AN: I'm gonna pull a GMW writers on you guys and just say where am I going? Not where you think.

Follow, review and favorite!


Riley seemed very, very tired all day. Lucas didn't expect her to be particularly hyper, nor did anybody else it seemed, but Riley was struggling to stay awake at breakfast and lunch. Although Jack and Shawn had already returned home and were out on an assignment, everybody else was still there and Riley was still expected to make small talk with everybody. So far, she wasn't doing a great job.

"What's with Riles?" Maya asked as she walked up to Lucas who was staring at Riley as she struggled to keep her eyes open while talking to her grandparents.

"Oh, nothing." Lucas lied. "I guess she didn't get enough sleep last night."

"What time did she get back?" Maya asked. "You never texted me or Farkle."

Damn it! Lucas knew he had forgotten something.

"At like eleven or so." He lied. He was pretty sure he could have convinced just about anybody else of that but Maya saw right though him. She raised her eyebrow at him as if to say she didn't believe him.

"Twelve?" Lucas tried. Maya's eyebrow was still raised.

"One?" Eyebrow.

"Two?" Eyebrow.

"Okay, okay, two thirty." He sighed. She seemed to believe him this time because she let her disbelieving eyebrow fall.

"Two thirty?" Maya asked. "That's really late."

"I know," Lucas said as he looked back over at Riley. "I was getting worried about her." The great thing about a sleep deprived Riley was that Lucas could stare at her for about as long as he wanted and it wouldn't be strange to her.

"Did something happen between you guys?" Maya asked. "Because the last time I talked to you, you seemed to want to rip her head off."

"I asked if she wanted to be friends again and she said yes." Lucas said simply. He knew Maya cared quite a bit about Riley and in some sense was overprotective of her best friend so he knew she would freak out if she found out Riley had a black eye. For all Lucas knew, Maya had no idea Riley had ever had a black eye.

"That's all?" Maya asked.

"Yeah," Lucas responded.

"You know, somehow I find that hard to believe, Huckleberry."

"Believe what you want, pancakes."

Maya's expression changed from one of disbelief to one of sadness. Lucas couldn't remember seeing her look this down in a while. He was in no way, shape or form attracted to Maya Hart but he still cared about her. She was like his annoying little sister that only he could pick on. Therefore, only he could cause her any negative emotion but even when he did, he felt bad. Lucas was about to speak up before Maya beat him to it.

"Did he hit her again?" She asked in a quiet voice. Lucas was surprised by this level of maturity Maya was displaying. He had expected her to be flying all over the room telling Riley's family about her abusive boyfriend. However, the night was still young.

"Yeah," Lucas sighed. "You know about that?"

"Where do you think she learned how to make the mask, cowboy?" Maya asked. It was true that if any of the four were going to help Riley out with a problem like that, it would be Maya. But what Lucas didn't understand is why Maya hasn't told at least Riley's parents about this.

"Why haven't you told her parents?" Lucas asked.

"Why haven't you, moral compass?"

"What makes you think I haven't told them?"

"Well, I don't think I'm much like Cory or Topanga but I know if my daughter was being abused by her boyfriend, I sure as hell would put a stop to it as soon as I could. I'm sure they would too and so far, it doesn't look like they've done that." May explained.

Lucas glanced back to the kitchen where the rest of Riley's family was. Riley was leaning against the counter, still continuing her conversation with her grandparents. Her mother and father were in the kitchen, holding a discussion with Rachel and Eric. They all looked so happy and carefree. Lucas knew that there was no way any family in their right mind would look so cheerful if somebody was being physical hurt for the wrong reasons.

"Does Farkle know?" Lucas asked as he turned back to Maya.

"Does Farkle know what?" Farkle had butted into their conversation.

"Yeah, he does," Maya said to Lucas before turning her attention to Farkle. "Dylan hit Riley again."

Farkle had a look of fury in his eyes. Lucas knew that Farkle had feelings for Riley and Maya both. He had made it clear to Lucas when it became obvious that Riley had a crush on him that he was okay with Riley ending up with him because he knew Lucas would treat her right and he would still have Maya. However, this did not stop him from sincerely caring about her.

"He is not the guy I want to take one of my women." Farkle said with a fury that might have been funny in any situation other than this one.

"I don't like him either," Maya said.

"You know, I haven't met him but I can't help but agree." Lucas told them. "Do you guys have any other plan to get rid of him other than me seducing Riley?"

Lucas half expected a devilish smile to appear on either one of their faces, but he was instead met with a look of bewilderment from the pair.

"We'll think of something," Maya reassured him.

Lucas nodded just as Topanga let out a loud, frustrating sigh followed by a rant to her husband.

"Cory! You didn't get any cake for the New Year's ball drop! It's tradition! How could you forget?!"

Although the rage that overcame Topanga Matthews in that moment would have scared Lucas senseless, Cory seemed unfazed. He guessed that was a result of nearly twenty years of marriage.

"Sorry, dear," Cory said. This only seemed to provoke Topanga more.

"Sorry?!" She exclaimed. "You're sorry?!" Now Cory Matthews seemed a little scared.

"I-I-I wa-was going to but, but…" He looked around the room for an excuse, his eyes eventually landing on Lucas. "But I didn't know he was going to be here!"

"Thank you, sir," Lucas said as he tipped an imaginary cowboy hat. His attention fell on Riley and he noticed she was smiling. It was good to see her smile because he swore he hadn't seen her smile since Christmas day.

"Don't try to blame this on Lucas! You forgot, Cory Matthews!" She exclaimed.

"It's okay, mom," a somewhat groggy Riley answered. "I can go get the cake."

"Don't be silly, sweetheart," Topanga answered her daughter, changing demeanors in a flash. "You're exhausted. You had a long night."

"I'll do it," Lucas said before he could stop himself. "I wasn't supposed to be here anyway."

"You really don't have to, Lucas." Topanga said.

"No, its fine. Just give me the place and cake and I'm good to go." Lucas said. "Think of it as me saying thank you for letting me stay for the holidays."

"All right," Topanga said. "If you're sure. The cake is at a bakers in Manhattan called Simply Cakes and the cake is the New York New Year's Special."

"Got it," Lucas said as he grabbed his jacket and left the apartment.

Truth be told, he needed to get some fresh air. He needed clear space to think, or as much clear space he was going to get in New York anyway. He wanted to think about a way to convince Riley to break up with Dylan. It seemed like such a horrible thing to do but he also seemed like a terrible person.

After thinking about this plan for a subway ride to Manhattan and a cab ride to this baker, he realized he probably wasn't the best person to come up with this plan because it all resulted in him hugging her or kissing her or cuddling her or something far from platonic. He still had a crush on her that felt extremely unresolved and he wanted some answers and perhaps a little action.

Lucas got lucky when he got to the baker's because there was one New York New Year's Special left. He paid for the cake and left. He thought about hailing a cab to take him to the subway but decided to walk instead. It would be cheaper on his college budget and he still wanted to see if maybe he could do the impossible; think of a way to break Riley up with Dylan while remaining strictly platonic friends.

The only flaw in this logic was that Lucas didn't remember New York very well and rarely ever went to Manhattan. He thought he was going the right way for a long time but he soon realized he was in a place completely unfamiliar. It was becoming darker and darker too. It didn't look like the people who lived in the area were the wisest to ask for directions to the subway. Some gave him suspicious looks, others didn't even look his way. It was very clear to Lucas that he was not welcome in this neighborhood, however there didn't seem to be any fights or brawls like he had expected.

That is until he walked down an alleyway. It looked like a gang of men were yelling at some guy. Lucas wasn't about to get involved in the fight, but his curiosity got the better of him. He was staring way too long and he heard the ring leader of the gang shout out a "hey!" before Lucas knew it was time to go.

He tried to leave and hope that maybe the man would ignore him but knew this was far from realistic. With his luck, his wish didn't come true.

"Hey!" the man shouted again as he ran in front of Lucas. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," Lucas said, trying to hold firm. "I'm just lost."

He tried to push the guy back but this man wasn't having any of it. In Lucas' life he had met plenty of guys who looked like they were tough but were all talk. This guy, however, looked like he had been around the block a few times. He was a bit taller than Lucas and looked like he spent a fair amount of time at the gym when he wasn't beating people up. He had tattoos all up and down his arms and he was wearing a black beanie that concealed most of his greasy black hair, an old white tank top and baggy jeans. He looked like he might be Italian with his olive skin and dark hair. Needless to say, Lucas was intimidated by this man. Even if he wasn't, he was outnumbered three to one.

"Just lost, eh?" The man answered back. "You know, in this neighborhood, we don't take well to strangers. Especially snoopy ones. "

"Well, if you just tell me how to get back to the subway, I'll be out of your hair." Lucas tired. There was no need to pick a fight that he might not be able to win.

The man gave him a sick smirk before he flung the cake right out of Lucas' hands. This man's buddies started holding Lucas back while the man began to fight him. Lucas wasn't going to go down without a fight either. He fought back to the best of his ability, which seemed to be more than the gang of three were used to but could still keep under control.

Their fight continued down the street and into other streets. Nobody else seemed to try to get in the fight as far as Lucas could see until he started seeing blurs of blue. Before he knew what was happening, he was being thrown into the back of a cop car, separate from the gang he was fighting earlier.

Once at the police station, he was interrogated by what seemed like a good cop type. He told him he just got lost and ended up in the wrong place. Once a search of Lucas was done, he was let free. He later figured out the reason for this was the three men were all found to be in possession of cocaine. They were all booked and arrested a bit later.

Lucas couldn't bring himself to return to the Matthews' yet. It had only been a few hours since he left so if he told them traffic was really bad, they would probably believe him. However, that wouldn't explain the bruises that were now all over his face and that he was returning cakeless. He felt bad even though there was really nothing he did or could have done besides fight back. He hated fighting, ever since that one horrible day in middle school and avoided it when he could but in a situation like that, he had to fight back. He was still trying to do the impossible; think of a way for Riley to break up with Dylan without seducing her.

Speak of the devil, around five o'clock, Riley Matthews herself came flying into the police station. She looked frantic and completely alert for the first time today. However, Lucas was completely baffled as to what she was doing here. There was no way she could have known he was here.

"Riley?" Lucas asked standing up from the bench he was sitting on.

"Lucas?" Riley asked, equally confused. "What are you doing here? And why do you have so many bruises?"

"I got in a fight with this guy," Lucas told her. "He started it. I think I was looking at something too long. Why are you here?"

"Oh, I was watching the news at home and saw that these three guys had been busted for drug dealing and they showed their pictures on the screen and one of them was Dylan! I came here to help him." She explained before making her way up to the front desk.

Lucas looked off at the TV positioned in the corner of the room. It just so happened the news story Riley was talking about was playing again. There was no audio but three mugshots of the men Lucas had been in a fight with earlier. The names of the men were displayed under their mugshots. Dave Aquilino, Joe Maurizio and…

Dylan Moschetti.

It seemed Lucas Friar had done the impossible.