AN: Thank you for all the love! I missed Riley in the last chapter, so I figured it was time to catch up with her! Enjoy!

Riley wandered around the city dressed in black leggings, an oversized black sweater, and her regular winter coat, not the beautiful holiday one that she bought to wear in December. It was the least colorful, least Christmas-y, outfit she owned. It was black to match her mood, and she blended in well with the rest of the people on the crowded New York streets.

She was aimless, not knowing where to go. She couldn't go home or back to the bakery. After her outburst with her friends, she had headed to her apartment and her parents informed her that sometimes her optimism and cheerfulness could be a little "much" for everyone else, that she shouldn't expect them all to be merry just because she was.

Cheerfulness was a cornerstone of the Christmas season! How could you have too much of it? How many times would people see her overwhelming belief in others and the universe as a bad thing? Lucas said the same thing to her on the first day of high school about those seniors, but she was right about those seniors. She was right now, too. They all should be together, giving each other gifts, spending time with family, and proving to each other how much they mean to one another.

She had looked around at the decorations she lovingly put up and the cookies she'd made, and something inside her snapped. She couldn't take it anymore. She canceled Christmas for her family as well. It all seemed fake to her now. Why should they pretend to be merry and care about each other and the world? Why should she force her feelings on everyone in her life?

Obviously, she made them all so miserable with her happiness that they would do anything to shut her up, including abuse her and flee the state. She just didn't understand it. She had to leave, had to get away from them for once.

Trying to think of places no one would go looking for her, she had gone to the library for a little bit, but that had brought back memories of happier, more hopeful times. She rode the subway aimlessly, but again she thought of Lucas, so she got off at a random stop and started walking. She had been walking for about an hour and was really starting to get cold. She thought about going to the mall, but she had spent all of her money on gifts for her friends and family, and she didn't think she couldn't handle seeing all the happy families.

She glanced around, trying to decide where to go as tears stung her eyes. She didn't know if she was crying from the cold or from her crappy day, but she knew she didn't want to start sobbing in the middle of the street. She realized she was pretty close to Josh's dorm, so she headed that way to see if he was there.

She knew he was planning on staying in New York for the holidays until her grandparents came. He was going to go home with them after Christmas for a week or two before the next semester. She knew he would probably wind up at her apartment for the few days leading up until his parents got here, so she was hoping to catch him before he headed that way.

She knocked on the door and sobbed in relief when she saw her Uncle.

"Riley? Is everything okay?"Josh asked, looking thoroughly confused to see his niece in such a state.

She lunged into his arms, closing the door behind her. She was crying so hysterically, Josh couldn't understand a word she said. She clung to him as if she were drowning and he was a log floating along in the storm. He would have laughed at her antics if he didn't know she was genuinely upset.

"Ri?"

She went to sit on one of the beds, sniffling loudly. "I am having a rough day," she gasped out.

He grabbed a box of tissues off his desk, offering it to her as he came to sit next to her. She took a tissue, blowing her nose loudly until she honked.

"Did someone die? Why are you wearing all black?" Josh asked, looking at his phone to see if he had missed a call or text from his family.

"Someone did die," Riley said seriously.

"What?" Josh gasped out in shock. He wracked his brain, trying to think of who it could have been. "Who?"

"Friendship died today. Love died. Christmas died."

Josh sighed in relief as fresh tears poured down her cheeks while she whaled, "Santa died today!"

He rubbed her back awkwardly, sending his brother a quick text to let him know Riley was safe. He said, "Riley, I hate to break it to you, but Santa can't be dead. He isn't real."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Of course he's real, Josh! He lives in all of us! We are all Santa!"

"Okay, then how can he be dead?" Josh asked, trying to understand Riley's rant.

"Because everyone killed him! They killed the spirit of Santa Claus and Christmas and fat baby Jesus!" She shouted, standing up.

"Riley, you're going to have to dial back the crazy and tell me exactly what happened so I can help."

"What happened? What happened?" Riley asked, pacing back and forth. "I canceled Christmas, that's what happened! Just move along to New Year's and a clean slate. We aren't celebrating it this year."

"Why would you do that? It's your most favorite time of the year! You love Christmas more than anyone I have ever met."

"Do you know why this is my favorite time of year?" Riley asked. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "All year, I try to be Smiley Riley. I try to stay positive and be hopeful and be helpful. I volunteer, I give to the homeless, I'm a good daughter, a good friend. I go out of my way to be a positive influence on the world and those around me. At Christmastime, the whole world tries to be cheerful, not just me. It's nice that when I smile at a stranger, they smile back instead of looking at me like I'm crazy. It's nice that everyone wants to burst into song. The whole world is covered in twinkle lights."

She sat on the bed, losing steam. "But this year, Maya kept small pinching me and wanted to hide out from her family. She finally has the family she has always wanted, and instead of being thankful, she's running away! Farkle, Zay, and Smackle made fun of me, and they didn't want to buy each other gifts. They just wanted to tease me about Lucas! My family just went through the motions, and they took my friends' side! And Lucas... He went to Texas and didn't even tell me."

She stared down at her folded hands. "He just left. How could he do that to me? Why did he want to get away from me so badly? I thought we were closer than that, but ever since we started dating, he hasn't... I don't understand what I'm doing wrong."

She shook herself out of her musings, sniffling loudly and wiping away her tears. "So I decided I didn't want to do it anymore. Why should I force my idea of Christmas on them if they didn't want to be happy? Why should I keep the spirit of Christmas alive for them? So I walked away from all of it. I walked away from Lucas. I just wanted the outside world to be like my inside world. Is that too much to ask? That my friends be merry and jolly and believe at Christmastime? It's in all the movies!"

"Riley..." Josh said softly, wrapping his arms around her. "It sounds to me like the people closest to you have taken you for granted. They don't realize how much a person needs that positive energy in their lives because they have always had you to give it to them. They haven't been giving you what you need. They've just been taking."

Riley nodded, leaning her head against her uncle's shoulder. He looked down at his phone before he continued speaking, "But Riley, you shouldn't deprive yourself of the joy of Christmas just because your friends are being jerks. Come on, let's go for a walk."

"No," Riley pouted, crossing her arms. "If we go for a walk, you'll show me all the wonderful Christmas sights, and I'll get sucked in and want to celebrate, just like in the movies! Then I'll go home and those monsters will small pinch me until I'm back in Scrooge-mode. I don't want to believe again just to have them take it away from me."

"I won't let anyone small pinch you, Riley, and I won't let anyone take away your faith. You aren't doing anything wrong."

"Promise?" Riley asked as he helped her with her coat.

"Pinkie promise," Josh confirmed with a nod as they walked out the door.

AN: You can't have the holidays without family! Uncle Josh to the rescue once again! Let me know what you think! See you soon!