(Last time in Iridescence)

"Riley, I – I have no words that can express how sorry I am."

"I have been so lost," Riley bit her lip to keep from crying. "And you didn't even see it." One last time, Riley took in a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Can you just give me some space for a while? I need time to process everything that's happened."

Maya watched Riley closely, realising that her stubborn friend was not about to let her come back that easily.

"If that's what you want."

"It's what I want," Riley said quickly, shutting the door of her locker.

"But I am not giving up on you Riley," Maya whispered.

X

"Come on," Lucas said. "We're getting out of here."

Lucas made the decision in those moments that he would never live to see the day when Riley's spark went out completely and he was going to be the reason to bring her back. He was going to re-ignite the hope she had for the world.

Chapter 9: Breakthrough

A/N: Kapow!

Lucas sighed, turning on his feet to face his small car, listening to the sound of the tone in his phone. Riley was still sleeping, and it was nearly ten in the morning, he figured that Mr. Matthews would be on his break about then in between classes, so he decided to give him a call. Lucas was not stupid, he had been raised well enough to know the difference between right and wrong and how to prevent a wrong.

"Hello?" Cory replied. This was going to be an interesting conversation.

"Hi Mr. Matthews. It's Lucas Friar. There was an incident before classes this morning and Riley got really upset." There was no right way to say the words, but they had to be said.

"With Maya?" Cory asked carefully. Lucas was surprised by his tone, it was as if Cory expected something like this to happen.

"Yes," Lucas replied, sparing any details. Riley hadn't shared much with him about what happened but he knew the just of the events.

"So where is she?"

"Maine," Lucas said slowly. "We went for a drive."

"You're where?!" Cory shouted. Lucas winced, even though he had expected an outburst from the girl's father he still wished he would be forgiving.

"Sir, you have to understand that Riley was falling into a black hole back there. She needs this. Please, I'll have her home safe and sound this evening."

"Since you're already there, I guess there isn't much I can do about it. So you better have her back safe, otherwise you best be sleeping with one eye open at night. Got it?" Mr. Matthews threatened.

Lucas swallowed the lump in his throat. "Y-yes sir." There was nothing in the world more intimidating than a father who loved his daughter.

"Be safe," Cory said before hanging up his end of the phone. Lucas looked back at the screen of his phone, sighing. He didn't enjoy being disrespectful of other people's rules, but Riley needed this. And Lucas would have done anything for Riley.

This day was already off to a rocky start, and he knew that if he wanted to make this day memorable for the girl in his passenger seat, he was going to have to step it up a notch.

X

When he first started driving, Lucas had no idea where he was driving. He didn't even know his own neighbourhood yet, let alone the city or even the state. All he had to do was take a quick look at the Atlantic Ocean and see the statue of Liberty and he knew; he knew exactly where he would be taking Riley.

The gas gauge sounded and Lucas realized he had been putting off purchasing gas until he drove through a town with a decent price. He sighed, and detoured to the nearest town. They were almost there anyways.

He began filling the tank, and watched Riley from the different angle. He wondered if she had actually been able to sleep at night, since she had slept the entire drive. Maybe everything that had been going on in her life was keeping her up at night. He couldn't really blame her, it just broke his heart.

The gas dispenser grip tightened against the car, and Lucas pulled it out, placing it against the tank again. He pulled out his wallet and walked into the store to pay.

On his way back to the car, he had to smile to himself. Maybe he was being selfish, but he had a good feeling about spending the day with Riley and spoiling her. Something maybe she wasn't used to. All of his attention was going to be directly at her. That was why he had a bag a sour gummy worms in his hands.

"Hey, Riley," he said softly, opening his door and taking a seat in the car. He smile to himself and turned to her.

Lucas began to panic when he saw that Riley's seat that she had been occupying for the past two and a half hour was empty. Frantically, he looked around the car, looking for any trace of the brunette girl. Anything that might give him a clue as to where she could have run off to. Riley was fragile today, acting unlike herself, so Lucas was unfamiliar as to how she might be acting right now, and whether or not she had left to go to the bathroom or possibly.

"Riley!" he called loudly.

He had two choices; either wait for her to come back and hope she's safe or start searching for her. Either way he promised her father that she would stay safe, and when she wasn't in his reach, then she wasn't safe.

In that moment he realized exactly where they were. A large sign with a large picture of a white flower stood about a hundred yards away from him. They were in Gilbert, a small tourist town on the coast of Maine. Knowing Riley, she would find her way to the place with the best view. Either that or the bathroom.

He wandered across the road, towards the ocean, walking along the board walk, hoping that his instincts were right.

"Riley?" he called again, whipping his head back and forth, not taking the time to enjoy the view just yet.

The ocean breeze felt cool against his skin. Riley couldn't have gotten far. He had only left her alone for a few moments. He turned around, deciding to check the opposite direction.

And there she was, throwing small pebbles into the ocean and sitting on a large rock across the beach. Her windblown hair flying gracefully in the wind. Riley hugged her knees as if to keep warm. She was still wearing a coat, but the autumn air was chilly.

She must have heard him coming, because she looked up at him in acknowledgement no clear expression, before focusing her attention back on the pebbles and letting them sink into the water.

Lucas took a seat on the rock next to her, and let himself enjoy the view.

"You know, I think this qualifies as kidnapping," Riley said after a moment of comfortable silence.

"Kidnapping?" Lucas laughed.

"I don't remember consenting to… this," Riley waved her hands in the air.

"Do you want me to drive you back to school?" Lucas asked, already knowing the answer. But she was right, maybe she should have asked.

"No," she said quickly, letting out a nervous laugh. "I could do without school for a little while."

"That's what I thought."

Riley let a sad smile brief her face as she drew shapes in the rock with her fingers. "It's really beautiful here," she admitted. "Where are we?"

"Gilbert, Maine. The most beautiful town on the east coast."

Riley scoffed. "According to who?" she asked.

"According to their sign." Lucas whipped a rock as far as he could into the ocean, and watched the ripples dance across the surface of the water.

"Hmm. I imagine it's probably biased. But it is pretty."

"I agree."

"Why did you choose Gilbert?" she asked.

"You did actually. I was just going to drive until something felt right."

"You were not," she shoved his shoulder playfully. Lucas always had everything planned to a T. He wasn't a huge fan of surprises. "But this place feels pretty right to me," Riley's sad smile never left her face.

"Riley?" he asked, watching her carefully, worried she would crawl back into her shell. "I don't want to make you do or say anything that you're uncomfortable with. I would never do that. But I think it might help to talk about it."

"It?" she asked, trying to feign innocence. She wanted nothing more than to just run forever and see what happened. Lucas saw right through her and wasn't about to let her push what happened away that quickly.

"Everything, but I think especially about Maya, clearly there is more to the story than you're letting on, and maybe it's been going on a lot longer than anyone thought."

She sighed, and focused on the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks. "Maya taught me that. She's taught me a lot, but how to hide my feelings was definitely at the top of that list."

"Why did Maya need to teach you that?"

"She didn't need to, in fact I don't think she even realized that she did. Now, it's not my story to tell, so I'll paraphrase; basically Maya has a history of people leaving her, she never trusted people easily for that reason. The people she cares about don't tend to stick around so what better way to avoid that pain then to not let people in."

Lucas sat further back against the edge of the rock, listening in detail, memorizing her words.

"How can someone not pick up on those signs when listening to her best friend destroy herself from the inside out? So maybe I don't trust people as much as I used to. I'm different now, and so is everyone else. They care about different things than they used to, and that's fine. It's natural. But for years, Maya would push down those thoughts and feelings, claiming they weren't important. But I could see right through her." Riley smiled sadly. "That's why we were best friends. That's just how we functioned."

"You're lucky to have someone like that." Lucas sensed a breakthrough.

"I guess nothing lasts forever though, does it?" Riley chuckled humourlessly.

Lucas frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"She couldn't see it. She couldn't see how much I was hurting. She thought everything was fine. And that's when I knew, because things were feeling worse, and she didn't say anything about it. How can you be best friends with someone who can't tell when your heart is broken?"

A lopsided frown tilted on his face.

"Riley…"

"No," she interrupted. "I think that's enough for now. You brought me here to distract me, right?"

Lucas nodded, watching her pull away from him. At least they were able to talk as much as they did. He didn't think he would even have been able to get as much as he did out of her, so he tallied it as a small victory.

They would get where they were supposed to be eventually.

"Then distract away," she said, jumping off the rock and smiling genuinely for the first time all day. "We are in a beautiful town, and we drove all this way. I'm starving, and I really want to see what's on the other side of that hill," Riley pointed across town.

X

Riley found a small deli where she and Lucas purchased sandwiches while having a gorgeous view overlooking the ocean. She conversed with Lucas enough to make him believe that everything might be okay. But Lucas wasn't fooled; it was a front, and she was doing a fairly good job too. To the untrained eye, it might even seem like normal Riley behaviour. But Lucas had seen Riley at her finest that first night they met, and the Riley he knew from that night was much more expressive and passionate than the Riley who was talking to him right now. That Riley knew what she wanted, and this Riley was only interested in making it through the day.

On the way into of the deli, Lucas found a shelf of brochures and grabbed a few of them. The turned out to be useful, and one of them stood out more than the others. Riley was inhaling the thick vanilla milkshake in front of her with a spoon.

She looked up at Lucas with a sour expression. "What?" he asked chuckling.

"Brain freeze," she cringed squinting her eyes hoping it would help the coldness in her body evaporate.

He had to laugh at her, because this was the closest she had actually come to the Riley he loved. When she seemed to be recovered from the freeze, she took another drink, and Lucas slid a brochure across the table so that she could take a closer look.

"Gilberts Stables and Trail Hikes," Riley read out loud. "The 'Maine' Attraction in the prettiest town on the east coast. Ha ha, very clever," Riley mused. She continued to read through the pamphlet in solitude, letting a small smirk slip onto her face every once and a while. "Sounds like a lot of fun," she admitted honestly.

"So you wanna?"

"Sure, but I might be a little rusty on a horse. It's been a few years since I've rode one."

"That's okay," Lucas replied. "I'll be off my game too, it's been three months."

Riley rolled her eyes at the cowboy in front of her.

"Are you two finished?" the waitress asked coming to their table and gathering the plates clean of any evidence that there were once sandwiches on them.

"I think so, we'll take the cheque," Lucas replied.

"Together or separate?" she asked, hopeful. Riley could see the lust in her eyes, watching Lucas. She imagined that in that moment the waitress was undressing him with her eyes. Normally, she would have minded, but right now, she wasn't in the mood. That and she understood how the girl felt. Lucas was gorgeous.

"Together," Lucas answered pulling out his wallet. Riley didn't miss the defeat that was evident on the waitresses face.

"Oh you don't have to do that," Riley stuttered, slightly flustered with his answer.

"I was raised to pay for the girl, Riley, please don't argue with me on this one, because I am not going to let you pay."

She leaned back in her booth, slouching slightly in defeat. "Fine", she huffed, with a smile threatening to betray her as Lucas watched her amused shaking his head. It was moments like this that make Riley so adorably attractive. Lucas just wanted to hold her and kiss every inch of her body.

He was actually beginning to believe that she had completely forgotten about that morning's activity, and he was thrilled that he was able to take away that burden even if it was just for a few moments.

He just had to wonder how long it would last.

X

Soon, Lucas and Riley found their way to the stables after a five minute drive out of town. The stables were beautiful, consisting of three conjoining red wooden barns, and beautiful landscaping. Lucas helped Riley up onto her horse before he got on his. Hers was a pinto, brown, white and black. The pinto was called Penny and when Lucas asked why she chose the pinto instead of the stunning black stallion, Riley shrugged and said, "She looks like she hasn't seen the trails in a while." It was true, Penny was a little rusty, but she and Riley worked in sync, coordinating perfectly. They were the perfect match.

It wasn't until later that Lucas realized that Riley chose Penny because Penny reminded her of herself.

Being on a horse again, walking the trails with their horses, it seemed to Lucas that he never left his horses at home. Riding came so naturally to him, it felt like he was back in Texas again. Except this time it was better, because Riley was right there beside him. That, and their view. They found there way to a trial that led along the ocean.

Riley rode along side Lucas, neither of them talking, but it was a comfortable silence. Which made things ten times better.

"What's your horse's name back at home?" Riley asked Lucas after a while, a content smile on her face.

"Conway," Lucas reminisced. "I got him north of Austin when I found of that some farmer was auctioning off horses for meat. Conway was there in the back all by himself, scared as hell, bucking at anyone who went near him. No one wanted him, but I saw the potential in him. He was angry and frustrated, and he really messed up my trailer that day on the way home. But things got better slowly. He figured out that I wasn't going to hurt him, and that I had the food. That horse never let me down."

Riley smiled, realizing Lucas and his horse were a lot like her and Maya. Maya was flawed, and she had really messed up Riley's life. But it had always been worth it; every second of it.

"You miss Texas?" Riley asked.

"Everyday," he admitted. "But then I see you. And it's worth it." Riley's gaze shot from the trail in front of her to Lucas, who was watching her in adoration. He knew it was a long shot and that maybe she wouldn't believe it. But it was true. He meant every word of it.

She studied him for a moment; still unsure, but settled back into the horse, petting her main.

"Come on, Penny. Let's show Lucas how fast a pretty pinto like you can really go," she leaned forwards and told her horse, grinning mischievously back at Lucas. He got the hint, and as soon as Riley took off ahead of him, he was right behind her.

"You're a lot better at riding then you lead me to believe," Lucas told her as they both slowed their horses to a trot. Riley smiled to herself, petting Penny gently.

"Maya and I took lessons every summer when we went to Philadelphia to visit my grandparents. I have the best memories from those summers."

"Tell me about it."

Riley smiled. "Well we started the lessons when I was 11 and I begged Maya to do them with me. But my second lesson, I fell off and broke my arm. Not only was I devastated, but I swore to never ride a horse. Maya loved the horses, but after I fell, neither of us rode for the rest of the summer. When I was 12, Maya dragged me kicking and screaming to those lessons. I was so terrified that I cried the entire time I was on the horse. But after I fed the horse a carrot and I hadn't fallen off yet so everything seemed to be okay."

"And look how good you've gotten."

"I never fell off again after that summer," Riley told him. "I think that first horse I rode just ate a rotten apple that day or something. I've never had a bad experience since then."

"Did you go last summer?"

"Uhm. No, we didn't. Uh, Maya and my Uncle kind of had a fallout a few months earlier and she didn't want to face him again," Riley admitted.

"You didn't go then?"

"No, I decided to stay in New York and work after that, so I could hang out with Maya," Riley frowned. Lucas watched her demeanour change rapidly.

"You put your whole summer on hold for Maya?" Lucas pushed.

"No," she replied harshly. "It wasn't like that. How was I going to know that Maya and I weren't going to be on speaking terms right now?"

"But-"

"Look, Maya is my best friend…" Riley started, pausing mid sentence, realizing her mistake and froze. "Was. She was my best friend. Uhm. I'm getting tired. Can we go home?" Riley said slowly, turning the horse around and trotting back down the trail.

Lucas sighed. "Riley wait…"

It only took a few minutes for Riley to fly back to the barns. Penny was faster than Lucas would have ever imagined. And it took his horse a few moments to catch up; especially considering that she had a head start.

Riley, led the horse to a slow stop, and one of the stable boys ran to help her down and to put the horse away. She hardly acknowledged him at all, jumping off the horse before he could extend his hand to help, and she ran off.

"Riley! Riley wait!" Lucas called, his horse trotting into the stable area behind her.

He jumped off, and made sure that there was someone there to take the horse. He hated to be rude, but making sure Riley was okay was a top priority. He looked in the direction she had ran off to, and saw that she was running back towards town. She was far enough away he'd have to run, but close enough that she was still in sight.

Lucas ran behind her, catching up quickly. His football athletics aiding him generously.

"Riley stop. You need to talk to me!" he shouted, slowing to a walk as he watched her stop completely. He could see that she was have an internal debate even from behind, but she finally turned on her feet, and she looked furious. She was crying recklessly.

"What do you want from me?" Riley cried, tears free falling, and not having the energy to wipe them away.

"I just want you to be happy."

"You want me to be happy?" she laughed humourlessly. "Doubtful, and impossible. I would need to undo these last few months, to undo all the hurt everyone's caused to me, and that is something I could never do. Because that would have meant that I wouldn't have you here right now."

"Why can't you have both?" he begged her.

"My friendship with Maya is the most important thing in the world. She's all I ever had, and now she's not here. I need here, but I don't know that I can forgive her. So what I need is to rewind everything that has happened. But I need you too."

"You have me," he grabbed her hands in his. "I hate seeing you like this and I know that we can fix this."

"How?"

"I don't know yet. But we will." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead before wrapping his arms around her.

A/N: I want a Lucas. Do you want a Lucas?