For the first time in a long time… things were finally good. Well… good should be taken with a grain of salt. Things were good in the sense that Elo and Riker had decided to put everything behind them and just… not talk about it… at least not yet. Riker had told her it wasn’t the right time, and honestly, it wasn’t. The two of them had just made up because their baby girl was in the hospital, and since then, they just hadn’t brought the other issues up. Which… in retrospect, wasn’t terrible. Riker was sleeping in his own room again - his arms around his wife every morning. They talked… they laughed… they played with their baby girl and annoyed their son who was getting to the point of saying “Mooooom, daaaad stoppp it” - which was always a fun age. Things felt normal… besides the large hole in his heart because he was avoiding talking about the elephant in the room. But… what could he say? Things just… kept coming up like… like the way he had to chaperone his teenage daughter’s prom. No… he was NOT avoiding a conversation… totally not… After all - IF HE DIDN’T TERRORIZE HIS CHILDREN, WHO WOULD? And yes, did he drag Andy and Dorian with him to keep him some company - yes yes he did.
It was… honestly a pretty good distraction. I mean, he already started the terrorizing when JP and Diego came to his door to pick up his girls - though sadly, Phoebe told him that he couldn’t… rude. “ALRIGHT BOYS, you ready to mess with the kids?” These were the first words that left his lips when he had both Andy and Dorian in his grasp. Yes, Riker did make all three of them meet in the parking lot so they could strategize. “Okay okay, if anyone kisses my girls - we embarrass them? Got it? ONE TWO THREE SPAN OUT.”
“Riker stop being a kid,”
“Never, Dori. You should join me, it’s soooo much more fun than being an adult. Anyways, have you given any thought to letting me have one of your new kids? I promise I’ll be an amaaaazing dad. I mean, I’ve already had 4 and I’m rockin it.”
“You’re not getting my kids, and if you call this rocking it, you’re out of your mind,”
Riker put his tongue out as he walked away from Dori who soon found himself in conversation with VC, and in his place, Riker was looking for his daughter who SHOULD have been here by now. WHAT WERE YOU DOING PHOEBE AND AMIE? Actually no - Riker was not going to question that. Not his place - he’d done worse things by the time he was 17… trust him… that time at the strip club made him a lot of money but he probably should not have been there on his business ventures. He just wanted to do a little magic mike showing okay 
Walking towards the stage, a soft smile met Riker’s lips as he recalled himself being at prom so many years earlier. He wasn’t even supposed to be there… but Jordan was coming back to Beryl, and well… it’s not like Riker had much to do besides watching out for his best friend. And… well… he knew Elodie was Jordan’s “date” and for a while he falsely believed that she was the one who had broken his heart at first… but that actually wasn’t the first time that night he had seen Elodie.
Flashback
SHT SHT SHT HE WAS LATE. Look, it wasn’t Riker’s first time being late to a concert, but this time he could 100% say it wasn’t his fault. Okay… maybe it was a little his fault… but not… fully his fault. OKAY LOOK THAT CHOCOLATE CAKE AT THE AIRPORT LOOKED REALLY GOOD, HE DIDN’T REALIZE THERE WAS GOING TO BE A LOT OF TRAFFIC.
Anyways, he was here. Yes, he was… finally here. Riker’s guitar was strapped to his back as he sped in his motercycle to the prom… getting lost a few times because look, he wasn’t from Beryl okay. Anyways, he’d made it. Placing his helmet on his bike, Riker ran inside - seeing Jordan clearly getting ready to get on stage. Sh!t. “EXCUUUUSEE ME” Riker yelled between the people, though he found his body gently brushing against someone. “SORRRYYY” Riker called out, not looking back until a few seconds later - but when he did look back, he found… god she was gorgeous. She was already turning back so she hadn’t seen him, but… that girl… Riker needed to talk to that girl. There was just something… about her. But right now… he needed to get on stage.
End of Flashback
His heart was racing… why was it racing? Was it racing? Or was it just aching? For a few seconds, Riker stayed still… unsure of what that all meant… and then, a second later, he found himself walking towards the exit with a sense of purpose. He knew he should stay at the prom - he was there to bother his kids, but the reality was that he just wanted to watch out for them.
That, however, didn’t stop him. Soon enough, he found himself driving back - at a speed faster than he should have to go home.
Flashback
“Is she single?”
The joking words left Riker’s lips, though he wasn’t really paying attention to who Jordan had brought backstage: a girl only known to the band as his date, Elodie DeLoughrey. All he knew was that whoever she was - he needed to keep her away from Jordan. If this was the girl who Jordan had been pining over for years, in Riker’s mind, she was absolutely no good for him.
He was far too distracted in putting his guitar up at the current moment, however, while the rest of his band mates surrounded her, hugged her… whatever else. Once he was done, Riker turned - a goofy smile on his lips as he saw Jordan first. Riker was clearly waiting for a response to his question, but laughter emitted from his lips hearing the “Nope, not for you” that Jordan replied with. “Hey how come I get singled out?” Riker added, though, with these words, Riker finally saw the girl Jordan was standing next to. It was her… the girl he had bumped into… and the girl who seemed to be crowned prom queen… something Riker knew because he had been staring at her as she danced with the king. What? She was kinda on his mind since he bumped into her a few moments earlier. “I am”
He couldn’t help the soft smile that met his lips at her words… she was? No… what were you doing Riker? She’s… the girl who hurt Jordan. Don’t get drawn in… don’t. But how come he couldn’t drop his smile?
End of Flashback
There he was… standing outside his door. How was he supposed to do this? He found his heart racing more than it was before - likely in anticipation of what was going to happen. However, after a second, he couldn’t stop himself. He found himself opening the door - finding Elo sitting in the living room watching TV while Lexie was probably asleep.
“Why… why’d you leave me? Why… I just… I don’t get it. I… what did you mean when you said all of that? Why Elodie?” and he found his eyes tearing up as he looked at his wife.
@astxrism - I know you probably won’t reply but yes wanted to write this for a while