A/N: Thanks for the reviews, the adds and alerts. I apologize for taking so long to update. Hopefully there is still interest out there. But because it's been a few months since I last updated, I encourage you to re-read the previous chapters before reading this one just in case you miss an important detail. It is by the end of this chapter where we will find out the connection between Lucas and Riley, and where I'll be going with this story. Without further ado, enjoy!

CHAPTER FOUR

One Week Later

Waking up the following morning to the loud sound of an alarm was not a very nice start to the day. What made it even worse was that it was a Saturday and he couldn't sleep in. Sighing, Lucas sat up and looked around the dim room tiredly. After a few moments, he reluctantly slipped out of bed and staggered towards the bathroom.

The response of the shower was immediate as the metallic head that hung loosely above him spread water unto his body, the cold making his muscles tense. The water gradually warmed him, soothing the ache that clawed at his limbs from his previous work out. He slowly lowered his gaze, letting the water fall carelessly around him as he fell into a deep contemplation. He mostly thought about his father who he hasn't seen for over a year. With the news of his early release, Lucas prepared himself for the moment his father returns home. But a wisp of doubt still fluttered in his mind; a horrible thought that things would not change or work out between them.

A distant sigh slipped from his lips as he turned off the shower head and grabbed a towel nearby. He quickly dressed into black slacks, a white button down dress shirt with a dark grey skinny tie, and finished the look with a black blazer jacket and casual shoes before heading on out.

It was a quiet ride as Lucas stared out the window, absorbed in his thoughts. Andre eyed Lucas from the rearview mirror with curiosity, a mixture of emotions playing across his face. Silence filled the vehicle for a few moments, broken only by the occasional car driving past or the buzz that goes on in the busy streets of New York City.

"Aren't you a little overdressed?" Andre asked, mentally berating himself for his lame attempt at small talk.

Lucas glared at him, looking rather offended. "You're being paid to be my driver, not my fashion police."

Andre felt his face turn red as he cleared his throat and returned his gaze back on the road. "My apologies, sir."

After a few more stop signs, they finally reached their destination with five minutes to spare before his shift begins. Lucas stepped outside the vehicle and stood in front of the surprisingly small building with the words Topanga's printed on the window. It was far from a corporate headquarters of some fashion industry he expected it to be.

"What is this place?" He asked, eyeing the brick building as Andre stood beside him with his hands clasped in front of him.

"It's a bakery."

Lucas furrowed his eyebrows in bewilderment. "A bakery?" He scoffed. "And you knew about this place? Why didn't you tell me? Or warn me?" He asked, looking at him from the side.

"I'm only paid to be your driver, remember?"

Lucas sighed and watched as a stream of customers goes in and out of the building with either a beverage or pastry in hand.

"Go on, Lucas. You don't want to be late."

Seeing the amused look on his driver's face, Lucas glared at him. "Just be back here in four hours."

"Will do."

Lucas drew in a deep breath and then confidently strode inside.

He opened the glass doors and the chiming bell greeted him as he entered the bakery. Lucas began to look around; the scent of brewing coffee and pastries filling his nostrils as it escaped through the kitchen doors. Inside, pastries were lined up neatly in display counters, round tables and chairs were nearly filled up, and those that were empty were sparkling clean. People already lined up to pay for their orders at the counter where a beautiful maiden with dirty blonde hair greeted them with a bright smile.

"Welcome to Topanga's. May I help you?" Lucas turned to the source of a masculine voice with short dark brown hair and a friendly smile. He briefly looked at his nametag before awkwardly meeting his gaze.

"Yes, hello, Evan? Uh…my name is Lucas. I was sent by Mr. Cory Matthews."

He arched a brow and looked him over, taken by surprise. "Oh." He snapped out of it quickly and smiled at him. "Right. Come follow me." He led Lucas towards the back of the bakery and through a large door marked with the words "Employees Only." They stepped inside an empty room with lockers on one side of the wall and a small round table and couch in the opposite end.

"Okay, no offense, Lucas but you're overdressed." Evan began as he opened a small closet door that stood beside the lockers and grabbed a few items.

"So I was told." Lucas replied dryly.

"You don't want to mess up that nice shirt of yours so you're gonna want to put this on." Evan tossed him a black shirt with the bakery's logo and Topanga's printed on the front. "You're also going to need this." He handed him a black waist apron that ties around the back. "That should be it for now. Meet me at the front once you're ready to work."

Lucas nodded. "Yea, thanks."

Evan quietly left the room. Once Lucas was dressed, he stepped out to the front of the bakery where Evan was waiting for him. "Okay, the owner and store manager are usually not here during the weekends, but they placed me in charge and I was given specific instructions for you to shadow me for the day. We are pretty tight today with staff, so it's going to be busy. There are several events planned during the weekend, so we have tons of orders for cakes, pies, and some pastries. For now, I'll have you clean tables and greet customers." Lucas nodded, trying to take it all in. "Alright, let me introduce you to the staff and give you a quick tour."

Lucas shook hands with the other employees as they all welcomed him to the team. He concluded that they were all friendly, including the customers. There was just something about the place that made him feel right at home.

"All our condiments, napkins and anything we need to stock up at the front will be in the storage closet when you pass through the kitchen. Cleaning supplies will be next to it. If you need help finding things or if you're not sure about anything just ask the staff and they'd be glad to help." Evan turned to look at Lucas. "So do you have any questions for me?" Lucas shook his head quietly. "Ok good. Let's get you started."

And then he was already getting in the thick of the action, cleaning up tables and helping out the waiters to deliver orders to seated customers. He smiled at a young couple with their pastries and coffees in hand as he directed them to a free table by the window. It took him quite some time to get the hang of things. There were a few mishaps from accidentally spilling coffee to delaying clean up, causing a long line of waiting customers. One hour left into the shift and the traffic in the bakery suddenly picked up, and Lucas found himself lost in the noon-hour rush. But with the Evan's help, Lucas eventually got things moving along again.

Time passed by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, his four hours was over. After a few encouraging words from Evan, he went to the lockers to change back into his dress attire. He returned to the front of the bakery, looking down at his feet towards the exit when he accidentally bumped into someone. "Excuse me, I'm sorry I—" He immediately looked up and his breath caught his throat. His eyes widened as they locked with hers. "Riley?"

"Lucas?" She greeted in surprise, the amused tint in her brown eyes with the make-up she wore really bringing out the gorgeous color. "We need to stop meeting like this." She joked. "What are you doing here?"

Lucas blinked as he stared at her, completely caught off guard. A million things were running through his head, one of them being if it was the best time to tell her what he already knew and why he was there. "Uh well…" he began, nervously scratching the back of his head and trying to think of something smart to say. "Your Dad actually sent me here."

"My Dad?" She questioned, her brows arching in bewilderment. "Wait, how do you—" Riley froze as she fought her surprised reaction, but was sure he had noticed it. "You know."

He nodded with a sly grin. "Did you really think no one was ever going to find out?"

"I was hoping." She sighed, walking over to the nearest empty table as Lucas joined her.

"So when you said your Dad is head of an entire school, I didn't realize you meant our school." He sat down across from her as she silently nodded her head in embarrassment. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because…" she began exasperatedly, turning in her chair to look at him. "People will talk. People will make assumptions and formulate their own opinions. I just don't want people to treat me any differently…or think I receive special treatment just because I'm the Dean's daughter."

Lucas studied her for a moment, noticing the distress she was in just from talking about it. "Don't worry, I won't say anything."

She tilted her head to the side as a smile curled her lips. "Thank you."

"Hey, Matthews!" Came another voice that broke through the brief silence not long after. It was a voice Lucas wasn't quite familiar with yet, but he knew who it was before meeting his gaze. "The usual?" Evan asked, approaching their table as he greeted Riley with a wide grin.

"Yes, and one for my friend here Lucas."

He looked from Evan to Riley and politely shook his head. "Oh no, you don't have to—"

"Don't worry about it. My Mom owns the place." Lucas' eyebrows flew upward in surprise. "Not to be biased or anything, but the coffee here is amazing. Perhaps better than the overpriced café's and bistros you have over at the Upper East Side." She teased.

He narrowed his eyes at her playfully and she laughed. "I suppose I'll be the judge of that."

Evan blinked at all this, looking between them in a distressed fashion. When Lucas glanced back at him, he could've sworn that he saw jealousy evident on his face before he broke into a forced smile. "Ok, I'll uh…have those drinks ready."

"Thanks, Evan." Riley smiled at him as he stayed for another moment before reluctantly turning around and walking back to the counter.

A period of silence hung in the air before Riley interjected curiously. "So why did my Dad send you here?" Lucas didn't answer at first. Instead, he took a hesitant sip of the coffee that was sent over by one of the waiters. "It must be pretty bad."

"Why do you say that?"

"Clearly you're not here to make extra cash. So that leaves one other explanation." She looked at him as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. "You're in trouble, aren't you?"

The smallest of smiles graced his mouth. "It's a long story."

"Well, I got like ten minutes to spare." She said, leaning back on the chair comfortably with her legs crossed and her arms folded across her chest. Lucas stared at his coffee for a few moments, not wanting to recount the events. After a heavy sigh, he spent the next five minutes telling Riley everything that had happened.

"It could have been a lot worse." She replied, her face melting into an overstated expression of sympathy.

"Yea, I know."

Riley sat all the way up, clasping her hands together on the table as she leaned towards him. "Look…despite your poor judgment or lack thereof, your friends are really lucky to have you in their lives. I would give anything to have someone stand up for me the way you stand up for them." She said, her gaze boring into his as he felt himself lose his breath for a fraction of a second. "But it's okay to walk away, Lucas. It's not worth getting in trouble for. Besides, you're just letting the bad guys win by allowing them to get a rise out of you. Don't give them the satisfaction."

Lucas fell silent for a moment as he thought about what she said. For the first time in a long time, he felt he could be a better version of himself. "Thanks, Riley. That…that means a lot to me."

"You're very welcome." She smiled, grabbing her coffee from off the table as she stood up. "Anyway, I promised my Mom that I help her out with the bakery. I guess I'll be seeing you around?"

He nodded, his eyes never leaving hers as a smile touched his features. "I'm counting on it."

She flashed him another smile before turning around and heading towards the back.

"Oh and, Riley?" He called out, causing her to stop in her tracks and glance over her shoulder.

"Yea?"

"You're right. This coffee is pretty amazing."

She smiled knowingly. "See you later, Lucas."

Riley Matthews was walking down the sidewalk on her trek home from the bakery as the sun was starting to set. She was extremely tired with tons of homework that had been assigned over the weekend to look forward to. Climbing the stairs of the apartment building that she lived in with both her parents and her younger brother, she unlocked the front door and entered the living room. She then threw off her sweater and walked over to the kitchen where her Mom was sitting down in front of the laptop talking animatedly on the phone and what sounded like a tense conversation. She looked through the fridge and grabbed a bottled water before joining her mother at the table.

"Yea, okay. I'll see you at the office on Monday. Uh huh, yep…alright, bye bye now." Mrs. Matthews got off the phone and released a heavy sigh, forgetting for a brief moment that her daughter was in the room.

"You okay, Mom?" Riley asked, concern coloring her voice as she looked up from the laptop to meet her worried gaze.

"Oh, Riley. I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I didn't notice you walk in." She said, reaching over across the table to give her a warm hug. "How was your day?"

"Business is good as usual." She replied flatly, noticing the troubled look on her mother's face. "Is everything okay?"

"Yea, yea everything is fine."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem fine, Mom. What is it?"

Mrs. Matthews looked her over for a moment before releasing a tired sigh. "Well, if you must know, Riley…I just got off the phone with one of my clients and it turns out the man I put away for fraud and embezzlement was granted early release by the courts. My team and I tried to appeal and reverse the decision, but it was denied."

Riley frowned. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Mom..."

Mrs. Matthews simply nodded, the disappointment still evident on her face. "Yeah...well…enough about me," She said hurriedly, wanting to get off the subject as she exited the Friar Case file from her laptop and smiled at her daughter. "I want to know everything about your new school."

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for reading! Any thoughts? Let me know.