Tonight and Tomorrow
Summary: One-Shot: Riley/Lucas. Maya's opening night at the art gallery in SoHo brings everyone together once again, with the possibility to rekindle what once was. Based on the canon of Girl Meets Bay Window.
Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World
A/N: Just a one-shot which has been on my mind for a while.
"There's a gallery in SoHo, and they want to show my stuff."
The familiar smell of freshly baked goods wafted through the air as twenty-two year old Riley took a seat near the rear of her mothers bakery next to the tall bookshelves. Her mind drifted to the long hours during her youth she had spent enjoying time in the bakery with her best friends, laughing and making memories.
The old Ukrainian bakery had seen many a people in its lifetime, and Riley had only been there to see a few of them. In the past few years, her time in the bakery had been scarce, since she had spent so much of her time begin consumed with her college priorities. She had loved every second of college, she couldn't deny one bit of that, but it was the relapse afterwards which scared her.
Now she was back where she started, in her mothers bakery, waiting for her friend.
She turned around in her seat at the sound of the bell at the door chiming, expecting to see her best friend, but finding another random New Yorker in her place.
Riley sighed turning around, folding her hands in front of her, remembering her last in person conversation with Maya which had taken place at their bay window two weeks prior.
"Riley, they want to make me an artist in residence. I found an apartment in SoHo," Maya had said. The pride pulsing through Riley's veins was inevitable and joyous. That was the beginning of Riley's doubts as she began to realize that they really were growing up. Things were changing, faster than she wanted to admit. Everything that Riley once found a solid grip on was disintegrating and it terrified her. Even Maya who had once claimed to be just as frightened of change had been embracing it with eagles wings.
And if Maya could do it, well than for goodness sake so could she. So Riley sat a little taller, smiled a little brighter, and tried to welcome the idea of the future being opportunistic.
With that, the next thing she knew, the blonde, blue eyed beauty slid into the booth across from her with a rare smile of pure happiness and excitement as she passed her a flyer for her opening night at the art gallery in SoHo.
"I'll come to your opening."
Expressive and captivating original pieces surrounded Riley as she roamed mindlessly through the featured art exhibit that night. Her mind travelled through other worlds as she examined colourful and passionate paintings, wondering how on earth a human mind and body was able to come up with such stunning pieces. Even if nothing in the world made sense to her, these paintings did, and the years Riley had spent growing up with Maya Hart, having been dragged through countless museums and art shows, she had developed an otherworldly appreciation for the mayhem around her.
Riley was so proud of her best friend, for finally making it to the place she always knew she would get to. All the lengthly hours and tiring battles that the girl had fought for had finally paid off, and the reward was amazing.
Riley wandered to the centrepiece of the exhibit, finding a single portrait, painted with timeless gold hues of a of a young girl with her back facing forward, looking backwards unto oblivion, her hair flowing in every which way.
'Rays of Sunshine', the tile read when Riley looked down to read a description of the piece.
Everything about the artwork made Riley beam proudly, pulling out her notepad, and scribbling words recklessly down onto the blank white lined paper.
Nothing else in the room seemed to compare to this one piece of art, positioned perfectly in the centre.
Riley had gotten to the exhibit early, unbeknownst to Maya, who had explicitly told her that it started at 10. But in order to appreciate the art entirely, Riley wanted to be able to see it without the interference of all the other observers.
"You know who that reminds me of?" a familiar voice asked, retrieving Riley from her thoughts. Riley turned her head, flipping her hair in response.
His eyes glinted like silver coins in a fountain, flashing brightly from an unmeasured depth, luring her in with the promise of an easy capture. Her stunned response was reactivated when he flashed her a sparkly white smile, and she herself broke into a contagious grin, leaping towards her old friend, a boy who had developed into a man.
Lucas chuckled, settling into her hug, holding onto her tightly, letting her head rest briefly in the crook of his neck, and breathing in the smell of lavender in the spring.
"It's good to see you too," he whispered into her ear.
Riley pulled away and stepped back, flattening her blazer and skirt, looking sideways at the tall man.
"I can't believe you're here," Riley waved her hands around. "I mean Maya said she sent you an invite, I just thought you would still be in Texas."
"I couldn't miss this," Lucas defended himself. "Besides, it's been far too long."
"I agree," Riley said, remembering their last in person conversation which had taken place over four years prior at the end of their final summer before college had consumed their lives. Sure they had remained close over the years, calling each other on a regular basis to keep tabs on each other, but it would never make up for the time they spent together in person. He had once made her a promise that she would never lose him, and so far his intentions were sought through. She turned her attention back to the art. "So who does this remind you of?"
"Oh, just a girl I grew up with. They say that just her presence in the room could make even the saddest of souls smile to themselves," Lucas explained shrugging slightly.
She knew this was his twisted way of mocking her.
"Tell me more about this girl," Riley insinuated, going along with his game and trying to keep from smiling.
"Well she was always the smartest girl in the room, but not in the shove it in your face kind of way, she would do anything for her friends, always had a friendly smile," he spoke quietly.
"She sounds like a dream," Riley smirked.
"Oh she was," he promised.
"You're a real tool, you know," Riley bumped her shoulder playfully into his arm and rolling her eyes. She looked away to put her notepad back into her purse.
"I just tell things as they are. This painting is exactly where it is supposed to be."
Riley fought from rolling her eyes once more, and decided it was time to move onto the next painting. Lucas followed her, noting that the the gallery was beginning to fill up with more occupants.
"I didn't think an art gallery would be the place where a cowboy finds himself in his free time and why he choses to leave his home state," Riley commented as they move along.
"Well, what can I say? I am a sucker for the arts."
"Why don't we just quit all this dancing around and get to the real question I want to ask," Riley turned around coming close to his faec and surprising Lucas. He recovered quickly.
She sure had changed in the last four years.
"Ask away," he motioned.
"Why are you here, Lucas?" she asked clearly and composed.
"I told you," he shrugged once again, hiding his smirk. "Maya sent me an invite."
"I'm serious! You live in Texas for four years, not once leaving and you chose to fly across the country for Maya's art exhibit on it's opening night? What give's Lucas? What aren't you telling me?"
Lucas watched as Riley lost her cool and then composed herself again, once again showing him the side of her he had always known. She sure had grown up in the last four years they had been apart. She had replaced her bohemian dresses and floral skirts with a more grown up and professional look. Her hair was shorter straight. Everything about her seemed different, and yet, also the same. The pretty young girl he had grown up with had evolved into a gorgeous angel. His stomach did flips just thinking about her.
He had to be honest with her.
"Well I graduated this spring from A&M finishing off my undergrad, I worked my ass of this summer on the ranch, and now school starts up again next week, and I was accepted into NYU's Veterinarian program for this fall."
Riley's eyes widened in response, her arms dropping to her side.
"Oh," she squeaked.
"The farthest we've ever been apart is like this much," Riley replied, moving to display the distance between them.
"When am I going to see you?"
Riley took the time to excusing herself to the ladies room, but in actuality retreating out the side balcony of the gallery. The dark night sky was lit up by the vast cityscape taking her mind away from her inner anxiety and allowing her time to breath again. She was in desperate need of some fresh air after seeing her childhood friend and crush, a crush she so deeply hoped she had outgrown. Her mind drifted to thoughts of leaving the event entirely, but her heart chanted otherwise.
Maya would never forgive her.
'What was Lucas doing here!?' her mind asked.
She had gotten her answer, and it confirmed her suspicions, even though she prayed she was wrong about them. Perhaps the details were off, she just figured that Lucas was considering moving back to New York, not that he actually was, or that he was attending a post-grad program at the same school she attended.
Or that after years of not being in the same room, they were back together.
Would he have expectations of becoming reacquainted with one another? Did she want that as well?
Cool air pressed against her, as she was once again reminded that summer was ending.
Everything was changing.
Since her graduate program ended, many areas of her life came to a close. She said goodbye to her sorority sisters, Maya had moved across the city to pursue her dream, and it left Riley with a decision, to stay behind, or to move forward.
Hesitantly, she decided to move forward, running faster to keep up with Maya who had long since passed her in the journey called life.
With the sound of the door opening behind her, she turned to acknowledge whoever the person was.
Not so surprising, she once again found the ghost of Lucas Friar.
"You bolted out of there pretty quickly," he commented, taking a seat on the bench next to her. "Is everything okay?"
Riley lifted her head up, and looking in his direction, but not meeting his eyes. "I guess I'm just overwhelmed. Everything is changing so quickly. Maya's moving along with her life, she bought an apartment in this part of the city, so I don't see her as often anymore. Farkle moved away a year ago. You're back and being you, and then there is me. Little old me."
"That's what this is about?" he asked raising an eye brow.
"I know things change," she explained further. "It's how life goes. I get that. I just… I still don't know where life wants me. You know?"
"I think so. I felt that way when I loved back to Texas. I felt I was going back out of obligation. Because I thought I was supposed to be there. But now? I'm pretty sure this was where I was supposed to be all along."
"In New York?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said after a minute. She finally looked back up at him, finding him looking at her as if he saw more to her that what was on the surface. "And there is absolutely nothing wrong with you being you. Honestly, it's really refreshing knowing you're still here, being you. I'm not sure what I would do if you weren't still the smiling ray of sunshine I remember."
"You know, there is more to me than just that," Riley crossed her arms stubbornly.
"Trust me," Lucas chuckled. "I know."
"All the time," she promised.
Riley watched Lucas from the refreshments table, greeting her parents who had arrived only a few minutes before. It was Cory's face which had lit up like a Christmas tree, when they saw each other, which shocked Riley completely. They exchanged a warm hug and began talking. Riley had to shake her head in amusement.
'Of course,' she thought. Lucas and her father had known each other for years now, it made sense in some ways, but in her mind, she was still seeing fifteen year old Lucas sitting at his desk in her fathers' class.
"I'm glad he showed up tonight. I was worried that you would be wandering around on your own for the majority of the night," Maya said, taking Riley out of her thoughts. A wide grin came to Riley's face as she swept her best friend into a hug and congratulated her.
"Maya," Riley gushed. "This is so amazing. I am so happy and proud of you."
"Thanks, honey," Maya replied. "That means a lot. I know for certain that I wouldn't be here without you, so your approval means the world."
"Maya," Riley whispered, beginning to tear up, and hugging the blonde once again. "You are so talented, this is all you. This is you peaches. You made it."
"I made it," Maya repeated, beginning to tear up as well.
"And I know you're going to be so busy tonight, but tomorrow, you and I are celebrating and I am treating you to drinks," Riley pointed to the other girl.
"Deal," Maya nodded. She had been smiling so much that night her cheeks already ached.
"Now go," Riley turned Maya's shoulders not wanting to let Maya see her cry, directing her towards the rest of the gallery. "You've got an art show to host."
Riley sighed, watching Maya giggle like a school girl and walk towards some of her other guests. She directed her eyes back to the centre piece of the golden girl and finally seeing what Lucas had been telling her about.
Rays of Sunshine.
The girl with her hair blowing in the wind facing the other direction into the sunset.
'At five-thirty, you turn gold,' Riley recalled from her youth. Maya knew art. And Riley knew Maya.
The entire night had been dedicated to the girl who was gold with her hair waving, and even though she was facing away, Riley could tell she had a delicate smile on her face.
And she knew.
Maya dedicated the night to her.
She suddenly felt like laughing and crying at the same time. On the other side of the room, Maya was talking with an older woman, smiling and nodding, motioning to a blue painting and obviously explaining it.
If, ten years before, you told Maya she would have been right there, hosting her very own show, Maya would have laughed at the cruel joke. But Riley would have smiled knowingly. Maya had always been capable of it, and Riley would believe and hope enough for the both of them.
She set her glass full of punch back down on the table, in fear that she would accidentally drop it and create a scene and a mess. Her hands found support against the table.
A light touch of familiar hands against the small of her back brought her back and she closed her eyes knowing who it was and being so grateful.
"Come on," Lucas whispered into her ears, knowing the perfect words to say, just as he always had. "Let's get out of here."
"Now what do we do?"
"Now we leave this place, Maya." Riley replied confidently.
Lucas led Riley down a small path away from the Gallery. The two of them walked through Washington Square Park, with silence hovering above them, neither of them quite wanting to break it. The night itself was beautiful, the large concrete arch coming into view, and the glow of the sky which was being lit up by the city that never slept. Everything about the night should have made Riley smile, and if not that, then just being next to Lucas should have done it.
Instead, Riley frowned to the sidewalk, avoiding Lucas's concerned gaze keeping an eye on her. She wasn't even sure why she was frowning, she couldn't explain it.
They each took a seat at the fountain just in front of the arch and Lucas watched as Riley removed her heels one by one and spun to dip her toes into the water.
He nearly laughed out loud.
"What are you doing?" he said loudly, taken off guard.
"My feet hurt," Riley shrugged defending herself.
He smiled to himself. "Well in that case, so do mine," he replied, causing Riley to turn to him and watch Lucas remove his shoes and socks, as well as rolling up his pants.
He fearlessly dropped his feet into the clear water, but then squealed like a little kid. Riley jumped in surprise.
"That's freezing," he croaked, catching a glimpse of the wide smile on Riley's face and noting that the cold was worth every bit of the smile. "So," Lucas began again, settling his feet into the cool water once again. "What does the world have in store for Riley Matthews."
"A Masters in Journalism, hopefully. I start back at NYU this semester. I've been writing for the school paper since third year of my graduate degree, so I'm writing an article on Maya's show tonight."
Lucas didn't think he was going to get that much out of her.
"Wow," he said leaning back.
"What?" she asked concerned.
"Just you," Lucas explained. "You being you and just… Maya's always had her art, and Farkle has always been a genius. They always knew what they wanted to do. But you, never really knew until you did, and here you are. You've got it all figured out. I'm proud of you, Riley."
Riley just stared at him, as he smiled to himself and she tried to figure him out. A delayed blush rose to her cheeks as she processed what he said about her, about how he felt.
"What about you?" she asked.
"Me? I'm just finally going through with what you always told me I could do."
"To be a veterinarian," Riley smiled.
"That's right," he smiled back.
"Where are you living now?"
"Farkle actually let me rent out his old place from when he was going to school here. It's one of the nicer places I've ever lived in, which is saying a lot because it's student housing." Riley was humoured, smirking. She had spent many hours in Farkle's apartment. "Where are you living?"
Riley scoffed. "Back at home, which sucks, but it's what I have right now. I always loved my old room, but it's different now that I'm older."
Lucas smiled, and nodded in understanding. He couldn't imagine living under his parent's roof past the summer time.
"You should move in at the Farkle Manor," Lucas suggested. "There is a ton of space, and it's parent free."
"Yeah right." This made Riley laugh out loud, only to find that Lucas was dead serious.
"How do we do that? All of our memories are here."
"We take them with us."
Riley kicked the door open with her foot, balancing two boxes in her arms, while Lucas followed behind her and closed the door. Two weeks had passed since Maya's successful opening night, and a lot had changed.
"Hey Riles, where do you want all these picture frames?" Maya shouted from Riley's new bedroom.
Lucas and Riley exchanged a knowing look, as Lucas brought his set of boxes towards the kitchen. Riley followed him, setting her boxes on the floor. She didn't really need to bring much with her, other than all of her things for her bedroom, but she really wanted to make the entire apartment her own. Or as much her own as she could.
"I'm really glad you decided to move in," Lucas said as he poured two cups of the freshly made coffee. "It was already getting pretty lonely in here."
"Well I came home last week to find my dad grading Auggie's history paper, and realized that I needed to get out of that house."
Lucas smirked. "I don't blame you."
"Of course you wouldn't, you get to be in the presence of the Riley Matthews twenty-four seven."
"Just how I like it," he replied, wiggling his eye brows stepping forward and handing her the cup of coffee. She brought the cup to her mouth, inhaling the smell and smiling up at her new roommate.
"Welcome to Rileytown," she whispered, with the shyest of smiles.
His arm wrapped around her, pulling her body into his chest, letting her close her eyes in pure utopia as she enjoyed the beginning of this new era. Lucas's head rested on top of hers and he had to smile at what they had come to.
Never in a million years would he have believed that he was where he was now, but the universe worked in mysterious ways and sometimes things had a ways of coming full circle.
"I'm happy you're here," he repeated, pressing his lips to her forehead.
"Thanks for everything."