A week has passed since Riley and Lucas broke up. Lucas has been calling Riley every day since then but Riley never answered. Sometimes she wanted to. She imagined the perfect words she wanted to hear and she hoped Lucas would say them. But she still felt hurt and she wasn't ready to talk to him yet. Maya was avoiding Josh as well. He called her once, the day after they hanged out. She didn't answer. Instead it went to voice mail. Josh said he had something to tell her and that he hopped she could call him back. But Maya didn't. She texted him once to tell him she'll be busy painting for a while. Josh said he understood and asked her to call him when she gets a chance. She needed space to try and get over him. She refused to be an addict, like her father, even at the cost of losing Josh forever. She needed to take care of herself first. Sometimes it was too hard not to call back, for both Riley and Maya, so they would give each other their phones to avoid the temptation.

Lucas finally decided to fight for Riley with everything he has. After ten days of calling and getting only Riley's voice mail he got up and went to her house to try to talk to her in person. He didn't want to give up on them. He hated his parents for how they treated her and he knew Riley had every right to be upset with him. He pushed her into something she wasn't comfortable with. He was wrong and he knew it. When he reached Riley's apartment and put his hand out to ring her bell, he froze. He started to sweat and his heart started to beat even faster. What is he going to say? How is he going to make this better? How do you say 'I'm sorry my parents suck, please date me anyway'? He sat on the stairs in front of her apartment building, taking some more time to think about everything. At around the same time Josh was approaching the Matthews residence. Maybe even hopping deep down that Maya will be there too. He saw a boy who looked kind of familiar sitting on the stairs in front of the door.

"Hey. Lucas right?" Josh asked the boy sitting on the stairs.

"Yes. Oh, you're Riley's uncle." Lucas smiled.

"It's Josh." The boys shook hands and Josh sat down next to Lucas.

"So what are you doing here?" Josh finally asked.

"I screwed up and Riley won't answer my calls so I came here to talk to her in person so she can't ignore me but I chickened out and now I am just sitting here waiting to gather up some courage." Lucas explained. "Are you here to see Maya?"

"Maya? What? No." The mention of Maya's name made his heart skip a bit. Why does it keep doing that? "I am always here. I come here all the time. If Maya happens to be here and I see her than that's great but I am not here to see her specifically." Josh mumbled. "Funny enough I also have to talk to Riley. I tried calling her but her phone has been turned off for the past two days."

"Yeah, that might be my fault. Sorry about that." Lucas said.

"That's fine. Are you gonna go in there any time soon?" Josh asked.

"Eventually, I hope." Lucas said with an anxious smile.

"What do you need to talk to Riley about?" Lucas asked.

"It's personal." Josh quickly answered.

"Is it about Maya?" Lucas tried again.

"Where is this Maya thing coming from?" Josh quickly asked.

"Come on dude, you're clearly into each other. I saw it the day I met you." Lucas said.

Josh's heart fluttered at the thought. "What?"

"Yeah. You are both terrible at pretending." Lucas insisted.

"She never said anything." Josh responded.

"She doesn't have to say it. You can see it from space." Lucas kept saying.

"Crap." Josh simply said.

"Look I know you have a girlfriend but it's not that bad." Lucas tried to comfort him.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Josh responded.

"What?" Lucas was shocked.

"We broke up." Josh explained. "About a week ago, actually."

"Because of Maya?" Lucas asked.

"Because I didn't love her." Josh answered. "So maybe a little bit because of Maya."

"Do you love her?" Lucas asked.

Josh swallowed a big lump before answering. "I love spending time with her. She makes me laugh and she makes me feel all warm and safe, you know." He was scared to say.

"So why did you say crap when I said she is in love with you? Isn't that a good thing?" Lucas wondered.

"It's complicated." Josh said.

"Then uncomplicated it. She likes you, you like her. Stop messing around." Lucas advised.

"If you are such an expert on love, how come you are sitting here on the steps with me and not with Riley?" Josh shot back.

"I might be an idiot but I am not blind. I see the way she lights up when she sees you. And if you think it's not mutual, you're mistaking." Lucas said.

"You saw us together like once, for a minute." Josh protested.

"And that one minute was enough to know." Lucas persisted.

Josh didn't say anything. He looked straight ahead, thinking.

"Why are you really here Josh?" Lucas asked.

Josh hesitated for a moment. "Because I need to talk to Riley."

"About what?" Lucas kept trying to get him to say it.

"What do you want me to say? That I love Maya? That I've always loved Maya? Fine, I love her. That will never change. But I've known her too long. We practically grew up together. I've know her since I was 7. That's most of my life. We had sleepovers in the same bed. I took her and Riley trick or treating two years in a row. It's too weird. She's younger than me and loving her felt weird. I felt like a creep trying to pursuit my little cousin's best friend. I tried to get over her. Amanda is really nice. And she liked me. I thought if I can't get over Maya with her then I can't get over her with anyone. For a while I fooled myself into thinking it could work. I was with Amanda and that was like a wall and I thought finally I can be just friends with Maya because I had a girlfriend but that was dumb. And I couldn't stay away because it feels like I can't breathe when she's not there. I mean, we haven't spoken in a week and I've been losing my mind missing her. And last week we sat next to each other talking about Taylor Swift and it was the happiest I have ever been and then Amanda showed up and it felt like a cold shower and I felt like I was dying. And Maya, you should have seen Maya. She looked like I broke her. Her face… I hoped I wasn't right. I really hoped she didn't like me. That would have been so much easier. I am not good for her. But I need her in my life. She is the only thing that brings me joy. And the second I saw her face, the way she looked at me and Amanda, I knew I was fooling myself. I figured she liked me but I still hoped I was wrong. But if even you can see it… I wasn't doing what's best for her I was just staying away out of fear. Because I suck at relationships. Things never work out for me and I can't lose Maya so I couldn't risk it. I know her, she was in pain and I felt like the biggest jerk. She looked the way I felt. I tried calling her to tell her I was an idiot and I broke up with Amanda but she needed space. And I get it. And I don't know how to be around her and not hurt her. I don't know if she needs a friend or something more or nothing from me so I need to talk to Riley so she can tell me how to fix this." Josh let everything pour out in one breath. It felt like a huge weight has been lifted off of his shoulder. Weight he had been caring for a long time, longer then even he realized.

"You could try talking to her." Lucas stated the obvious.

"She lied to me. She said she was going to paint because she knew I know how isolated she gets when she's in the zone. I really hurt her. She never lied to me before." Josh said.

"How do you know she lied?" Lucas wondered.

"Because I know her. Last week was the first week of the month and she never paints on the first week of the month. She spends it looking for inspiration. It's very important to her and if she misses it, she doesn't paint at all for the rest of the month." Josh explained.

"She is a bit weird." Lucas said honestly.

"I think she's really adorable." Josh said. "Also have you seen her covered in paint? It's so hot."

"Dude, you got it bad." Lucas said.

"Shut up."

"No, I get it. I liked Riley since the moment I saw her. I knew I loved her since the third tequila shot we drank the night we met. That's why I am here trying to make it better. Because I know I can't spend the rest of my life without Riley Matthews." Lucas said. Josh smiled and put his hand on Lucas's shoulder in support. He got up.

"I should go. You should go upstairs and stop being an idiot. Go apologize to Riley and tell her she comes first, before all the crap, before anyone else. She comes first. And you better mean it. Otherwise i will kill you." Josh said.

"You know Maya's probably upstairs, right?" Lucas asked.

Josh nodded. "That's exactly why I shouldn't be. She asked for space."

"Only because she thinks you don't love her. But you do. You should tell her." Lucas advised.

Josh sat down again. "What if that's not what she wants anymore? What if I can't deliver anything past the declaration of love?" Josh wondered.

"You have some failed relationship, so what? Who doesn't? You said she made you feel all warm and safe, has anyone else but Maya ever made you feel like that?" Lucas asked.

"No." Josh said honestly.

"Maybe that's why it never worked out with anyone else. It wasn't meant to." Lucas said wisely.

"Are you just too scared to go upstairs by yourself?" Josh asked.

"Maybe so, but that doesn't change the fact that I am right." Lucas concluded.

XXXX

"What are they doing down there? It's been like 20 minutes." Maya was getting more frustrated by the minute. The girls saw Lucas and Josh talking trough their window.

"They don't even know each other. They are just doing this to mess with us some more." Riley responded.

"Josh is now standing. What could they possible be talking about? They have nothing in common." Maya said.

"He sat down again. Are they gonna stay there all day?" Riley wondered.

"If they do, I am moving in here. I am not leaving while Josh is out there." Maya said.

"What are you gonna do if he comes in?" Riley asked.

"Climb out the window, of course." Maya said.

"Of course." Riley confirmed.

They looked out the window again. They saw Josh leave and Lucas stand up and head to the door.

"Well, I guess I don't have to climb out the window." Maya said.

Riley hugged her tight. "I am going to kill my uncle."

"Don't bother. What am I going to do with you in jail?" They heard Lucas knocking on the door.

"Go get your guy back." Maya said and smiled.

"I don't have to go. I don't even know what to tell him. We can stay here forever." Riley said.

"No we can't. No matter what we say, the world is a bit bigger than just the two of us and that's not always a bad thing. So go, let him beg for your forgiveness and be happy. I'm gonna go home, just in case it goes really well and you'll call me after with all the details." Maya said and forced a smile.

Riley hesitated for a while then she nodded. She went to her front door, meanwhile Maya climbed out the window and headed home. Riley opened the door with sweaty palms and a fast beating heart. Lucas stood on the other side of the door as perfect as ever. He smiled and it melted Riley's heart.

"Hey." Lucas said.

"Hi." Riley responded.

"So I don't know if you know this, but apparently your phone is turned off." He said.

"Oh really. Huh, that's weird." She played along.

"Yeah it is. And then the pigeon I sent with a message got lost too."

"I didn't know we still had the message carrying pigeons. Is that a rich person thing?"

"Well I'm glad the pigeon wasn't here to hear that because that would've broken his heart."

"Something tells me you're not here to talk about pigeons." Riley said. They both moved further into the living room and Riley closed the door.

"I messed up." Lucas jumped right in there. "I messed up and I am so sorry. You were right to walk away. I should have done it sooner. I should have been the one who told my parents off and grabbed your hand and walked into the sunset with you. And I'm sorry I didn't. I'm sorry they were rude and wrong and I'm sorry I pushed you in the first place."

"Am I the first girl they disapproved of?" Riley wondered.

"Yes, but you are also the second one they ever met. And the first one was in primary school." Lucas explained.

"Wait a minute. You introduced me to your parents after three dates and you expect me to believe you've never introduced them to anyone before?" Riley didn't believe it.

"No one else mattered." Lucas said and melted her heart. Riley shook it off and refused to get off track.

"Your words are very sweet and it would be so easy for me to fall back into a relationship with you because I'm falling for you. Hard. But your mother was right about somethings. And we can pretend not to see them now but eventually they will come up and it will be so much harder when I love you so much more and I am tired of heartbreak." Riley said honestly.

„Then let's talk about it. Let's bring up everything you think will break us up and I will prove to you that none of it matters." Lucas was relentless.

"Fine." Riley accepted. "I'll make a list."

"I'm surprised you haven't done it already." Lucas said.

"I did. I just didn't want you to know it." Riley admitted.

"You can bring it out."

"I memorized it." She said.

Lucas smiled lovingly. "Of course you did."

"Okay. Let's start." Riley said strictly as soon as they sat down on the couch. "Number one. What if your parents cut you off financially?"

"That changes nothing since they don't pay for anything. I work two jobs and I pay for everything myself."

"But what if they gave you an ultimatum? Like break up with her or you're not allowed to come to Christmas dinners anymore. What if there's a family event that you have to attend and can't bring me? What if they say they will never speak to you as long as you are with me?"

"I love you Riles. I think I could love you for the rest of my life. Whether we're together or not. So nothing else matters. And I can't let you go because I would rather love you with you in my life. I am standing here, begging you to forgive me because you come first. Before money, before my parents, before any other crap. All I'm asking for is a chance to prove to you with action what I'm saying to you now with words. So please come here so I can kiss you." Lucas declared.

"What about tomorrow? Or next month? Or in a year? Will you feel the same then or will you subconsciously hate me for ruining your relationship with you parents?" Riley was still scared. Scared to trust someone again, scared to let go, scared to love. Lucas looked at her with a soft smile and moved closer to her. He leaned his forehead onto hers and closed his eyes while holding her hands.

"Riley Matthews" he whispered. "I love you. I love you. I love you. And I am going to keep saying it, until you hear it and feel it and you know it and then I'll still keep saying it because it will still be true. You might be filled with doubt right now but I can be sure enough for the both of us for right now. And I am absolutely sure that I could never resent you. It isn't possible. It could never be possible."

Riley closed her eyes too as she listened to his words. She bit her bottom lip and a tear rolled down her cheek. She believed his words. She knew he meant it. Maybe she is overthinking everything. She just wanted to shut her mind and kiss him. So she did. He kissed her back instantly. They tangled each other in each other's limbs, hungry to compensate for the time they lost. Riley broke the kiss to take off her shirt. That caught Lucas by surprise.

"Take off your shirt." Riley commanded. Lucas grinned wide and obeyed. Riley laid on her back with Lucas on top of her. They kissed and took the rest of their clothes off. Riley just hopped her parents won't be coming home soon.

XXXX

Maya took the long way home. It was one of those days. It was cold outside and she wished she had a warmer jacket with her. She put her headphones on and played her music. She did not want to be alone with her thoughts. She walked slowly down all of her favorite back streets that weren't crawling with tourist. She finally reached the inside of her apartment building. She climber up the stairs to the fourth floor instead of taking the elevator. She reached the last step and stopped. She saw the last thing she expected to see. Josh was sitting in front of her door.

A/N: I got a lot of nice messages and a lot of people urging me to update and continue this story and I just want to take a minute to thank each and every one of you. Including the ones who read it without commenting. I want you to know how much it means to know that someone carred enough about a piece of writing you decided to share with the world to respond to the writer. Writing is very vulnerable and personal, even when you write about character you didn't create yourself. And at the times when I doubted myself or struggled to figure what's next for these protagonists, I could always turn to your kind words. I am sorry I don't update more offen, I wish I had more time but thank you for stuicking it out with me and I hope you'll continue to love it and read it until the very end. We get to see a lot of Josh's perspective in this one and I leave you with a bit of a cliffhanger. Hope you enjoyed it