Alright, bear with me on this ride. This is a series of one-shots/drabbles/ficlets/headcanons that may sometimes be interconnected. Then again they may wind up being contradictory as well, we'll just have to see.

So this whole series is both a gift, and a challenge, to tiramisuspice, who is considered a godsend in the Lucaya community. Every time she posts an update to the quintessential bible of Lucaya fics, 'Love and War', I will update the series. Keep in mind I am nowhere near her level in speed, but I sure as hell plan to commit to it! I issued the challenge as of Chapter 22 of 'Love and War' if you want keep score.

Each chapter will be a POV piece of Lucaya through the eyes of someone else. My only rule to myself is that it can't be the 'core four' (Riley, Maya, Lucas and Farkle) or Cory. Also, after reading the chapter entitled 'Whoops' in 'Love and War', I am convinced that it is the greatest headcanon ever of Katy Hart. So she's off the list too. I cant compete with that!

POV character: Brandon/ The Rebel

Characters: Brandon/Rebel, Maya, Lucas, Riley

Non-Lucaya pairings: Briley

Comments: Since this is tiramisuspice's gift, I wanted to start off with a character close to her heart. In fact if you see any Rebel/Riley (Briley) pairings in ANY fic, it's almost certainly due to her influence on the GMW fanfiction community. What power!

After almost a year away, John Quincy Adams' Middle School's favorite rebel was returning.

Now most students would probably be wistful looking up at the large double doors that marked the entrance to the school, some may even be sentimental considering they would have been away from their friends for 10 months. Brandon, however, couldn't be bothered. He breezed through the school doors muttering to himself and rolling his eyes.

"Stupid Q. Why do I even bother asking for advice?" he mumbled, speeding past freshmen and sophomore. A couple of girls gathered around the lockers spotted him and began to whisper and giggle. Brandon streamlined past them having no time for their shenanigans. He was still reliving the events from earlier that morning.

A notepad flew across the room, landing squarely on his book bag. Brandon looked up from munching on his Poptart to see his goofy, older brother grinning by the door. Quentin, or Q as Brandon called him, was tossing an eraser from hand to hand looking to the open mouth of the book bag.

"Weren't you supposed to be on the subway 5 minutes ago, Greasehead?" Q questioned, nodding to the alarm clock blinking 7:35. Brandon's eyes narrowed. He hated that stupid nick name. He spit the chewed up bits of sugary pastry at Q, watching as his elder brother ducked quickly.

"Shut up Q! You know I hate that name." The younger of the two glares. "And I'll get to school, when I get to school. Who care's if I'm late?"

"Methinks the teachers may have something to say about it." Q sneers before lining up his shot. The eraser soars through the air in a perfect arc before landing... a full foot short of the book bag.

Brandon smirks and holds his head high. "Loser." he taunts before he picking up the eraser and side tossing it into the bag. He then zips up the bag, shoves the rest his breakfast into his mouth before walking past his brother and out the door, crumbs trailing behind him.

When Q catches up to Brandon in the kitchen, he is chugging down OJ out of the carton. Q rolls his eyes, yanks the carton from his brothers mouth and pours some juice into the glass sitting a foot away.

"So first day back to school. You worried? Think the teachers are still mad at you? Think the cute girls still remember you" he teases and winks slyly at the junior of the two.

"Doesn't matter." Brandon mutters. "They'll have their own opinion made up before I've even stepped foot in there. Probably think my absence is due to some act of school terrorism or delinquency." He hates that some people take one look at him and label him as trouble. 'Who are they to judge me? No one even knows me.' he thinks to himself.

"That's because they don't know you, idiot." Q always had an irritating way to know what he was thinking. "Screw them if they judge you." Q snaps his fingers suddenly, idea springing to his head. "You know what you need?" he asks, leaning across the kitchen table, face splitting in two.

Brandon know immediately that he is going to regret it, but he could actually use some advice from his elder brother. Plus Q is going to keep grinning down at him with that look in his eye that says he's not going to let Brandon leave with out finishing this conversation. "What ?" he winces, waiting for whatever stupid answer falls out of his moronic brothers mouth.

"GET A GIRLFRIEND!" Q yells even though Brandon is five feet away. He stretches his arms out, as if it's the answer to the meaning of life. A beat passes. Then two. Rebellious teenage stares at clownish adult, neither of them blinking for a moment before Brandon's hands rise to his forehead and massage at his temple.

"And this, is why I should never ask you for advice." he shakes his head and gets up. "You turned into a real pea-brain ever since you and Margo started up college. Maybe I should as her for advice." he reference his brothers much cooler girlfriend who they have know forever. 'No point staying here now' he thinks walking away. Nothing is gonna stop him from getting out of the house and away from his idiot brother.

"Brandon." Well, nothing except that. Quentin has called Brandon a lot of names: Greasehead, loser, dumbass. Hell, Q was the first person to call him 'Rebel'. But very rarely does he ever call his little brother by his first name. Brandon turns around, eyebrows raised.

"Seriously. Find a girl who just like you for you. Someone who you can talk to and share stuff with. Someone who won't judge you, because she already knows who you really are." Q is speaking softer, more seriously, but a gentle smile is on his face. "Trust me little bro, nothing else matters when some you care about has your back."

Brandon pulls out a stick of gum from his gray jacket pocket and pops it into his mouth hoping it will distract him from his thoughts. As he passes by the locker rooms and restrooms he hears snippets of conversations around him.

"I heard he was expelled and black-mailed his way back in..."

"No, the Rebel totally got arrested, but they kicked him out of 'juvy' due to overcrowding."

"I was told, he hit on the female superintendent of the school district and she had him suspended for the year."

"He toured the west coast with that new rock band as a roadie. I heard he subs on the drums sometimes for them."

"...bootcamp..."

"...lost at sea..."

"...hired to work on an overseas movie set..."

"...kidnapped by aliens..."

Well, there were a lot of rumors floating around about him, like he knew there would be. Some were pretty ridiculous, but none were anywhere close to the truth. He put on his 'Rebel' face and continued walking towards the History rooms. As he turned the corner he saw two figures leaning against the lockers that he recognized. Maya Hart and Lucas Friar, arguing, or so it seemed.

"Listen up Huckleberry, just because we got paired up for this stinking project doesn't mean that I have to value your opinion" the golden haired beauty said teasingly trying to push some buttons. "After all, you were probably going to suggest we do it on some kooky animal shelter or special-needs ranch."

Lucas seemed unfazed. He smiled down at the short blonde giving as good as he got. "If that's what you feel is best, ma'am." His smile bloomed into a full blown grin, eyes dancing in mirth. "But, I 'reckon' it's better than your idea of starting a donation drive for 80's rock band shirts."

"See, this is what I'm talking about. You have no idea what you're saying. Everyone love rock band shirts, and everyone has an old pair. Then we turn them around and sell them as 'vintage'. Trust me, people love things that someone else has loved." The two of them had slowly drifted closer to each other, less and less distance separating them. Neither of them seemed upset to Brandon, however. In fact, he would say they were happy about it.

"Aww, come on Maya. Step out of your comfort zone and you might learn to like something new. Lets do the animal shelter project." He grinned wider as he challenged her. "Don't be such a Clutterbucket."

Maya's hand shot out and grabbed Lucas' collar, faster then anything Brandon had ever seen. "What did you just call me Ranger Rick?" she questioned, eyebrow arched menacingly. Lucas just grinned as she pulled him closer until there was barely an inch between the two of them. It was a wonder no teacher had wandered by and given them detention for 'unbecoming behavior'.

Brandon figured now would be a good time to interrupt them before he felt like a creep for spying. He walked up to them and gave them a general head nod. Simple, symbolic, and unemotional; a perfect Rebel greeting. "Sup Hart, Moral compass" he greeted.

Maya let go of the taller boy and both of them turned to the new arrival. Their smiles, while less face-splitting, were still genuine and friendly. Brandon was thankful to have someone who wasn't gossiping about or afraid of him.

"Sup Rebel. Long time, no see."

"Hey man. Welcome back."

Brandon accepted the pat on the back and fist bump from the two. "We all still have Matthews as History teacher again?" he asked.

"Yup. We don't really know how it happened, but it happened" Maya shrugged, questioning the school's process of rotating teachers through the years.

Lucas frowned slightly. "Hey, I like Mr Matthews' class. They are unique and informative."

"Oh, be quiet Sundance."Maya tossed back rolling her eyes. Brandon noticed that the small smile never left her face. Something was going on between these two. Brandon had only been around them for five minutes but he could tell. Hell, anyone could tell five seconds into watching them interact.

'Huh,' he thought to himself, 'here's a female in a relationship that can give me better advice than Q. I should just ask Hart.'

"Yo Hart. You got a second to talk?" he asked. When she nodded but didn't move he added, "In private?"

Maya's left eyebrow rose to her hairline. "Umm. I guess." she agreed, moving away from the lockers and towards the restrooms. Brandon followed her, but not before noticing the frown on Lucas' face and seeing his eyes dim. For a moment he looked like a kid in the sandbox you had his favorite toy taken away. He looked heartbroken, of sorts.

Maya leaned against the vending machine, kicking a foot up against it. The machine dinged and a protein bar fell out. Brandon watched her peel of the wrapper and start munching before she nodded at him. "Ok, shoot. What's up?"

A shrug of the shoulders was the response she got. "Nuthin' much. You know these crazy rumors going around about why I was gone?" Maya smiled and nodded, still chewing on the bar. "Well," he continued "my brother suggested the best way to deal with it is to just talk to someone or find someone to share stuff with. He kinda suggested," Brandon rolled his eyes at this part "that I get a girlfriend to share stuff with."

Maya burst out laughing at that. She slammed her palm against the vending machine a couple of time as she was doubled over in laughter. "Is this... is this your version of asking me out then?" he asked in between chuckles.

Brandon shook his head. "Actually, I wanted the advice of someone in a relationship, and figured you were the best choice since you are now together with the Moral Compass." He answered, pointing over his shoulder at Lucas still at the lockers.

"WHAT! You think... Me and... No, we're not, I mean he and I aren't..." Maya spluttered, eyes wide and face reddening prettily. Brandon just rose a single eyebrow in challenge. At that, Maya's eye's narrowed and she pointed at him. "Listen you. I don't have to explain myself to you, but I am not dating Ranger Rick."

"Alright then," Brandon reasoned "if you're not seeing anyone currently, then go out with me." At her surprised look he continued. "Look, you and I get along well, and we're really similar. So why not? We'll be two bad kids out causing trouble together. It'll be fun."

Maya's eyes flickered for a second. He was pretty sure it was in Friar's direction, but decided not to call her on it. She took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eyes. "You're right, we are really similar. But that why we wouldn't work well together," At his confusion she pressed on "One of the things I recently learned, is that we all need good kids in our life. They keep us from going to far and help us see the good in ourselves. And it's kind of nice to have someone," her eyes flickered over his shoulder again "who believes in us even on the bad days."

Taking his silence as acceptance and understanding, Maya walked back to the lockers, patting Brandon's back along the way. Halfway there, he heard her call out, "Alright Huckleberry, I decided to be gracious and let you do the animal shelter project." He could literally hear the grin in Lucas' voice.

"You mean let US do the animal shelter project, right?"

"Nope. If we are doing the shelter, then you're doing all the heavy lifting Cowboy."

Brandon turned around to see the two of them walk into the History classroom, smiles still beaming. Shaking his head he reached into his jacket pocket for another stick of gum. Just then he heard a door open behind him and before he could turn around, someone crashed into him.

"Oh, no. I'm so sorry." a sweet voice called out to him. Looking up he made eye contact with Riley Matthews. She had changed in the last year. She was still tall and gangly limbs, but she seemed more confident, more mature. Her fashion sense had also changed. She was now dressing with a unique style, standing out without seeming uncomfortable. Her hair was also in a high ponytail instead of flowing free. 'It's a good look since she last decided to dress up as a princess.' he thought to himself.

Riley offered him a hand and he took it without to much thought. When he rose to full height,her eyes brightened and she smiled a big smile at him. "Hi Rebel. Welcome back." She reached over and hugged him affectionately and Brandon found himself smiling. She always was friendly, that still seemed the same.

"Thanks Matthews. You're looking good." he said smirking at her "I like the new look."

Riley blushed and touched her hair lightly. "Thank you."she said softly, hugging a giant history textbook to her chest. "So how have you been? What have you been up to?"

Brandon rolled his eyes. "Oh I'm sure you've heard all the stupid rumors about where I have been." he said begrudgingly. Some part of him was hoping she wasn't the type to listen to crazy rumors.

"Oh, I don't listen to those rumors. I would rather just ask you."

'Looks like she isn't the type' he thought happily. Maybe telling one person the truth wouldn't be so bad. "Truth is, I was actually in New Mexico, taking care of my Nana after surgery. I was the only one not overseas or in a college scholarship program who could do it."

He watched as Riley's eyes softened with... something. He couldn't tell what exactly, but he was interested in finding out. "Awww," she gushed "that was sweet."

Brandon rolled his eyes in good humor. "Yeah, Yeah. Just don't go ruining my street cred."

Now it was Riley's turn to roll her eyes. "Ugh, why are boys so worried about their street cred all of a sudden."They both grinned at each other at that. Brandon stuck out his hand to her and uncurled his fist. Inside was a thin strip wrapped in silver.

"Gum?"

Riley shook her head quickly, squeezing the textbook closer to her. "Oh no, I can't. Class is about to start and we are not allowed to chew gum in there." Brandon smirked and raised his eyebrow in question.

"Are you mocking me?" Riley fumed. She glared at him for all of two seconds before swiping the stick of gum from his hand and popping it in her mouth. "Ohh, peach flavor. My favorite." she said happily before smiling at him and walking to the classroom. "Thanks Brandon."

As Brandon smiled at her retreating figure, his brothers words came to mind. "Seriously. Find a girl who just like you for you. Someone who you can talk to and share stuff with. Someone who won't judge you, because she already knows who you really are."

"Hey Matthews, Want to go see a movie with me tomorrow?"

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