Buckle up, we're going for a bumpy ride. Very dialogue heavy.
Chapter Nine
"Well, they don't call it Texas A&M for nothing," Sienna remarked. Riley shot her a look. Sienna squeezed her head with her hands. "Sorry! I use sarcasm when I'm worried or stressed!"
"There's no way he's taking that scholarship," Riley deadpanned. "He stopped talking about that school when he turned fourteen. His heart is set on New York."
"I don't know what's gotten into him," Sienna shook her head. She leaned over the desk and grabbed Riley's shoulders, softly shaking her. "You gotta help me."
"Help you with what?" Riley scoffed, carefully pushing Sienna off of her. "Lucas made his decision."
"Doesn't matter," Sienna waved her off, returning to her seat. "Lucas doesn't want to be back in Texas. The only reason why he's there this summer is because of the internship, that's it. I'm sure you of all people would know that. Texas isn't his home anymore, Riley. It's here, with you."
"With me? Ha!" Riley snorted. "You do know your cousin and I aren't exactly on speaking terms."
"I know," Sienna nodded. "But I honestly thought you would've done something about it by now."
"Why not?" Riley asked. "You made it perfectly clear that I'm not good enough for him."
"But Riley!" Sienna whined. "I didn't really mean it! I knew it was gonna make you give up on him, that's the only reason why I said it."
"Well, it worked, Sienna," Riley huffed. "I've accepted that Lucas and I are never going to get back to the way they were. And I still hate myself for it."
"Do you still love him?" Sienna asked with hopeful eyes. She didn't even need to ask; she knew what the answer was. But, it was still nice to get a confirmation from the brunette herself.
"Of course I do; what kind of question is that?" Riley scrunched her face.
"Then help me out!" Sienna pleaded. "I don't think I can handle living New York if he's not here. Please do me a favor, please, please, please!"
"I already did you a favor by giving you back your job, Sienna," Riley replied. "And I thought you weren't getting involved?"
"This is a completely different situation, Riley," Sienna said. "It's not necessarily between you two but I mean, kill two birds with one stone, right?"
Riley rolled her eyes.
"You know you still care about him," Sienna said. "You know you'd get back with him if you had the chance."
"I'm never going to get that chance, Sienna," Riley whispered.
"Yes, you will!" Sienna argued. "If you help me to get him to stay."
"Sienna…" Riley's voice trailed off.
"He's not even coming back to here to get his things," Sienna sighed sadly. "His parents are going to send his things out to him."
"See, he doesn't even want to come back to New York to get his stuff," Riley replied. "Do you really think I can get him to change his mind? Of all people, me? After what I did?"
"I've been told you're very persuasive," Sienna pointed out. "And that you don't give up easily on those you love. Maybe this can be your way of resolving things with him. Come on, Riley, don't even do this for me, or yourself. Do this for him. You know he doesn't want to be there. I honestly think Pappy Joe forced him into it, he's always wanted one of his grandkids to follow his legacy into A&M."
The two sat in silence for a moment. Riley needed a minute to think. This would be the perfect opportunity to lay her feelings out for him and finally talk about the situation that Lucas had tried so hard to avoid. She took a deep breath before caving in. She knew she might regret it, but she had nothing else to lose. "Fine, I'll do it."
"Yay!" Sienna squealed.
"Alright, so why are we here, Riley?" Zay asked. Riley had asked her friends to have an emergency meeting at the bakery. It was like Riley and Maya's ring power, but for everyone in the group. If someone called an emergency meeting, they all came. It was a system they established after high school graduation. They knew that once college rolled around they'd be spending a lot less time together, so Riley came up with this system so that if anyone wanted or needed to talk about anything, they'd be there for them. It also showed that even though they're not all in the same college and they're all starting to head in different directions, they were always going to be there for each other no matter what.
"It's about Lucas," Riley said with furrowed brows. She wasn't sure how they were going to react. But they needed to know.
"Are you guys back together?" Smackle squealed, gripping Farkle's arm excitedly.
Riley shook her head somberly, "No."
"Then what is it?" Farkle asked.
"He got offered a scholarship to A&M and he's taking it," Riley said softly. She wanted to get straight to the point and not dance around the subject. "He's staying in Texas. He's not even coming back to get his things. He's getting them sent out."
"That little diva," Zay muttered.
"Not the point!" Riley snapped. "Lucas is leaving, guys!"
"Well, technically, he already left," Smackle pointed out.
"Smackle, now is not the time to be a smartass!" Zay said.
"Shut up Zay!" Farkle retorted, pulling Smackle closer to him.
"Guys!" Riley yelled. "Stop arguing."
Maya rolled her eyes at her friends' antics. Sometimes she wasn't sure why she was friends with any of them, especially when she thought she was the only sane one in the group. She said, "So Huckleberry's gone, shouldn't we celebrate?"
"Maya," Riley said sternly.
"Kidding," Maya said with a sheepish smile. "So you're doing something about this, aren't you? I thought you gave up on him."
"You know me so well, Peaches," Riley gushed, squeezing Maya's cheeks. "But Sienna talked me into it. And I mean, my feelings for him are stronger than ever so why shouldn't I fight for him? He needs to know how strongly I feel about him."
"You think that's going to make him change his mind about A&M, his dream school since he was a little boy?" Zay asked.
"You know he doesn't really care about A&M as much as he used to," Riley pointed out. "If he really wanted to go, he would've applied in senior year. But he didn't." Zay was about to say something when Riley continued, "And don't say that he only chose a college here because of me. Even if I wasn't in the equation, he still would've chosen to stay here. You know that."
"That sounds about right," Zay shrugged. "Well done, Riley."
"Don't patronize me yet, Zay," Riley shook her head, amused. "I have no idea if it's going to work."
"So what's the plan?" Farkle asked.
"I'm going to fly out with Sienna to Texas as soon as possible," Riley replied. She turned to Farkle. "And I need your help with that. Do you think you can get me on a flight?"
"Of course I can," Farkle responded. He whipped out his phone and began tapping away. "I'll text you your flight details."
"Thanks, Farkle," Riley said. She turned to Zay. "And I need you not to contact Lucas and ask about the scholarship and whatnot. I promise I'll keep you guys updated if anything happens."
"Oh, come on, Riley!" Zay threw his arms in the air. "What makes you think that I'm going to call Lucas and talk to him about it?"
Before Riley could answer, Maya spoke up quite loudly, "Because you have a big mouth!"
Zay put a hand to his chest and gasped. He nodded, "Haha, yes I do."
The others rolled their eyes.
"So you're all supporting my plan?" Riley asked, seeking approval.
"Of course, Riley," Smackle nodded.
Maya rested her head on Riley's shoulder, "You know we'll always support you."
"Yeah," Farkle and Zay replied.
"Good," Riley smiled. The last thing she needed was to have them talk her out of it, especially with how hard Sienna tried to convince her to do something about it.
"Oh, and Maya?" Riley rested her head on top of the blonde's.
"Yeah, Riles?"
"I'm gonna need you to not kill Evan while I'm gone, okay?" Riley asked.
"I make no promises," Maya snorted.
Before Riley could forgive herself for what she did, she needed to forgive someone else first. On her day off, she went to the bakery to talk to Evan. She couldn't stand him anymore after what happened, but she was still partially to blame. And she also wanted to apologize for the mixed messages she sent him that night.
"Um, hey, Evan," Riley said when she approached the boy at the counter.
"Hey, Riley," Evan forced a smile. "What are you doing here? I thought we had an agreement."
Riley swallowed, "Yeah, we do. I just… I just wanted to talk to you about something. Are you busy right now?"
Evan looked around the bakery. They had just opened, so they weren't too busy. They usually got busy around noon. Evan shrugged, "No, I can talk."
"Okay, good," Riley replied. "Uh, let's talk outside."
Riley led Evan outside, and sat at one of the vacant tables. Riley hadn't exactly planned this little meeting, so she wasn't too sure where to start.
"Everything okay?" Evan asked when he noticed the worried look on Riley's face. She wasn't worried. She was just… confused.
"Um, yeah," Riley confirmed. "I just don't know where to start."
"This is about Lucas, isn't it?" Evan assumed.
"Isn't it always?" Riley laughed dryly. "I wanted to apologize to you for blaming you for everything. It wasn't fair to you when I kissed back. I'm sorry for leading you on."
Evan bobbed his head and watched as he played with his hands on the table, "I figured. You don't have to apologize for not having feelings for me. But I get it. You were vulnerable and I honestly shouldn't have taken advantage of that. It's just that… you're so pretty and honestly, I had just gotten over a breakup. I'm not even entirely sure at this point that I had any genuine feelings for you."
"Well, that makes sense," Riley shrugged.
"Yeah," Evan looked up at her. "I'm sorry for kissing you."
Riley lifted the corners of her mouth to form a soft smile, "I forgive you, Evan."
"Really?" Evan stared at her with confused eyes. Riley nodded. "I caused you so much shit with your boyfriend, though."
"I know, but you weren't wholly to blame," Riley explained. "I was, too. And I need to forgive myself for that. I needed to forgive you first in order to do that."
"You're such a nice person," Evan commented.
"I wish I could say I was, but I'm not," Riley shook her head. "I make mistakes, too. And I gotta fix those mistakes."
"I honestly do hope you and Lucas work things out," Evan said and offered a warm smile. "You seem so smitten with him."
"Thanks," Riley smiled. "I love him."
"Again, I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble," Evan looked back down at his hands.
Riley reached for his hand, offering a friendly gesture. She assured him, "It's okay. Shit happens."
"So are we good?" Evan asked.
Riley nodded, "We're good."
"So now that we're friends I hope it's appropriate for me to say this," Evan said. "Lucas scares the shit out of me."
"What, really?" Riley raised a brow. "You two met?"
Evan nodded, "He confronted me before his flight. Almost punched me square in the jaw."
Riley's eyes grew wide. She never liked Lucas's violent nature, but it always surprised her when that side of him surfaced.
"Oh my god, I apologize on his behalf," Riley gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
Evan chuckled, "It was my fault for provoking him by being an arrogant jackass."
Riley and Sienna's flight was very early the next day. Sienna took the window seat on the plane because Riley swore that sight of how far off the ground they were would only add to her sickness. She already felt sick to her stomach because of the thought of facing Lucas again. She wasn't quite sure if she could do it.
As soon as they settled into their hotel room in a little outside of downtown Austin a couple of miles away from Pappy Joe's ranch, Riley couldn't help but pace. She was starting to worry even more. She barely got any sleep on the flight because her thoughts were consuming her, and she thought she would be able to drown them out when they landed, but nope. Her anxiety was coming at her at full force.
Sienna watched as the nervous brunette walked around the room, muttering to herself. She couldn't quite make out what Riley was saying. Sienna could only assume that she was giving herself encouraging words.
"Sienna, I don't think I can do this," Riley said, finally sitting down on one of the two beds in the room. Sienna moved to sit beside her.
"Sure you can!" Sienna retorted. "This is Lucas we're talking about."
"Why did you think I could do this?" Riley sighed.
"Because you're Riley," Sienna replied. "And I know that my cousin loves you very much. No matter what he says. You guys just hit a rough road, but honestly if it's any two people who could overcome all of this, I know it's you two. Your love is stronger than anything I've ever seen."
"All of that doesn't matter though," Riley answered. "What if he doesn't hear me out?"
"Believe me, he will," Sienna assured her. "You gotta believe in yourself. Believe in him."
"Thanks, Sienna," Riley offered a smile, then hugged her.
After they pulled away from the hug, Sienna checked her phone for the time. Sienna knew it was Lucas's day off, so it was the perfect time to send Riley to talk to him. "It's almost time, Riley. Your ride's going to be here soon."
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Riley took a deep breath.
"You're going to thank me later," Sienna grinned. "Good luck, my future cousin-in-law!"
Riley took an Uber to Pappy Joe's house. On the way there, she mentally gave herself a pep talk. She wasn't sure how this was all going to turn out. One part of her was so sure that it would work, that he'd forgive her after hearing the elaborate speech she had planned out. But on the other hand, she knew the chances of him forgiving her were very slim.
Once she arrived at her destination, she took in her surroundings. She remembered the times she had visited with Lucas. Nothing much had changed since she was last there, but then again, she was there just last year. She walked carefully up to the front porch. Her heart began to race. She stood in front of the door and took a deep breath. She balled her hand into a fist and knocked on the door.
Lucas was in the living room when there was a knock on the door. He figured it was one of his Pappy Joe's friends, so he got up to answer it. He frowned when he realized it was a certain brunette. He slammed the door. He was about to return to his spot on the couch when the knock on the door resumed, but a lot louder and more aggressive. Lucas groaned and turned back to the front door. What the hell did she want?
He opened the door again and rubbed his temple. He knew he couldn't ignore her. And even if he did, she'd probably spend the rest of the day banging on the door anyway. "What are you doing here, Riley?"
"I wanted to talk to you, Lucas," Riley said, playing with her thumbs.
"You travelled two thousand miles just to talk?" he raised a brow.
"Well, it's not like you're answering my calls or texts," Riley shrugged nervously.
"And what makes you think I'm going to let you talk now?" Lucas challenged. Riley saw the hurt in his eyes. Yup, he totally wasn't over it.
"Because there's an elephant in the room and we need to discuss it, figure things out," Riley replied. She lightly pushed past him and entered the house, much to Lucas's dismay. She headed straight for the couch and plopped down on it. Lucas didn't really want to talk to her, but she was already inside and he knew it would be a pain to try to force her to leave. So he proceeded to sit on the opposite side of the couch from where she was. He didn't really want to be close to her. "And I'm already here so it's kind of hard for you to deny me this right."
"Right?" Lucas scoffed, he crossed his arms over his chest. "More like a privilege. And I can deny you if I wanted to."
"But you're not going to," Riley said calmly, "because I know you."
Lucas rolled his eyes and looked in the opposite direction of her. He was very uninterested in all of this, though deep down his heart was racing and he wasn't exactly sure why.
"You never let me explain myself the last time I saw you," Riley said when he didn't respond.
"Okay, fine, say what you need to say," Lucas looked at the brunette. "But I'm warning you now that whatever you say probably won't change things."
Riley took a deep breath. She nodded, understanding how low her chances were.
"First and foremost, I'm sorry," Riley began, turning her body to face him. "I'm sorry I kissed Evan. The kiss meant absolutely nothing to me, but I get that what I did was still wrong. I take full responsibility for my actions but I know taking the blame isn't going to magically solve things. And if you want an excuse as to why I did what I did, the only reasonable explanation I came up with was that I was vulnerable at the time and I needed comfort. I needed you. But when I realized you were in a different state, I somehow found the comfort from Evan. The entire time he was there with me, though, I thought of you."
Lucas scrunched his face in disgust every time she brought up Evan's name.
"Now I don't expect you to forgive me right away—or ever," Riley continued. "But know this. I broke your trust and I'm sorry I did but I will spend the rest of my life trying to prove to you that you can trust me and that nothing like that is ever going to happen again. You know why? Because I love you, Lucas. I've loved you since the day I fell into your lap. We've built up a strong relationship over the years, and I know that we can overcome anything—even this. But it has to be a mutual decision. I want to overcome this. Do you?"
"No," Lucas said flatly.
"I don't want to throw away all of this," Riley said, referring to their relationship. She frowned. "I know we can fix things."
"I don't think so, Riley," Lucas responded, shaking his head. "I don't think this changes anything. You still cheated."
"I know, and if I could take it back, I would!" Riley shouted. She was never one to shout. "I felt guilty then and I still feel guilty now. I'm going to have to live with the guilt forever. But you know what? I'm okay with that as long as you forgive me and tell me that things are going to work out, that things are going to be okay between us. You are so important to me, Lucas. I hope you know that."
Lucas sat there, processing Riley's words. He wasn't sure what to think. He wanted to tell her to leave, but at the same time, he wanted to hear whatever else she had to say. So when Lucas didn't tell Riley to leave, she decided to take the conversation elsewhere. "Um, so I heard about A&M."
"Who told you?" Lucas whipped his head to her direction.
"Sienna," Riley said. He should've known. Sometimes Sienna just couldn't keep her mouth shut. And if Sienna was involved in this, he was certain that she was nearby. Sienna had a reputation of scheming.
"Is Sienna with you?" he asked.
"At the hotel," Riley confirmed.
"Is that the only reason why you're here?" Lucas asked. "Because Sienna wanted you to make me go back to New York? I knew she was upset about it when I told her."
"No," Riley's face fell. "I genuinely want to make things right between us. I can't lose you, Lucas."
"Looks like you already did," Lucas scoffed.
"Please come back," Riley pleaded, her voice cracking.
"You don't get to make decisions about us anymore," Lucas said with a straight face. "I'm taking that scholarship."
"Come on, Lucas," Riley pleaded. "Don't go. Come back to New York. Be with me, with Sienna, our friends. I know you don't want to go to A&M."
"Who are you to tell me what I want?" Lucas's voice got louder. "You know I've always wanted to go to A&M."
Riley shook her head, "Not ever since you moved to New York and fell in love with the city." And me, she thought.
"There's nothing more to say, Riley," Lucas sighed, looking down at his feet. Riley shook her head, hoping that he didn't really just say that. He then looked her in her brown, chocolate brown eyes. "I'm done."
"Fine," Riley bit her lip, maintaining eye contact with him. When she realized she couldn't get through to him, like she used to, she released a defeated sigh. She shook her head then got up and exited the house, holding her tears back.
Now Riley believed in a lot of things, in a lot of people, but she also knew when to give up on a lost cause. And this was one of them. She already fought for him, made her voice heard. None of that mattered, though. Lucas was done with her, and she couldn't do anything about it.
Last chapter is up next! While you all wait, why don't you go check out my latest Rucas oneshot, A Long Way to London, if you haven't already. As always, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!