Back again! I felt like I had one chapter left for this story since Lucas and Riley are still amazing and everyone deserves a happy ending. Also, the title comes from an incredible song that everyone should listen to called "Mind Over Matter" by Young the Giant, and the title is a lyric from that! As always, please read and review. I really appreciate all thoughts on the chapters! :)

You follow Riley out of the room as she darts through the crowd trying her best to get away from everyone. You feel for her because she probably thinks everyone is judging her, and you know her well enough to know she must have a great explanation for her actions.

"Riley," You say as you grab her gently by the arm once you both are outside. She won't look at you, too ashamed to see your face.

"I'm not mad," You promise. Their lives are their own. You've seen the looks and felt the tension. You can't say you're surprised given what you've seen, yet you're completely shocked either Lucas or Riley would do something like that. She sighs and meets your eyes. Her big doe eyes are staring back at you and you know she's seconds away from breaking. How you never noticed her suffering makes you feel like a terrible friend.

"You love him," You state already knowing the answer. You place your hand on her shoulder in a comforting way so she knows you aren't upset.

"I tried so hard not to," Her voice cracks and the tears start flowing. You take her into your arms and let her feel whatever she needs to. She's been keeping this bottled up for the last year and before everyone else jumps into the situation you need to be there for her.

"I'm so sorry Zay," She cries trying to pull away. You keep her firmly in place letting her know this is okay.

"It's more than ok, Sugar," You say calmly stroking her hair. You can't fathom how Riley, Lucas or Maya is feeling right now. Their feelings are all very strong, but you aren't sure the way Lucas feels for Maya will measure to how he feels for Riley. He isn't a cheater, he's a moral compass. That's how you know this situation with Riley is deep. He would never hurt anyone intentionally, especially his girlfriend.

When she calms down she pulls away from you. You try not to look at her with the pity and empathy you feel, you've never been in love with someone who's dating someone else, let alone your best friend.

"Please tell me she'll forgive me," Riley desperately asks. Riley and Maya have a stronger friendship than most so you think one day they will be ok, you just aren't sure when.

"Did you ever forgive her for falling for him while he was yours?" You ask back. The shock and shame that covers Riley's face gives you your answer. Despite your jokes and comments about how similar Lucas and Maya are, you always knew Lucas would never be able to fully give Riley up. They may be young, but you've never seen your best friend as hurt as the night he went to Maya's and "chose" her.

One year prior

"Whoa, Lucas are you alright?" You ask as soon as Lucas enters your apartment looking as disheveled as the day he told you he was leaving Texas.

"It's over now," Lucas said exhaustingly while sitting on the couch. Your eyebrows shoot up knowing he meant the triangle.

"And?" You press needing to hear him say who he chose.

"It's Maya," He whispers looking at this hands. For someone who had just gotten into a relationship with a great girl you expected him to be a little more enthusiastic, but then you realize him choosing Maya means he has to break Riley's heart and that might be the hardest thing Lucas has ever had to do.

"Congrats man, she's gorgeous," You say trying to cheer him up. He's staring straight ahead with a clenched jaw and you know he's killing himself trying to come up with a less painful way to break the news to Riley.

"Yeah," He quietly says looking straight at you, "She is." You don't see a single ounce of happiness or relief in his eyes, all you see is despair and anguish. That was the moment you knew he made the wrong choice.

"Luke…" You say trailing off hoping he knows that he can't turn around and make the opposite choice now that he's told Maya it's her.

"I know," He says sadly standing up and heads for the door. You feel for him, you know he made the choice that would appease the most people; the choice the class wanted him to make.

"Riley will be ok, she's stronger than people give her credit for," You tell him trying to ease his anxiety over the situation.

"She will be," Lucas says dejectedly before walking out the door. The finality in Lucas's words aren't what's left hanging in the air after the door closes, it's what he doesn't say that is.

I won't be.

—

Present

You go to Riley's early the morning after the party to check on her. You may not have been in the room when Zay and Maya walked in on Lucas and Riley kissing but you had a feeling the whole situation was about to take a turn after the subtle but huge statement Lucas made without realizing it. Him slamming his fists down in reaction to Charlie gasping seeing Riley's exposed neck proved more than enough that he couldn't handle the idea that Riley had someone else interested in her, and that she might one day be interested in him back.

You seat yourself at the bay window waiting for Riley to come back into her room. You aren't sure if she's eating breakfast or just in the bathroom right now. It's still very early, yet you knew she didn't sleep last night and you needed to see her. She walks back in and stops mid step when she sees you. Riley hesitates to take the seat beside you afraid you're angry with her. You immediately hold her hand and squeeze it silently letting her know you won't end the friendship over this.

"Farkle, I don't know what to say," She whispers staring at you.

"I know, Riles." You say and sit there silently with her. You aren't sure how much times passes before her head finds its way to your shoulder, but you let her relax and sleep while cherishing the time without everyone else. Since the additions of Lucas, Zay and Smackle you haven't had a single moment with just Riley or just Maya. Everyone else overtook everyone's time and your friendships with your wives fell by the wayside. Riley knew you would go check on Maya as well but she seemed to appreciate the support now. Her silent suffering had gone on long enough. You know if you had to watch Isadora with another guy you wouldn't be able to contain yourself for an entire year. The issue was Maya was your other wife and you needed to see where she stood with all of this. She isn't stupid, she couldn't have missed all the signals everyone else saw.

You gently pick Riley up and place her on her bed. You notice she feels as light as a feather, and you see that even though she's asleep she doesn't look fully rested. There's worry etched into her features, this triangle all about destroyed the little bit of self esteem Riley ever had. You give her hand one last squeeze before climbing back through her window.

—

You lay awake as you have all night. It's mid-morning by now and you have zero motivation to do anything. It's Saturday and you should be with your friends or with Maya, but you don't want to see anyone. You pull out your phone and see texts from almost everyone. Even Smackle texted you to see if you were alright, but the only thing you can concentrate on is who didn't text or call you. Given the damage that you and Riley caused Maya last night you didn't expect her to be in a big hurry to reach out, but a small part of you is disappointed she didn't.

You read all of the messages and drop your phone sighing. You'll get back to them all later when you can deal with interacting with others. You close your eyes willing sleep to come to you, but it doesn't and you turn over and scream into your pillow as your way of letting the frustration out. Maya forgave you. She walked in on you literally cheating with her best friend she it took her all of about two minutes to decide she still wanted to be with you.

If you walked in on her with Zay you aren't sure you'd do the same and that thought alone makes your stomach hurt. You love Maya, you're sure of it. You wouldn't have chosen her if that wasn't something at least part of you wanted. But which part? Not knowing that answer scares you. Choosing to be with someone was a big deal and if you can't even give the reasons why than maybe that means there were never any to begin with. Your eyes snap open at that harsh thought. Before you can process what that meant your mom walks in with red and puffy eyes saying she has something to tell you. The knots in your stomach just get bigger.

—

You have the music blaring while you attack your canvas. You couldn't be more thankful for having art as the outlet you do. The creativity that constantly dances around your brain needs a way to be let out, and anytime you feel any intense emotion the faster you can get to the canvas or sketch pad the better. As the previous nights events play back through your memory you zone in and out of anger and straight numbness. Lucas and Riley kissing flashes as your brush harshly moves against the canvas. Your eyes water, but you never let the tears fall. It's not until your music is turned down that you even realize there's someone else in your room.

"Farkle you scared the shit out of me!" You say with your eyes narrowed at him. He puts his hands up in surrender as a silent apology. His eyes move past you to your painting, and it's when his eyes get wide that you know that whatever you painted is something you don't want anyone else seeing. You turn and see nothing but lots of darker colors dancing across the canvas. It's dark and edgy but there's not a defining shape from what you can tell. From past experiences you knew that sometimes you have to take a step back and get a second look at your own work. You walk to stand right next to Farkle and your own eyes widen seeing the face that is staring back at you.

"I guess Lucas isn't the only one holding on to someone," Farkle states. There isn't a single ounce of judgement in his voice, just acceptance and exhaustion. You stare at the dark blue eyes and dark hair of Josh Matthews as a cry of anguish escapes you and you drop to the floor. Farkle's arms encircle you in an instant as you cry for the first time since the night Lucas chose you. You convinced yourself you cried in happiness for being chosen, yet looking back you can only remember feeling the weight on your chest feel as though it was going to crush you as soon as the words left his mouth.

"It's okay Maya," Farkle soothes. "I won't tell anyone."

"I don't know why it's always him when I'm upset," You admit with a cracked voice.

"You paint him a lot?" Farkle asks. You sigh and reach over to grab the manilla folder under your bed and silently hand it to Farkle. He opens it and studies each sketch of your long time crush. You know he's the one person who won't hate you for this.

"You love him."

"No!" You scream too quickly.

"Yes you do," Farkle says still eyeing the intimate details of how Maya has captured Josh.

"You can't tell me how I feel," You argue with the genius. He rolls his eyes.

"I don't have to," Farkle says holding up the drawings. "These do."

Everyone knows about you and Lucas, you guys show enough PDA to appease what the people who voted you as best couple. They may occasionally now throw looks of pity your way if Lucas and Riley get caught staring at one another too long. But it's what they wanted, they forced the triangle, they wanted the fire and you think that you did too.

You look at the drawings and glance at the newest painting on the easel. The fear and anxiety that has always crept inside you when it comes to Josh starts rearing its ugly head. The tears well up in your eyes again as you look at Farkle with panic in your eyes.

"You can't tell anyone," You whisper brokenly. Farkle sighs like he's been here before and you sit there wondering if he's been in this situation with Riley. Farkle shakes his head in confirmation to her silent question.

"Before New Years," He clarifies, and your head thinks it may explode with how similar you and your sister really are.

—

The rain is coming down so hard you can hardly see out of your window. It's the most cliche thing in the world, sitting here staring at the rain while being sad. You check your phone and see a handful of missed calls from your friends. There's five calls from Charlie Gardner alone. You can't bring yourself to hurt him again when he hasn't done anything wrong. The problem is you don't see him the same way he sees you and you never will. You double check to see if there's any messages from him, and then feel foolish because he was still probably dating Maya. You put your head in your hands and try not to cry for the hundredth time that day knowing you hurt your best friend. If she had kissed Lucas behind your back, and not just that you had sex with him in the janitors closet. You don't know how you'd feel about her after that.

Riley Matthews is a good girl. You gets straight A's and put others above yourself. You don't get drunk and you don't have sex with your best friend's boyfriend. In the past few days you have done both. You end up replying to Charlie apologizing over and over for the night before. You go on and on about how wonderful he has been but that you are too far gone to be with him right now. You figure that you are already feeling like complete shit so you might as well make yourself feel worse by hurting him too. The knock at the window startles you so much you jump. You can hardly make out who it is because of the rain stained windows, but the hair on the back of your neck stands up as you open the window telling you exactly who it is.

"Lucas, are you crazy?" You ask him as he climbs in, "It's pouring out there." You get up and grab him two towels to dry himself with. When you come back in you get a good look at him. His eyes are bloodshot when he looks at you. After a moment he breaks the eye contact and stares at the ground. Your heart aches for him and you want nothing more than to take his pain away. You carefully slide his jacket off of his shoulders, and lay it on one towel and wrap the other one around his wet t-shirt and start drying him off. You realize that the shirt is making him start to shiver so you reach for the bottom of it to lift it off of him. As you do this his emerald eyes meet yours only breaking contact when he lifts his arms to let the shirt slide off.

He's never looked more broken than he does in that moment and that's when you truly realize how deep your love for him goes. You grab the towel again to wrap it around him, he takes your hand in his and has you sit next to him. You want to ask what happened, but you aren't sure if it's your place. Maybe he and Maya ended their relationship? He had a fight with Farkle or Zay over what happened at the party? Either way, it was your fault he was broken and you need to fix it, fix him.

"Lucas…" You trail off reaching up to touch his face before retreating that same hand back because he wasn't yours to comfort.

"Pappy Joe is sick," He says as his voice cracks. As soon as the words leave his mouth you launch at him wrapping your arms around his neck holding on for dear life. Instinctively, he brings you onto his lap as he buries his face into your neck inhaling your scent.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," You say as your own voice quivers at the idea of that sweet man not being around for Lucas anymore. He was nothing but incredibly kind when you all visited. You don't let yourself think about the Texas trip too often as it was the final nail in the coffin that was your unofficial thing with Lucas once you discovered Maya's feelings for him. You pull away enough to see his face. His eyes are welling up and as the first tear falls you wipe it away as you brush your thumbs against both cheeks.

"Did you tell Maya?" You hate yourself for asking, but you can't let your feelings for him push you too far, not again. Lucas's eyes glaze over, like he's removing himself from reality as he stares off into space.

"No, I walked around for awhile after my mom told me," Lucas says in a monotone voice, "I didn't even realize I was here until I had climbed the fire escape." You heart wants to burst that you were the first one he told. His first instinct was to come here, but that moment of elation is soon replaced with sorrow as you climb off of his lap knowing it was wrong to be there in the first place.

"Don't shut me out," You say gently taking a seat next to him again.

"Why?" He demands staring at you, "You're shutting me out."

"I'm not the one in the relationship," You whisper looking at him, eyes as big as ever.

"Things are complicated right now," He says evenly. Complicated still means he's with her. You go to stand up again when he grabs your hand keeping you in place.

"Riley please," He asks bringing your hand to his lips like he did the night before when you were saying goodbye. Your chest feels tight as your senses light on fire being in such close proximity.

"Lucas," You breathe getting light headed. His hand finds the back of your neck bringing your lips together once more. This isn't the desperate kiss of last night. This was contact, lips on lips to comfort Lucas. Your hands find the sides of his face fusing your lips together even more as Lucas breathes you in. He was drowning and you like to think in that moment you were his air, his way to be ok given the horrific news he had learned earlier. Your parents taking the rainy day as an opportunity to take Auggie and Ava to lunch and a movie means you don't have to worry about Lucas getting chased out of here anytime soon.

He picks you up and carries you over to your bed never breaking the kiss. His shirt already being off made for running your hands up and down his perfect torso all the more easy. He was still shivering from the rain while you were on fire igniting Lucas with every touch. He plants feather light kisses on your cheek over to your ear, "You're really important to me, Riley." You shut your eyes tightly as the tears threaten to spill again as you remember the last time he said that.

"If it wasn't for you, I don't know I would have survived in New York. You're really important to me," Your breath hitches as you decide to take control rolling you both over so you're straddling him. You don't miss the smile on his face as he looks the happiest you've seen look in months and months.

"I'm going to take your pain away," You promise leaning down to kiss him.

You pretend to be asleep afterward and feel his fingers tracing circles on your bare back. It feels so good that you start to doze off with a smile on your face as you feel his fingertips trace the words 'I love you' on your shoulder.

—

On Monday Lucas has told everyone about Pappy Joe, and you have a sinking feeling in your stomach that you were not the first to know. You wonder which order he shared the news. It would make sense for Zay to be first given his long history with Lucas's grandfather. Farkle was his other best friend so he should've been next, but as his girlfriend should you have been next? And you might have been and yet when Riley walks into History the look of empathy that crosses her features as she and Lucas make eye contact tells you she already knows. When she found out is what you want to know. You still haven't talked to her because you still don't know how you even feel about the betrayal. You've ignored the voicemails she's left begging to talk. Riley sits down and starts taking avid notes for the upcoming test, you study her. She looks determined, she's focused, but she also looks as exhausted as you feel. Riley glances your way and her eyes look like they could burst with all of the guilt in them. You bite your lip remembering you should hate her for what she's done, only you can't.

Dating Lucas hurt her too you remind yourself. There are days you wished Huckleberry never came to New York to shake up your dynamic with Riles. It was always supposed to be you and her with Farkle being your fake husband. That was all. Wishing that Lucas never came here confirms what Farkle accused you of a few days prior.

"I need to talk to you," You turn around and say to Lucas. His eyebrows shoot up not anticipating that. The truth is until that morning when Lucas told you about Pappy Joe you realized you hadn't even spoken since the party.

"Matthews, this is actually important," You say to your surrogate father. He nods sensing you aren't trying to skip for once. You catch Riley's eye and give her an even look as Lucas follows you out. You sit on the nearest bench and look him directly in the eye.

"Who all did you tell about Pappy Joe before me?" You ask quietly. You just want the truth and don't want anymore games. He hesitates before answering, looking conflicted like on Friday when you asked if he still chose you.

"Zay, Farkle, Mr. Matthews and Riley," He says her name like a secret. Like they didn't use to be best friends and a little more, a lot more until you caught them.

"You told Riley before me?" You question needing him to stop the bullshit. He looks as guilty as Riley did moments ago and you know that when he told her he didn't immediately leave afterward, he sought Riley out for comfort, not you.

"I'm sorry, Maya," He says seriously. You know he's sorry, but he won't survive being this conflicted and torn apart forever. He made his choice, it was the wrong one. Not just for him, for you too. He wasn't Josh.

"I know," You say reach up running your fingers through his hair one last time, "This isn't working."

You don't expect any type of big reaction out of him. He's going through a lot right now with his family, and being torn between hurting you and Riley as well as himself has taken a big toll on him. He nods silently at you, and you feel a relief that you didn't realize you were needing to feel so you could breathe again until that moment.

"I care about you Maya, I really do, but…" Lucas trails off. You finish for him.

"But I'm not her, it's not the same." You say and the fact there's no anger in your voice resides with you both. He looks like he's just gotten his life back as the relief shows on his features.

"I never meant for this to happen this way, I swear." He says looking at you. It's your turn to nod. Lucas wasn't the type to hurt anyone, and it's taken you this long to realize that he had been doing what Riley normally does by trying to put your feelings above his own. It was time they all stopped lying and could be the group of friends they used to be.

"We'll be ok, it will take time to get back to normal but I think it'll happen." You shock yourself by how much you mean that. You want more than anything to not have the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore. You want your real best friend back. You both stand up and hug before heading back into class. Everyone is staring because the golden couple with all that chemistry has broken up. That fire had died and left them with nothing but emptiness and longing for someone else.

After class you bolt to get to the art room. Once you get there you pull your phone out and start to type the text you've been wanting to send since you were thirteen when your phone goes off first. You get dizzy seeing a text from Josh.

'Long game ends now. You're finally 17, single, and I'm ready.'

Your heart is racing so fast that you channel your energy into a new painting. When you've calmed down after a few minutes you reply with shaky hands because you can't fathom this reality.

'Take me to dinner and then we can talk ending the long game ;)' You say back not even caring if he brought you a lunchable from the grocery store for dinner.

He's the one you've wanted all along and while the rush of emotions floods you the painting becomes complete. You stare at it from afar expecting to see the same dark blue eyes you've dreamt about for years. Instead, you're met with two basic shapes; the sun and the moon in a dark and stormy night on half and a bright blue sky on the other, fighting for control. It's only after you stare long enough that you see it's completely even; showcasing the moon's need for the sun's warmth with the sun's need for the moon's enlightenment during the dark times. You sigh contently with a smile knowing that no matter where you both go, it's always going to be you two.

—

You see her on the subway after school reading a book. You smile, despite the despair of Pappy Joe's illness. Seeing your sun somehow makes things ok. Something told you Riley would make everything ok. After class you texted Josh letting him know that you and Maya finally came to your senses and ended the relationship that never should've been; giving Josh the green light to give Maya what she's always wanted. She never knew, but you found the drawings under her bed once. You only looked at two, but that's all it took for you to realize even more that you and Maya didn't belong together.

You sneak into an open seat next to where she's standing. It still to this day amazes you how she can have the calming influence over you that she does. Riley doesn't even know you're there, but merely being in her presence fixes you little by little. The subway halts and moments later the book flies at your face, which you catch with ease, moments before a body lands on your lap.

"Damnit!" She curses and you can't hide the chuckle that escapes you hearing that word come out of her mouth. Her head snaps your direction and she freezes. Your arms are wrapped around her reminding you both of Saturday, the vulnerability flashes in your eyes thinking of how she promised to take your pain away and how wonderfully she succeeded.

"Hi," You whisper.

"Hey," She responds dazed.

"Hi," You say again and you both feel thirteen again with the world at your fingertips. No problems, just friendships and blossoming romances. No cheating, lying, betrayal and excruciating heartbreak. She reads you tilting her head. You knew she heard you and Maya had broken up from Farkle at lunch. She probably reached out to Maya requesting that they talk once and for all. You see Riley glance around at the subway car to make sure Maya can't see this. You being single doesn't matter when they've already crossed so many lines, and yet she doesn't want to give Maya another reason to be upset when you've given her so many already.

"She'll be dating Josh by this weekend I bet," You says casually.

"What?" She say shocked. Maya used to want Josh more than anything.

"I told him we broke up so they could be together, now that she's 17 it should be fine." You say like the idea of your newly ex-girlfriend with someone else was not bothering you at all. You realize that really doesn't bother you. Before she can respond you both hear her name and you tighten your hold on her immensely as you both turn to see Charlie.

"Hey Charlie," She says as friendly as possible. You are completely tense underneath her and as she realizes how this looks she tries to get up, but your grip on Riley doesn't lessen.

"I wanted to tell you in person not to worry about what we talked about this weekend," Charlie says and for a moment you wonder how much simpler her life would've been these last few years if she could've loved him instead of you. She'd had you from the first time you found ourselves in this position.

"You're a great guy," Riley says honestly and you feel your jaw clench as it lays against her shoulder. Charlie eyes you for a moment, almost as if he may start something, but decided against it. Honestly, you were in no place right now to be dealing with any stressful situations.

"Thanks Riley," He says with a smile, "You've never really ever been free, it was dumb of me to think that you were. You were always his, even when you weren't." With that he walks to a different part of the subway car to finish out the ride. Riley sighs and relaxes for a moment as you feel the tension leaving yourself as well.

Riley turns in your lap to face you, she then brushes her thumb against your lower lip while biting her own. Your eyes stare at that lip hungrily.

"Always yours," She whispers to you. Your thumb is tracing circles on the back of her hand, and subconsciously goes to her fourth finger on her left hand to trace a circle around it as well.

"You'll never be anyone else's," You promise. Riley nods wordlessly as her eyes well up before kissing you.

That is it! I hope you all enjoyed it! i had a blast writing it and I know it may have seemed rushed to have Josh and Maya start heading in the direction of dating on the same day she and Lucas broke up, as well as having Lucas and Riley get together so soon also. I just wanted these awesome characters to have their happy endings so badly! Please let me know what you think :)