A/N: I'm so happy with the response to this story, and oh look another 6,000 word chapter... seriously it's my gift to everyone, because I just finished my Master's Thesis and I handed it on Friday, so after sleeping for twelve hours I started working on this. Yes it is very AU, but it's also very much GMW at the same time. I tried to keep as much of them as possible while giving them new stories and new lives. I'm glad everyone likes it!

Chapter 2 – Second Meetings Aren't Always such a Shock

Riley left the bar the moment she had left the owner's office, she didn't feel right being there after that guy had come on to her so strongly. All she had wanted to do was find a song that she liked and play it on the jukebox. Instead she got a drunk guy all over her trying to get her to go to the back with him. The night had been going fine, she was having fun, the food was great, but in the end, it was ruined by one person who had too many drinks. Josh had dragged Charlie to the bar to get him to talk to the bartender, just to get a feel of the guy, because Josh was just as overprotective of Riley's friends as he was of her. He wanted to make sure that the bartender was a good guy, so they thought that Riley would be alright for a moment, and maybe if she hadn't moved from the table just to play a stupid song she would have been. But then again who knows what the guy would have done, he could have just gone to her table and went after her there.

On her way home she sent a message to Josh telling him that she was alright and just wanted to walk home while it was still warm out, she didn't want to tell him about what had happened because she didn't want to ruin their fun. She took the bus home the few stops to where their apartment was and walked inside and went to take a shower just to wash away the feeling of that man's hands on her. It made her feel dirty for some reason and if the owner of the bar hadn't been there she doesn't know what she would have done. Shawn had taught her self-defense but the moment something happened she felt herself clam up. The fear overtaking her emotions.

It didn't take long after her shower before Charlie and Josh both stormed into the apartment, luckily Isadora and Farkle weren't home or else it would be an all-out war.

"Riley," Charlie yelled out for her before walking into her room without knocking.

It was a good thing that she had gotten dressed in the bathroom or else it would have been embarrassing especially if Josh would have seen her naked.

"What happened," Josh said walking in behind Charlie. "I know you and you didn't leave because you wanted to walk, that's an excuse you came up with when you were in high school and just wanted to be alone."

Riley at that moment wished that Josh didn't know her so well, she let out a curse before Josh settled down on her computer chair and Charlie sat down on the bay window in her room. She didn't say anything for a moment, she watched them wondering how she was going to get out of the lecture but knew better than to try anything with them.

"Some guy got a little too aggressive while you were at the bar," she said after a minute of silence had passed between them. "Nothing happened, the owner of the bar kicked him out, but after it happened I just didn't want to be there."

"Riley, we've talked about this," Josh said before running his hand through his hair. "You don't runaway, you come looking for us."

"Yeah, I know it's just that you and Charlie were having such a good time that I didn't want to ruin it for you," she said sighing into her hands before Charlie took them into his and held them there for a moment.

"No one can make you feel like you're less than you are," Charlie said reminding her of that time in college during a party where one of the guys tried to drag her off into a room, but Charlie had punched the guy and broke two fingers at the same time. "No more running."

She nodded at them, "Well at least something good came out from our outing," she said smiling.

"Well not really, the moment we noticed that you were missing we left the bar," Josh said to her. "You're not allowed to be alone, we promised."

"Plus, I was too nervous to actually say or do anything," Charlie said with a shrug.

Riley could feel herself rolling her eyes at her best friend, "Seriously, all that work to get up there and nothing, you did nothing at all."

"There's always next Friday," he said to her with a smile.

She didn't want to go back there for a while, but if it meant that Charlie would get a date she would at least try. "No shopping this time," she said automatically. "We use what I already have because regardless of what you think I still have bills to pay."

"Fine," he huffed out before getting up and lying down on her bed. "It's your funeral if you never get another date with a guy."

Riley laughed before remembering the moment that the owner's hands had touched her pulling her away from the wall where she had been cornered. Two guys in one day, one a jerk and the other a knight in very tight pants. Her life felt so complicated for a moment.

"Let's watch a movie," she suggested before either one would ask about her flushed cheeks. She rushed out of the room towards the living room and sat down without saying a word about what they had been talking about while she went through the hundreds of movies on Netflix until one of them caught her eye. One that unfortunately had to do with a bunch of people working in a bar. She wanted to crawl under the couch and live there.

"So how should I deal with you having a date with one of my customers, especially one that you were ready to sabotage food because he was sitting at table with another girl," Lucas said to Maya while they sat in the kitchen eating lunch. His sister's head snapped up looking him in the eye before turning to Zay and glaring at him.

"He was going to find out eventually," Zay said before picking up his food and walking away from the table. "Geez, you would think you people would be grateful."

"I'm not grateful Zay," Maya yelled after him. "It's my life you can't just go around blabbing about it."

"Maya," Lucas said watching his sister's irritation grow on her face.

"What I'm not allowed to date?" she said to him daring him to say more.

"You're allowed to date, but the rule was that you weren't allowed to pick up customers," he said as her shoulders slumped.

"I can't hit on them, but Zay can, how is that even fair Lucas," she said slamming her hands down onto the table. "You can't create this double standard just because I'm a girl. Also I'm only a year younger than you so don't even think of pulling anything on me."

"Fine, but let me run a background check on the guy," he said which only earned him a drink to his face.

"I can take care of myself, I don't need your help," she said before standing up so fast the chair fell to the floor. "And just so you know, he's an Adjunct Professor at my school in a different department, he's a good guy Lucas," she sighed loudly before picking up her plate. "I can take care of myself, this isn't like when we were kids."

She left the room before he could say another word, he knew that he had become too overprotective over the years, it was the reason why he had stayed in New York for college even though he could have gone almost anywhere in the country. His mother and his sister was all he really had and he didn't want either one of them to get hurt. Running a hand through his damn hair he started cleaning up the table, only to have Zay sitting down again.

"I'm sorry," Zay said after a moment had passed. "I know I promised to keep an eye on her, and I know I tell you everything, because we're best friends, but I'm sorry that it's gotten to the point where you can't trust anyone who goes near that girl."

"Zay it's not your fault, all you did was tell me, I know it's hard for me to reconcile the fact that I can't continue to be this overprotective person."

"Maybe it's just that you need a date for once," Zay said smiling at him.

"You've been talking to my mom haven't you?"

"Maybe I have, and she's right, the last girl you date was that psycho chick… what was her name again. I think it was a tea or something."

"Chai," he said with a groan.

"Geez, who would do that to their kid… anyway, she was a piece of work that one, but you haven't dated since and it's been over a year."

That's because his last girlfriend was the one who made him rethink relationships, Lucas thought to himself. "I'll find someone eventually Zay, don't turn into my mother please," he said feeling exasperated over the topic that seemed to haunt him for the last two days.

"Yeah well we're not getting any younger," Zay said with a smile.

"Oh really than I should ask about how you're trying to score a date with that guy that was with Maya's guy… geez what are we gossiping aunts or something," he said standing up and walking towards the kitchen. He really didn't want to talk about it anymore, just the thought of his ex-girlfriend made him want to rip his eyes out. The girl had turned to stalking once they had broken up because she had sworn that they were meant to be and then all of a sudden she stopped saying that she was over it. It had been so sudden that he hadn't been sure that it was real and yet he hadn't seen or heard from her in the last three months so in the end she could have just found someone else to get close to.

"I'm off to my meeting, make sure that the bar is fully stocked, I put the orders in yesterday so the shipment should be here Monday morning, I'll make sure everything is in before you open on Tuesday," he said before grabbing his keys. His security firm had to deal with an event that required him to have Saturday meetings.

"You should get yourself an assistant or something because you're taking on too much," Zay said as he put the plates in the sink. The bar was closed on Sundays and Mondays mainly because Lucas wanted everyone to have two days off and he also didn't want to serve people on Sundays because it reminded him of his step-father and how he was sometimes too drunk to go to work on Mondays. Too many bad memories are associated with Sundays and Mondays so he made sure the bar was closed on those days, and when he wasn't swamped with work he normally took those days off as well.

Lucas waved at Zay as he walked out the door, only to see his sister glaring at him the moment he stepped out. "I'm not in the mood right now Maya."

"Doesn't matter, just give this guy a chance please Lucas, don't go all crazy and overprotective, I've seen your exes, this guy is a marshmallow compared to them," she said to him as he walked down the back stairs towards his car.

He sighed as he opened the garage door. "I'll give him a shot, but he only gets one, the minute he makes you cry or steps out of line I'm going to wail on him."

"Fine, but make sure you find out whether it's my fault before you do that," she said holding out her hand. They had always shaken on their deals, it had happened after they had moved to Pappy Joe's, they didn't know anyone so all they had was each other. Promises had become sacred so he knew just how serious she was.

"You have a deal Maya," he said taking her hand. "Now go get ready to open the bar with Zay. It's still Saturday, and it's our busiest night."

"Will do Huckleberry," she said with a salute before going back up the stairs. Lucas had hated the nicknames as a kid, but if it made his sister happy he let her call him whatever combination of names.

Sunday's for Riley were dinner dates with Shawn, the man had raised her the best he could often times giving up big jobs because it meant that he had to leave her behind.

"I don't want to be an absent parent," he had said to her the first time he had turned down a photography job overseas. "I had that growing up and I don't want you to have the same experience, so if it means that I have to take the smaller assignments then I'll take them."

Riley had once felt guilty about it, luckily when summer came and they offered him a two-month job in China with the offer that she would be allowed to go with him, Shawn had taken it. She had been ten at the time, and she had loved every moment of that trip because they had gone together. Every summer until she went off to college was spent somewhere new, when she had turned sixteen the company said she could be his assistant and help him when they were on location. She had never been happier for the work experience but also to be able to learn what Shawn did at his job. It had always been vague to her because she had been overwhelmed with the grandness of it all.

After she went to Yale, Shawn took bigger and bigger jobs, but always made sure to be home for big holidays, thanksgiving in Philadelphia with her grandparents, Christmas and New Years in New York. Riley's birthdays were celebrated at Yale, and Shawn stayed until after his birthday passed so they had almost a full week together. It was strange sometimes to think that in another life he would have been a different person. He never asked her to call him dad or anything, he felt as if that title belonged to her father, but to her he was her dad, he had been there through every scrape, every recital, birthdays, and holidays. There was no one else out there that she would call her father, because Shawn had been the only one there as a parent her entire life, at least the life she remembered.

"There's my girl," Shawn said as he opened the door for her. He still lived in their old apartment, it wasn't huge, but it had been theirs while they lived in New York. It was still a place to call home. "How's life treating you?"

"Fine I guess," she said with a shrug, she didn't want to burden him with anything, but he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "It's hard okay, but I get by."

"That's what I thought, you're not allowed to lie to me kiddo it's a rule remember."

"Oh I remember, and I don't lie, I omit there's a difference."

"Yes, the difference is that when you don't tell me everything it turns into me having to pick you up from school because you have a hundred-degree fever but you don't want me to miss work, or that time where you didn't tell me about parent-teacher conferences because you wanted to make sure I got some sleep."

"If I remember correctly that time you had been awake for nearly twenty-four hours because you had been working on the stills for that huge firm's campaign and you wanted it to be perfect because it meant that you would get a huge bonus."

"Yeah, yeah… potato, tomato," he said with a smile. "Let's eat."

Shawn had made chicken Alfredo for dinner with garlic rolls, which were Riley's favorite rolls in the whole world, they had spent months trying to perfect them because Riley had put mozzarella cheese in them so they couldn't figure out how long to leave them in the oven. They went with almost every pasta dish they had learned to make. Whenever they needed to have a talk, they would make the rolls. Which made her stop and look over at Shawn as he sat down.

"You have something to say to me?" she asked him the moment they were both seated in front of the food.

He took a deep breath before meeting her eyes, "You remember the stories I used to tell you about when I was in high school with your parents?"

"Yeah," she said thinking back wondering what this has to do with their dinner.

"Remember I had told you about how one of my biggest regrets was letting Angela go, and how if I had a second chance with her I would take it."

"Are you getting your second chance?" she said looking at him with so much hope because those stories had been her favorite, until he had told her that Angela had left, and it had hurt even though he knew that she had needed the time to get to know her father.

"Maybe," he said with a smile. "Maybe I already got my second chance."

Riley couldn't help but smile at the blush creeping up Shawn's face. "How did it happen?" she asked wanting to hear the story.

"Well it happened while I was on assignment over the summer, she was in Philly visiting some friends and we ran into one another, she hadn't heard about your parents because apparently something had happened to her during that time. I asked her about it but she said she would tell me one day."

"Did one day come?"

Shawn laughed for a moment, "It has, we've been dating for almost two months now and it feels the same as before while being completely different at the same time. So while we dated I told her about how I raised you, and she had sighed before telling me what had happened."

"I hope this doesn't end in a sad moment because honestly I like the happy endings more," she said before taking a bite of her food.

"It's happy and sad at the same time, I mean we had a huge fight about it but we both realized that we wouldn't have changed anything that had happened."

"So much time passed since you two last saw each other, what could have happened since then?"

"Well she got married, I raised you, your parents, well everything happened," he said with a sigh. Somedays they didn't bring up her parents, those were emotional days where the memory they had left behind had become a crushing weight. "Riley, remember that I love you, you're my kid even though I'm not biologically your parent."

"Shawn there's nothing in this world that would change that, I've always wanted to call you dad but you have always said no, so I stopped asking, that doesn't stop it from being true."

"I know it's just that Angela told me that I have a kid, a son actually, he's a year older than you are, and she said that the reason why she never told me was because she was afraid that it would cause me to make a decision about my life that I shouldn't have."

"That must have hurt," she said knowing about Shawn's past, and his absentee parents, and finding out later in life that his biological mother didn't want anything to do with him, and the mother who had raised him, had also rejected him. So for him to find out that he has a child out there that didn't know who he was hurt him even more.

"We fought, a lot," he said sighing. "She knew my past but she had her own insecurities about everything so in the end, well she made a mistake, I can't fault her too much on that because I've made my fair share of mistakes as well."

"Are you going to meet him?"

"Yeah, we're meeting next Sunday, and I want you to come because I want them to meet you too," he said but she knew that he also wanted her there for moral support.

"I'll be there, I am your kid after all," she said with a small smile. "Now tell me about the rest of the fight."

"Well it was a screaming match, but when we both calmed down she told me about the man she had married when our son, oh geez I have a son," he said with a small smile on his face. "Anyway, he had been a good man, but had died of cancer after their tenth anniversary. He's a year old than you, so you're close in age. She tells me that he's a good kid, with a couple of friends who live with him. They all work together, and that he's following his dreams."

"That's good to hear."

"Riley, I want to know one thing, are you following your dreams?"

"I'm trying."

"Some days I wonder if you're just following your mother's unfinished dreams, but I also know of all the good things you've done over the years, and how you would defend the little guys, so it might be your dream after all."

"Well it's nice to know that someone understands me, Charlie is always getting on my case about it, he swears it's not my dream and that I should be doing bigger things."

"Well Charlie didn't raise you, I know you better than anyone kid, remember that," he said smiling.

They spent the rest of the dinner talking about a number of things, but when they were done Riley thought about how she missed living with him. Their lives were so busy some days that it was impossible to find time to hang out. She was happy that he had found love again, that way he would have someone to share those moments with.

By the end of the week Lucas was ready to throttle everyone in his life, Zay kept talking about the guy he had a thing for and Lucas had told him to nut up, because he was sick of hearing about it. Maya wasn't any better, her date with that Josh guy had turned into coffee on Tuesday, which had turned into lunch on Wednesday. The guy had been at the bar on Thursday, and even slept over that night, though Maya swore that all they had done was talk but Lucas wasn't especially happy about have a stranger in his kitchen that morning.

"Hi," Josh said to him the moment he had walked into the kitchen. Maya had been making breakfast in the kitchen which left them awkwardly looking at one another.

"Just so you know if you hurt my sister, I will cut your balls off and hang them outside of my window," he growled before walking into the kitchen to get his coffee only to have Maya looking at him, her eyes wide and her mouth open. "You're going to catch flies."

"I seriously can't believe you," she said but Josh stood in the doorway looking at the two of them with an amused expression.

"I actually didn't expect any less," Josh said with a smile. "I'm the same way with my niece, her last boyfriend used her as a beard, they're still friends but honestly I was ready to maim him."

"How old is your niece, you don't look old enough to have nieces who can date," Lucas said staring the man down. He really wasn't in the mood, he hadn't even had his coffee yet.

"She's the same age as Maya," he said with a smile as Maya handed him a plate of food. "My parents had me late in life, and my brother had gotten married at the end of the year, and his wife and him had my niece two years later."

Lucas hummed as he drank his coffee, it had no sugar in it or milk, it was straight out of the pot and the shit was bitter as hell but the sugar would keep the caffeine away and he wanted that jolt as fast as possible.

"Well now that the pissing contest is over, let's eat breakfast before you have to go and race cars outside," Maya said before shoving a plate in Lucas' hands.

She was glaring at him as he sat directly across from Josh at the table, Zay slowly walking into the room half asleep before another person followed behind him as sleepily as him. Lucas was ready to throw the plate of food at the wall when he saw the guy that Zay had been talking about all week standing next to him with ruffled hair while Zay stood in the kitchen in his jeans and no shirt.

"Are you fucking kidding me," Lucas said glaring at his best friend before Josh choked on his juice when he saw the guy.

"Well it's nice to see you get your heads out of your asses," Maya said with a smile.

"Huh," Zay said half asleep as he looked over at the table, before grumbling a curse at the people in the room and pulling out two mugs to fill up with coffee.

"Morning Charlie," Josh said which made Lucas glare at the man.

"I'm not running a freaking hotel here," Lucas said only to have Maya kick him under the table.

"Be nice," Maya said. "We all deserve to be happy, just because you want to be a freaking killjoy doesn't mean the rest of have to be miserable."

"Oh I'm sorry, but I don't want the first thing I see in the morning are a bunch of half-naked strangers in my home. Neither of you are nice enough to introduce me to these people before you have them over here. But sure I'm the bad guy," he said before standing up, to grab his aspirin bottle. It was too early in the day for this and he knew it.

Zay shuffled into the room and sat down next to Lucas's plate while Charlie rubbed his back. "We didn't do nothing," Zay said. "Yeah I wish we had but man I'm not completely crazy, all we did was make out that's it."

"Well considering how long you two have been dancing around each other I'm amazed you didn't explode the moment you touched," Maya said smirking.

"Oh look who's talking, you were ready to kill that girl that had been with them the other night because you didn't want to say anything to Josh," Zay said before taking a deep drink out of his glass. "I swear you aren't allowed to talk crap about anything."

Maya glared at him as if he had spilled a detail she hadn't wanted anyone to know. "Don't worry we all knew something would have happened. We swore you would have spit in Riley's food," Charlie said before earning a laugh from Zay.

Lucas didn't go back to the table, he didn't want to mess up their good moods just because he was cranky, the night before he had to deal with a disgruntled client because someone had broken into his suite. The problem with that was that Lucas had only been responsible for security at the event, not their private suites, they had hired someone else for that and the ensuing fight had made him wish he had never taken the job. The pills weren't working yet and the throbbing in the back of his head made him want to punch a wall so instead he got ready and left for work without a word as the other room was light with laughter.

It was nice that everyone's lives were going so well, even if he had to work himself to death half the time. It was worth it, bantering, even threatening the people his friends were dating, somehow protecting people was the only thing he was really good at.

Riley needed a new job, she couldn't stand working at the café anymore, the whole week had been filled with asshole customers, one of which had spilled their drink on her after screaming that it was the wrong drink even though she knew that it had been perfect. The only problem had been that the man had picked up someone elses drink without thinking. The only part of her life that she had looked forward to was her classes, but with the bad week she couldn't concentrate which lead to her bursting into tears after class that Friday.

"Hi Riley," Farkle said as she walked into the apartment. She hadn't really wanted to deal with anyone else but instead decided to sit in the living room with her head on Isadora's lap without saying a word.

Sorry, she signed to Izzy fighting the urge to cry again, bad week.

After a moment she could feel the genius run her fingers through her hair, which made Riley tear up. When they were in high school and either one of them had had a bad day they would do simple things, brushing each other's hair, doing their nails, small things that allowed them to just sit in silence but have some form of comfort either way. This was one of those days where she needed it so badly.

Farkle didn't say another word, and Riley knew that she was ruining their afternoon, and she didn't want to be there, when she tried to sit up Isadora pushed her down. Riley should have known better than to doubt them, the two geniuses had become the mom and dad of their group, they were constantly looking after everyone even when Riley insisted that she paid rent, Farkle she was certain of this, was putting the money in a savings account for her. She wouldn't fault him on it, she knew he was doing it out of love especially since they were a small family in a way.

The two of them had had a long friendship to the point where earlier in the summer when Farkle had proposed to Isadora, it had been Riley who had helped him set it up. When they had wanted to elope instead of having the huge ceremony that his parents had wanted them to have, Riley had mediated and now the couple was having a small ceremony in February with only fifty people attending. Riley had even gone as far to have the priest perform the ceremony in both sign and spoken word because they had to have both of their worlds together.

Do you want to talk about it, Isadora signed in front of her eyes so she could see her hands. Riley sat up after a moment before facing her friends. She saw the other woman turn on her hearing aids as Riley turned to face her friends.

"Sorry, it's been a terrible week, the only good thing that happened was my dinner with Shawn on Sunday," she said feeling terrible. "It all ended with me in the bathroom at school crying, it reminded me of that time in high school when I was being bullied for being the orphan."

"Riley," Farkle said after she had finished. "Maybe you need to unwind a little, I know how much you put yourself through and you should take the time to relax every once and while."

"That's easier said than done," she said with a small laugh. "Where's Charlie? Maybe he can drag me somewhere fun, he usually knows all the good places, with my luck though we'll just end up at that bar again because he's got a crush on the bartender."

"He wasn't here when we got home," Izzy said to her with a shrug.

"Now that I think about it he didn't come home last night," Farkle added.

"How out of it was I last night if I didn't notice that," Riley said confused.

"Riley you were asleep by eight last night," Izzy answered before giving her hand a squeeze. "I think you need a better job, because that café is taking your lively side away and I miss the happy go lucky girl I grew up with."

"You're telling me, and Charlie and Josh conspired against me and had my work study canceled last week," she said to them.

"I'm pretty sure they shouldn't have that kind of power, but I think you need something that pays well but won't take too much out of you," Farkle said smiling at him.

"I'm not taking a job at your dad's company, I'll find something don't worry," she said before getting up. "I'll go to the bar, maybe Charlie will be there and I can hang out with him."

"We should get ready too," Izzy said with a sigh. "We have dinner with our parents to talk about the wedding that's months away but the world won't let me let it go."

"Don't worry my love, it'll be over soon," Farkle said smiling at his fiancé. Riley loved those two more than anything in the world they were the greatest gift the universe had given her when she had moved to New York.

"See you later," she said before going to her room and digging out the skinny jeans that Charlie had made her buy along with a shirt her Aunt Morgan had sent her for her birthday the year before, but she had never worn it because it was more on the revealing side.

The clothes felt wrong for some reason, but Charlie's voice kept telling her to take a chance. There had been a million reason why she should listen to that voice, but it still felt weird as if she were someone that she really wasn't.

The walk through the bar felt normal as any other day, the security firm was ready for the next round of jobs, most of which didn't involve him for once since they were smaller in scale. His secretary threw him out of the office at five yelling at him about working too much. So walking through the bar watching the Friday night rush was somehow comforting. His eyes landed on the table where a familiar brunette was sitting with Josh and Charlie. Her shoulders were exposed as well as half of her back. He couldn't help but stare at the exposed skin. He wondered what it would feel like to run his hands over the skin.

Shaking his head, he started to walk towards the back office, it was one thing to have Zay and Maya dating people who frequented the place but he couldn't go that far. There were too many risks and he needed to keep his head on straight. He really can't deal with pampered girls, just the thoughts of his ex who wanted nothing more than to be at his beck and call annoyed him.

"Hey Lucas," Maya said smiling at him as she pulled off her apron. "I'm going to eat with Josh, Sarah's covering for me for the rest of the night so give her my tips as a thank you please."

"You've been hanging out with him all the time," he said. He wanted her to be happy and apparently this was a step forward.

"He's going to introduce me to his niece tonight, plus he asked her if she could tutor me for American History so that I don't have to retake the class."

"That's nice of him," he said with a smile. "Just make sure you cover a shift for Sarah when she asks."

"Will do," she said with a salute. "Who knows maybe you'll end up with his niece, considering we're all pairing up," she winked at him walking off towards the table before he could protest.

With a sigh he walked off not wanting to be interrupted by anyone as he retreated to the back office to work on the numbers for the bar and to get away from the music which was only making his headache from earlier in the day return.

He lost himself to the numbers and the mountain of work that piled up at the end of the week when he wasn't there to run the numbers on a daily basis when a knock on the door pulled him out of his work.

"Come in," he said typing in the last of the figures before looking up to be greeted by a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

"Uh, hi," she said looking at him for a moment. "I just wanted to say thank you again and also to introduce myself since Maya sent me back here to meet her brother."

The smile she sent his way threw him for a minute before he could answer, "Yes, well I'm Lucas Friar, I own the place as you can see," he motioned to the mountain of work around him.

"Hi, I'm Riley, um… Riley Matthews," she said with a soft smile before holding out her hand for them to shake. The moment their hands touched all Lucas could feel was the warmth in her palm as if it were warming him from deep down inside of his hear.

"Nice to meet you and all princess, but I don't have time for spoiled little girls," he said trying to squash any urges that were surfacing within him. He didn't have time for anything not even a relationship with someone who showed up to bars dressed like she was.

"You think I'm spoiled," she let out a huff of laughter. It was short and the look in her eyes told him there was something that he was missing.

"Aren't you, especially the way you're dressed, you look like all the other spoiled rich girls I see every day," he threw back at her. He didn't know why he was fight with her, it was like she was bringing out something in him and he couldn't stomp it down.

"Please, if I had any kind of money I wouldn't kill myself putting myself through law school, to pay rent, to deal with the horrible people I do on a daily basis," she spat at him as if he had hurt the one thing she was self-conscience about. "You made a judgement call about me because of how I dressed, except these are the same jeans I wore here last week, and this shirt was a present," she stopped for a second before shaking her head. "Why am I defending myself to you?"

Lucas ran a hand through his hair before scrubbing his face. "Listen, Riley," he said stopping her before she could leave the room. "I'm sorry, it's been a shitty week and it ends like this because I'm being an ass hole to someone I've only met twice."

"Yeah well you're not the only one having a shitty week, I only came here tonight because it was better than being at home and crying," her eyes went wide the moment the words were out of her mouth.

"How about you hide out here, and we talk, so that your uncle and my sister can stop trying to set us up, because obviously we both need a break and being out there isn't going to make things any better."

"Yeah no shit Sherlock," she said before sitting down on the couch in his office.

"Would that make you Watson," he said to her which earned him a smile.