To the lovely person who told me to "stop making Riley's life pathetic", I would just like to say that going through tough times in your life, whether it's boy troubles, parents fighting, friendship issues, or any other sort of thing where you're not sure what to do and all you can do is cry about it, is not pathetic in the slightest. We all have different coping mechanisms. Sometimes, crying is cathartic. I find that once I've had a good cry, my mind is clear, and I know what I have to do next.

That's all :)

Second-last chapter!

Then, the sequel. I can't wait.

Question: What do you want to study when in post-secondary school?

Answer: I mean, I'm already going into university so I guess this is a write-off. I'm studying sport media :) I want to be a sports journalist when I'm older, so I think this program is like, perfect for me.

On with the show!

TWENTY FOUR: GIRL MEETS RECONCILIATION

Chase knew he'd fucked up. He'd seen the destroyed look on Riley's face just before she ended the call. The knowing look, the disappointment. The hurt. And it ate away at him. He hated himself for putting her through that. For her to think that he was cheating on her, well he knew the Instagram pictures hadn't done anything to prove his innocence. So he packed an overnight bag and drove to New York.

It was a twelve-hour drive, but he hoped it was worth it. He couldn't let Riley think that he had been cheating on her. Sure, Sasha could get a little handsy at times, but nothing ever happened. He made sure of that. The last thing he wanted to be was disloyal to the one girl he loved more than the anything in the entire world.

Pulling up in front of the Matthews' apartment was nerve-wracking. He had no idea how her parents were going to receive his spontaneous visit, but hopefully they'd understand. What if Josh answered the door? Would he get knocked onto his ass and sent on his way, without even a chance at making things right with her? So many of these thoughts, these uncertainties, ran through Chase's head on the long drive to the woman he loved.

But even the smallest chance, the tiniest glimmer of hope, was worth it.

He took a deep breath as he climbed up the stairs to the apartment building and knocked on the apartment door. He waited, hands in his pockets, fingers crossed, palms sweating. The knob turned and the door opened. Chase was now face-to-face with Cory Matthews.

"I should punch you right here and now," Cory said through gritted teeth, "but on the notion that you might press charges, I won't. What you doing here?"

"What happened between Riley and I on the video chat was all a misunderstanding, and I since she wasn't answering any of my messages, I had to come see her."

"Has it not occurred you that perhaps she doesn't want to speak with you?" Topanga was using her lawyer voice now.

Chase nodded. "I understand, ma'am, but what man would I be if I didn't make the effort?"

Cory took in Chase's wild eyes, his disheveled appearance, and his wrinkled clothes. Plus, he didn't smell all that great. "Did you drive here? From Chicago? That's over twelve hours."

Chase nodded. "A quick break in Ohio for gas."

Riley's parents exchanged glances, and Cory reluctantly stepped aside to let Chase in. "You have five minutes," Cory said, "unless she throws you out before then."

"Thank you," Chase said gratefully, making a beeline for Riley's bedroom. The door hung ajar, but he knocked anyways.

"Who is it?" Riley asked, the sound of her voice forming the lump in Chase's throat.

He took a deep breath. "Riley, it's me."

Her voice hardened. "I don't want to talk to you."

"It was just a misunderstanding, Riley," he pleaded.

"How can it be a misunderstanding if you couldn't tell me why when it originally happened? There had to have been some truth to it," Riley said quietly.

Chase stepped partially through the doorway. Riley was sitting on her bed, surrounded by dozens of building sketches, layouts, designs, and pencils. She looked up at him and sighed. "Chase, you should leave."

"Riley, I'm so, so sorry I let you think that I was cheating on you," Chase said immediately. "But I want you to know that there's no truth to that at all."

"You posted pictures online of you in hot tubs with hot girls," Riley said pointedly. "And while that might be harmless, Sasha was all over you in one."

"Sasha just gets handsy sometimes, she seems to forget that we're not together anymore, and we'll never be again," Chase explained. He took a seat on the corner of her bed. "Riley, I love you. And no matter where you end up going next year, I'll always want to be with you."

"See, that's not good enough anymore," Riley said, crossing her arms. "You stopped talking to me for nearly a month. When you video chatted me the other day, I was actually surprised because you actually remembered you had a girlfriend. I felt like I didn't have a boyfriend!"

"I'm sorry," Chase said, his voice cracking.

"Cut the crap, Chase, I'm too busy right now."

"Riley, I just drove twelve hours to fix things," Chase said.

"I'm sorry you just wasted twelve hours," Riley said plainly, picking up a sketchbook. "You know, I felt like I'd made a mistake in tying myself down to you, especially when you seemed to not give a damn about me. Maybe I should've let you go back to Chicago, single, and then I wouldn't feel like my heart's been ripped out of my chest and stomped on. Well, I suppose I would've felt like that either way, but at least I wouldn't have had a reason to feel that way. Chase, whether you meant to or not, you hurt me. You made me feel like I was just one of the other girls on the revolving carousel you seem to pick girls from. And Sasha thought it too, that's why she said all those things. She didn't see me as anyone important to you, I was just another slut you picked up at college that you seemingly promised your heart to."

"You are not a slut," Chase whispered.

"You're right, I'm not, but you are," Riley snapped.

Chase recoiled.

"So what if Sasha's handsy? Tell her to fuck right off," Riley said tightly, "and don't fucking hang out with her. Or do, and tell her to keep her hands to herself. Or break up with me so I don't have to hate you as much for letting her hands dance all over you!"

"Riley," Chase burst out.

"And another thing," Riley said furiously. "Why wouldn't you use my nickname in front of her? Or have you lost interest? Am I just not that important anymore? It's amazing what five weeks and eight hundred miles does to a relationship. I wouldn't even call it a relationship anymore if we only talked three times in five weeks. You posted eleven pictures of you and your friends in those five weeks, and six of those had Sasha climbing up your body like it was a pole and she was a fucking stripper."

"Mini."

"Don't fucking start with that, as if it could possibly change anything," Riley said furiously. "You had me wondering for weeks if you were cheating on me! Weeks! And then, when I finally get the chance to tell you the truth, when I finally work up the nerve and the courage to tell you I don't want to study in New York, you have the audacity to tell me that I'm looking into schools that are too far away, that I'm not focused on our relationship! Yeah, all right, I may not be focused, because where I go to college affects my future, and our relationship fell down the drain in five weeks."

"I'm sorry," Chase pleaded for likely the hundredth time that night. "You have no idea how much I wish I could go back and change things. Be a better boyfriend."

"You should be sorry," Riley said finally, like all the anger had drained out of her. She was suddenly exhausted. "It hurts more because I still love you. How can you still love someone who treats you like shit? And I know you didn't always treat me like shit, but the last five weeks have been the fucking worst of my life, and that includes the two years I was ostracized by my friends."

"How can I fix things?" Chase asked finally.

"Go back to Chicago and live your life, leave me alone, and maybe I'll forgive you in that span, in time for you to come back to school in the fall. It looks like I'm taking a gap year anyways, so I'm sure I'll have lots of time to avoid you."

"Are we still together?" Chase bit his lip.

"I'll let you figure that out." Riley returned her focus back to her sketchbooks and Chase stood up, knowing his audience with her was over. He took a deep breath and looked at her once more.

"I'll find a way to make things right," he told her.

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I plan on keeping this one, Mini, and I don't care how long it takes me. Days, months, years? I'm not letting you go." Chase was determined to find a way back into Riley's heart.

"I love you, Chase, don't forget that. But there are some things that just take time." Riley was looking up at him now, her face tired and worn-in. "Tell my parents I'm fine with you staying the night on the couch if you're too tired to drive back and don't have anywhere else to stay."

"I love you too, Mini," Chase admitted, "and I'm really sorry."

Once the door closed and he'd gone down the stairs, only then did Riley allow herself to lean back and let the tears finally slip out.

Two hours later, after everyone in the house had gone to bed, Riley was tossing and turning. She couldn't sleep, and she knew why. A part of her wondered whether it was a good idea to let Chase stay the night.

But it had been the right thing to do. The guy had traveled twelve hours to see her, the least she could do was take care of him a little. She wasn't a cold-hearted bitch.

Riley crawled out of bed to get a glass of water. She tried to be as quiet as possible, but she did sneak a glance over to the couch where Chase was, underneath a blanket. There wasn't any snoring, so she wasn't fully sure he was asleep. She got her water, chugged it, set her glass in the sink and then walked over to the couch, where Chase's eyes were open. They opened wider when he realized she was there. "Mini?"

"Why are you up?" she asked.

"Why are you?"

"I was thirsty," Riley admitted. "Can't sleep?"

"Not really," Chase sighed. "Trying to figure out how to make things right."

She held out her hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" he asked as she tugged him off the couch and led him back to her room.

"As much as I wish I could," Riley said quietly, stopping and facing him before they reached her room, "I can't stay mad at you."

Relief flooded Chase's face as he wrapped her in a hug. "I am so, so sorry, Riley."

"I know you are," Riley whispered, hugging him back. Despite her misgivings, she still loved him, and she wasn't going to let herself get in the way of their relationship again. "Come to bed," she coaxed, pulling him into bed with her.

"Are you sure?" Chase asked warily.

"I think it'll help us both sleep," Riley murmured. "I haven't forgiven you entirely, I hope you know that," she told him as he crawled in next to her.

"I know it'll take a lot more than I'm sorry," Chase said.

"And I still can't fully trust you," Riley added.

"I know."

"But I also don't want to push you away, especially since we've spent so little time together. I know you're truly sorry, and I know you can't lie to me. So I know you didn't cheat on me." Riley's eyes were serious, searching his. "But you can't hurt me again, Chase."

"I know," Chase admitted. "And I don't want to."

"Good. Then we've reached an understanding." Riley laid down and snuggled into her boyfriend. "You are allowed to spend the night with me."

Chase wrapped his arms around her and inhaled. "I've missed this, and you," he whispered. "Being with you. Holding you. Lying next to you. Feeling you. I love you so much, Mini."

"I love you too," Riley whispered back, shifting to look at him. She gave him a small smile. "Don't fuck this up and make me regret this."

"Never," Chase murmured, sealing his promise with a kiss.

Cory Matthews awoke to an empty couch the next morning. He figured that Chase had left earlier and was on his way back to Chicago. But he didn't expect to go wake Riley up and find the two of them asleep, together. He had half a mind to freak out and cause a scene, but they looked so happy and peaceful, he shoved a fist in his mouth, turned around, and stomped back downstairs before having a slight meltdown.

"Riley is in her bedroom with that boy," Cory shrieked in a half-whisper to his wife.

Topanga looked amused. "Are they actually doing anything?"

"No, they're sleeping, but who knows what they did before they fell asleep!" Cory yelped.

"Cory, calm down," Topanga sighed. "Let them be teenagers."

"I don't wanna." Cory shook his head vigorously.

"As much as he's put Riley through, somehow, they work when they're together," Topanga said, shaking her head. "It'll be interesting how things work out if she doesn't study at Parsons next year."

Aww, my Chiley heart is filled.

Sorry for all the tension. But a relationship wouldn't be anything without it's rocky moments, right?

I didn't really touch upon Chase's 'secret' in this chapter but I will in the next one!

Last chapter upcoming! Excited? I am!

Then, SEQUEL! YAYYYYYYYYYYY (my Riley 'yay' interpretation).

Lauren.