It was officially the day before the final middle school dance. And I was going out of my mind.

Lucas had been more distant from me than usual ever since he moved in with Uncle Shawn. I was trying not to read too much into it, but he was spending a good majority of his time with Maya, of all people. As much as I wanted to assume that I was just reading into things, I couldn't. Even Farkle was getting worried, heck, even Joshua was and he wasn't even dating her. Apparently he hadn't been expecting even more competition or however teenage boys refer to this kind of thing.

Truth be told, I hadn't been expecting this, either. Of course, I had always hoped that Maya and Lucas would become friends someday, but that was it. I only wanted them to be friends, close friends at the most, nothing more. I hadn't been expecting them to even begin to tolerate each other for a fairly long time, and I had been all right with that.

But this. I had never planned for any of this to happen.

Not only that, Missy still hadn't been in school. It felt pathetic to realize that I was actually worried about her. She hated my guts, and I was stressing out over whether or not she was okay. There was something extremely messed up about that, wasn't there? No wonder everyone tended to drift away from me after awhile.

I quickly shook my head to push the thought away, trying to refocus my attention on the homework in front of me. That was not what was going on. Lucas was going through a difficult time, and I should be happy that someone was apparently helping him through everything. Even if that person was not me.

It only took me a few more minutes before I finally gave up non my homework. None of the words I was skimming were making any sense, and it wasn't like they were exactly complex. They were simplistic little words that most third graders knew, for crying out loud. No, it was just me. I was officially going out of my mind, and nothing was going to change that until I got the answers that I apparently needed more than anything.

It felt weird, thinking something like that. Too dramatic. But honestly, it was the truth, and the truth did have a habit of coming out, anyway. No matter what we do to try to hide it. So it was better to come to these occasionally dramatic but painfully truthful realizations when I wasn't completely falling to pieces, right?

. . .

My freaky need for answers getting the best of me, I didn't quit knocking on the front door of Shawn's apartment until somebody eventually opened the dang door. It was Shawn, of course, and I held back a sigh of exasperation. Now would not be the best time to appear less than delighted at his presence. "Hi, Uncle Shawn. Would it be okay if I talked to Lucas? It'll only take a couple minutes, I promise."

He pursed his lips briefly before shaking his head. It seemed almost wary, the way he did it. "I'm sorry, kiddo. Lucas is hanging out with a friend tonight. But I can tell him you stopped by, if you want?"

"What friend?" I asked quickly, pretty much ignoring everything else that he said. I wasn't feeling like myself right now. It was hard to describe, but all I knew was that I wasn't okay. Which, as you probably know, isn't the greatest feeling in the world.

"Maya."

I bit my bottom lip roughly. I had been expecting that. But isn't it funny, how people can still get so hurt over something that they saw coming? Because right now it felt like there was a crushing weight on my chest. Again. Something I had been praying I would avoid feeling once I sorted everything out with Lucas before his dad kicked him out. But no, everything was changing again. And I figured it would inevitably change, but I had been wishing for at least a couple months of happiness before it all came crashing down yet again. "Of course," I muttered, mostly to myself. Then, speaking up, I added, "Thank you, anyways, Uncle Shawn. I need to get back home so I can finish my homework, so ... I'll see you around," I mumbled awkwardly before quickly striding away.

This was an absolute disaster. And I didn't have any clue how to handle it.

Somehow I ended back in my apartment, although I barely remembered the little trip from Shawn's place to my own. My parents were sitting at the kitchen table, my mom typing away at her laptop and my dad grading the essays we handed in this morning. It was a typical sight, something that I had learned to appreciate once Lucas came around. Not everyone had a perfect family, even I didn't. But then again, not everybody had two loving parents who would do anything for them. He had unknowingly taught me to appreciate them even more.

"Hey, honey," my mom said softly, briefly looking up from her laptop. I forced a half-smile, although it was a second too late.

I paused for a long moment, staring blankly at my parents before stumbling over to the kitchen table. Neither of them looked up again, even though I kept my gazes locked on them. Finally, after a couple minutes they both looked up, their expressions questioning. I assumed they were worrying about my sanity, considering the fact that I had been staring at them both for a couple minutes already.

"How ya doin'?" Mom asked, grinning slightly. It looked somewhat nervous to me, which I decided not to dwell on. So many people were already wondering whether or not I was stable, it was something that no longer affected me.

Swallowing hard, I reluctantly sat across from my parents. "When you guys were younger, were you ever distant from each other because of something going on in your lives? Did you ever drift towards other people, even if no one ever saw it coming?"

Mom and Dad exchanged a quick look before locking eyes with me again. "Cory, maybe you should tell her the story," my mom suggested quietly.

My dad nodded, although he still seemed rather hesitant. "Yeah, okay. So, when your mom and I were sixteen, our lives basically came crashing down." My mom went back to her frantic typing, whereas my dad set down the essays, linking his hands together tightly.

I was not liking where this was heading. "What happened?"

"Your mom and Uncle Shawn had been spending a lot of time together. I didn't understand what was going on, because whenever I did talk to either of them they insisted that nothing different or serious was happening. But one day Uncle Eric caught them together ... he saw them hugging and Shawn even pecked her on the lips."

I felt my stomach drop, and I blinked quickly. "What are you talking about? Mom and Uncle Shawn have always been friends and nothing more. Nothing would ever actually happen between them, so you have to be kidding me. He's messing with me, isn't he, Mom?"

My mom shook her head slowly. "No, it actually happened."

I felt my eyes widen, and I laughed nervously. It sounded more like a breathless exhale, though. "There's no way that's possible."

"Let me finish, sweetheart," my dad interjected gently. "Even though your mom and Shawn had been avoiding me and acting fairly distant, I confronted Shawn about it, and he said it was nothing more than a friendly kiss. After awhile I grew tired of speculating over everything, so I went to talk to your mom about it. It turns out she was hiding something, but it wasn't the type of thing I had been anticipating."

"What was it?" I was scared to death. The idea of my mom and Uncle Shawn having a thing had already completely sickened me, and it took me a moment to catch onto the parallels and why it bothered me so much. Teenagers had flings all the time, it shouldn't be such a shock to me. There was no reason to worry about anything going on between my mom and Shawn now, of course ...

It wasn't the fact that Shawn and my mom might have had a connection in high school. It was the fact that I was seeing them as Maya and Lucas - maybe it made sense, considering the fact that my mother and Shawn had been acting pretty distant from my dad. Just like how Lucas and Maya had been extremely distant from me the past few days. And then Uncle Eric caught Shawn and my mom hugging and kissing ...

I didn't want anyone I know seeing Lucas and Maya hugging and kissing. I didn't want to find out that the boy I love and my best friend had something going on behind my back. The idea of anything like that occurring literally made my stomach ache in the worst way possible. These were not butterflies. This was something far darker.

It was the beginning signs of heartbreak.

"Your mom had gotten into a disagreement with her parents," my dad explained slowly, pausing to judge my reaction. I remained impassive, so he continued. "Because they had told her that they were moving to Pittsburgh."

I glanced between both of my parents, staying completely silent for a long moment. Eventually I regained some control over my emotions and managed to remember how to speak. "You guys never told me about that."

I was being as smooth as chunky peanut butter again. Maya would be cringing if she was here at the moment.

But of course, she was not here. She hadn't been here since Lucas's father kicked him out of his house and she tagged along with him. I still hadn't gotten answers for what they were doing together, and after hearing the stories about my mom and Uncle Shawn, I wasn't sure I wanted or needed to know. I wasn't certain I couldn't deal with the answers I might end up getting.

"You never asked," my dad said simply, as if that fixed everything. They had told me the same stories over and over again, but never once mentioned that one. It seemed unjust. "Wait, is there any specific reason you're asking us about this, Riley?"

I shook my head immediately. Boy talk with my dad wouldn't help my situation in the least bit. Besides, it might be best if I kept this situation with Lucas under wraps as long as possible. "No, I was just wondering. Do you mind if I skip out on dinner tonight? I'm not really hungry."

"Riley-"

"Sorry," I interrupted my mom quickly, hopping up from my seat. "I think I'm just going to study for that upcoming science test. I'll talk to you guys later tonight," I added halfheartedly before jogging into my bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind me.

All I could think about was Shawn and my mom kissing and hugging, and how, for all I knew, Lucas and Maya could be kissing and hugging right now. All while I lingered in my bedroom by myself, too sick to my stomach to even consider eating anything.

I didn't think about the rest of my dad's story at all. Especially not the part about my mom having to move away ... because how was that going to help my situation? Nothing like that would ever occur now. Not with Lucas.

Because not all history repeats itself, right?

. . .

A/N: Hey, guys! I'm so sorry for the delay in updates, I temporarily lost inspiration for this story, but it's definitely back now. Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews, you guys are all literally so amazing, I can't even. You're awesome! We hit 155 reviews, thank you so much! :D Do you think we could reach 160 reviews with this chapter? Maybe, possibly? Thank you again! (Yes, yes, I'm such a pushover.)

Now, I know there actually weren't any Rucas moments in this chapter, but don't worry - I have lots planned for our babies! Including a couple cutesy Corpanga parallels!

Also, I still do not own Girl Meets World. Ah. Some things never change.