By Malice Through Agony
Important Chapter: It will include flashbacks that explain the Rucaya triangle and go back to present day.
Lucas Friar: Peyton Meyer
Riley Matthews: Rowan Blanchard
Maya Hart: Sabrina Carpenter
Josh Matthews: Uriah Shelton
Melanie Matthews Hart: Mia Talerico
Charlie Gardner: Tanner Buchanan
Katherine Jennings: Victoria Justice
Christmas Morning:
Riley was preparing their annual Christmas breakfast when she felt hands wrap around her waist and a warm kiss on her left cheek. She shortly came out of the shower and she had her hair in a messy bun while her body was covered in a oversized jumper with dark jeans and Tom's. Knowing who it was she turned around and greeted him with a proper kiss. One of the perks about having a one year daughter who sleeps a lot is that you have time to get a full sleep on Christmas morning. After a quick makeout session with her husband she returned to her cooking, while Lucas sat on the other side of the kitchen's island with a cup of coffee in his hands.
"Why did you leave bed early?"
Isn't it obvious? she asked herself. "Well Lucas do you want to make the breakfast?"
"No thank you. When are they getting here?" he asked as he sipped his coffee.
She glanced towards the clock on the stove. "Around nine or ten."
"Good." he said. "I love them, but sometimes it gets a little wild with three four year olds running around the house."
"Hey, don't blame them for being ready when we weren't."
"I know, but Zay's son...I don't know how they get him to sleep."
She laughed. "Vanessa has her ways."
Minutes passed and Riley heard a knock on the door, after opening it and being greeted by her best friend Maya and Josh with their daughter Melanie she sat them down in the dinner table.
"Why didn't Farkle, Smackle, Zay and Vanessa come with you?" Lucas asked.
"Zay and Vanessa took a plane to Texas on Monday last week because she wanted to spend the holiday with her family this year. Farkle and Smackle went to Paris for a business trip and decided to just stay there. Luckily for us we come every year." Maya said.
"Zay might be an NYPD, but that's nothing compared to an angry Vanessa. I can see why he decided to go to Texas." Lucas said.
After a simple laugh, Melanie burped.
"Melanie, that is not how we behave at breakfast."
"Sowwy, we only behave like that in house." She said smiling and taking a bite from her waffles. "When we open pwesents?"
"When we finish eating." Josh said as she tickled her stomach making her laugh.
"I just can't believe she's my aunt." Riley said as she eyed Melanie. "I mean what am I supposed to do when she realizes that?"
"She's gonna give you a hard time I just know it." Maya looked at Lucas then back at Josh with a smile. "Isn't that great!"
"How's work Maya?"
"Great actually, I thought I would have to deal with annoying high schooler's but they all seem to enjoy my class. One student even asked me to paint them a picture and they would buy it."
"How much you gonna charge?"
"They said they can pay up to $250."
"So how much are you going to charge?" Lucas asked.
"250." Riley answered for her best friend.
"See you know me so well."
"You guys rarely see each other and you act like you guys don't." Josh said. "How?"
"College can't separate us. She may have gotten a full scholarship, but we stayed in touch." Riley said.
"She told me everything, meanwhile i'm just studying 24/7. It's like we switched lives in college, I was supposed to go to all the parties not her."
"I wish I hadn't. Would've saved me a whole lot of suffering."
"I know," Maya muttered.
"How did you and Lucas meet?" Josh asked out of the nowhere.
It had been years since Lucas and Riley met for the first time and Josh never knew. "I fell onto his lap." Riley answered.
"Yeah, it was one of the best day's of my life."
"I'm still confused. I remember you saying you had to choose between Riley and Maya, how did that happen?"
Maya, Lucas and Riley all looked at each other. Not knowing what to say, Maya got up and carried Melanie, "Let's go open some presents."
"YYYYYAAAAAAAAYYY." Melanie screamed into Maya's ear.
Riley's smile widened. "She finally did it! YYYAAAAAAAAAYYYY."
"Okay! We got it!" Maya yelled as she took her daughter towards the Christmas tree where she placed her presents.
Riley followed. "I'm gonna go get Katherine." she walked off leaving Lucas and Josh alone.
"So tell me, how'd you guys get through it?"
"It wasn't easy. I told Maya I liked her, just not in that way. I guess she was still hung up on you because she told me a special guys holds her heart and i'm glad thats you."
He smiled. "I'm really glad she didn't give up on me when I told her we can't be together. How'd you tell Riley?"
"It didn't go according to plan. I remember walking into her room wanting to tell her..."
Freshman Year:
November 17, 2016
"I need to talk to you." Lucas said as he climbed through her bay window.
"About?"
He looked with a grin. "Remember when you fell on my lap? How nervous you were?"
She smiled at the memory. "Yeah."
"From that day my life changed, I didn't expect to change who I was for anyone. I thought I was going to get kicked out of that school anyways, but you made me want to change. You made me want to make a good impression on people and I didn't know why. Even though we were so uncomfortable with each other you were one of my best friends and..."
Riley stopped listening when she heard the word 'friends' come out of his mouth. That all he wanted friendship. He wants Maya, Riley thought.
"...I didn't expect to find myself in this mess. And it can go in many directions, but I know that I want to always have you both in my life. Losing you is like losing myself, I can't and I won't let that happen. This choice that I say can change our lives for the worst-"
"What type of friend am I if I can't decipher my best friends feelings?"
"What?" he asked.
"We are so alike. And it sometimes brings a smile to my face because we have somethings in common. We're summer rain, we rode on a white horse and you're one of my favorite people to talk to. But then I started realizing how much you care for Maya, how much you stare at her or try to make her comfortable. We tried dating and we barely talked to each other, we tried staying friends and all of the sudden I feel like I can tell you anything. But ever since Texas, you've had these feelings for Maya. You tried to kiss her, Lucas-"
"But I stopped myself-"
"You act on what you feel-"
"Because I-"
"Because you don't think!" Riley didn't realize how harsh that sounded. "I was hurt Lucas! You tried to kiss her!"
"You told me you saw me as a brother! How do you think I felt?"
"I was trying to protect Maya!"
"By hurting me?" Lucas asked. "Is that you're ideal of protecting?" He knew he was going off course, but he couldn't help it.
"What about yours? You're trying to comfort Maya and me with a lie."
"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked.
"You made your choice already. You just aren't telling anybody."
"I-"
"You're playing with our feelings and you don't even know it."
"You would've done the exact same thing."
"Don't compare me to this!"
"Then what do I do? What do you want me to do?"
"To just choose Maya already."
He clenched his jaw, how did she not know that his choice was her? How did she not know that she was the one he wanted to be with?
"Maya is your 'blonde beauty' you guys are like 'fire'. You guys have this bond that we will never have, and I see the way you stare at her. I can't stand another minute of pretending to not know what you're feelings are. You like her and she likes you."
"I...what about us?" Lucas asked.
"There's no us! We were just each other's 6th and 7th grade crush."
"We have something, Riley."
"And that can be friendship."
"Why are you doing this?" he bellowed.
"To protect myself from getting hurt, again."
"Again?"
"Texas, the campfire, you holding Maya with your hands, your faces only inches apart."
"I need you Riley," he said.
"You don't need me, you need Maya, you want Maya."
"Then why is something in the way of me trying to figure that out?"
"That 'something' is me. I'm in the way of you figuring out your feelings for Maya." Riley said.
"Riley I have something for you too and she's in the way of making me figure that out."
"That's the point, you're trying to figure out if you like me. You said you were worth it, I told you I liked you and you did the same. It shouldn't have taken you this long to choose if you liked me."
"I do." Lucas reminded.
"You don't."
"You think you know my feelings, but what I say and feel is a fact. And I like you Riley!"
"And when you say that about Maya," she snapped. "You mean it!"
"Why are you stepping back? She told you not to do this!"
"She doesn't know i'm doing this, because you're going to choose her."
"That's what you want me to do?"
"That's what you're going to do." She said.
"No! I'm not going to do that."
"I'm tired of arguing with you. If you don't tell Maya...I will."
"Oh, are you going to do the same thing Farkle did to you?" Lucas mocked.
"You really do make me wonder how much better my life would've been IF YOU JUST STAYED IN TEXAS."
He walked out of her room, both angry at each other.
Christmas Day:
Melanie unwrapped a present and smiled. "A Nabi?"
"Yes. You start school next year and I figured it's a right time to start learning how to read and write." Maya said as she kissed her daughter on the cheek.
"Okay. What else?"
She looked down and found a large box after unwrapping it her smile widened. "A DOLL HOUSE?!"
"Doll house?" Maya asked as she looked at Riley.
"Yeah, you have a lot of dolls why not give them a proper home?"
"Thank you." Melanie hugged her and Maya eyed Riley.
"Yes, thank you Riley. For buying my daughter toys when I asked you not to."
"I got you something else," Riley said as she walked towards the fireplace. "As your godmother, I am to take care of you and love you as if you were my own. Which means I can spoil you if I want to. So guess what!"
"What?" Melanie said jumping up and down.
She took out a small blue box. "I want to spoil you!"
"Yay."
She took out a diamond teddy bear necklace and wrapped it around Melanie's neck. "Do you like it?"
"I love it!" She hugged Riley and kissed her cheek. "Thank you."
She ran back to her dad and Maya walked up to Riley. "I'm gonna remember this. When you're daughter grows up i'm gonna buy her makeup and dresses and treat her like a princess."
"Can't wait." Riley said as she hugged her from the side.
UCLA/ College/ University/ California
Riley saw him! She thought she was hallucinating, but it was actually him. There's no way this is real, she thought. She locked herself in the bathroom and stared at the mirror. She saw a brunette with the right amount of makeup and a dress her parents wouldn't want to see her in, why did I agree to this? she asked herself. Her hair was curly and she could attract any guy if she wanted to. She let her friend talk her into showing up at this party, big mistake. That was the downside of being in a sorority.
She fixed her lace blue dress and she walked downstairs preparing herself to go to her dorm room. He can't be here, she thought. She passed people and made it to the front door when her friend grabbed her forearm.
"C'mon Riley, you aren't drinking or doing anything wrong, stay here for me."
"I don't know, Katherine. I want to go back to the dorm room."
"Not right now. I found this guy that really wants to talk to you, he's cute and well built."
Riley thought about it, she's spent the past hour not talking to anyone. "Fine, but he better be cute!"
They walked back outside and met the guy. He had light green eyes and brown hair, she definitely caught his attention. He looked at little two familiar, then it hit her. "Charlie?"
"Hey," he asked taking in her appearance.
"Yeah, hey. I didn't know you decided to come here."
"I'm guessing you two know each other." Katherine said as she looked at them both.
"We went to school together in New York." Charlie answered.
"I'm gonna leave you two alone to catch up," she said as she looked at Riley. "I'll be by the pool if you need me."
"You look beautiful Riley."
"Thank you. I...it's nice to see you."
"Yeah you too." He replied smiling at her.
I haven't thanked you guys for the Follows and Reviews, just know i'm really glad you guys enjoy this story. I decided to add flashbacks in this chapter because I wanted you guys to know how Riley and Charlie met in college. I want you guys to know what happens in the beginning so you can understand the end.
The next chapter shows how Riley and Lucas met.
Clarification: Riley named her daughter Katherine after her friend in college.
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