Long time no update, hope you like it :)

Chapter 6

Riley eased open the door to the vet clinic with one hand as she approached the counter. This time, the face sitting behind the counter was a familiar one. "Terry! It's so nice to see you!" she said to the petite woman with graying hair who was typing furiously at the keyboard.

The woman sprang up and came around the counter to hug her, "Riley! You are a sight for sore eyes. I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too! I kept meaning to come visit this past year, but I just never got around to it."

"Oh that's okay sweetheart, we understood, what with Lucas gone and all"

There was a moment of awkward silence. Riley was feeling much better about things after her and Lucas had hung out yesterday. They'd gone for a walk after they'd split a sundae and just talked about the last year. It had almost felt like old times. Almost. But she wasn't quite sure where they stood yet. And he was leaving again so soon.

"Umm…I brought doughnuts!" She said, stating the obvious and gesturing down to the box in her hand.

Terry smiled and took them from her as Dr. V emerged from the back of the office. "Riley! So great to see you, although you're a bit early, Jasper is still down for a nap I believe."

"Is everything okay?" She couldn't help the nerves.

"Everything is fine" the man smiled, looking down at his watch. "Why don't you come to the back and I'll go get him now."

Riley followed the doctor back to the same examination room her and Lucas had been in the other day. He returned a moment later with Jasper behind him. Her dog barked loudly when he saw her and barrelled towards Riley, who was waiting with arms outstretched. She relaxed as he licked her face.

"He seems so much more like himself today."

"He's doing much better today. The test results came back and it turns out he had a stomach infection. Sometimes they can make dogs really lethargic. Its most likely something he ate."

"What could have caused it? I'm careful about what food I give him. I researched his dog food and treats really thoroughly."

Brad smiled, "I'm sure it's nothing like that. The most likely cause is that he ate a plant or piece of trash while out for a walk or playing in the park. He's a curious pup, so you'll just have to watch him a bit more carefully when you're outside. Just keep giving him these antibiotics once a day for the next two weeks and it should clear up," the doctor said, pulling out a prescription and a pill bottle. "He seems to have no problem eating them when you hide them in a piece of cheese" the doctor laughed as he leaned down to pet Jasper on the head.

Riley nodded, "Cheese is his favourite! Thank you so much doctor, from the bottom of my heart. Can I settle the bill with Terry?"

Brad smiled. "If you want to thank someone, thank Lucas. He was the one who made sure that Jasper took his first dose with a piece of cheddar this morning before he left... and he also took care of Jasper's veterinary bills." His heart warmed at the look of surprise on Riley's face as he clipped Jasper's leash on and handed it to her. He wanted to tell her that Lucas was staying in New York, wanted to shake the two crazy kids so they would realize they were meant for each other, but he held his tongue. Something made him think he didn't need to interfere after all.

Riley walked Jasper back to her apartment at a leisurely pace, letting him stop to sniff whatever street sign or tree he wanted, but careful to watch that he wasn't eating anything he shouldn't be. She'd considered taking the route that led to the dog park so they could stop in on the way home, but Dr. V had said to give Jasper a few days to take it easy.

She couldn't help the smile that kept appearing at her lips when she thought of how Lucas had taken care of her dog today. It shouldn't have surprised her, he had always been one of the most caring people she had ever met, especially with animals. She'd loved watching him interacting with Jasper back before he moved, or occasionally stopping in to watch him volunteer or work at the clinic over the years. Lucas was always so reserved, but there was this tenderness, this ease in him in those moments that she loved.

The fact that he paid her vet bills was just so…him. She knew that he would never accept money from her, but she tried to think of ways that she could repay him.

Although she was slightly disappointed that Lucas had to leave the clinic earlier that morning, a part of her was also glad that he was gone. She was so grateful for how he'd been there for her and Jasper. It had been great having her best friend back and getting to work through some of the distance they'd had in the last year, but she was all too aware that Lucas was only back for a few more days. She didn't know how she would handle it when he left again.

Riley let Jasper and herself into their apartment and closed the door behind her. Jasper found his way to his favourite spot on the sofa and immediately got comfortable. Riley looked around her apartment for a moment, as if seeing it for the first time in almost a month.

As much as she loved living with Maya, the two had quickly realized that keeping the apartment tidy was more of Riley's forté. Maya did her share by doing the dishes or taking out the trash, but dusting or vacuuming or making sure that the tiny fleck of dirt on the kitchen floor was mopped up had never been a big concern for her, so they'd found a happy balance. Happy, in the sense that Riley was one of those Monica Geller types who liked cleaning. But after the disaster with Charlie, she realized she had neglected the apartment. Riley felt a sudden burst of energy as she tied her hair up and went to gather her cleaning supplies.

Maya blew a strand of hair out of her face as she sat at the ticket counter of the art gallery. Her favourite shifts were when she could work an exhibit or a gala, because she would be able to take in the art or hear other peoples' interpretations of the work, sometimes even interact with the artists. But working the ticket counter was a part of her rotation and she always dragged her feet going into work on those days. Today was particularly slow, as it was a random Tuesday in the middle of the summer with no exciting exhibits currently on display.

The one perk of the counter though, was that you could use your phone while on shift. Well, strictly speaking you weren't supposed to, but as long as you put it away when customers were around, her manager had no issue with it.

Maya took out her phone and sent another pouting selfie to Josh. He'd been keeping her entertained for the first half of her shift, but then had disappeared on her to meet with some clients.

Riley was usually her other go-to person for entertainment, but she knew she had just wrapped up at the Vet's and was taking Jasper home. Maya let out another sigh of relief. Jasper had grown to mean so much to the two of them, and she couldn't wait to get home after work to spoil him with cuddles and belly rubs.

Not for the first time, Maya found herself thinking about her conversation with Riley from the other night. It was great to finally have some clarity on what had happened between her and Lucas the previous summer, but she knew there had to be more to the story. After Riley had finished telling her what had happened, she'd changed the subject and ignored Maya's attempts to probe further. But her questions were more for Lucas anyways. Maya had gotten to know him pretty well in the last five years, and she knew how he wouldn't intentionally hurt even a spider if you asked him to (she had, on more than one occasion), so the fact that he'd just ghosted Riley like that didn't add up. She knew his fight with Riley over Charlie had something to do with it, but she was brimming with questions for the blonde cowboy.

Suddenly, Maya's phone rang. She took a quick look around before answering. "You have crazy timing, Huckleberry."

"Hey Maya, I need your help."

Lucas took a deep breath to settle his nerves as he approached the door to Riley and Maya's apartment. It was only as he was about to knock that it occurred to him that Riley may not even be home. Maya had told him earlier that Riley had picked up Jasper and gone home, but that was hours ago. After Lucas had finished at NYU, he'd decided to go for a walk and to just think. He had this idea kicking around in his head, but he needed to build up the courage to go through with it. He also wanted to tell her in person that he was moving back to the city. It had been so great to hang out with her the previous day, but he knew he had a lot of work to do to repair their friendship and he was ready to start right away.

He knocked, figuring he could always shoot her a text if she was out, but the door opened a moment later and Riley appeared, looking completely bewildered to see him.

Her hair was up in a messy bun and she had on some loose-fitting shorts and one of Auggie's track t-shirts that Lucas knew she'd "stolen" the day he'd made the high school team, making Auggie feel special in the way that only Riley could. There was a grease stain of some sort on her left cheek to complete the look. She looked absolutely adorable.

"Lucas…umm hi. What are you doing here?"

"I figured you might be hungry" he said, holding up the bag of Chinese take-out he had brought, unable to stop looking at her until he heard Jasper bark a greeting from the couch.

"Come in" Riley said, suddenly realizing they'd been standing in the doorway for way too long. She tried to inconspicuously pull her hair out of the bun, all too aware of her ratty clothes and lack of make-up.

"Sorry if this is a bad time," he said.

"No, no it's not. I was just…"

"On one of your cleaning sprees?" he finished for her, a knowing smile on his face.

"Yeah. I'd just let it all build up so much."

"You mean you went more than 3 days without vacuuming Jasper's fur from of the couch?!" Lucas feigned surprise, following her into the kitchen and placing the food on the counter.

She rolled her eyes at him. "No…it's actually been almost a month. I just didn't realize how bad I'd let it get with everything that's been going on… do you want some water?" she abruptly changed the subject and turned away from him to get some glasses, but she didn't have to say the words for Lucas to realize what it was really about. Charlie.

"I got our usual order" he said after a moment, grabbing a couple plates from the cabinet and breaking the tension.

"Good, I'm starving! I've been craving kung pao for weeks but Maya hasn't wanted Chinese since she got food poisoning last month from that place in the village. Good thing her and Josh made last minute sushi plans tonight," she said, pouring them two glasses of water and carrying it out into the living room.

Lucas followed after her, and Jasper moved into his lap as soon as he sat down. Riley smiled, "He missed you."

"And I missed him" Lucas said, rubbing the place behind Jasper's ears that he loved so much.

Riley watched them for a moment, unable to ignore how natural this all felt. She couldn't stop herself from thinking of Charlie once again, who had barely tolerated Jasper.

"Lucas?"

"Yeah?" He looked up at her

"Thank you." She couldn't keep the emotion from her voice. She saw the confusion flash through his eyes. "For taking care of Jasper this morning, for buying his meds… and just for being there. It meant a lot."

"Of course, Riley. I know how much he means to you. And…he means a lot to me too." Lucas was looking at her so intently, and she found herself staring back. Suddenly, he reached up and ran his thumb over her cheek, drawing his hand back to show a black smudge. She was horrified.

"Was that on my face this whole time?"

"Yeah" he laughed. "But it was super cute. They're playing a classic Bulls vs Knicks game on tv tonight if you're up for it. I think Jordan had 51 points in that game or something," he clicked on the remote and flipped through a couple channels, and Riley was grateful he'd turned away because she could still feel the heat on her cheek from where he'd touched her.

The game had ended and Riley was…content. Things had been easy with her and Lucas, almost like the old times. She'd missed hanging out with him like this. Lucas insisted on washing their dishes so Riley sank back into the couch and pulled out her phone. She was scrolling through Instagram mindlessly when she saw something that made her stop and sit up.

Riley had removed Charlie from all of her social media accounts when they broke up, wanting to know nothing about what he was doing now. But the fact that they'd dated for almost a year meant that she inevitably followed some of his friends. She hadn't really given them much thought until that moment.

"So I was thinking maybe we could grab bubble tea for dess – Riles, what's wrong?" Lucas came back into the living room to find Riley staring at her phone and he could instantly tell she was upset.

Riley didn't say anything, so Lucas came up behind her to see what she was looking at. At first he was confused; it just looked like a random group of college kids at some frat party. But when he looked closer, he saw Charlie was one of those people, and that he had his arm around the waist of a petite blonde girl.

Lucas felt his frustration bubbling over. He swore under his breath involuntarily, and Riley finally broke out of her trance to look at him. "Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"

He tried to bite his tongue, tried to change the subject again like he had been doing every time the subject came up, but it only took one look at the unshed tears in Riley's eyes for his resolve to go out the window.

"Dammit, Riles."

"What?" She asked, looking up at him to see the anger in his eyes, the way he was clenching his jaw in tension. "Oh, this?" She held her phone up for a moment, "it's nothing. I was just scrolling." She plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Riley…" he began but then broke off and shrugged, turning away from her and rubbing his forehead with his hand absentmindedly.

"Lucas…what is it?" She stood up from the couch.

"It's just that… you're better than this Riley!" he finally burst out, turning back to look into her eyes with an intensity that made her heart skip a beat. She just stared back at him.

"Look, I've been trying to give you space about this, but I can't see you doing this to yourself anymore Riles. Not for that asshole."

"Doing what? Lucas, I told you I'm –"

"Fine?" He cut her off. Fine. Her mantra to the world, but it sounded so unconvincing when he repeated it back to her.

"Charlie was an ass, Riles. He's scum for cheating on you, but I can't see you obsessing over it or beating yourself up over it anymore. He cheated because he's messed up, not because there's something wrong with you."

This conversation was getting too real, going into a territory that she had blatantly refused to enter. Riley simply nodded, suddenly fascinated with a loose thread on her shorts. "I know," she whispered, hoping he would drop the subject.

She was surprised when she felt Lucas take a step closer to her. His hand came up and cupped her chin, making her look up into his eyes again.

"No. No you don't. You don't realize how amazing you are, Riles. You were always too good for him."

Her heart fluttered, both at having Lucas so close to her, and at the words he was saying. But as she stared up at him, she felt her resolve crack. After spending so long avoiding talking about this with anyone, telling everyone that she was doing okay whether they believed it or not, she hated the vulnerability in her voice as a tear rolled down her cheek. "So then why'd he do it? What was it about this girl that I didn't have?" She held up her phone, still open to the photo.

Lucas brushed the tear off her cheek gently with his thumb, once again wishing that Charlie Gardener would be stupid enough to show his face. There was nothing more he wanted to do than to pulverize him for how he'd hurt Riley.

"That girl didn't mean anything, Riles." He took her phone from her and locked the screen before tossing it on the couch. "She was nothing. And there's nothing special about her if she would do that with someone else's boyfriend. Charlie and her are the assholes here. You don't deserve to put your life on hold or question how freaking wonderful you are any longer. I bet even he knew you were too good for him."

Another tear rolled down her cheek and Riley felt her face crumple entirely now. Lucas's words were so kind, and he was saying them so tenderly as his eyes bore into hers that she couldn't help but break. She felt his arms pull her into a secure embrace and she melted into them, closing her eyes.

Lucas held her like that, silently letting her get it all out, and hating himself for not being here for her sooner. He moved them to the couch and allowed Riley to lean into him, wrapping his arms around her again, and eventually he felt her tears stop, but they didn't move or say anything for a long time.

She felt so safe as he held her, and as much as she hated being vulnerable, she realized that she'd been holding those feelings in for too long. It wasn't that anyone else hadn't said all the same things to her that Lucas just had, she just hadn't been ready to listen, to really address the breakup.

But she also couldn't say that the fact that it was Lucas saying these things to her didn't mean something, that it didn't have the effect of soothing her when she needed it. Her mind flashed back to the time she was being bullied in high school, and how Lucas had been there for her then. He'd gotten frustrated with her then too, because she was letting someone treat her poorly, and he'd made sure to tell her she didn't deserve it or need to face it alone for as many times as it took for her to believe it.

He'd always been there for her, and she hoped that wouldn't change.

But the fact of the matter was that he was leaving, and as great as it was having him back, she knew she would just miss him that much more this time. Suddenly, she felt like she might cry all over again.

Riley pulled away from him, hating that she instantly felt exposed to the world again somehow, and turned her back to him, getting up from the couch suddenly and focusing on straightening up the coffee table.

"Riles?" She could hear the confusion in his voice at her sudden movement.

"Hmm?" she still didn't look at him, didn't think she could without bursting into fresh tears.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." She hoped he would leave it at that.

"No it's not. What just popped into your head?" Not for the first time, she wished Lucas wasn't so observant. He always seemed to be able to pick up on when she was upset, and even with the emotionally charged last hour, he somehow still realized that this reaction was something different. She didn't say anything, continuing to keep her back to him.

"This is about me, isn't it? Riles I can't tell you how sorry I am for how much of a jerk I was this last year. You didn't deserve it." He stood up so he could see her face.

"I know you're sorry. It's not that," She felt a tear escape involuntarily, and saw from the look on Lucas's face that he saw it too.

"What is it, then? You have to know how important your friendship is to me, and I want so badly for us to repair it. But we'll need to be honest with each other if that's going to happen."

"It's important to me too, Lucas. Which is what makes this so hard. I feel like I finally have my friend back and… you're leaving again so soon. I just don't want it to go back to what it was like before."

Lucas took a deep breath, hating how much he'd hurt her. He'd meant to bring this up after dinner but had gotten sidetracked. It was now or never. "I… I was actually waiting for the right time to talk to you about this, Riles." He reached over for where he'd left his jacket. "I am going back to Texas on Thursday." He saw her close her eyes. "But it's only for a few days" He watched as they fluttered open again.

"What?"

"The meeting I had today? It was with the admissions and transfers office at NYU. I'm moving back."

Riley couldn't help the hope and joy that burst through her chest. Lucas wasn't leaving, at least not for good. He was moving back to the city!

"I was tired of running away." He said after a moment. The smile spreading on her face was infectious. "New York is home, and I missed it so much this last year. It just took coming back for me to realize that."

Running away? From what? Riley wondered, but she didn't have time to dwell on it because Lucas was pulling something out of his jacket pocket.

"And…there's more. I want you to come with me, Riles. To Texas." He pulled out the plane ticket with her name on it and placed in on the coffee table.

"Wh…what?" She couldn't keep the bewilderment out of her voice.

"I'm going back to tie up some loose ends before I move back here. But…consider this my final apology to you. It's selfish really, I remember how much fun it was having you out there when we were in high school, and Pappy Joe still talks about you, and… you don't have to say yes, but I think you could use some time away from here, Riles, especially before school starts again. So I asked Maya for your passport info to book the ticket…but you don't have to say yes, don't worry at all." He knew he was rambling, but he couldn't seem to stop. The more he stood there, staring at the surprised look on her face, the more this felt like a mistake. Of course she wouldn't want to go to Texas with him.

She surprised him by pulling him in for a long hug. "Lucas… thank you. I'd love to go with you." She said, a different type of tears sparkling in her eyes.

And there it is! I didn't want to just gloss over Riley's breakup. Getting cheated on can be so traumatic, so I wanted to really address that before we move on. I enjoyed writing writing a more passionate side of Lucas as he's helping Riley work through some of it, but you can definitely look out for some more lighthearted moments in the next one.

Thanks for reading!