A/N: Thank you all so much for making this story such a huge success (for me at least)! It's been so much fun working on this story for all of you. But alas, all good things must come to an end. And now, for the final chapter of this story. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own it.

*One Month Later*

Lucas opened his eyes and smiled. Today he was going to be able to spend the day with his friends. He got ready for the day ahead of him, and then looked out the window. The sky was covered with gray clouds, making the whole city look depressing. But that was okay. It was another day that he was breathing and he was going to be able to enjoy it with the people that he cared about most. Lucas picked up his sunglasses, just in case, and headed out of the apartment to pick up Riley.

The air that morning was cool and crisp. Lucas inhaled the air and sighed. That morning, the air felt great inside his lungs as he continued on his way.

Once he approached the Matthews' apartment, Lucas saw Riley sitting on the steps waiting for him. He stopped right in front of her, and once she saw him, Riley stood up, happy to see him.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," he replied.

"Maya texted me just before you got here. She said her and Farkle would meet us at the diner."

Lucas took ahold of Riley's hand. "Sounds good to me," he responded as he placed her hand in the crook of his arm and began to lead her down the sidewalk.

Ever since they got together, Lucas saw that he was lucky to have someone like Riley in his life. It wasn't until a month ago that he realized how lucky he was to have her. Riley was able to help him through the toughest part of his recovery. It wasn't always easy, especially with all the highs and lows he felt over the past few weeks, but it didn't matter. Riley was always there for him, ready to help him over the next obstacle. He was truly blessed.

It didn't take them long to reach the diner. Once they were there, both Riley and Lucas quickly scanned the place to see if Farkle and Maya were already there. When they didn't see them, Lucas led Riley over to a booth.

Once the two were settled, Riley looked up at Lucas. "How are you doing?"

"Good… better now," he replied as he wrapped Riley in his arms and kissed the top of her head. For the most part, Lucas was pretty much recovered. However, the nightmares would return to haunt him. Majority of the time, it would be the same one. The rest of them were slightly altered, but they all had the same results. Whenever this happened, Lucas would text Riley, and then Riley would call him back once she had woken up enough to be able to help. They developed this system soon after Riley found out about his first nightmare. It was working, too. The last time Lucas had one of those dreams was about a week ago, and the frequency that they occurred reduced significantly. Lucas was hoping that he would be out of the woods very soon.

It didn't take much longer for Maya and Farkle to show up at the diner, hand in hand. They sat across the table from Riley and Lucas and caught their breaths.

"Sorry we're late," Farkle began. "I had a tough time trying to get this one out of bed," he said as he nudged Maya in the side.

Maya rolled her eyes. "Excuse me for liking my sleep, especially on weekends. Besides, how you woke me up wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do."

Riley's eyes widened. She knew far too well that there was a right way and several wrong ways to wake Maya up. "Uh on, what did he do?"

"Scared me half to death by banging on my window," Maya responded while turning to Farkle. "You're lucky that window was closed."

Farkle threw up his hands in defense. "Hey, you didn't respond to any of my twenty texts. I was coming over to pick you up like I said I was, and I was going to get you up one way or the other. Granted I didn't expect a pillow to be thrown in my direction with great precision…"

"It was five texts within the span of ten minutes," Maya deadpanned.

Riley and Lucas tried to keep from laughing at their two friends' argument. They all knew that Maya needed more time to get up in the morning, but apparently only Riley knew to what extent, thanks to Auggie trying to wake Maya up one morning.

"Yeah," Riley said, "Maya needs at least twenty minutes to get out of bed. And that's on a good day."

"Duly noted for future reference," Farkle replied as he picked up his menu.

The four friends glanced over their menus and placed their orders when their waitress came over a few minutes later. Maya was the only one out of them to order off the breakfast menu, considering she woke up not that long ago.

Their waitress returned soon after with their drinks, and then left them to take care of her other customers.

Immediately, Maya and Riley began chatting about their events. Neither of the boys could keep up with what was being said between the girls, so they started their own conversation.

"So, how have you been doing?" Farkle asked.

"Still improving," Lucas replied, and then took a sip of his drink. He told Farkle some of what he's been going through a couple of weeks ago. The only one who knew the details was Riley, considering she was directly involved. "I never realized how much that event affected me, but I have great friends to help me through it."

Farkle nodded. "It also helps having a great girlfriend like Riley to help you through it, no matter what time of day."

Lucas nodded, wrapped his arm around Riley, and brought her in closer to him. This caused Riley let out a surprised squeal.

"Hey! I was talking to Maya!" she exclaimed.

Lucas looked into Riley's eyes. "And you can't do that from here?"

"Not if we're talking about you," Riley teased.

"Were you?"

Riley shook her head. "No, we weren't."

"We were talking about Farkle," Maya added.

"What!" Farkle exclaimed as he turned to face his girlfriend.

This reaction earned a great laugh from both Riley and Maya. "Don't worry, Farkle," Maya finally said after the laughter died down. "I was just teasing you."

Farkle glared at Maya, but he wasn't able to stay that way for very long. He took Maya's hand in his and shook his head.

"You know you love me," Maya said, then decided to change the subject, "So, who's ready for Thanksgiving break?"

All four friends raised their hands at the same time. It had been a long semester, and it wasn't even over yet.

"I can't wait to have time to recharge," Riley commented. "I feel like all the teachers think that you only have their class, so they dump all of this work on you! Then you have to pick and choose what you're going to turn in. I'm surprised I haven't fallen asleep in one of my classes yet. I know I've come close!"

"Amen to that!" Maya exclaimed.

"Oh come on guys," Farkle began. "It's not that bad."

Three pairs of eyes fell on the genius. Farkle's eyes shifted from Maya, to Riley, to Lucas, then back to Maya. "Okay, maybe it is a bit like that."

Their waitress walked over towards their booth with a tray in her hand. She set the friends' food in front of them and smiled. "Enjoy your meal!"

"Thanks!" the four of them replied, and they began eating.

They ate in silence for majority of the meal, all of them too hungry to pause and talk for a bit. Once Maya finished majority of her food, she looked up at Riley and Lucas and asked, "Any plans for after this?"

Lucas and Riley looked at each other and shrugged. "Other than walking around the city for a while, not really," Lucas replied.

"We're heading over to the cinemas, you're welcome to join us if you like," Farkle offered.

Riley shook her head. "Maybe over break. You two enjoy your time together."

"You both sure?"

Lucas nodded. He loved hanging out with his friends, but after this, all he wanted to do was spend time with Riley. "Yeah, you two have fun."

The waitress returned. "Will you be ordering any dessert today?"

All four friends looked at each other and shook their hands. "No thank you," Riley replied. "Not today."

She smiled. "Have a good day," the waitress replied as she placed the check face down on their table and removed their plates.

Both Lucas and Farkle reached for the check and grabbed it at the same time. Neither friend was willing to let go of it despite the glares they gave each other. Finally, the bill split down the center, and the two young men glanced at their half.

"Ha!" Lucas exclaimed triumphantly, seeing that he had the half with the check's total. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet to get out the cash he needed.

Farkle slumped in his seat, not happy that Lucas beat him to the check yet again. For once he'd like to pay for one of their outings. "Fine, you get the check, but I'm paying the tip!"

Lucas chuckled as he placed his wallet back in his pocket. "Alright, buddy."

Once Farkle had placed the appropriate amount of money on the table, the four friends stood up, paid for their meal, and headed out of the diner.

"It was nice doing that again," Riley commented.

Maya nodded. "Yeah, it's been a while since the four of us have done something like that."

"That's the truth," Farkle agreed. "Hey Maya, we better be going if we're going to catch that movie."

"Okay," she responded. Riley and Maya exchanged hugs before the two couples headed on their separate ways.

As Riley and Lucas made their way down the sidewalk, the sun came out from behind the clouds. The sudden change in light made Riley squint unwillingly. Knowing he brought his sunglasses for a reason, Lucas unclipped them from his shirt collar and handed them to Riley, to which she gladly accepted them.

Once she put them on, Riley looked up at her boyfriend and smiled. "How do I look?"

Lucas returned the smile. "Like the person I love," he responded as he wrapped his arm around her.

"You're no fun, you know that?" she joked.

"I beg to differ!" Lucas replied in mock annoyance.

Both the teens laughed as they continued down the sidewalk.

"How does going to the park sound before I walk you home?" Lucas asked.

"That sounds great."

The two headed into the park and walked around it in silence, enjoying the scenery and each other's company. Sometimes, there was no need for words, and this moment was one of them. After a while, they came across a bench and sat down. Riley leaned her head on Lucas' shoulder and let out a pleased sigh.

Lucas looked down at Riley and smiled. He was blessed to have her in his life. Every day that he gets to see her is a good day. Every time he gets to spend time with her, it's a great day. Every time he gets to say 'I love you', and she replies 'I love you, too', it's an even better day. Lucas brought Riley a bit closer to him and sighed. He knew that he needed Riley in his life. It would kill him if he ever lost her for any reason. Yes, he knew that he was still young yet, but he hoped that someday in the future he would ask her a certain question that would guarantee them being in each other's lives forever.

Lucas took ahold of Riley's hand and gave it a gently squeeze. It's a pretty good day… it's a pretty good life with you.

A/N #2: Thank you again to all who have read this story! I couldn't have done it without all of your support. It's been such a crazy time, and you helped me stick to this. Keep an eye out for my future works! I have another multichapter brewing, and I will be posting a special one shot on Christmas. ~cowgirlangel95 out!