AN: This chapter was a bit harder for me to write. I don't if it's because I haven't written Smackle or because it's hard on my heart to put Lucas and Riley through all this, but I just really had to power through until the end.
I hope this chapter frustrates you because they are frustrating me! But I can't make it too easy for Lucas, can I? As always, thanks for the support! Enjoy!

Monday, June 30th 1:30 p.m.

Smackle never had real friends before. She didn't always understand social cues or what was expected of her, but she was intelligent enough to recognize that her friends were weird. Which was perfectly fine because if they weren't a little weird, she probably wouldn't fit in.

She tried to follow Farkle's lead whenever she didn't understand what she should do, but lately he was downright perplexing. When they first started dating, Farkle made sure she understood that his friendships with Maya and Riley were of the utmost importance.

Lately, she felt like he was taking the wrong course of action when it came to the girls. As an intelligent, well-spoken, outgoing, individual, Farkle should have stepped in and helped fix this mess. Instead, it seemed like he was retreating further and further into himself.

She was happy to follow his lead as demonstrated by following him around the beach house instead of going with the others, but something in the back of her mind kept saying she was missing something, that he wasn't being entirely truthful.

They were all standing in the kitchen gathering the lunch supplies when Farkle said, "Okay...Lucas, I made a promise, and I'm doing everything I can to keep it."

Lucas seemed confused, but nodded anyway. "Okay, you should always keep your promises unless keeping the promise could lead someone to get hurt."

Farkle slammed his hand down on the counter. "That's just it! People are getting hurt. Over and over again. I have to help, but my hands are tied. So, I'm tagging in Smackle."

"What on earth are you talking about, dear?" Smackle asked.

"Lucas has a plan to fix this mess. I can't help because I promised I would stay out of everything. So, Isadora, I need you to help him in my stead."

Lucas stared at Farkle for a long moment before turning to face Smackle. "I could really use all the help I can get. Please, Smackle, help me make things right for everyone."

"Is this what you want Farkle?"

He nodded.

She grabbed Lucas' hand. "Okay, tell me your plan. I will then tear it apart, and we can come up with a better plan."

Farkle started to walk out of the kitchen with the food. "Meet us at the beach after you guys finish discussing this. I have to have plausible deniability, so I'm going to bring the food down now. I'm counting on both of you to do right by all of us."

"I won't disappoint you, love," Smackle said before focusing all of her attention on Lucas. "Now that we're alone, tell me your plan, and you better not try to kiss me!"

Lucas let out a breath, squared his shoulders, and declared, "I want to be with Riley."

Smackle blinked a few times. "Okay... So go be with her?"

Lucas shook his head. "After everything I put her through, it's not going to be that simple. Maya already decided to spend more time with Zay in an effort to balance out all the time we have been spending together, but here lately every time I try to get close to Riley she just pushes me away and tries to push me to Maya."

"Okay, so you are going to woo Riley while Maya is distracted by Zay? You know Maya is going to realize Zay isn't you, right?"

Lucas nodded. "That's the plan. After seeing them together in the van this morning, it hit me. They would be perfect together! I don't know why I didn't see it before. So all we have to do is get those two to fall in love. In the meantime, I'll be showing Riley that she's the most important person in the world to me. Maya will realize she doesn't want me, and then Riley and I can be together for real, guilt-free."

"Okay, but how do you propose we do that Lucas? That is more of an idea than a plan."

"Well, that's all I've got so far. I'm hoping the more time they spend together, the more nature just takes its course."

Smackle chewed on her bottom lip as she thought over the scenario Lucas had just laid out for her. "I don't think it will be that simple to get two people to fall in love, and we don't even know who Zay wants. What if he wants to be with Riley?"

Lucas had already started toward the sliding glass door that led to the deck. Turning around to face Smackle, he said, "I have already messed things up so badly, if Zay wants Riley and Riley wants Zay and not me, I'll try to accept that. But if there's even a slight chance that she could maybe still want me, I'm not going to give up on her. I'm going to do what I should have done in Texas when this whole thing started. I'm going to fight for her. I have wasted too much time for the sake of friendship and what's best for the group, I'm going to do what's best for me and what's best for Riley."

He turned back to the door and started to open it, startled when Smackle came up behind him and put a hand on the door to halt his movements. "While I enjoyed your impassioned speech, I think you should just be honest with Riley and Maya, instead of trying to manipulate their emotions."

Lucas nodded. "When the time is right, I will be honest with everyone. But if I go out there right now and tell Riley I choose her, she will just laugh in my face. I won't force Maya and Zay together, but if they keep spending time together and they keep getting pushed into romantic situations... Trust me, Smackle. Everyone could wind up happy by the end of this week."

Smackle shrugged, letting him open the door and following him outside. From the deck, they could see their friends. Farkle and Riley had a picnic spread out under a large umbrella, and Zay and Maya were playing in the ocean, dunking, splashing, and chasing each other. From her vantage point, they looked like a young couple in love already. "If Farkle wants me to help you, that's what I am going to do. What do you need me to do?"

"We just have to keep putting those two in romantic situations and keep finding ways for Riley and I to be alone. The problem I'm having right now though is Riley has avoided being alone with me at all costs."

They were getting closer to their friends, so Smackle stopped and turned to face Lucas so no one else could tell what she was saying. "She won't be able to avoid you if Zay is with Maya. Haven't you noticed he has been attached to her hip for the last couple of weeks? Maybe you could ask him to join in our subterfuge? At least get him on board with you spending time with Riley?"

"He might be a bit harder to convince. We kind of fought about Riley last night."

Smackle sighed and began to drag him by the arm to the blanket. "You really do have a way of just making everyone mad, don't you, Huckleberry?"

Lucas shrugged. "What can I say? It's a gift."

"Well, I will have a conversation with Zay. He likes me. Farkle will stay out of it to keep his promise to Riley. You will-"

This time it was Lucas' turn to stop and face her, even though they were dangerously close to their friends. "How do you know Farkle's promise was to Riley?"

"It's obvious, Lucas. Who else would want him to stay out of it? Who else got hurt by him telling the entire class about her feelings? She was so mortified by what happened on New Year's, and then everyone at school spent the rest of the year gossiping about her and her dad kept doing lessons about the three of you."

"How do you know about that? You didn't even go to our school last year."

"We overheard some girls talking in the washroom at the bakery one day. When I inquired about why Riley didn't seem all too upset, she said she was used to it by now."

"Stop. New part of the plan. We have to fix Farkle and Riley's friendship."

Smackle agreed immediately. "We should also fix Maya and Riley. I will try to brainstorm an actual plan, and we can reconvene in the evening."

"What should I do?"

"Stand there and look pretty."

"So, you really think we can get Maya and Zay together, get me and Riley together, fix all their friendships in 6 days?" Lucas asked skeptically.

"I think we can try. You might be a lost cause though."

"Well, thanks Smackle I appreciate the support," Lucas grumbled.

They both took a seat on the blanket next to the objects of their affections. Farkle smiled at both of them, but Riley scooted about an inch away from Lucas and looked curiously at both of them.

"What took you guys so long?"

Smackle did some quick thinking and replied straight away. "We were discussing our plans for the evening. I thought it might be fun to go down to the boardwalk tonight. There's a couple rides and games. It should be fun."

Riley nodded in agreement. "I love the boardwalk. It looks really pretty in the evening with everything all lit up."

Lucas laid down on the blanket on his side, propping his head up with one hand and reaching out to play with Riley's fingers with the other. "Well, then that's what we'll do. I'll even buy you some cotton candy and ride the ferris wheel with you."

With his height, Riley would have to scoot off the blanket to avoid his touch, so she settled for staring at their joined hands for a moment, relishing in the feeling before standing up. She took off her pants and shirt, and Lucas felt his mouth go dry at the sight of her.

She must have bought a new bathing suit for the trip because he had never seen this one before. It was hot pink and complimented her summer tan well. His attention was drawn to the water, where Zay and Maya were hooting, hollering, and whistling at the sight of her.

He knew they were just messing around, but it made his blood boil to think that Zay was looking at her the same way he was. Riley was blushing at their antics, and her blush increased when she looked down to meet his eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that," she grumbled.

Lucas sat up on his knees. "I can't stop looking at you like this when you look like that."

"Like what?"

"Hot!" Smackle answered. "Oh! Did I say that out loud?"

Before anyone could answer her, Maya, who was now on Zay's shoulders in the water, was shouting, "Come in here and play chicken with us, you chickens!"

Smackle took her dress off, revealing a simple black one-piece with cutouts at her hips. Farkle grabbed her hand, and together they went to join their friends in the water.

Lucas took off his shirt, and it was Riley's turn to stare.

"Stop looking at me like that," he teased with a smile.

"Not when you look like that," Riley said, gesturing to his abs with her hand. Riley blushed, unable to believe she actually said that, and forced herself to look out at the water to her friends.

Farkle had Smackle on his shoulders, but the deeper they got in the water, the harsher the waves got. Zay was backing up slowly, forcing Farkle to chase him. When a strong wave would come, Maya would lunge forward and push Smackle, causing her to fall off Farkle's shoulders.

The four friends were laughing and dunking each other as Riley watched on, wishing she could be a part of the fun.

"Do you want to be my partner?" Lucas asked, sounding both hesitant and hopeful at the same time.

Riley bit her bottom lip as she weighed her options. The thought of having his broad shoulders underneath her and his strong hands supporting her made her blush from head to toe. She didn't think she would be able to handle it if he hoisted Maya on his shoulders after, so she shook her head, grabbing a large beach towel from their things.

"I think I'm just going to lay out and get some sun."

She reached into her bag and grabbed her earbuds and sunglasses. Before she had a chance to get comfortable, Lucas spread a towel next to hers. "I'll lay with you. Do you need me to rub some sunscreen on your back?"

She smiled and pulled out her spray can of sunscreen. "Actually, can you spray me?"

Lucas frowned. "That's not nearly as fun."

She sprayed as much of her body as she could before handing it to him to do her back. When he was done, she slipped it back into her bag. Scrolling through the music on her phone, she put her sunglasses firmly in place, laying down on her stomach.

She was doing her best to block him out, but Lucas seemed just as determined to have her attention. He was sitting up, his forearms resting casually on his knees, as he studied her every move.

She turned her music up louder, but he reached over and unplugged her earbuds. "Hey!"

"Sorry, can we talk?"

Rolling her eyes, she turned over on her back and sat up on her forearms. "About what?"

Lucas began idly playing with the sand in between their towels, unable to look her in the eyes. "Do you still... Riley, do you still like me?"

Riley perched her sunglasses on top of her head. "Of course, I like you. You're one of my closest friends!"

Lucas sighed. "No, Riley. I mean, do you still... want to be with me?"

Riley sat up, curling her legs underneath her. "Why would you ask me that?"

"Because you keep avoiding me! You won't let me touch you, and you push me with Maya at every given opportunity!"

Riley stood, wiping the sand off her thighs. "I can't do this. You're not being fair, Lucas!"

Lucas scoffed, standing up as well. "I'm always being fair, Riley! I am so damn tired of having to be fair all the time! I should be able to do what I want!"

"Then do what you want! No one is stopping you."

"You are! What I want is to spend time with you, talk to you, dance with you. You, Riley," Lucas pleaded, trying to will her to understand. "So I need to know if you still have feelings for me. If there's still a chance."

Lucas stepped into her personal space, taking both of her hands in his. "If you don't want me the way that I want you, please just tell me."

Riley stared down at their joined hands, quietly saying, "Of course, I have feelings for you. Of course, I still want you." She met his gaze. "I have always wanted you."

Lucas smiled. "And I have always wanted you."

He started to lean in, but Riley took a step back, taking her hands away as well. She spared a glance to her friends, to Maya, who was oblivious, laughing as she held Farkle's head under the water.

"Can't you see this is hard for me, Lucas? Seeing you with someone else? Not even being able to fight for you because of how much I love her?"

"What if we can make it simple? Riley," Lucas took a breath, deciding he was just going to tell her now. He chose her, wanted only her, and let the chips fall where they may. But Riley didn't give him a chance to speak.

"We can, Lucas!" Riley cried. "Can't we just put a pin in this? For now? Can you just give me this week to enjoy everything? Before we all fall apart."

"We don't have to fall apart, Riles. We can-"

"Please, Lucas. Just let me have one more week."

He brushed a stray hair off her face, staring into her eyes, trying to read her, to understand what she was asking of him. "If that's what you want. I'll give you whatever you want, Riley."

She smiled at him then, wishing her hardest that that were true.

There you have it. Smackle is #TeamRucas! I'm hoping to put a chapter out soon because I hate leaving my babies so vulnerable. Don't be too mad at Riley. He has put her through a lot, and she has always been very insecure. In the coming chapters, we will see a bit more where her head is and what she's thinking now. Next chapter, Smackle will have an interesting conversation with Zay, and Riley just might get her cotton candy! See you soon!