Quick disclaimer, I know nothing about A&M and veterinary clinics and stuff like that. But I'm sure Lucas does.

Chapter Eight

Farkle and Zay tried to contact Lucas multiple times after he hung up on them, but to no avail. Lucas had made it pretty clear that he wanted nothing to do with the unusually drunk brunette. The boys, however, didn't buy it. They knew the couple had been through too much to just throw everything away. Cheating could never, ever be justified, but because it was Riley and Lucas, their friends knew they'd work something out.

Maya was now angry at Lucas for refusing to talk to her. She hadn't done anything wrong, she had told him that she wasn't supportive of what Riley did, yet Lucas decided to ignore the blonde. With Lucas being hard to reach and Riley acting out, there was no telling how soon the two would be able to resolve their issues. But Maya left it alone, she was there to enjoy a night out with her friends.

Maya ditched Farkle and Zay in the lobby, as they were still trying to get a hold of Lucas. They knew he wouldn't answer, but they still tried anyway to get their point across that Riley was not okay. The blonde made her way to the bar and sat with Smackle and Riley. Riley was still in the same position they had left her in moments ago.

"Come on, we're going dancing," Maya grabbed Riley's limp arm. The brunette didn't respond.

"She's sleeping," Smackle said, detaching Maya's hand from Riley's arm. "I take it Lucas didn't take the news too well?"

"He didn't even care," Maya muttered. "He didn't even want to talk to me. I told him I was on his side! He wouldn't let us explain."

"He's so stubborn," Smackle shook her head. She put a hand over Maya's. "But he has every right to be. He's still upset at Riley. Who knows how long it will be until he's willing to hear her out. You're her best friend, if he's cutting ties with her he's going to cut ties with you too."

"I'm just trying to help," Maya sighed in distress. All she wanted was her best friend to be happy. And the type of happiness she couldn't give her could only be given to her by Lucas. "I honestly thought Riley would be able to handle a few more drinks. Guess we're going home. I don't care what he says, Lucas is going to thank me for this later for not leaving Riley alone to die of alcohol posoining."

"You'd do it even if it wasn't for Lucas," Smackle pointed out.

"I know," Maya said. "But it's nice to be appreciated. I swear I take care of Riley better than he does."

"You two have entirely different relationships with each other," Smackle said. "You two take care of her in different ways, have different kinds of feelings for her."

"Doesn't matter," Maya waved her off. She wasn't in the mood for this conversation. "Let's take her home."

The boys met up with the girls again and Zay carried Riley back to the car. It was a quiet car ride home. They were starting to lose hope for the couple.

Zay carefully put Riley on her bed once the group arrived at the Matthews apartment, to which she reacted by fluttering her eyes open. Her friends surrounded her, releasing sighs of relief. During the ride back, they were almost certain that the brunette had stopped breathing. It was an over exaggeration, but they were all seriously worried about her.

At first, Riley looked around in confusion, noting that the last thing she remembered was sitting at the bar when Smackle came to join her. When she realized she was home and that her friends had taken care of her, she burst into tears.

"Oh my god, don't cry, Sugar!" Zay jumped. He thought something had happened to her when he carried her to her room. "Did I hurt you?"

Riley shook her head as she continued to sob. She sat up in her bed. Maya and Smackle sat cross-legged on either side of the brunette, while Farkle and Zay sat at the food of the bed.

"I can't thank you guys enough for being there for me," she said in between sobs. She sniffled as the girls wrapped their arms around her. "I don't usually act like that."

"We know," Farkle offered a small smile.

"I could've done something stupid," Riley said. It was why she didn't like drinking too much. Sober Riley had very high self-control and always contemplated all consequences of situations before she put herself in them. When alcohol was in her system, who knew what she was capable of?

"You drinking that much was stupid," Zay pointed out. "Something bad could've happened to you."

Riley cried once again, "I only did it because of Lucas."

"Well, duh," Smackle replied. She shrugged. "You never go clubbing without him. We kinda figured."

"I regret it," Riley wiped the tears from her eyes. She sniffled. "I regret tonight. All I want is Lucas. I shouldn't have gone clubbing. I shouldn't have drunk. It's not what he would've wanted. I should be fighting for our relationship. I-I.. miss him so much…" She sobbed once again.

The four exchanged looks, and luckily Riley was oblivious to this since she was preoccupied in trying to control her breathing. No one wanted to tell her about the phone call they had with Lucas earlier. It would only hurt Riley more. It would discourage her from trying to fix things with him. It would make her lose hope. And Riley didn't like losing hope.

"You need some sleep, honey," Maya suggested, carefully laying the brunette down on her bed. "It's been a long night."

Sienna hesitantly opened the doors to Topanga's. As much as she hated to admit it, Lucas was right. Sienna enjoyed working at the bakery, and she shouldn't let this small mishap ruin her happiness. She still wasn't sure if she could face neither Riley or Evan, so she was glad when she spotted the blonde at the counter with a clipboard. She took a deep breath and approached her.

"Um, hi," Sienna said meekly.

Maya looked up from the clipboard and was pleasantly surprised to see Sienna in front of her. She raised both eyebrows then smiled softly, "Sienna, what are you doing here?"

"Uh, I kinda want my job back?" Sienna replied hesitantly. She avoided the blonde's gaze. "If that's cool…"

"Can we talk about something first?" Maya said. Sienna had a feeling it had something to do with her cousin and a certain brunette. "About Riley and Lucas?" She was right.

Sienna closed her eyes and sighed.

"I just need to tell you something important," Maya said.

"I don't want to hear it," Sienna snapped. She suddenly didn't feel so nervous anymore about getting her job back. "I'm already here begging for my job back whose owner broke my cousin's heart. I really don't want to deal with this right now."

Maya groaned and rolled her eyes, "Boy, you and Lucas really are alike. We called him last night and he wouldn't listen either."

"Well we have every right to refuse conversation," Sienna said, folding her arms over her chest.

"This is important though," Maya said. "If you want your job back we gotta talk about this. You're gonna be working with Riley and Evan. We need to get your feelings out in the open. We need to know if you can do your job without your personal issues getting in the way."

"Lucas told me to get my job back," Sienna admitted.

"Now why would he do that?" Maya asked. "Does he want you to get revenge on Riley or something?"

Sienna took a seat at a vacant table. Maya followed and sat across from her.

"It's not like that at all," Sienna said as she played with her hands. "I really liked this job. I was starting to like New York. You guys are the only people I know in the city right now and you've all helped me adjust with Lucas gone. He was proud of the progress I was making. He just wants me to be comfortable."

"So nothing to do with Riley?" Maya pressed.

"No, all me," Sienna confirmed.

"Well, in order for you to be comfortable, you gotta talk about it," Maya said. She got up and told Sienna to stay put before she disappeared to the back. She returned moments later and gestured for Sienna to go see Riley.

"So I hear you want your job back?" Riley said as she scribbled in the balance book. She heard footsteps approach her and she didn't need to look up to realize who it was.

"I do," Sienna confirmed, standing in front of the desk Riley was sitting at. She sighed when Riley didn't look up. She sat down in front of her.

"Now why in the world would you want your job back?" Riley's eyes shot up to meet Sienna's green ones. Riley had fairly quickly gotten over her hangover from her binge last night and was undoubtedly in the right state of mind to be having this confrontation with Sienna.

"This has nothing to do with Lucas," she quickly said. She knew what Riley was thinking. If Maya had thought that Sienna only wanted to sabotage her, then of course Riley was going to assume the same thing.

"Okay…" Riley's voice trailed off.

Sienna explained her situation to Riley, and in the process, they got to the topic of Sienna having to see Riley and Evan often again. The two worked things out, as they both decided that Sienna had nothing to do with it, and that if the situation happened without Sienna as a witness, the entire scenario still would've played out similarly. It was Riley and Lucas's problem, not Sienna's. Riley was willing to put it behind them, as long as Sienna was willing to do the same.

So Sienna and Riley reconciled. Riley gave Sienna her job back with one condition—Sienna had to make things right with Evan, too. Sienna wasn't too thrilled with the idea, but it was Riley's only condition and it wasn't such a hard task to complete. The girls were very content that they had resolved their personal issues, and Riley saw this as an opportunity to bring up her need to get Lucas back.

"Okay, so we're friends again, correct?" Riley asked. When Sienna nodded with a soft smile, Riley chose her next words carefully. "You know how much I love your cousin, and we all know I made a huge ass mistake. He won't even answer Farkle or Zay's calls anymore. Do you think you can help me make things right with him?"

Sienna sighed. She had expected that question from her. She just didn't think it would take her so long to bring it up. In truth, she did want them to get back together, but it was hard for her to picture it considering the circumstances they were in.

So she lied, "I don't think you're such a great match for Lucas."

"What, why?" Riley was shocked by her response. Just weeks ago, Sienna gushed at how 'made for each other' the couple seemed to be.

"Well, for one, you cheated," Sienna pointed out.

"Fair," Riley mumbled. "I thought we were friends again."

"We are," Sienna nodded. "But it doesn't change my opinion on the situation. Sorry."

Ever since Lucas got back to Texas, he had been extremely busy, more than usual. And Dylan was right. Lucas was officially offered a scholarship to A&M days after his return. Although he knew about it beforehand, he still couldn't help but be genuinely shocked by the offer. He didn't give them an answer right away, he needed some time to think about it.

When Lucas finally had time to himself, he decided to check in with Sienna. With his phone in his hand, he sat down on the couch in Pappy Joe's living room and propped his feet up on the coffee table. He was silently thankful that Pappy Joe wasn't home because even though Lucas was twenty years old, he knew his grandfather would still scold him for resting his feet on the table.

Lucas pressed Sienna's number on his screen and held the phone to his ear with his shoulder. When she heard her pick up, he greeted, "Hey, sorry we haven't talked since the day I flew back here. Did you get your job at the bakery back?"

"Hey, Luke," Sienna replied on the other line. "That's okay, I was busy anyway. And yes, I did get my job back! Riley and I talked about our personal issues so I guess you could say we're on good terms. Not great terms, but it's a start. I'm still bitter… but not as much as before."

"That's good to hear," Lucas was genuinely glad that things were starting to get back to normal for his cousin. All he wanted for her was to be comfortable in New York. But truthfully, he didn't want to listen to her go on about her and Riley's mending friendship, so he brought up the reason why he called. "Listen… I wasn't sure if it was actually going to happen so I didn't tell anyone but I got offered a scholarship to A&M."

"Really? That's great!" Sienna replied with artificial enthusiasm. She was proud of her cousin for getting the offer, but she also didn't think too much about it. She knew for sure he wasn't going to take the offer. She knew he wasn't going to leave behind his life in New York to go back to Texas. She knew he wasn't going to leave Riley for good. So she let him talk about how he got the offer and the details behind it.

For the next couple days after Sienna had gotten her job back, she and Riley slowly got back into whatever budding friendship they had beforehand. Riley also frequently reminded Sienna about the deal they made. Sienna did build up the courage to talk to Evan, but their shifts never seemed to align, her schedule was more similar to Riley's.

Finally, Sienna had a shift with Evan a week later. He didn't know she was back. She knew she'd have to talk about it with him either way. Her shift started later than his, so when she got there he was already there. She took a deep breath. She approached him.

"Um, hi," Sienna said, trying to catch Evan's attention. Evan immediately recognized the voice. How could he forget a voice that said such rude things about him? When Sienna realized he was ignoring her, she groaned. She tried again. "Evan!" Still no reply. He tried to preoccupy himself by rearranging some of the display cases.

"You're making it seriously hard to apologize to you," Sienna snorted. That seemed to catch his attention. Evan looked up at her.

"You're here to apologize?" Evan asked.

Sienna nodded, "Riley gave me my job back and I felt that it was only fair that I apologize to you. You know, so things don't get awkward."

"But why should I accept your apology?" Evan challenged, propping his elbow onto the counter then rested his chin on his hand.

"Because it's none of my business," Sienna replied. She sighed. "I'm sorry for what I said, Evan. I was angry and I felt the need to butt myself into the situation. I really shouldn't have done that. Whatever happened between you and Riley is your issue, and I get that now."

It was Evan's turn to sigh. "It's okay. I don't blame you. You were just looking out for your cousin. I get it. And I'll admit I was being kinda selfish."

"You were," Sienna agreed. She was somewhat surprised at how easy it was to reconcile things with Evan, the way she fixed things with Riley. Maybe verbal confrontation with level-headed temper was a good thing. She quickly added, "No offense."

Evan chuckled and waved her off, "You know, your cousin came to talk to me when he was in town."

"Oh, right," Sienna said. "He told me what he was going to do. I didn't stop him. I should've, but I didn't."

"Maya intervened before anyone got hurt," Evan explained. "I wish he punched me, hit me—something. I deserved it. But at the same time, I glad he didn't… He's kinda scary."

"He's only scary when he's angry," Sienna shrugged casually.

Sienna still wasn't over what happened between Riley and Evan, and the way it affected Lucas, but she was glad her life was getting better. She was glad she was starting to forgive. If only Lucas would do the same…

When Lucas didn't accept the scholarship to A&M right away, they added extra perks to the scholarship in hopes he would seriously consider it then. When he requested some more time to think about it, he was given a strict deadline. He was in no state of mind to be making such big decisions, but he needed to decide.

If you asked him a year ago if he wanted to go to A&M, he would've said no. Up until he moved and got accustomed to New York, his dream school was A&M. Since he was little, he had dreamt about attending that school someday, thanks to Pappy Joe being an alumni and sharing stories about his time there. But when Lucas adjusted to the New York lifestyle, he decided right then and there that he would have his college education there. Contrary to popular belief, no, Lucas didn't choose to stay in the city just because of Riley. He really grew to love the city and was fascinated by how much it contrasted his hometown. Riley also being in the city was just a bonus.

Lucas was torn. His younger self would've been thrilled to have been given this opportunity. But now it's just a burden. He didn't care about the school. Mostly what he cared about was his internship. The clinic wanted to keep him as an intern until he finished his undergraduate studies. Lucas had learned a lot ever since he started the internship, and he was never more certain that veterinary medicine was what he wanted to get into. A longer internship would give him more opportunity, connect him to other doctors, and it would look great on his resume.

He looked at all the pros and cons of taking the offer. And even then, he still couldn't decide. His deadline was coming up. He didn't know what to do. So, he turned to his Pappy Joe.

When he returned to Pappy Joe's home one night after a shift at the clinic, Lucas found his grandfather sitting on a rocking chair on the front porch. It was Pappy Joe's favorite place to be at night as he breathed in the crisp Texas air.

"I don't know if I should take it," Lucas said. He didn't have to explain further; Pappy Joe knew exactly what his grandson was talking about. Lucas took a seat in the vacant rocking chair beside Pappy Joe's. It was his grandmother's before she passed.

"Well, you don't have much time left," Pappy Joe said.

"I know, that's why I came to you," Lucas sighed. He looked up in the sky and stared at the stars. He then shifted his gaze to his grandfather. "What should I do?"

"I don't think I should be making your life decisions for you, son," Pappy Joe said, pushing himself on the chair.

"Okay," Lucas said flatly. "Help me decide then."

"Well, as far as I can remember, you've always wanted to go to A&M. It was your dream school," Pappy Joe mused. "Why didn't you apply in senior year?"

Lucas shrugged, "Things change. Priorities change."

"You still want to be a veterinarian?"

"Of course," Lucas laughed. "That much hasn't changed. I love the city, though. I can't imagine leaving it to come back and live here. Texas doesn't feel that much like home to me anymore. But the internship… wow, I've never learned so much! The clinic is amazing. I love it there. For my internship to be extended is an honor and extremely rare there according to Dylan."

"If you think the clinic has given you opportunity, then you have no idea what A&M is like," Pappy Joe said. "It'll be beneficial for you too. Trust me."

"But what if—"

"You trust me, boy?"

"Of course, I do, Pappy Joe, but—"

"I just want what's best for you."

Sienna received a text from Lucas in all caps letting her know that he made his decision about A&M. He accepted the offer. Sienna felt her heart drop to her stomach when she read the text. Never in a million years did she think Lucas was going to go back to his life in Texas. She didn't want him there. Part of the reason why she agreed with her parents on moving to New York was because her favorite cousin Lucas lived there, and it would be like old times. Lucas knew this and had been thrilled when he heard the news that Sienna and her family were moving. And now Sienna felt betrayed that Lucas was abandoning her.

She needed to do something about it. She needed to get him to change his mind, to come back to New York. Texas wasn't his home anymore, New York was. And to Sienna, New York was home now, too. Sienna came up with every plan she could think of, but none of them compared to the first one—a plan she knew that would work but she didn't want to put into action. But she was desperate, so she needed to.

Sienna had a shift with Riley that day she got the text. So when Sienna was on break and Riley was in the office, she decided to pay the brunette a visit.

"Look, I know I said you're not a good match for my cousin," Sienna said as soon as she sat down in front of Riley. "But I only said that because I knew it would make you give up on him. Truth is, you're perfect for him. I promised Lucas I wouldn't get involved, but I have a pretty good reason to."

"Sienna, what's going on?" Riley asked, closing her laptop to shift her full attention on the girl sitting in front of her.

"Riley, he got a scholarship to A&M," Sienna said softly. The sadness was evident in her eyes. "And he's going to take it."

"A&M, the one in Texas?" Riley gulped.

So as of now, there are two chapters left. I'm currently working on my next Rucas multi-fic which should be up shortly after this fic is finished. I'm very excited about it! And also I'm writing a possibly lengthy Rucas oneshot based off Goodbye. The show may be over (for now) but I will keep writing Rucas fanfic until I'm out of ideas, honestly. So let me know if you guys are interested in the multi-fic and/or the oneshot! Thanks again for all your support!