A/N: Hey readers! I want to give a big thank you to anyone who has read my previous Rucas One Shot titled 'Tattoo'. Your reviews meant the world to me and encouraged me to write more! This will be a series of one shots that's going to follow Season 2 episode titles and synopsis' that the writers have told the fans via Twitter. Hope you guys enjoy it!

'Girl Meets Semi Formal' Synopsis: Riley agrees to go to the school's annual semi formal dance with the new kid in school. Lucas doesn't react too well to this and ends up asking the last person anyone expected.

Fifteen minutes. That's how long he'd lasted in the school gymnasium before he couldn't take it anymore. How had he gotten himself in this situation? Lucas Friar had never been the type of guy to let something like this bother him. She was just a girl. He'd liked girls before, so why was dealing with what he witnessed in there so difficult?

Because she's not just any girl. The voice in his head taunted.

Lucas banged the back of his head against the wall outside of the gym doors as he let out a frustrated sigh. He knew the voice in his head was right. Riley Matthews wasn't just any girl. She was unlike any girl he'd ever met, any girl he'd ever liked. With her, he felt like he could start over and be the type of person he's always wanted to be. She made him want to be better because he could tell she believed in him. No one else had ever made him feel that way.

So, why is she not dancing with you right now?

With a groan, Lucas banged his head against the wall again. He'd messed up. Big time. He'd let that new exchange student from England steal his moment. God, this felt like Farkle all over again with the school play. He was supposed to give Riley her first kiss that day, but it never happened. Farkle had sabotaged the whole scene. At least Lucas didn't have to worry about him anymore. They were friends now and Farkle respected his feelings for Riley. Plus, Lucas ended up getting that first kiss eventually.

He smiled a little at the memory, remembering how her hands had trembled slightly when she'd grabbed his face in her hands. Then, before he could even process what was happening, she'd planted her lips on his. He definitely hadn't expected it since he'd always imagined that he would be the one to initiate their first kiss. But, this was the year 2015 after all. Who says girls can't make the first move? It was actually kind of a relief now that he thought about it.

Unfortunately, Lucas didn't think this situation would end as well as that one did. He'd let Riley get away with Charlie. He couldn't even think of the kid's name without grinding his teeth together. It wasn't that Charlie was a bad person. He'd been nice enough to everyone in class since he'd arrived a month ago. The problem was that he was getting a little too chummy with Riley for Lucas' comfort. What was even worse was that Riley wasn't stopping him.

Hadn't he and Riley come to an understanding? They both knew they liked each other, so what was she doing? He hadn't even looked at another girl since he realized his feelings for her. How could she be at the dance with someone who wasn't him?

Another bang of his head against the wall was now in order because he knew he was being a hypocrite. He couldn't really be mad at her for not coming alone when he hadn't come alone either. In fact, his date tonight was probably even worse than hers because it was her best friend. Yes, Lucas had asked Maya to the dance. But, of course, Maya saw right through him. She knew he wasn't asking because he actually wanted to. When she tried to get the real reason out of him, he was too embarrassed to admit that he was only asking her to make Riley as jealous as he felt right then. It was a horrible idea; he knew that. Maya was his friend and he shouldn't be using her for his own selfish reasons. Especially if it was going to hurt her relationship with Riley. Lucas knew he wasn't the type of guy to do these kinds of things, but he felt like he had no other choice. When he saw Riley agree to go to the dance with Charlie last week during their lunch period, he felt like he'd been punched in the gut. That should've been him asking her.

Thankfully, Maya agreed to go with him. But, she made it clear that it would just be as friends. That's what she was telling Riley and she wanted it to be the truth. Lucas agreed, even though it would go against his plan of making Riley jealous. It was no use anyway. Riley hadn't even looked in his and Maya's direction since she'd gotten to the dance with Charlie. She was completely engrossed in whatever lines that British kid was feeding her.

Lucas sighed. He should've known his plan wouldn't work. It was stupid from the moment he thought of it. He guessed it was true what they said: jealously was an ugly green-eyed monster. It made people do stupid things.

The sound of the gym door being opened and shut caused Lucas to snap out of his thoughts. He turned his head to the left to see Riley standing there, looking back at him. Even though he was upset at her, he couldn't stop the way his breath was stolen from his lungs at the mere sight of her. She looked beautiful tonight in her long pale yellow dress with her hair perfectly styled for the occasion. Usually he welcomed the way she seemed to affect him, but tonight he wished he could just ignore it. If she didn't look so angelic right now, he probably could have.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hey." He replied instantly.

He had to bite his bottom lip to keep himself from smiling. This was their thing. No matter what was happening between them at any given moment, they always did this. Always greeted one another with a simple 'hey' or 'hi'. It seemed to be the way they started most of their conversations; specifically, the ones that were going to mean something. At first, he'd thought this little back and forth greeting between them was just from being nervous around each other because of their feelings. But as time went on and they became more comfortable around each other, he realized it was more than that. These simple phrases that people threw around everyday was the way he and Riley connected. It only took one word, one syllable, for both of them to listen to one another. Because of those small words, he and Riley never got lost in silence. One of them would always talk, and the other would always listen. 'Hi' and 'hey' might not mean much to most people, but he knew it meant a lot to both of them.

"So…" Riley began while shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "What are you doing out here alone?"

"Just needed to get some air." Lucas shrugged, knowing completely well he was lying.

"Oh." She paused. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded, pulling his lips into a thin line.

She looked at him for a moment, searching his face. What she was looking for, he didn't know, but a second later she dropped her gaze to the floor and sighed. "Maya said you were upset."

Lucas froze. Was he really that obvious?

"Are you?" Her eyes snapped back to his. "Upset, I mean."

"I-" he hesitated. What was he supposed to say? Should he lie? Or should he tell her the truth?

"Lucas, you know you can tell me anything, right?" she looked concerned.

"Yeah, I know that." His response was immediate. This at least he knew he was sure of. He could trust Riley with anything and she'd never tell a soul, not even Maya.

"Then, please. Tell me what's going on." She pleaded. "I know something's wrong. You've been acting weird since last week."

Great. She'd noticed his change in mood ever since Charlie had asked her to the dance. It was official. Hiding his emotions was hopeless when it came to her.

He wanted to answer her, to let out everything he's kept bottled in for a week. But where did he even start? How does he even express how he's felt without sounding like a jerk?

With a sigh, Lucas shifted his gaze to the ground. "I don't even know where to start." At least he's starting out truthful, he thought.

"You can start from the beginning."

He snuck a quick glance at her and saw the small smile on her lips. Chuckling, he replied, "Yeah, that'd be a good place to start, wouldn't it?"

All he got in response from her was a simple nod of the head, though her smile never left her face. He knew it was now or never.

Taking a deep breath he finally said the words that had been eating at him for a week. "I'm jealous."

"What?" Riley sounded confused. It only took one look her way to confirm it. Her eyebrows were furrowed, head titled slightly to the side. She was cute when she was confused, Lucas noted. But that was beside the point right now.

He continued. "I'm jealous, Riley. I'm jealous that you're here at the dance with Charlie and not me."

Her eyes widened. "You're jealous of Charlie?"

"No." he shook his head. "I'm jealous that you're here with him. It's different."

"I don't get it." Riley shook her head this time. "If you didn't want me to go with Charlie, why didn't you ask me before he did?"

"I shouldn't have to ask you, Riley." He huffed. "You know how I feel about you. You know that I like you. Just like I know you like me."

He had to stop for a second to compose himself. He could feel his frustration building into anger, something he'd promised her months ago he was working on. He wasn't going to yell at her again like he'd done that day in class. He wasn't going to hurt her that way again.

"Why would you agree to go to the dance with Charlie if you know how we both feel?" he asked softly.

"Excuse me?" Riley looked shocked. "Lucas, weren't you the one who said we shouldn't move things too fast between us? That we should wait until we're both ready to be in a relationship before we take that next step?"

"Yeah, but –"

"No!" she snapped. "I like you, Lucas. You know I do, and you were right. We both weren't ready then. But just because we're taking things slow doesn't mean I'm going to sit around and wait for the inevitable to happen. You never made it a rule that we couldn't see other people."

"Well, maybe I want it to be a rule now." He stated matter of factly.

"Unbelievable!" Riley exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "So, what do you expect me to do from now on? Not go out with anybody and just wait for you forever?"

"That doesn't sound too bad actually." He mused.

"Lucas!"

"Okay, okay." He amended. "No, I don't want you to do that, alright?"

"Then, what do you want?" she sighed.

The answer was so simple that the realization of it shocked him.

"You, Riley." He stepped away from the wall, walking towards her, stopping when they were only inches away from each other.

She looked up at him, her eyes full of amazement. He grinned at the expression on her face. There were a lot of things Lucas Friar liked about Riley Matthews, but this – this had to be on the top of the list. He liked seeing her face light up with any kind of positive emotion whether it was happiness, amazement, or belief. She was always such a positive spirit, so innocent in her way of viewing the world that he couldn't help but be enveloped in her light.

That's why he had no doubt about the next words that came out of his mouth. "I want you. No one else."

"W-what are you trying to say?" she stammered, sounding breathless.

He kept his eyes on her as he reached forward and grabbed her hand. Her eyes shot down to where their hands joined between them. She stared for a moment, and then slowly allowed him to intertwine their fingers.

Smiling, Lucas answered her question. "I'm trying to say that I'm ready for us to move forward."

She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. "You are?"

"Yeah, I am." Then he remembered something "I mean, I am if you are. I did say that this decision had to be made by the both of us one day. So, are you?"

Riley stood still, just looking at him. Lucas had no idea what was running through her head, but every second that passed that she didn't answer him, made him more nervous. What if she didn't want to move forward with him anymore? What if she liked Charlie more than him now? What if-

His heart stopped. No, he wasn't having a heart attack, though he wouldn't be surprised if what he was looking at right now caused one. In a second, his inner nervous breakdown had come to an end when he'd seen the big smile spread across Riley's face. He recognized that smile. It was the same one she gave him when he'd asked her out on her first date.

She started jumping on her feet, the giddiness running through her, and Lucas prepared himself for the loud 'yay' that was sure to come. Except that it didn't. Without any warning, Riley let go of his hand and flung herself at him. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into their first hug. Lucas was still for a moment before he responded by wrapping his own arms around her. He hadn't expected her to react this way, but he wasn't going to complain. Her hug was just as sweet as her kiss. And just as unexpected. It was becoming clear that Riley Matthews was one surprise after another.

"I'm guessing that's a yes." He laughed.

Pulling away she smiled up at him. "It's definitely a yes."

Lucas' couldn't stop the matching smile on his face even as he asked, "What about Charlie?"

"I like Charlie." Riley said simply.

Lucas' face fell and Riley laughed when she saw his expression. "But, I don't like him the same way I like you."

"So, that means…" Lucas trailed off with raised brows.

"That means," Riley started, "That I'll have to make it clear to him that he and I can only be friends."

"Let him down gently, okay? He seems like a nice guy." Lucas advised.

"Oh, now you're on his side?" Riley laughed.

"As long as he's not trying to be with you, yeah." Lucas winked.

Riley shook her head in amusement. "You are so lucky I like you."

"I can't argue with you there, City Girl." he smirked.

With one last laugh, Riley took hold of Lucas' hand and led him back towards the gym doors. "C'mon. Let's start moving forward."

And that's how Lucas spent the rest of the dance just like he'd wanted to from the beginning: with Riley.