Try and Catch Me
A/N: So this is the first thing in writing with Shiloh and Riley - Shiley! XD I dunno where I really got the idea, but I like it. Please enjoy!
Hey look, I don't need a disclaimer on this since they're mine! XD
She laughed as the two toppled to the ground, splashing into the soggy grass, her hands held tight to his shirt collar. She loved the rain.
They were in Riley's backyard, running around in rain boots and raincoats, completely soaked and covered in mud. At the tender age of six, such things didn't bother them.
Riley's dog, Cookie, trotted out of the back door and into the yard, licking the children's faces as they sat in the mud. She licked right between Shiloh's eyes, causing her to squeal.
"Riley! Your dog is so gross!"
Riley sat up, wrapping his arms around the chocolate lab's neck, defending, "She's just giving you kisses!"
"Doggy kisses are yucky!"
Riley simply stuck his tongue out at his friend, in return being pushed over into a mud puddle.
Shiloh jumped up, running from Riley, her short pigtails bouncing up and down as she called over her shoulder, "Try and catch me!"
The boy jumped up, chasing after his friend, trying carefully not to slip in the wet grass.
After a few minutes of running around the yard, Shiloh slipped and fell on her butt. She sucked in a deep breath, keeping up her tough girl act and ignoring the pain. Riley ran over to help her, stupidly offering his hand to help her up. As soon as their hands were linked, Shiloh yanked him to the ground, laughing as he splashed beside her.
Suddenly, Mrs. McDonnough popped her head through the door, yelling, "Riley! Shiloh! You're a mess! Come here and clean up!"
The children scurried onto the porch, where Mrs. McDonnough gave them a bucket of water to wash themselves with before coming inside. When they had rinsed the mud off, she gave them each a towel to dry off a bit. When they came inside, she instructed Riley to change clothes, while she made Shiloh wait by the door. The two had known this was coming, as it was quite like her to make sure her house was clean.
When Riley came down the stairs in fresh, dry clothes, Mrs. McDonough led Shiloh to Riley's room, giving her a t-shirt and jeans to borrow.
After Shiloh was changed into Riley's clothes, the two sat down for the lunch that had been prepared for them, grilled cheese and tomato soup.
It would be over the years that this would become a nearly religious practice among the two. Whenever the rain began to fall, Shiloh would pull Riley outside and the two would run in the rain, playing the same game every time.
Shiloh would always yell back to Riley, "Try and catch me!" and their little game of chase began.
As young children, it was simply a game for fun, but as the two grew older, they got more competitive. Once Riley had hit puberty, he shot up, growing to be much taller than Shiloh, and his long legs began to give him an advantage over her. He could nearly catch her every time now.
And this was precisely what fueled her desire to beat him. The rain no longer brought a sense of playfulness to her. It was now a competition, and every drop of rain pumped the adrenaline through her body. She would race away from him, getting up and sprinting again, no matter how many times she slipped in the mud.
Riley didn't take lightly to the game anymore, either. He knew he could beat her, and he knew what that would do to the both of them. Often times, he simply allowed her to win, because he feared what would happen if she lost.
How would things change? Would she hate him for beating her in something she had never lost once? Would she hurt him for it?
But there was one question that plagued his mind the most.
Would she lose her drive to win, knowing that the boy who had always been weaker than her could beat her?
That drive was one of the reasons he had fallen for her. That's right, he was head over heels in love with the girl who had tormented him since kindergarten. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but he had fallen for her hard. At the age of twelve, even the thought of love scared him, so he dubbed it in his mind to be a simple crush, one that would fade before long. But it didn't. It should have, because how could your first crush be your true love? But Riley's mind had always seemed to be in the right place, and it hadn't been off when putting his heart in the right place. Everything about her made it skip a beat. Her ocean eyes, always seeming to swirl with the most beautiful shades of blue and green; her sandy hair, always pulled into pigtails; the brilliant colors and patterns she always wore, making her look like the happiest person on earth. And that was just the shell. Her personality was what he had really fallen for, her gorgeous looks were just the icing on the cake. He loved the way she always seemed so strong, so confident. He loved the way she always seemed to know what she was doing, and how to do it. Even if it were all to be a façade, he wouldn't care. He loved her for it all. And he really loved her drive to be the best.
But who could really put love in words? All he knew for certain was that the last thing he wanted was to change her, to change their world. He wanted things to stay the same, the way they had always been.
Shiloh knew none of this.
All she knew, or at least all that she cared about, was keeping up the act. As long as the world thought she was okay, and that she was strong, she was. The only person she ever even began to let her walls down to was Riley. And even with him, she didn't let him in much. Still, she was more open to him than she was to even Tyler and Emery, and they were her siblings!
She didn't know why she did this. Sure, when they were really little, she had liked him, but surely that had only been a schoolgirl crush, nothing more; she couldn't still like him, it had been years.
Riley didn't know this.
Shiloh put up quite the façade. She made it so believable that even Riley, her best friend and the one person who knew the most about her, didn't realize that it was all an act. He took her for the strong girl he knew her to be.
Still, the two friends, unknowing of each other's innermost personalities, would race after one another in the rain. They never minded that their clothes would stick to them or that their shoes would squish beneath their feet once they were done. It was all for living in the moment. The way things were, and that was good enough for them. If these moments could be their forever, they would be perfectly content.
A/N: Aaaaanddd there's Shiley! By the way, Tyler is Shiloh's younger sister and Emery is Tyler's twin brother. Please review! I really wanna know what you guys think of this couple (: