Author's Note: Wow! I owe you guys a major appology, this update is soo long over due! I've been busy, but have had a crummy week, so hopefully this will put a smile on someone else's face. It is done. I'm proud of it, and I'm hoping for a sequel, but I'm not too sure what it should be about, or where it will start. I will write most of it and then post it, that way y'all won't wait long for updates. It's been a great ride with these three and I'm not willing to give them up yet. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Have fun!

Chapter 8: Call to Action

The last day of school finally reared its ugly head Friday morning. I didn't want to even get out of bed, knowing I would not see Riley for three months after today. Unfortunately, I had to face the music, and earn a pay check, which meant get up and go to school.

Luckily, I didn't have to do much for my last day. I got the kids to clean up their desks and drawers, which made four huge garbage piles by the door, while I got my final bits of paper work done. That took all morning. In the afternoon, I let them watch a movie, and then we had a farewell party, with food, drinks, music, and everyone getting signatures in their notebooks with phone numbers and promises of 'we'll hang out in the summer'.

When three thirty rolled around, they all said their good byes and slowly left my classroom, a few even in tears. I knew I would miss these kids. They were my first class of my own that allowed me to be a coach as well. Not to mention my favorite student, who had yet to leave my room, apparently.

"Riley, are you okay?" She was sitting at her desk staring intently at her fingernails. She looked up at me, and I noticed she was crying. She ran up to me by the door, ready to bawl. Just like a habit, I picked her up mid run, and engulfed her in a huge hug.

"No. I don't want to leave. I can't leave you Mr. Bolton!" I tried calming her down to no avail. Of course, as my luck would have it Ryan was leaning in the door frame, with his arms crossed, watching this.

I smiled at him before I spoke to Riley. "Honey, I know you don't want to leave. But your dad's here now, ready to take you home for the summer." She didn't look up at me, she just continued to bawl harder on my shoulder. Crap. I looked to Ryan for help.

"Come on, Riley, honey. Don't you want to go home, and enjoy your break from school?" Ryan tried to soothe, putting his hand on her back, just as Sharpay had.

"NO! I can't leave Mr. Bolton!"

"Riley," I said knowing I needed to be firm, because looking at Ryan; I could tell he didn't know what to say to her to calm her down by the look of helplessness on his face. It was all up to me. "Listen, I need you to be strong for me okay?" I gently made her look me square in the face. "I need you to stop crying, because you know what? I'll still be here in September, when school starts again. I'm not going anywhere, and I know you aren't either. So where is your beautiful smile for me honey?" She looked at me, barely smiling at all; at least her tears had subsided. Ryan looked relieved at that fact. "Huh, that's all you got? Come on! I know how to get the perfect Riley smile," I said grinning at her. She looked at me quizzically before I started tickling her. In a moment all that could be heard were her squeals of laughter, music to both Ryan's and my ears.

"That's my baby girl." I said smiling at her. "Now, promise me you'll be good for your dad all summer! I don't want to hear anything bad when I get back in September, you hear?" Ryan laughed at that.

"I promise," She said sincerely. "Mr. Bolton?"

"Yes, Riley?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Riley." I hugged her then handed her over to her Ryan, who smiled at me as I did so.

"You ready, peanut?" Ryan asked her balancing her on his hip just like I had.

"Wait," she said. She motioned for me to come closer to her. I smiled as she kissed my cheek. "Good-bye Mr. Bolton."

"Bye Riley," I waved to her. "Bye Ryan," I said, but just barely choking it out.

"Good-bye Mr. Bolton, I mean, Troy. Thanks for everything, and I mean that." Ryan said, shaking my hand. I nodded, and then, for the second time in my life, Ryan Evans walked out of my life, my second chance biting the dust….

…or so I thought. Two weeks later, something proved me wrong. Dead wrong. Who was it? Well, it surprisingly wasn't Riley.

I was at the bookstore one day, trying to find some new books for my classroom next year. Well, that was half true. I was also bored to tears, and needed to get out of my apartment so I didn't go stir crazy. All I could think of sitting on my couch was Riley and Ryan, what they were doing, where they were, and how they were. I wished I could just pick up the phone and find out, but I had to respect Ryan's wishes. Even though I know he finally cracked in my classroom, realizing how much I meant to Riley and ultimately him, he still didn't say anything.

It was a beautiful warm Friday, and I was scrolling through the children's section when I felt two tiny arms wrap around my waist from behind.

"Mr. Bolton!" the owner of the arms squealed. I'd know that voice any where and immediately turned around and engulfed her into a hug.

"Riley!" I said, resting her on my hip. "What are you doing here?"

"Daddy brought me here to find some summer reading stuff, so I don't get bored."

"Speaking of your dad, where is he?" I asked, Riley still on my hip, and a smile plastered to my face.

"Behind you Troy," I heard with a chuckle. Hearing his smooth voice, I braced myself as I turned to look at him. Surprisingly, he wasn't wearing a business suit. He was in his jeans and t-shirt, with the ever present matching hat on his head.

"Hey Ryan," I said still smiling. God, he looked good. We continued to stare at each other.

"I missed you Mr. Bolton, and even though I'm not your student anymore, I still love you." Riley said interrupting our un-planned staring contest.

"Riley, I love you too, honey. I will never stop loving you." I hugged her fiercely, her head resting on my shoulder in complete peace.

"Ryan we need to talk."

"Troy, we need to talk." We both said simultaneously. We both laughed as Ryan motioned for us to go outside.

Once we were outside of the book store, I said, "Ryan, you go first."

"Okay, um remember when I said I could never let an uncertainty get involved in Riley's life, well, all my plans on that failed. They failed the moment you became her teacher. She was so taken with you as a teacher, your dedication to her never failing as an educator, but it went a step farther than that." He stopped to look at his feet. I could almost see him debating what he was going to say.

"You then became her friend, along with mine again, by taking care of her after school, just so I could keep my promise to her about picking her up from school. Slowly and surely she began to love you, almost as a parent." He took a ragged breath; it looked like he was about ready to cry. "She relies on you so much Troy, more than I ever thought possible. I can't let her lose that."

I opened my mouth to speak but he stopped me, holding his hand up, indicating that he wasn't finished. He was on a mission and wasn't letting anything get in his way. I stayed silent still holding on to Riley.

"I also can't lose you. These last two months, I've come to realize that as much as I hate it, I miss the constant feeling of wanting to pull my hair out that you give me, for how you can easily take control of any situation that usually leaves me flustered." He smiled, and it warmed my heart. "Like the day I was late from my meeting, and you walked out of your room with Riley in complete control. It leaves me flustered because you force me to relax, and take care of myself and family, and not work so hard. I really need that, especially now, because I took over my dad's position and Riley got ignored at first."

He took a step close to me, and put his hand on Riley's back. "Thanks to Sharpay who made me realize that I was doing it in the first place. But she could still rely on you, when she couldn't on me, and you will never know how much that means to me. And to be honest with you, I could really use your help with raising Riley. Parenting comes naturally to you with her, and I can't think of anyone else that I would want to have that position more than you."

He looked back down at his feet. "What I'm trying to say Troy is that, I love everything that you do, and everything about you, and I'm hoping you can give me a second chance at a relationship." He looked back up at me timidly. Almost as if he expected me to say no.

I looked at him for a minute, taking in everything he just said, not fully believing it. Apparently I was making him flustered again because he was starting to fidget. His hands were moving towards his hat, no doubt to adjust it, only for the sake of having something to do than just stand there. Before his hands could reach it, I stopped him. I didn't say anything to him, because really, after that speech, what could I say?

All I did was kiss him, our second chance was given to both of us. It was slow, and passionate, and just the beginning for our family.