A/N: Thanks for the new adds, alerts and kind reviews! It always makes my day brighter just reading what you guys have to say. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.


Chapter 7

"Unbelievable." Maya huffed in frustration with her arms folded across her chest. She was sitting on the edge of Riley's bed, staring at her best friend's reflection in the bedroom mirror as she finishes getting ready. "You and I haven't had a girl's night out yet, and then I find out you're going to see Ranger Rick?" She stared at her in mock disbelief. "Why?"

Riley turned around to face her, a conflicted frown settling on her expressive features. "He wants to sit down and talk. He kind of backed me into a corner. I couldn't say no." Maya raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate some more. Riley released a heavy sigh as she motioned towards Maya's direction and took a seat beside her. "He seemed really serious about wanting to be friends again."

"Friends?" Maya scoffed, followed by a forced laugh that was laced with bitterness. "Honey, you and Lucas can never be just friends."

Riley bit her bottom lip in thoughtful contemplation as silence fell upon them.

"It doesn't hurt to try."

"Riley…" Maya scolded her lightly. "What are you trying to get out of this?"

"I don't know? A moment of clarity?" Riley flung her arms in mid air and shrugged, groaning in exasperation as she did so. "He was a big part of my life, Maya. And he was yours too." She reminded her, her voice filled with raw emotion. "That just doesn't go away. He's here now, and he's trying to make an effort and I'm—" Riley paused in mid-sentenced, vehemently shaking her head as a frustrated sigh slipped from her lips. "I've been hiding and pretending that everything is okay, but it isn't. And I'm tired, Maya. I'm tired of not being able to move on from the past because of the choices I made." Her hard gaze softened a little as a look of understanding crossed Maya's face. "I need to fix it."

Maya felt an aching in her chest as she continued staring at Riley. She could see the moisture and years of unresolved pain in her eyes that she desperately tries to hold back. Maya was silent for a few more moments before replying. "Okay."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "Okay?" She questioned, a disbelieving tone in her voice. "That's it?"

Maya nodded. "If you feel this talk with Lucas will give you the closure you need, then I won't stop you." Riley gave her a prompting look, urging Maya to continue. "I just want you to be happy."

"I know." She said softly as a sincere smile work its way up her face. "And thanks…for always being there."

"Well, duh I'm your best friend. It's what I'm here for." Maya placed her arm around Riley's shoulders and pulled her into a warm hug. "Just promise me one thing?"

"What's that?"

Maya pulled away from their embrace and looked her in the eyes. "Promise me that we will hang out before Spring break is over."

Riley gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise."

"And that one of those days will be a double date with you, me, Josh and photographer hottie."

Riley's smile suddenly turned into a serious frown. "What?"

"Alright! Sounds great." Maya was giddy with excitement as she clasped her hands together happily. "I'll plan it out. This is going to be so much fun!"

"B-but—"

"Good luck with Lucas. I hope you find what you're looking for." And with that said, Maya swiftly left the room and shut the door behind, leaving Riley dumbfounded.

"Oh, I'm going to kill her." She muttered to herself as she glanced back at her reflection in the mirror and smiled.


Riley stepped outside, the sunset approaching beyond the horizon, painting the clouds amazing shades of pink, orange and blue. It was breathtaking as she stopped to breathe in the pleasantly warm Spring air and enjoy the soft breeze grazing her skin.

Riley arrived at Topanga's shortly after, not surprised to see the place filled for a Tuesday night during the dinner rush. She remained outside, watching the commotion through the window as she scanned the crowd, looking for him. The majority of the customers were high school students, most of whom she recognized. Her young brother Auggie was among them as he sat at a table with his off-and-on girlfriend Ava along with their two friends Jasmine and Eric.

By the time it reached 7PM, Riley's confidence was beginning to wane as the irrational anxious feeling inside her chest took over. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this, unsure of how the night will play out. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, so many things left unsaid. But as time grew closer, Riley had the sudden urge to just turn around and leave, to never look back and close that chapter in her life for good. It was what she had been trying to do for the past four years.

Closing her eyes, Riley shook her head as if to block out the thought of him and redirect her attention to the clear night sky. It was peaceful and quiet, providing her with a sense of calm from the paralyzing swirl of emotions. She looked upward and saw the stars were flickering brightly, illuminating out constellations she knew by heart. Staring at them, she knew she wasn't ready to step inside to face him.

Suddenly Riley felt the need to turn around as if there was something that required her attention. She shifted slightly to her right, glancing over her shoulder and found herself staring at his gorgeous emerald eyes. There he stood before her, looking ever so handsome in dark jeans and a short-sleeved black and white plaid shirt that showed off his toned arms. For a split second their gazes lingered longer than necessary as she wondered how long he had been standing there with that entranced smile of his gracing his adorable face. She had to give herself a minute to breathe at the mere sight of him. "Lucas…"

"Hi." He greeted as the sound of his voice eradicated the reassuring calm she felt not too long ago.

"Hey." She answered nervously. She could feel the panic wash over her as her stomach tightened into a knot. All the things she wanted to tell him suddenly escaped her as she find herself unprepared and dreading this moment.

"I'm glad you can make it."

Riley forced a smile, her brown eyes staring deep into his emerald ones. "Yea, me too." She replied, trying so hard to steady her nerves.

"Coffee?" He asked, gesturing his eyes and head towards the entrance of the bakery.

"Sure."

He opened the door for her like the gentleman he is as she hesitantly stepped inside first and was greeted by the wonderful smells of baked goods and coffee that filled the air. She searched the room through the crowd of people with a few familiar faces staring back at her. Riley smiled as soon as she found an empty seat in the back corner of the room. Lucas offered to get their drinks at the counter as she began making her way towards the table booth in the other side of the bakery, grateful to have a moment to herself to gather her thoughts together.

"Hi, Ms. Matthews."

As soon as Riley sat down, she looked up and was approached by Jasmine who left her group of friends at their table and took a seat in front of her. A playful grinned crossed her lips causing Riley to raised a curious brow at her. "Hello, Jasmine," she greeted with a friendly smile. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Yea…" she smirked, her gaze shifting from the tall handsome figure in front of the cash register counter to Riley. "So…who's the super hot guy you're with?"

Riley blinked, her mouth shut in a straight line as she opened them slightly, but couldn't find the words. She felt her cheeks warm in embarrassment. "Um…well, he's an old friend." She explained.

"Well Auggie says you two used to date."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh did he now," she said with clenched teeth and a forced smile. She threw a glare at her brother's direction who was engage in some conversation with his friends before turning back to face Jasmine. "I'll make sure to thank him for sharing that bit of information."

The young teen noted her discomfort as an amused smirk crossed her face.

"So anyway…have you decided where you'll be going next year for college?" Riley asked curiously, switching to more appropriate and safer topics.

Jasmine shook her head. "Nope. Not yet. Still weighing on my options." Riley nodded in understanding. Jasmine then averted from her gaze and looked up when she sees him approaching their table. She grinned at Riley once more. "Well, I should get back to my friends. Your date is heading this way."

Riley groaned in reply. "Jasmine, this is not a date."

"Whatever you want to believe, Ms. Matthews." She smiled teasingly before leaving the table to join her friends in the other side of the room.

Just moments later, Lucas returned with their drinks as he carefully set her coffee on the table in front of her. "Who was that?" He asked, occupying the seat across from her.

"Thanks. And that was Jasmine." She answered. "One of my high school students I'm counseling."

His eyebrows flew upward in surprise. "So on top of being a photographer, you're also a student counselor?" He asked incredulously as she nodded in reply. "Is there anything that Riley Matthews can't do?" He teased, earning a shy blush from her.

Riley quickly changed the subject, diverting the attention away from her and asked Lucas about work.

"So…how's the externship going for you?"

"It's going well. Today was more of an orientation day, you know…going over tedious paperwork and watching outdated videos."

She laughed. "Sounds…exciting."

"Oh very." He smiled, reaching over to the center of the table to grab a few packets of sugar. "So how's Lucifer?"

"He's doing better from what Josh tells me. Still scratching more than usual though."

"Symptoms should start to wear off within a week or two. If there are no improvements within a few days, have him come by at the hospital for a check up. I'd be happy to take a look at him and run more tests."

She smiled gratefully at him. "Okay, will do."

Riley was taken aback but how well this was going so far. She pictured how this would turn out, replaying different scenarios in her head. She found herself so comfortable in his presence as the conversation flowed smoothly from one topic to the next. It was incredible how easy it was for them to slip back into it as if the past four years had been a mere five minutes. He was still easy to talk to and she couldn't help but feel please that despite everything they've been through they can still engage in small talk. It gave her a sense of hope that perhaps they can be friends after all this.

They sat and drank their coffee in silence for a few moments, enjoying each other's company. Riley then looked up and noticed he was in deep thought, staring fixedly at his coffee. "Lucas?" She pulled him from his trance, concern now clouding her features.

"Hmm? Oh I'm sorry." He shook his head and lightly chuckled in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to space out like that."

"Are you okay?"

"Yea, just stressing about what to bring." She furrowed her eyebrows in bewilderment, allowing Lucas to continue. "It's my supervisor's birthday tomorrow. There's a potluck at the animal hospital and I offered to bring dessert…except I can't make any." He frowned helplessly causing a laugh from Riley. He glared at her. "Hey…I'm a little offended that you find my lack of baking skills amusing."

"I think I can help you with that."

His eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Well we do catering here."

He smiled.

"Any idea of what kind of dessert you were planning to bring?"

He shrugged. "Not really. Any suggestions?"

She pursed her lips in deep thought. "I may have a few ideas. Wait here, I'll be back."

Just moments later, Riley returned from the kitchen with a tray full of individual slices of assorted pies, cakes, puddings, cupcakes and cookies.

"Whoa." His eyes widened, surprised to see all the desserts she'd brought in for him to try. "Why is there two of everything?" He asked curiously.

"You really think I'm going to just sit here and watch you eat all of that by yourself?" She smirked. "Not a chance, cowboy."

"What are we in for?" He joked.

Riley detailed all of the desserts on the tray. Pointing to the red velvet cupcake, she noted, "This one is our most popular, and your favorite from what I remembered."

"And still is." He commented, taking a bite of the cupcake without hesitation. "Mmhmm. Delicious." Lucas goes for another bite and when he looked up, he noticed that Riley had some cream cheese filling on her chin. He grinned. "Oh you have some icing on your chin right there."

She attempted to look down at it, and then tried to lick it off, but failed miserably. Lucas laughed at her silliness. "Here, I'll get it." He reached over, wiping it off her face with a stroke of his thumb. The sensation was startling familiar as his gentle fingers lightly grazed her cheek, and Riley found herself thrown back into the memory of those same fingers ghosting across her skin and causing her body to tremble. She felt the once-familiar jolt of electricity at the brief contact. And when their eyes locked, she knew without a doubt that he felt it too.

"There, all gone."

She smiled shyly. "Thanks..."

She took a deep breath and steadied herself. "Excuse me, I need to go to the ladies room. I'll let you try these and decide on a dessert. I'll be back."

He nodded. "Okay."

She hastily got up from her seat and headed towards the direction of the ladies' room. Once inside, she closed the door behind her, leaning her head wearily against the wood for support. She could feel her own heart beating rapidly against her chest, mentally berating herself for sinking into the depths of Lucas Friar.

The simple gesture and his familiar touch left her confused and vulnerable. Worst of all was the feeling of utter defeat of knowing that she had used her reserves of strength and had reached her breaking point. She gathered herself together quickly and returned to the table.

"Hey, I'm sold." Lucas smiled once he spotted her approaching their table. "I'll have two dozen of the red velvet cupcakes."

She sat down in front of him, a serious expression residing on her face. Riley shifted uncomfortably in her seat, looking down before tucking a strand of hair that had fallen behind her ear. She met his gaze and released a heavy sigh. "I can't do this."

He stared at her questioningly. "You can't order me red velvet cupcakes?"

"No. This." She gestured between them. "Whatever this is. I just…I can't do it." Her gaze wandered off his eyes and settled on the floor, feeling her heart constrict painfully at the realization that they could never be just friends. There was too much still between them, too much history, and some residual feelings. She wasn't quite sure what these feelings were or what they meant but she would not act on them. Not as long as he belonged to someone else. That simple fact alone was enough to break her heart.

He blinked, taken aback by the sudden change of direction this conversation was heading. "What? You can't be friends with me?" He looked at her incredulously.

"Four years of not speaking and now you want to be friends?" She questioned, anger and hurt radiating from her as she stares at him. No matter how much time elapsed, the way things were left between them would always hurt.

"Okay, what the hell just happened? Was it something I said?" He hissed, careful to not draw attention. "Because just a few minutes ago, we were just talking and things were going well, or so I thought."

"You can't just come back into my life and expect things to be right again, for things to be like how they used to be." The shock of her assumptions hit him like a wrecking ball.

"How is that even fair? You're the one that broke up with me remember?" His voice was calm and steady, complete opposite of how he was really feeling in the moment. He didn't want to lose it in front of her and cause a scene, so he took a moment to carefully choose his words. "You gave up on us. You gave up on me, Riley." He replied sadly, his expression daring her to deny the truth.

She swallowed as his words stung her. She hated this, hated fighting with him as it suffocated her. "I never gave up on you, Lucas. It was you who gave up on me." She sucked in a deep breath and felt her voice cracking at the admission. She looked away, not trusting herself to look at him. "Not even a year into college, and you found someone else." She added with a bitter laugh, feeling the warmth of tears fill her eyes. "You moved on. And it was stupid of me to hope that there was still a chance for us when I was about to—" Riley stopped herself, realizing what she was about to say as her eyes grew larger in response. She then shook her head and took a step back, steeling herself. "Never mind. Forget it. You're right. This is my fault. Let's just forget any of this ever happened."

Lucas stared at her in confusion. "You were about to what, Riley?" He stood up from his seat the moment she got up, frustration evident in his features.

"It's nothing." She replied, unable to disguise the hopelessness in her voice. "Forget it."

She grabbed her purse and turned to leave, only to be stopped by her brother standing right between her and the exit.

"Auggie?" She breathed out in surprise. "What are you doing?"

He looked at her and frowned as the anguish played across her face. He couldn't bear to see his sister look so defeated as his gaze softened, determined to put an end to this. "Are you going to tell him or should I?"

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Auggie, please…" she begged of him, "stay out of this."

He gave her an apologetic look before turning his head to face Lucas. "She got accepted to Texas A&M." He blurted out as Riley paled a little, all traces of the calm vanished from her face. "She was going to transfer there just so she could be with you."

Lucas didn't move. His brow was furrowed and his green eyes were dark and clouded. A mixture of confusion, disbelief, hurt and betrayal was clear in his expression. He looked back at her, the shock registering on his face.

He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard. "What?"


A/N: *Whew* Okay, that was a hard chapter to write. Thanks for reading. Any thoughts? Please share and stay tune for more. I'll do my best to update asap.