Hello, once again a little late, I was caught up looking at all things GMW getting ready for Texas. But the important part is the chapter is here now. Enjoy.

Chapter 4:

Riley grabbed the poles as she awkwardly tried to walk in her skies. Hopefully she wouldn't fall and hurt herself and deprive herself of the rest of the weekend. Maya appeared in view and made her way to her best friend.

"Riley!" Her excitement was hard to contain, but it wasn't every day that she was carrying a secret that big.

"Peaches." Riley responded with a smile. She missed Maya as a roommate, but at least she could spend time with her on the slopes.

"Riles, I'm sorry, nothing happened between Lucas and I on the bus I swear. Don't listen to anything people say, because Ranger Rick and I will never happen."

"How do you know?" Riley was curious on how Maya was so sure that no sparks would come between the two friends.

"You just have to trust me Riley. Besides I'm perfectly happy with Josh." Riley cocked an eyebrow, she could tell something was different about Maya, but she couldn't quite pin what it was. It was up to the process of elimination.

"So how is Uncle Josh?" Riley asked figuring it was a good place as any to start.

"He's fine; he's planning on visiting when we get back." That could be it, Riley mused.

"Anything special planned for his trip?" Maybe they had a big date planned out or Maya knew at least something that she didn't. Maya looked like she was thinking for a moment but then shook her head.

"I don't think so." Maya casually started adjusting her snow gear.

"Speaking on the subject of boys how's the whole Lucas situation?" Riley froze, had Farkle told Maya? She was going to kill him.

"It's fine." Riley tried to get out as normal as possible, key word tried. Maya's face lit up to the point where Riley couldn't outright ignore it.

"Alright Maya, what's going on with you?"

"I promised that I wouldn't tell." Now Riley's interest spiked.

"Ring power." She held out her hand and Maya stared at it for a couple seconds without moving, almost shocked that Riley pulled that. Her mind sparked a plan that would keep Lucas's secret, but still allude to the conversation that they had.

"Lucas and I had a conversation this morning about the whole brother thing and his feelings about it." Riley felt her chest collapse and pulse speed up at the same time. She tuned Maya out as she was consumed with her own insecurities. Now he would see her as a sister and she would get her heart broken all over again. Slight tears formed in her eyes. She didn't really get why Maya was so happy about this.

"Isn't that great?" Riley shook her head, she had to get away to think. Without warning she pushed off the bunny slop leaving Maya standing behind.

"Farkle!" Farkle froze as his mind raced, he should have reconsidered his talk with Riley. He was terrible at keeping secrets; he knew he was going to crack at the tiniest of pressures.

"Lucas," Farkle turned around to see the blonde haired cowboy who was indeed headed his way. He heard his heartbeat.

Boom Boom

"You headed out to the slopes? I'm going to go meet Riley."

"Riley?" Farkle's voice grew in speed and tone.

"Yeah Riley. Are you headed to the slopes?" Lucas repeated.

BOOM BOOM

Lucas looked at Farkle inquisitively not sure what was up with his best friend.

"Are you ok buddy?"

Boom

"Riley and I had a conversation about you this morning. Did you know she thought she might like you like a brother, but now she's not too sure, she just didn't wanna end up like Rachael, I don't know who that is but she doesn't wanna end up like her." Farkle's word vomit was inevitable, but it sure surprised Lucas. His eyes widen a little but then his lips rolled up in a smile.

"Thanks Farkle, if you excuse me I have to find Riley." He rushed past the genius towards the bunny slopes.

Riley didn't know what to think, her mind was racing with ideas. She couldn't believe that Maya had told him, it wasn't her place to do so. Her gaze went up to the hill where she had left Maya. Her eyes caught sight of Lucas. He looked perfectly normal, happy even. Maybe there was hope, but that hope was crushed by a bulldozer in pink ear muffs. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. She forgot that she had skis on and turned fasted than she was supposed to that caused her to fall; almost. She would have if a pair of arms hadn't stabilized her.

"We got to stop meeting like this." Charlie's eyes sparkled as he helped her stand up straight.

"Thanks Charlie," She hadn't forgotten about the bus.

"Look Riley, I'm sorry about what happened. Can't we just leave it at Lucas can push my buttons as well as I can push his?" Riley didn't necessarily believe him fully but right now she needed to spend time with not Lucas, and Charlie fit that category.

"Let's go skiing, but not any of the bigger hills." She looked at some of the more intimidating slopes.

"I'm not ready for that yet." She took one last look at Lucas at the top of the hill and then took off with her distraction.

Lucas looked down the hill his eyes connecting with Riley's figure. He was ignoring Missy who was trying to chat off his ear despite all the times he told her he wasn't interested. He also ignored Maya staring a hole into the side of his head with a slight worried expression on her face. His eyes narrowed as he saw Charlie enter the picture. His smile turned into a frown as he watched Riley go off with Charlie. He didn't understand. He brushed Missy off and pulled Maya to the side.

"Maya, did you talk with Riley?"

"Yeah." Maya hesitated; she didn't know what to make of her reaction herself.

"I thought she took it fairly well at first then she just raced off. "

"Maya what did you say exactly?"

"I told her that we had a conversation in which I told her that there was a the possibility that she thought of you as a brother, but you didn't think of her that way, and then she ran off." Lucas was just confused at this point because of Riley's reaction contradicted what Farkle had told him. He wasn't able to figure this out of him own, he needed to go to someone who could be his mentor since his father was in Texas and it wasn't like they had the best relationship to begin with. Lucas knew that there was one person that he wouldn't mind if he grew up more like him.

Lucas wandered through the ski lodge until he stumbled upon Mr. Matthews in one of the lounges; he noticed papers were scattered across the tables and Cory was scribbling down notes. Lucas approached cautiously towards him watching him pour into something he was passionate about; history. Lucas wanted advice, but maybe this wasn't the right time, he tried to retreat, but Mr. Matthew's voice stopped him.

"Come in Mr. Friar, I always have time for my students." Lucas stepped forward for a second time a little bolder.

"Mr. Matthews, I have a problem," he started.

"Well I can't guarantee a solution to the problem, but I'm all ears."

"Do you remember when you were talking about Iceland and Greenland and people's perception on things?" He continued as Cory nodded.

"What do you do if people perceive something wrong and go to Greenland, but you want to set the record straight and go to Iceland instead?"

"Mr. Friar, I'm not sure I understand."

"How did you know I was a standup guy when I came to your class? I'm sure you knew my school file from Texas yet you let me get close to your daughter. How were you sure that I wasn't the same old troublemaker from Texas?" Mr. Matthews pondered a spilt second before answering, but it seemed like forever to Lucas.

"Yes, I was fully aware of your file Lucas, but I had to have faith and take a chance that you had changed. I knew Riley would be a positive influence because people change people. I guess I could have clung to other's perception of who you are or cling to the chance that you would grow to become the man you are now. There's always risk associated with taking the chance though."

"How do you know if a risk is worth it?" Lucas asked. Cory's eyes twinkled; this is what he loved, the pursuit of knowledge. He turned his notes towards Lucas.

"December 25, 1776, what happened then?"

"George Washington crossed the Delaware River. You see Lucas it was George Washington's first surprise attack against the British. Crossing the Delaware in December was a dangerous operation. His men were tired and cold, but they followed him anyway."

"What happened?" Cory let out a smile.

"On December 26, Washington led them on to Jersey's shores and took them by surprise. They won that battle with minimal casualties and took prisoners and supplies. George Washington used that river two more times after in various battles."

"I guess none of that would have happened if he didn't take a risk with crossing the waters." Lucas concluded. Take a risk; he needed to take one with Riley.

"Thanks Mr. Matthews."

"Anything for one of my best students," as Lucas left Mr. Matthews sat back down to work on his lesson plan.

"Looks like George Washington is crossing the Delaware a fourth time to fight for something he believes in."

There was a small knock on her door; Riley's head looked up from her book wondering who it was considering how close to curfew it was. Riley cautiously opened her door only to be met with green eyes.

"Lucas, what are you"- Lucas caught her off guard when he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room.

"Follow me." He whispered, her hairs stood straight up and her stomach was doing flip flops, but she followed him anyway. As they snuck through the hallways, Riley let out a small giggle, she didn't know why; even though they weren't doing anything wrong it felt like it due to the lack of people in the hallway. She would never do this in normal life; she was way too much a rule follower. This was different, slightly dangerous, and she loved it. Their pace slowed as he brought her into the lounge area with a cozy fire place dimly lighting the room, books lining the walls and a giant window that was letting the moonlight through. He brought her over to the window where fresh snow was starting to fall.

"Lucas," her eyes lit up.

"It's beautiful."

"Yeah, it is," She didn't glance over at him, but she felt his gaze on her. A blush spread across her cheeks. After a while the two found themselves comfy on the couch facing each other in front of the fireplace.

"Lucas why"-

"Riles, let's just forget about what's happened over the last couple days and just focus on the now. Forget about rumors, perceptions, and bad roommates, you think you can do that?"

"Alright, I can try." A small silence fell between them, but unlike the others, this one was comfortable. Riley was the first one to break the silence.

"You know this is not how I pictured this weekend at all," she confessed.

"Oh," the reflection in his tone was nudging her to continue.

"Yeah," she couldn't help but get mesmerized by the firelight flickering across Lucas's face making the shadows dance.

"Well you know Riley; you have a couple more days to turn it around." It was a thought, could she really put all of her insecurities aside and they just be 'Riley and Lucas' for a weekend, because she wanted that more than anything. For the past 48 hours Riley had been so concerned with what others thought about her relationship with Lucas that she forgot to see how she felt.

"I would like that." She saw Lucas's eyes light up and it made her heart skip a beat; his eyes hadn't left her since they sat down. More silence, but it started not to bother her. There was no expectations between them, they did best when there was no pressure when they could just be Lucas and Riley.

"Riley," There was something different about the way that he said her name it shot a shiver down her spine.

"Yes," it came out more breathless than she wanted, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from him. When he started to lean in she just closed her eyes naturally waiting for the moment that his lips would touch hers and he would finally have his moment.

A.N.- Aren't you glad I updated? I'm just going to leave this there now. Only 3-4 more chapters left so we'll see how this goes. I may or may not update next Friday to celebrate Texas. I have a ton of stuff going on in my life right now. I just wish I could take a couple days to just write down more Rucas stories/one shots because we need more of them. Please remember to review. :)