing, bone tingling happiness. “You deserve to be happy every moment of your life.” She murmured, bringing a hand out from under the covers to let it sweep over his cheek, and brushing through his hair. He might not believe her statement, after all, Luca Christensen was the king of self-loathing, but she meant it. 

“We deserve to be happy.” She said a bit more firmly, her gaze hardening, letting him know she was serious. This wasn’t fair. They had once been two kids in love, and the world ruined that. “I can’t go back to how it was before. You give me hope, Luca. And I haven’t had that for a while.” Sighing, she leaned in and softly kissed him. “Join the Order, with me. And help fight for our future. For happiness. Everyday.”

first kiss

“Like this?” The blonde hufflepuff questioned as she mimiced the stance he had shown her. The spell he had created - yes, created - was new and took a bit of time to grasp. It wasn’t like she had grown up witnessing others using it before, or seen numerous demonstrations. This was the first time she’d ever tried something so desructive, and if she got one motion wrong, well… she didn’t want to imagine what could happen to her or those around her. Looking at Luca’s face, Riley noted the criticizim in his eyes. She was doing something wrong, and clearly no amount of vizuals from Luca would help. Huffing, her arm dropped and her head fell backwards, blue eyes gazing up at the large ceilings. “This is hopeless, Luca. Lets just come back to it next week.” She was tired, and she could always learn this next time. 

“No, you’ll get it.” Was his answer, and suddenly she felt his presence behind her, his rough hands finding their place on her. One grasping her wrist and the other on her waist, causing Riley to jump at the contact. She wasn’t scared, she had never been scared of him, but she hadn’t been expecting him this close. She still wasn’t great at handling the close proxmity. “One more try.” She nodded, blue eyes moving from his dark ones and towards the dummy in front of her, body relaxing as he fixed her stance, her arm now higher than it as before and her waist turned a bit more. Taking a deep breath, she spoke during the exhale, watching as the spark of magic left the tip of her wand and coming in contact with the dummy, causing the wooden man to explode on contact.

A high pitched squeal left her lips as the curse worked, and she moved without thinking, turning around towards him to celebrate and wrap her arms around his neck tightly as she hugged him. She knew he didn’t like the physical contact, but fuck it. “I did it! I DID IT!” She chanted, pulling back just enough to see his expression. The smirk and the look of pride in her eyes was too much and suddenly she found herself surging forward, finally, finally letting her lips press against his in deep kiss that she had been yerning for for months now. And boy, was the wait worth it. It was everything she had hoped the kiss would be, but more. Probably because every time she thought about it, she never considering him reciprocating, and matching the feircness of which she kissed him, but he did. His grip on her was tight and he held her close and Riley knew she was never going to let things go back to how they had been before. Because if this was what kissing him was like she wanted to do it for the rest of her life.

Send in ♔ for my muse’s reaction to yours pushing mine up against the wall

She rolled her eyes at his words, and lightly shoved his shoulder for good measure. “No! You can’t go around killing people. You’re in Auradon now, and that’s completely against the rules.” His hand had found hers soon after she shoved him, and now the two were just interlocking their fingers as their hands moved in a playful manner. “If not for you, for me. I don’t want to have to visit my boyfriend in prison. That sounds like the worst date of my life.” Giggling from where she was seating on top of him, she leaned in to kiss him softly. Her hands soon detangled from his own to find their way into his hair, softly running through the thick, smooth locks like they always seemed to do. “Just think of it as some much-needed practice. If you’re going to live here, you’ll have to get the hang of letting things go. And let that frustration out in a much healthier way.”