You know how they say your life flashes before your eyes in your final moments? Well, that’s not exactly what happened to Riley…
While standing near the edge of the cliff, she knew it was over for her. Staggering from the excessive amount of liquor in her body, she took a minute to reflect on the memories she shared with the man who was taken from her too soon…
What’s with these homies who be dissin’ my boy?
Do they know I’m aggravated with the negativity and the noise?
They tell me “Find a wealthy man”
But they don’t seem too happy
When they first met, she had no idea of the effect he would bring into her life. He was just another petulant, cynical man who somehow wormed his way into her heart. By the time she realized just how much he meant to her, she was knee-deep in a international scandal and his best friend had given her his unconditional love while betrothed to another.
Am I naïve to think that he could be the love of my life?
There is a voice inside my head that’s tellin’ me that it’s right
I never thought I’d tell him
How scared I am of losing him…
She had never been more terrified in her life then she was that night. They had finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Promising to be with one another and to never take their time together for granted… Only to have their future ripped to pieces minutes later. With a gun pointed at her, and the love of her life taking the bullet for her, she knew happiness would always be out of her reach.
You’re the only one
Who’s making me come
To my sinful senses
I’ll never love
Anyone the same
I’ll never feel ashamed
Of using you for pleasure
The night in the Beaumont’s study was one of her happiest memories. They day after they’d confessed they felt something for one another. Their first kiss… Instantaneously, the two of them came together for the first time, throwing caution to the wind and melting against their embrace. Mouths hungrily finding each other and hands running up and down sending sparks wherever they touched, not knowing just how cruel fate would be…
I was afraid to put myself on the line for a boy
Until he put me in my place and showed me how to enjoy
Myself, I think I need your help
I think she’s coming back
Their back and forth banter, from when they weren’t even friends. Her making fun of him for always complaining. Him making fun of her for her gullibility and the way she believed in ‘happily ever afters’. Slowing warming up to each other, from strangers to friends to lovers, becoming the brightest part of the others day.
I love you and I hate you and I’m losing my mind
And you tell me all the time that this will pass and that I’m gonna be fine
We’re such a mess together
You make me lose my temper, oh…
Her frustration when no matter how many times she told him that she’d always choose him, he still wasn’t convinced that she’d pick him over his best friend. In the jewelry store, when she’d asked him what it would mean for them when they found Tariq and she’d be free from the scandal, and he said it’d mean her and Liam could finally be together. He never fully understand until the night Liam proposed, and she turned him down for the grumpy commoner she fell in love with. And they were finally free to be together.
You’re the only one
Who’s making me come
To my sinful senses
I’ll never love
Anyone the same
I’ll never feel ashamed
Of using you for pleasure (x2)
All those midnight rendezvous during the engagement tour… Their ‘secret date’ in Italy where she fell for him a little more. The night in the Parisian dive bar, playing drinking games and sharing kisses. Playing pool together, getting just a little too competitive. All those priceless moments she’ll never get to experience again…
Someday we’ll both be older
I wonder if we’ll be together looking back on the past
But I don’t care if I don’t live to see another day
I love you in the worst way
These were the things she pictured in her final moments. Then finally, with bottomless tears clouding her vision, she closed her eyes. With uneven breathing, unable to calm her heart, she took a step forward.
This is the only way…
And another.
The only way we can be with each other again…
And another.
Deep breaths, Riley, you can do this…
And on the very edge, barely on the ground.
I’ll see you soon, Walker…
She jumped toward the choppy water and jagged rocks that would end it all.
You’re the only one
Who’s making me come
To my sinful senses
I’ll never love
Anyone the same
I’ll never feel ashamed
Of using you for pleasure…
Of using you for pleasure…
Of using you for pleasure…
And she was free.