This is very short, but hopefully it's decent! A little Lucas/Zay friendship idea I had.

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW.

Zay was thankful once he finally found Lucas that he was sitting underneath the big oak tree outside of the ski lodge rather than kicking it. "You wanna talk about it?"

Lucas peered at him, then shook his head forcefully. "Nope."

Zay sat beside his friend, doing his best to ignore the anger in his tone. "Well, too bad. Man, I know this has been confusing for you. I'm here to help in any way I can. But this has been going on for too long now. You need to make a decision. Surely there's one girl you like more than the other." He brushed a bright yellow leaf that had fallen from the tree off of his head while handing his friend a cup of apple cider that he had gotten from the service desk.

"There is!" Lucas took a sip of the cider, feeling somewhat better as the warm, crisp liquid slid down his throat.

Zay's eyes brightened, his tone overflowing with curiosity. "Who?"

"Riley," Lucas informed him. "It's always been Riley."

Zay shook his index finger at him knowingly. "I figured as much. You've been jealous this entire time. When you found out she'd been talking to Evan all night, I thought your head was going to explode."

"Don't speak of it," Lucas warned, gritting his teeth. "That dude really grinds my gears."

Zay grinned; he couldn't help it. It never failed to amuse him when Lucas got angry, merely for the fact that it was a rare occurance these days. "Then what's the problem?"

"I care about Maya, too. I don't want to hurt her."

"Do you even know if she feels the same way about you?"

Lucas shrugged. "You tell me."

"All I know is Riley looks at you in a completely different way than Maya. Listen, I know you care about Maya. It isn't going to be easy to let her down, but this choice is yours. If you know your heart is with Riley, you're only going to make things worse by letting this continue. If you really don't want to hurt Maya, the best thing you can do is tell the truth."

Lucas scrunched his nose in disgust and took another sip of cider, waiting for it to make him feel better again. The magic was gone. "I hate it when you're right, you know that?"

Zay flashed him a sympathetic smile. "So you're going to talk to her?"

The green-eyed brunette nodded in determination while holding up his cup, his voice confident. "Right after I finish this..."

"That's the spirit! Liquid courage," his friend cheered, holding up his own drink.

Lucas grinned broadly, connecting his cup to Zay's as a form of cheers. "How did you know it was Riley I was going to choose?"

Zay's demeanor turned serious. "That look I said Riley gives you that Maya doesn't?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

Zay shot him a knowing smile. "You give her the same one. You know what else I know?"

Lucas arched his eyebrows. "What's that?"

"No matter what happens, it's gonna be alright. Cause I've got your back." He held out his fist.

Lucas grinned, reciprocating his best friend's request for a fist bump. "You know what, Zay? I take it back. I don't hate it when you're right."

Any form of feedback is appreciated! Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this. Hope you enjoyed it!