He had never seen Riley look at him like that. Her eyes were emotionless and her voice venomous. Even when they fought in the hole she didn't look at him with such disgust, such anger. A part of him knows that he deserves it for being so jealous and controlling, but all of him is frozen because of her words. You're the only person that's ever broken me.

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt anyone, especially her, his sunshine, his princess, the reason he survived New York. But somewhere along the way his efforts deteriorated. He didn't just hurt her, he broke her, and he hates himself for it.

In that second, the blinding fog plaguing his sight dies. Snapshots of Riley's glassy eyes with tears threatening to spill, fake smiles, and humorless laughs race through his brain. How long had she been feeling like that? How could he not have noticed the toll this triangle was having on her?

He doesn't realize she's gone and Maya rushes to find her until Zay puts his hand on his shoulder, "She didn't mean it Lucas. Riley just needs some time to calm down."

"That's highly improbable, Bubbles seemed entirely earnest," Smackle remarks.

"Thank you for the brilliant commentary," he snaps at the female genius, much more bitterly than he would normally.

Farkle's glaring at him with an arm around her, "Cool it. You made your bed, now lie in it and stop taking it out on us," the certified real-boy leaves, pulling his girlfriend along with him.

Lucas lets out a frustrated sigh, facing Zay.

"Don't look at me, I told you the best way to deal with relationships is to not be there."

The joke makes him smile slightly. There's an uncomfortable silence between them before Zay speaks, "So...who'd you end up choosing?"

"Riley. It was always Riley and now it's over."

"I'm sorry man. Maybe you'll work things out? Isn't that what you two do best? Talk?"

"We haven't talked in a long time. Besides, she's having a great time with Evan," Lucas says.

"Yeah, those two did look pretty cozy," Zay admits, earning a scowl from Lucas.

He raises his hands up in defense, "Just telling it like it is man," he pauses. "You know there are other girls besides Riley. Even if it's over between you and Riley, you'll find someone else."

Lucas shakes his head, "No. I'll never find anyone like Riley again. She makes me want to be a stronger person, to look at the bright side of life. She makes everything better, even when I'm having the worst day. I could have never survived New York without her, or ridden Tombstone, or have gotten past my anger issues. I can't….I can't live without her."

Zay stands in silence for a minute. He never thought his friend had such deep feelings for Riley, "Have you ever told her that?"

"No," Lucas says weakly. "I thought she knew how important she was to me."

Sometimes Lucas could be so clueless, "Look, she probably thinks that you're going to pick Maya after everything that's happened. You can't just expect her to read your mind when you took your time entertaining your options between the two of them. Dude, you dated her best friend for a while. She's going to be hurting, confused, and wondering why she wasn't enough for you."

"So what do I do?"

Zay shrugs, "I don't know if Princess Cotton Candy Face is going to listen to you after all of the crap you pulled about Evan, but you need to talk to her. You need to show her that you are worth it. Keep your promise man." Zay pats him on the back before leaving.

Lucas knew his friend was right. The best way to mend their relationship was to talk about it. But he didn't even deserve to be in the same room as her, let alone have a conversation with her. He sighs to himself, even if she didn't listen to him, the least he can do is apologize. He would do whatever it takes to keep her, he couldn't just let her go.

After frantically searching, he finally finds her in one of the Ski Lodge's resting areas. She's sitting with Evan, smiling and laughing, looking more alive than she had in months. His breath catches in his throat. He shouldn't go there, he shouldn't take away her chance to be happy without him.

Lucas watches Riley tremble with laughter, much like when he attempted to use a British accent. Her hair falls in front of her face and Evan tucks it behind her ear. Riley grabs his hand and they stare into each other eyes. There an intensity between them that reminds him of Maya, of that campfire.

He wants to walk away, but their interaction is like a car crash to him. He wants to so badly, but he can't look away. Riley's eyes pan up and suddenly her chocolate eyes meet his emerald ones. She drops Evan's hand as if it was burning her, "Lucas," she breathes out.

"Riley," he hesitates. "I think we need to talk."

"I don't think so man. You've done enough," Evan interrupts.

Lucas wants nothing more to do than to tell off this boy who has only known her for a couple of hours, yet thinks he has the right to tell him what to do. But he keeps his eyes on Riley, "Please."

Evan is getting ready to stand and push him out of the room, but Riley puts one hand on his shoulder, making him still, "It's okay. I'll be okay, I'll text you later."

"Are you sure?"

Riley nods before giving Evan a small smile.

The boy groans, but makes his way out of the room, bumping his shoulder with Lucas' before he exits.

Riley looks down on the ground, not sure why she said yes to talking with him. She was done, wasn't she?

"Riley…" Lucas starts. "Please look at me."

Riley looks up and notices that he's incredibly close to her now. Lucas sees her glassy eyes this time, "I'm sorry. I had no right to say those things to you."

She's silent. His palms begin sweating, not sure if her silence is good or bad, "And I'm so sorry if I hurt you in these last few months."

She looks into his eyes, "You didn't hurt me Lucas," for a moment hope floods his body. "You broke me." Her voice cracks on the word and guilt quickly diminishes any hope in his system.

"I wanted you Lucas. Just you. But you didn't want me. At least not only me. You went on dates with Maya for weeks."

"I did that because you stepped back from me. Riley, I thought you wanted me to be your brother. I tried fighting for us."

That's what you think we are? What if that's not what I think we are? I'm not comfortable at all. Riley I can't be your brother anymore.

"Maybe you did, but on the same day, you almost kissed my best friend. And you spent two years flirting with her even when we had our unofficial thing going. If you didn't feel something for her Lucas, you wouldn't have dated her, you wouldn't have such a hard time deciding between us. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep riding this perpetual rollercoaster with two people I care about. So I'm done," Riley's crying at this point and all he wants to do is hug her, but he's sure that would only make things worse.

"Riley please don't give up on me. Please don't stop believing in me." In us. The words crumble out of his mouth.

"I will always believe in you," her eyes are fixated on her shoes. "But I'm not going to wait and slowly lose my mind over this triangle. I know you want Maya, so this is me, telling you to get her."

He shakes his head, "Riley you don't know what you're talking about."

She looks up again, "Don't I? Lucas, everyone can see it. You two were voted cutest couple. Even Zay, your best friend who's known you since Texas, sees how much you care about her."

Riley moves to leave the room and Lucas grabs her wrist. It feels like a chain around her, "Riley, please you need to understand." His voice sounds almost as broken as she feels.

"Let me go Lucas," she whispers, "I'm begging you."

His hand loosens and she speeds away the first chance she gets, taking his heart with her.


Joshua Matthews couldn't believe that his big brother Cory was finally going to a ski lodge. All he ever told him was that those places were the epitome of evil, basically hell on Earth. He was even more surprised when Cory asked him to be an extra chaperone for this trip. Josh pondered the idea, it would be nice to catch up with his niece and brother. Not to mention he got a free ski trip just for babysitting some freshman.

After settling down in his room, he walks around to try and find Cory. He wanted to tell him all about his first semester at NYU and couldn't wait to hear about Auggie. He bumps into someone running and sends them tumbling to the ground, "I'm so sor-Riley?"

His niece looks exhausted with puffy eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks, "Riles, what's wrong?"

She starts crying even harder and clutches on to him. He hugs her tight and feels his heart snap in two. He had never seen her like this. Riley Matthews was the definition of sunshine, he wonders how her light burned out.

"Riley," he grabs her chin so she looks at him. "I want to help you, but I need to know what's going on. Okay?"

Riley hiccups, "Okay."

He leads her back to her room and locks the door, hoping her friends won't interrupt the important conversation ahead, "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

She sighs, but starts speaking anyways, "Maya and Lucas were voted cutest couple even though Lucas and I were unofficially together. Then Lucas didn't ask me to semi-formal because he just naturally assumed we were going together. After that, I kept noticing these moments with him and Maya. Even my friend Zay said they were lovebirds. Zay's his best friend, the person who has known him longer than any of us. If he thinks Lucas belongs with Maya, what did that say about our relationship?"

She pauses for a minute, finding herself getting more emotional as she recounted the events that got them here. Josh gives her hand a squeeze and she continues, "We went to Texas so Lucas could ride Tombstone the Bull. Maya couldn't watch him do it and I realized that she liked him. I wanted Maya to be happy so I decided to step back. Besides, I remember Uncle Eric and his friend Jack telling me they fought over the same girl. She loved Jack like a boyfriend and Uncle Eric like a brother, but she still talks to Uncle Eric, not Jack. I thought that if Lucas and I dated and broke up, I would lose him for good. So, I told him that I loved him like a brother, and that Maya liked him. That night they almost kissed, and when I found out, I decided to go on a date with another boy, Charlie."

"Riles…" he interrupts her but she keeps talking. "I thought I was hiding everything pretty well, but Farkle knew I still liked Lucas. I asked for some time because I was so sure my feelings would fade away, and he agreed to give me that. On New Year's Eve, I broke up with Charlie because I didn't have feelings for him, but Farkle told the entire class at midnight that I still had feelings for Lucas. Ever since then, me and Maya have been waiting for him to make a decision. But I just couldn't take it anymore, so I told him that I was done today."

Josh holds his niece as she cries into his shoulder. His blood boils. How could Cory and Topanga not realize how much Riley was going through? How could Maya flirt with her best friend's semi-boyfriend without feeling bad?

"Riley, I think you did the right thing."

"Really Josh?"

He nods, "No boy is worth it if he makes you feel this bad. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Riley bits her lip, "Because Farkle already told the entire class my secret and I couldn't talk to Maya about any of this. I tried telling Mom and Dad, but they kept telling me that things would work out, and were comforting Maya instead of me. I just didn't want to bother anyone."

He sighs at the girl next to him. If he knew one thing about his niece, it was that insecurity was her biggest weakness. No wonder she was having a meltdown. The boy she was with and her best friend developed feelings for each other, everyone thought they were perfect together, and she was stuck in a love triangle for months.

"Riley, you can talk to me. Remember that. You are not a burden at all, and I promise to be here for you no matter what."

"Thank you Uncle Josh. And thank you for listening to me. I feel a lot better."

He swings his arm around her, "No problem kiddo. What do want to do now?"

"I'm actually kind of hungry, but I don't want to see anyone right now," Riley says.

"Say no more. I'll go down and get you some food. I figure you want to sleep after such an emotional day today."

Riley kisses his cheek and whispers thanks before Josh leaves her alone with her thoughts.

The youngest Matthews spots a petite blonde on his way to the ski lodge cafe. Her eyes widen slightly, but she calmly approaches him anyways. Well that's new.

"Josh, I didn't expect you to be here, have you seen Riley?"

He doesn't look at the blonde to his side, instead focusing straight ahead, "Yeah. I'm getting her food."

"Is she okay?"

Josh faces Maya now, needing to see her reaction when he said what he was about to say, "Gee Maya. I don't know. Her best friend flirted with her unofficial thing for two years and she's been in some weird love triangle for months feeling unwanted and not enough for the only boy she's ever liked."

Her eyes suddenly have tears in them. He feels a hint of guilt, but ignores it. He was going to put his niece first even if no one else did, "Why do you even like Lucas? Is it because of some twisted fantasy to take everything away from Riley? Her parents, Shawn, her crush?"

Tears are streaming down Maya's cheeks. Had she really been stealing everything from Riley? Her best friend, her sister. Was she the reason why Riley felt broken?

"No. I never wanted to hurt her Josh. I love her, she means the world to me."

"You've got a funny way of showing it Hart. Why did you have to go for Lucas, of all people?"

Maya flinches. His tone is getting more and more cold towards her as the conversation continues, "I just...he's a nice guy. I like making fun of him." Why did she like him?

"They're millions of nice guys that you can make fun of on this planet. You picked the one Riley had," he turns away from Maya, getting ready to find Riley some food, but turns back to say one last thing. "Stay away from my niece."

She can't stop crying, she doesn't know if it's because Josh, who still makes her knees weak, just gave her a verbal slap in the face or because he's right. She stole Lucas from her best friend. She ruined everything. She should stay away.


Lucas had been laying in his bed for hours, replaying every moment he had with Riley over the last two years. When this bubbly girl fell into his lap on the subway, he was sure that he would never see the pretty brunette again. Imagine his surprise when he walked into her father's class. Sure, it was a simple attraction at first, but the more he learned about Riley Matthews, the more he wanted to be with her.

She was sweet, caring, and just so easy to talk to. He was sure the no one could be as wonderful as his princess. He was inspired everyday to be a better person simply because of her, her traits, her personality, her heart. He thought they were going to make it.

When he learned that Maya liked him and Riley only loved him like a brother, he decided to give Maya a chance. Maybe they would have a better connection than the one he had with Riley. All of their dates were awkward and tense, but they had to have something right? They had something at that campfire. When she told him that she was happy to be with him on New Year's, he thought that they would just naturally transition into a better relationship, even though Riley was constantly on his mind. But when Farkle dropped the bombshell, everything changed and Lucas couldn't think straight, and when he finally figured it out, Riley wanted nothing to do with him.

He hears the door unlock and sees Farkle and Zay walk into their shared room.

"I'm sorry for getting mad at Smackle," he says to the first best friend he made in New York.

"I know you are, but you should apologize to her, not me."

Lucas nods, "Where is she?"

Farkle and Zay look at each other and then back at Lucas, silently refusing to answer his question.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?"

"We found Maya crying on the floor, Smackle is with her until we find Mrs. Matthews," Farkle reluctantly answers.

"Why was she crying?" Lucas asks. He had never seen anything make Maya cry.

"She was crying because of me," the three boys glance at the doorway to see Josh.

"Why did you make her cry?" Lucas shouts at the older boy.

"Why did you make Riley think she wasn't good enough? Why did you and Maya flirt with each other when you were with Riley? Why did you almost kiss a day after Riley ended your thing together? I'm sorry if Maya is upset about this, but since no one else wants to put Riley first, I am gladly doing it."

The two boys glare at each other, neither of them daring to look away. Josh knew that he was being a little harsh on these teens, but nothing mattered after he saw his niece in such pain. Lucas understands that he really hurt Riley, but that didn't give Josh the right to hurt Maya.

Zay decides to diffuse the anger, "Hey, I'm Zay. We haven't been properly introduced yet," he holds his hand out to the older boy.

"I know who you are," Josh spits at him. "You're his best friend from Texas, the one that kept saying him and Maya were love birds, which made my niece doubt her relationship with this idiot."

"And you," he turns to Farkle. "I'm glad you comforted her after Texas, but you should have privately told them about how Riley felt, not tell the entire class. The same class that voted for her best friend and her unofficial boyfriend as the cutest couple. Do you have any idea how embarrassed Riley felt after that?"

Josh doesn't wait for Farkle to answer, turning back to Lucas, "I don't care if you picked Maya or Riley, but if you ever hurt her again like this, I will personally end you." Josh races out the door before any of the boys comment.

"So…" Zay begins, "What happens now?"

Lucas stands in shock for a while, maybe things would be better if he just left both girls alone. He had already hurt the most important person in his life, "I'm going to let her go."