So someone mentioned that "Lucas should have said he liked Riley and never liked Maya."

I completely respect your opinion but I would like to share my opinion as well

So my personal opinion is that you can't really blame Lucas for the 'triangle' mess. He was about to tell Riley about his feelings when she dropped the bomb on him saying that she loved him like a brother. According to me, anyone would be in too much of a shock to actually react sensibly in such a situation. Thus, we had the campfire scene where Lucas acted on impulse when he normally sort of thinks things through.

Also, Riley was pushing him away after Texas. Lucas mentions a couple of times that he likes talking to Riley so this will also have some kind of an effect on him. He also sees Riley go out with Charlie Gardner which clearly annoys him. (Jealous Lucas is really fun to watch 😜)

Then there's New Year where he learns that Riley had lied to him for months. He trusts Riley so much that he's willing to give Maya a shot. Then he learns that it was all for nothing and that he's been sucked into a bigger mess now. This also is bound to affect him somehow.

After the jellybean experiment, Lucas was going to say something. He also told the parents so I don't see why he wouldn't want to tell the girls. Here it was Maya who stopped him from saying anything because she realized that she hadn't been herself.

None of them really asks Lucas how he feels. (That's what gave me the idea for this story)

I love hearing from the readers. It's always great to discuss your opinions and I'm all for it. I would love to have some more discussions like this.

This way you all can also get an insight to my thinking behind the way the story progresses.

Let's catch up with the gang in New York now

Back in New York, the teens are trying to find out where Lucas is.

"He's been gone for a week now. We've given him enough space." says Farkle.

"Yeah I agree. I say we go to his house and apologize." Zay adds.

"Guys forcing Lucas to listen to us is not a good idea. We're supposed to apologize to him for being terrible friends and this isn't the way to go." Smackle points out.

"And there's no point in showing up at his place because he's not there. I tried calling his house but no one is picking up. And before you say that he probably didn't pick up because of seeing my name let me tell you I used mom's phone. He wouldn't ignore her calls if he was there." Riley says.

"Where could he be if he's not home?" Maya asks.

Smackle replies, "He could probably be at someone else's house. Does he know anyone apart from us in New York?"

Zay shakes his head while Farkle says, "Even if he does, we definitely don't know about it."

They sit in Topanga's in silence. They are now realizing that they don't know anything about Lucas.

They start to feel more guilty for being such terrible friends.

One day after school, Zay gets a call from his grandparents in Texas.

They ask him if they had some sort of vacation going on.

Confused, Zay replies, "Schools were open in New York. I just got home from school."

They sound disappointed and say, "We really miss having you around. We would really like to see you soon. Your last trip to Texas was way too short and you spent most of that time with the Friars and your friends."

Curiosity gets the better of him and Zay asks, "Why did you think I was on vacation?"

They reply, "Lucas had been staying with Joe for the past week. Since Lucas almost never skips school we thought there was some sort of vacation going on. Joe probably called him for some important work."

Zay is shocked to learn that Lucas has been in Texas all this time.

He thanks his grandparents and rushes to inform the others. He sends them all an emergency meeting message telling them to come to Topanga's immediately.

When they all arrive, Farkle then asks, "What's the emergency Zay?"

"Lucas has been in Texas for the past week." Zay says.

"WHAT?!" they all respond with shocked expressions.

Maya then says, "This is not the time for jokes Zay."

Zay replies, slightly offended, "I'm not messing with any of you. I just got a call from my grandparents and they told me that they saw Lucas with Pappy Joe for almost a week now."

The others are shocked to hear that Lucas hadn't just skipped school to avoid them but he went all the way to Texas.

They quickly make plans to go to Texas and apologize to Lucas. They explain everything to their parents and request them to let them go.

The parents are on the fence but then Cory decides to talk to them.

Cory says, "See as much as I don't want them to skip school, I think we need to let them go. They've been a tight group but the last few months there have been some unwanted events which led to this. These kids have realized what they have done wrong and want to correct their mistake. As a teacher, I'm really happy to see this development. Don't we all want them to learn how to fix their own mistakes?"

The parents moved by Cory's words grant their permission to their children to make the trip to Texas.

The gang quickly packs and takes the first flight to Texas, not wanting to waste anymore time than necessary.

On the way, they try to come up with a plan to get Lucas to forgive them.

They land in Texas and make their way to Zay's house because they doubt that they would be welcome on the Friar Ranch.

Looks like the reunion is coming soon