Epilogue

Lucas stepped in front of Riley as they made their way onto the rooftop of the New York City apartment building. He turned to face her, placing one hand over her eyes as he held the door open with his foot.

"Close your eyes!" Lucas instructed her, pushing the door open wider and pulling her through the doorway so that they were both standing on the roof. "No peeking!"

"Lucas, I feel like I'm going to run into something," Riley told him, reaching out in front of her as if she was afraid that something was lurking around her. "I'm not very coordinated and when you take away one of my senses you know that I'm just bound to-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Riley lurched forward as her foot caught on a tiny groove in the pavement and Lucas reached out to grab her before she could land face first onto the ground.

"Oops," Lucas muttered, biting his bottom lip in an effort to suppress his laughter. "Are you okay?"

"Ow!" Riley cried, a playful tone to her voice as she took a much more graceful step forward.

"Sorry," Lucas apologized, and Riley could tell that he was smiling just by the tone of his voice. "I've got you, just keep walking forward."

"Where are you taking me?" Riley asked, her other senses very alert to everything happening around them. She could hear the cars on the street, smell sweet honeysuckle and gardenias in the air, but she still couldn't see where they were or how they had gotten there.

"Just a few more steps," he assured her, as he gently led her around a corner. "Okay, swing around here. Alright. Open your eyes."

Riley's eyes flew open and her breath caught in her throat. They were surrounded by lush greenery and a range of freshly bloomed flowers from elegant calla lilies to bright pink azaleas. Riley's gaze flitted from one section of the garden to the next, feeling completely overwhelmed by how beautiful everything was.

"Lucas," she breathed, unable to form the words to express how perfect this surprise had been. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I thought you might like it," Lucas beamed at her as he watched the way she grazed her fingers along the overgrown boxwood bushes near the entrance to the staircase where they had just emerged.

"You brought me to my own secret garden, Lucas," she shook her head in awe, shuffling over to the other side of the roof as she took in everything that there was to see.

"I figured that since the book was partly what brought me back to you a year ago, this would be the perfect graduation present," Lucas explained, letting the door to the roof close until it hit the doorstop and quickly hurrying back over to where Riley was now leaning over to smell the roses growing in the center of the garden.

"I love it," Riley turned back to smile up at him and he reached behind her to pluck a rose from the bush, careful to avoid the thorns.

"A garden symbolizes rejuvenation and growth," he told her, reaching out to hand her the rose. She happily took it and smiled gratefully at its fully bloomed petals. "And because I feel like we've done a lot of that these past two years, I thought that coming here before we go off to college seemed appropriate."

"It's perfect," she assured him, but frowned suddenly as she glanced down at her phone to see the time blinking up at her as a reminder. "But you realize that we get on a plane in less than two hours."

"I know that," he nodded, taking the rose from her hand and gently placing it behind her ear. "But I wanted you to see this before we left. And I called in a favor with the guy who owns it. He says you can come here whenever you want."

"Well, it's a good thing we're both staying in New York for college then," Riley told him, reaching up on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. She quickly looked around the roof as a thought occurred to her. "We are still in New York, right?"

"Yes, miss paranoid," Lucas assured her, leaning forward to brush a piece of hair out of her face. "But you were right - if we don't leave now we're going to be stuck here all summer and we won't get to see the beautiful gardens they have in Paris."

"And London," Riley added, moving her hands down his arms to rest them just above his elbows. "Did you tell Liam you were coming to visit him at Oxford while we're there?"

"I did," he nodded as he leaned back on his heels. "He was surprised - yet much more excited than I thought he was going to be."

"I can't believe my parents are letting me go on this trip with you," Riley dropped her hands to her side and started walking deeper into the garden.

"I can't believe it either," Lucas fell into step beside her and she automatically reached for his hand. "It's very unlike your father to be so cool about something like this, but I'm not going to question it. I'm the luckiest guy on the planet, let's just leave it at that."

"Even with his four conditions?" Riley asked, scrunching her nose together as they stopped at the part of the garden that led into four neat rows of flowers and shrubs.

"You guys, this place is like a maze!" Maya announced as she appeared at the entrance to one of the rows that was located closest to the edge of the roof.

"I didn't know marigolds were in season," Farkle chimed in, bending down to smell the flowers before looking up at Riley and Lucas in awe. "Hey, Lucas do you think you can ask the gardener if-"

"Now's not the time for questions, dearest," Isadora, Farkle's girlfriend, reminded him as she made her way through the greenery to stand next to him, rubbing his arm gently and leading him to a different part of the garden.

"Sorry beloved," Farkle apologized, linking his arm with hers and following slightly behind her.

"Ugh, gag," Maya mumbled under her breath, pointing dramatically at the couple as they made their way down the middle row of flowers. "You're incredibly lucky we're in this labyrinth-like garden maze and I can't get to you right now."

"Maya," Zay said softly, stepping forward to gently graze his fingers along her arm. "Come on, leave them alone, they're happy. And so are we. Aren't we?"

"Eh, to be determined," Maya shrugged, turning her head to smirk slyly at him before placing an arm around his shoulders and following in the direction that Farkle and Isadora disappeared down a moment ago.

Riley and Lucas watched their friends with wild amusement as they made their way through the rest of the garden.

"Yeah," Lucas answered Riley's previous question, turning towards her to place a hand on her cheek. "Even with his four conditions. This trip is going to be amazing because we'll be together and we'll have our best friends with us as an added bonus. It's going to be perfect."

"And when we come back," Riley prompted, raising her eyebrows at him as she waited for him to finish her sentence.

"We'll be together at NYU," Lucas added, his eyes lighting up at the thought of them attending college together.

"You're still sure that's what you want?" Riley wanted to know, her tone full of uncertainty. "You think you can be happy there?"

"Riley, I'm going to a great college to study English with the girl I love," Lucas reminded her, rubbing a thumb along her cheekbone as he took a step closer to her to fill the space between them. "What could make me happier?"

"This?"

With that, Riley leaned forward and in one swift motion she met her lips with his and the world around them seemed to become ten times brighter. Lucas pulled her even closer to him and they felt as though their lives couldn't be more perfect.

"Yep," Lucas mumbled, struggling to find his voice as he pulled back from the kiss. "That definitely made me happier."

"Enough you two," Maya chastised as she and the rest of the group met Riley and Lucas back in the center of the garden. "Let's get out of here. We've got a plane to catch!"

Hand in hand, Riley and Lucas followed their friends back through the garden to the roof's staircase that led to the lobby of the apartment building. Riley lightly tugged on Lucas' hand to hold him back as they let the rest of the group pass in front of them.

"Ready?" Lucas asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he stared into her eyes curiously.

"Just," Riley breathed, taking both of his hands in hers and smiling up at him. "Let's stand here a second. You and me, together. Breathing in the scent of the garden, feeling the sun on our skin. We made it, Lucas. Through all the obstacles, through everything that was working against us - we did it. And I can honestly say that I'm the luckiest person in the world because I got the privilege of knowing you. I got the privilege of loving you. And I'm forever changed because of it."

Lucas met her steady gaze with a smile. Her eyes were so full of love and admiration and happiness, and Lucas hoped that she could tell that he was feeling the exact same things.

"Well, you're just lucky I needed tutoring," Lucas joked, and Riley pushed his shoulder hard enough so that he stumbled backwards a few steps. "No, I truly believe that I would have found a way to get to know you somehow. Even if I didn't come to you for tutoring that day. Even if Jensen and my parents and Merritt never happened - I would have found my way to you."

"You believe that?" Riley asked breathlessly, her voice barely coming out above a whisper.

"I believe that," Lucas assured her, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her. "But for the record - I'm still the lucky one. I will always be lucky that you agreed to be with me."

"Fair enough," Riley smirked, rolling her eyes as she pulled back to meet his gaze.

"Okay!" Lucas clapped his hands together once as he raised his eyebrows at her questioningly. "What about now? Are you ready to go?"

"Europe, here we come!" Riley exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air and hurrying off towards the staircase to catch up with the others.

Riley was grateful for everything that had happened since she first met Lucas Friar. All the secrets, all the danger, all the heartache. It was a messy, roller-coaster of an adventure that led her to the life she had now. But she knew it wasn't over. New people to meet, more mysteries to uncover about herself and her friends, places to explore, knowledge to be gained. The adventure was just beginning. And she couldn't wait go through it all with Lucas by her side.