"Riles, what's wrong?" Maya presses, as Riley leans back in her office chair. Her phone is on speaker and Riley's eyes are trained on the computer in front of her.
"How do you know something's wrong?" Riley returned, leaning her head in her free hand. She'd been listening to Maya talk about Noah's feeding schedule for the last few minutes, but she wasn't really paying attention.
"I can hear you playing motivational videos in the background and you only do that when you're worried about something," Maya replied.
"I have a patient that I'm worried about and Lucas and I have been having some problems," Riley admitted, relieved to be able to talk to someone.
"Isn't there supposed to be a mandatory one-year honeymoon phase at the start of a relationship?" Maya pointed out.
"We skipped the marriage and the honeymoon, and went straight for the children," Riley said, flatly, hitting play on another video.
"The first few months are hard, but it does get easier. Noah's started sleeping through the night and Josh and I are like entirely different people," Maya promised, her voice sympathetic.
"I just keep thinking that we had a summer together and a year in high school and is that enough to commit to someone? I've invested twenty years of my life in Lucas Friar and I've never even looked at anyone else. How do I know that I'm not just settling?"
"What about all of those guys you dated in college? You were pretty serious about that law student," Maya listed.
"I wasn't serious, I was messing around," Riley disagreed.
"I'm not sure that you know how to mess around," Maya snorted, "Didn't the two of you have matching mugs?"
"We took a couple's ceramics class, but I knew that things weren't going to work out long term," Riley insisted.
"Look, Riles, I love you, but every relationship hits a point where you have to decide if you're going to leave or if you're going to stay. You could leave, but there's a reason that you always come back to Lucas. Do you really think that you're going to find anyone that you love the way you love him?"
Riley's surprised by how many people show up for Farkle and Zay's grand opening. Farkle brings his goat, who is decked out in a miniature suit, complete with a matching bowtie to Farkle's own. Riley's not entirely sure how either of them could stand that many layers in the heat, but they both seem to be pulling it off.
"Riles, you made it," Zay greeted her.
"It's next door to my place of employment," Riley pointed out, smiling.
"Convenient, huh?" Zay offered, "Doctor Green, you're a long way from the hospital."
"I don't live there," Isla informed him, crossing her arms across her pink scrub top, as she came to a stop next to Riley.
"Well, I'm glad you could make it," Zay said, sincerely, "If you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to go cut the ribbon."
"Where's your significant other?" Isla questioned Riley, looking around at the growing crowd of people.
"In surgery, according to his receptionist," Riley replied.
"I hate receptionists," Isla informed her, wrinkling her nose.
"Have you noticed that the twins talk to each other?" Hailey asked, pausing next to Riley, while pushing the mentioned children in a stroller, "They babbled the entire ride here."
Claire had needed to go home early and Riley had called Hailey to go and pick them up from the house.
"Maybe it was a comment on your driving," Riley suggested, pressing a kiss to each of the babies' foreheads and taking the stroller from the teenager.
"My driving is fine, you're the one who was raised in the city," Hailey pointed out. Her phone started buzzing and she glanced at it before hitting the ignore button.
"I'm not sure what that has to do with anything," Riley pointed out.
"You grew up using public transportation, I'm surprised you even have a license. Your brother doesn't," Hailey pointed out.
"That's because the one time that Auggie tried driving, he hit a fire hydrant," Riley replied, remembering how incredibly upset her father had been. Auggie had been banned from driving again until he was thirty.
"We'd like to thank ya'll for coming," Zay said, just loud enough to get everyone's attention. The talking stopped and Riley smiled encouragingly, "When Farkle came to me with the idea to start a frozen yogurt shop in the middle of Wyoming, I thought he was crazy. But I've come to really love being here. This shop started out as a dream and now it's a reality. We look forward to sharing this new adventure with everyone here."
"As a lawyer, I have a speech prepared to honor this occasion, but an important part of public speaking is knowing when the subject has been sufficiently covered. So, I've decided to rely on my instincts as a man of action," Farkle announced, reaching over and clipping the ribbon.
Riley clapped her hands with the rest of the gathered group and smiled as Zay and Farkle opened the doors, gesturing for the gathered crowd to enter the shop.
"You think everyone is going to fit in there?" Hailey questioned, looking skeptically at the line that was forming out the doorway and down the sidewalk.
"Probably not. You want to go grab us a table and we'll wait in line," Riley suggested.
"You're the one with the small children. You should probably get them out of the heat," Hailey protested.
"You can tell us what you want and we'll bring it to you," Isla added.
"I don't actually want anything. I'm trying to eat healthy," Riley replied.
"That sounds miserable," Hailey offered.
"I'll go grab a table and you can come find me," Riley suggested, pushing the twins through the opened doors and managing to snag a booth in the back corner.
"So, Isla?" Zay slipped into the seat across from her, casting a glance at where Isla was talking to Hailey outside of the store.
"Shouldn't you be mingling with customers?" Riley pointed out, having to raise her voice to be heard above the noise.
"You're a customer. What's she doing here?" Zay pressed.
"Maybe she just wanted some yogurt," Riley suggested.
"You don't drive all the way to Sunbreak for yogurt. At least, not until we've started making headlines for our original and dimensional flavors," Zay returned.
"Maybe, you should try talking to her," Riley pointed out.
"Maybe I will. Oh, I'm supposed to ask you about what happened to your receptionist. Farkle was hoping that she would be here," Zay changed the subject.
"She was really tired after work today and decided to head home," Riley kept things vague, hoping that he wouldn't press.
"That seems to be going around. Lucas called to apologize for not being able to make it, but, remind me, and I'll send you home with some yogurt for him," Zay said.
"It's good to know that he still remembers how to use a phone," Riley offered, knowing that her tone came out bitter and annoyed.
"You should cut the boy some slack, I know that he's busy, but he's doing it because he wants to build a life with you, even after you turned down his proposal," Zay advised, his voice taking on an accusation.
"He told you about that?"
"He was upset," Zay replied, "And you may have told him that it was because of Farkle, but I've spent a lot of time with you the last few months and I don't think that's it."
"You don't think that it's a little fast to go from twins, to buying a house, to getting married?" Riley listed.
"Whenever things get too serious between you and Lucas, you bolt. Now, I don't know what's holding you back, but I think you'd better figure it out before he gets tired of chasing you," Zay advised, standing up from the booth and disappearing into the crowd.
She'd probably be more mad at Zay, if there wasn't truth behind the words. When things had gotten complicated with Lucas in high school, she had broken up with him. After spending the summer with him, she'd insisted they end things without even trying to make their relationship work through their doctorate programs. Then, she'd had the miscarriage and pushed him away again.
She'd never noticed the pattern before, but it was definitely there.
"What do you think?" Farkle questioned, moving into Zay's vacated seat and bringing his goat with him. The goat scurried under the table and Riley felt it brush against her legs.
"This place looks amazing," Riley offered, the smile not quite reaching her face.
"I was worried that the colors would make the place look too Christmassy, but I think it's okay," Farkle informed her, looking around at the brightly colored walls that were decorated with abstract paintings.
"Is that Maya's work?" Riley questioned, too far away to read the name's scribbled in the corners.
"Who else would I trust to do this?" Farkle agreed, "Speaking of Maya, I need to tell you something about Thanksgiving."
"Oh, I was going to cancel that," Riley admitted, "I called my parents late this afternoon."
"What? Why?" Farkle demanded.
"I need to go with a patient to New York. She needs to see a specialist," Riley explained.
"I guess we'll be traveling together," Farkle informed her, "I'm meeting with Smackle because she thinks that she's figured out a way to fight the spousal support on Lydia's divorce."
"Great," Riley forced a smile, wondering how she was going to deal with this situation. Jennifer was still adamant about nobody knowing that she was pregnant.
"Pretty good turnout," Hailey congratulated Farkle as Isla and her stopped in front of the table. They were both holding cups of frozen yogurt and Riley stepped out so that Isla could slide in. Hailey took the seat next to Farkle.
"What flavor is that?" Riley questioned, as she looked at the strange shade of lavender that Hailey was picking out.
"Cotton candy," Hailey replied, taking a bite, "You want to try some?"
"I'm good," Riley replied, though it did look tempting.
The conversation continued, but Riley's attention was only half on it. She watched as Hailey hit ignore on her phone a couple more times before the twins started to complain from their stroller.
"You want a ride home?" Hailey questioned, as Farkle and Isla discussed something science related. Riley read her fair share of medical journals, but she couldn't keep up with whatever they were saying.
"You do have the car seats," Riley pointed out, getting up from the table.
"Congratulations," Riley offered, as Farkle turned to look at her.
"Thanks for coming. You'll tell Lucas that we missed him?"
"I will do that," Riley agreed, wondering where Zay had gotten to in the crowd.
They made their way out to the car and Riley slid into the passenger's seat.
"You going to tell me who keeps calling?" Riley questioned, as Hailey started the car and pulled out into the street.
"Someone who can't take a hint," Hailey replied, her grip tightening on the steering wheel.
"You know, I've had boy problems before and I'm a pretty good listener," Riley offered.
"He has a girlfriend," Hailey admitted, glancing at her before returning her attention to the road.
"Then why is he calling you?" Riley felt the need to ask.
"Because he kissed me; he kissed me, but he has a girlfriend, and I don't think that he's going to leave her."
"You'll never know if you don't pick up the phone," Riley pointed out.
"I'm just not sure that I can build a relationship with someone who kissed me when they were with someone else. And, anyway, he's been with her for a really long time and if he picked me, I'd always worry that he'd regret it. He's different when he's around me and when he's around her. How do you compete with someone who knows him in an entirely different way than I do?"
"I don't know," Riley admitted.
"Weren't you worried about that when you were pregnant? That Lucas was comparing you to your best friend?" Hailey reminded her.
"Yeah, I was," Riley replied.
"And he picked you, so how did you get passed it?" Hailey pressed, turning onto the street that led to Riley's house.
"Sometimes, I think that I'm passed it, but then he'll say something or I'll see something and it's this reminder that there are entire chunks of his life that we don't talk about. He tried to bring her up, once, a long time ago. We were staying at his grandfather's ranch for the summer and he wanted to talk about it, but I just kept shutting him down. Now, it's almost easier to just pretend that nothing happened and carry on, but I think all those insecurities are still sitting in the back of my mind. I thought that not knowing would be better, but maybe it's not."
"I got in this fight with Monique once, it was after I got alcohol poisoning. I blamed her for all of the trouble that I got into, which really wasn't fair, but I did it, anyway. We pretended that the fight didn't happen and just went on how we had been, but our relationship has never been the same. She was my best friend growing up and now we barely talk. I think you have to talk about the hard things and the things that you don't want to, if you ever want to get passed everything," Hailey offered, putting the car in park as she stopped in Riley's driveway.
"When did you get so smart?" Riley asked, smiling at the teen.
"College," Hailey shrugged, letting out a laugh.
"So, what are you going to do about your boy?" Riley questioned.
"I'd be, kind of, a hypocrite if I didn't talk to him, now, huh?" Hailey groaned.
"How important is the relationship to you?"
"He's a good friend. He's what got me through this last semester," Hailey admitted, "But I'm not sure that something new could ever trump what he had in the past."
"College is the time to take risks. And by that, I mean appropriate risks," Riley clarified.
"You're not going to give me, 'the talk,' are you?" Hailey questioned, wrinkling her nose.
"You're talking to the OB/GYN who accidentally got pregnant, twice. I'm not sure I'm qualified to educate anyone on that particular subject," Riley replied.
"As a doctor, I really don't think that you should openly be admitting that," Hailey offered and Riley silently agreed with her.
"Will you help me get the kids into the house? I think they'll both want to eat before I put them down."
"Sure," Hailey agreed, opening the car door.
They grabbed the car seats from the backseat and Riley put the code into the garage. Lucas's car was still missing and Riley couldn't decide if she was relieved or annoyed. She was tired of the tension in the household and she doubted that it was the kind that would easily be resolved.
She, also, wasn't thrilled with what Monique had brought up. They were approaching a conversation that Riley had spent years avoiding.
After, Hailey had left, Riley fed both of the twins and got them settled in their beds for the next few hours. Exhausted, she made her way into the bedroom and found that Claire had stacked the new bags of clothes in a neat pile by the door.
Riley sunk onto the bed and groaned as her phone started to vibrate.
"Doctor Mathews," Riley answered, closing her eyes.
"Hey, Riley, it's Grace. I was wondering if Lucas was there?"
"No, I thought he was at work," Riley replied, a sinking feeling settling in her stomach.
"He left earlier this evening to go to the frozen yogurt shop opening and said he would be back to close up, but he never came back. I've called his number a couple of times and he's not picking up. I don't want to leave the practice unlocked all night," Grace explained.
"I'll call Zay and see if Lucas is there," Riley offered, sitting up, "And then I'll call you right back."
"Thanks," Grace ended the call.
Riley punched in Lucas's number and went straight to voicemail. Zay's, at least, rang before requesting that she leave a message. Trying Farkle's number, he answered on the third ring.
"Hey, Riles. I'm just closing things up," Farkle greeted her.
"Is Lucas with you?" Riley questioned.
"No, I haven't seen him," Farkle replied.
"I just got a call from his receptionist saying that he left the office and never came back to close," Riley informed him, trying not to panic.
"Well, I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just on a house call," Farkle suggested.
"And he didn't call his receptionist to let her know?" Riley pointed out.
"He might not have cell service, there are rough patches all over town," Farkle reassured her.
"Is Zay with you? Has he heard from him?" Riley asked, her mind going to worst case scenarios and wondering if she should start calling hospitals, or the police.
"Zay went out to a late dinner with your OB/GYN," Farkle replied.
"Would you mind sitting with the twins, while I go out and look? I have a key to Lucas's practice so that Grace can go home," Riley requested.
"Of course, I'll be there in twenty," Farkle promised before ending the call.
Riley slowly stood up and paced the length of the bedroom, trying not to imagine Lucas lying dead in a ditch somewhere. Blake had been shot and slowly bled to death in her office, so, really, the possibilities for what could have happened to him were endless.
"You look really pale," Farkle informed her, when she opened the door for him.
"Thanks, call me if he comes home," Riley requested, slinging her purse over her shoulder as she headed to the garage.
Her phone started vibrating as she got into the car and she quickly pulled it out, hoping that Grace was calling her back to inform her that Lucas had shown up.
"Hello?" Riley answered, starting the car and holding the phone between her ear and her shoulder.
"Riley, there's been a massive accident on the highway. At least two people are dead and Roy was called in twenty minutes ago. The Branson firetruck is actually putting out a fire and the ambulance is on its way, but they need help with triage. Can you come help?" Lydia's voice came across the line.
"Was Lucas in the crash?" Riley demanded, terror gripping her heart.
"I'm driving there, now, myself. I have no idea who it is. I just know that there were, at least, three cars involved and Roy needs help," Lydia repeated, her voice calm.
"Okay, I'm on my way," Riley agreed, shifting the car into reverse.
Lydia listed off the location and Riley let the phone clatter to the floor after the call had ended. Twenty years of loving someone couldn't end like this.
I'm so sorry for how late this update is. I'm in the last two weeks of my summer classes and the work has been exhausting. I, also, really struggled with writing this chapter, but, hopefully you liked it. In other news, I now have a website that contains bonus content and background on my original characters for my fanfiction stories. You can find it at poledra182 . weebly . com, just remove the spaces.
Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. I would love it if you would leave me a review and let me know what you think!