"Huckleberry!" Maya screamed, breaking the silence as she darted across the bar and gave Lucas a bear hug. Riley took a deep breath to steady her sudden nerves and followed after her friend. She kept her distance from him.

"Hey guys!" She said cheerfully, to the group as a whole, completely avoiding making eye contact with him, before she slid into the booth next to Zay. She could feel his eyes on her, so she forced herself to look up from the napkin she was twirling in her hands. "Hey Lucas" she finally said.

"Hey Riles" she hated that the nickname made her heartbeat quicken. She had missed him over the last year, but seeing him again made her realize just how much. Riley caught Maya's eye, who gave her a questioning look. She'd never told her best friend what had happened between her and Lucas, and she definitely didn't want to get into it now. Riley turned to Zay and started a conversation with him instead, doing her best to ignore the two people sitting directly across from her.

She was ignoring him, it was blatantly obvious. She had barelt made eye contact with him, or attempted to talk to him after saying hi. He knew this because he couldn't keep his eyes off her as he tried to pay attention to the conversation around the table.

He hardly noticed as Maya left to go meet Josh, promising they would be back soon, or as Zay slipped out to answer a phone call. Isadora was telling him about one of her research papers when Farkle suddenly cut in, asking her to dance. Lucas watched as the couple made their way out to the small dance floor, joining the few other couples dancing as they started to sway back and forth. Suddenly, it was just Riley and him sitting at the table. He wondered if Farkle had done that on purpose.

"How have you been Riles?" He asked, as she continued to look down at her drink.

"Fine… I mean good. I've been good. I should go." She was halfway across the bar before Lucas even realized what was happening. He got up and followed her, finding her out on the sidewalk.

"Riley, wait!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him when she made no sign of stopping. They were both shocked as she turned and landed against his chest, finally looking up into his eyes. She quickly took a few steps away from him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving for good?" She finally said, the anger bubbling in her voice.

"I…" he trailed off, not knowing how to begin.

"And why didn't you answer any of my messages properly? I thought we were friends."

"We are friends."

"Friends don't treat each other like that Lucas. Just admit it…admit that you hate me." She brushed a hand roughly across her cheek, wiping away the tear drop that had escaped.

It killed him to hear the hurt in her voice. He couldn't even believe she thought that. "Riley, no. I could never hate you." He took a step closer to her, but then stopped himself, wanting so desperately to just hold her in his arms.

"Then why?" She looked up at him, waiting for his answer.

Lucas stared at her for a moment. Because I was tired of pretending I could be your brother. Because it killed me to see you choose someone else. Because I'm in love with you, dammit.

He wanted to scream all these things at her. But she was with Charlie, and she had made her feelings for him clear already, so once again, he stayed quiet instead.

"That's what I thought. Goodbye Lucas." He felt his heart tear again as he watched her walk away from him.

Lucas was in a glum mood as he walked into the clinic the next day. It wasn't like he expected it to be sunshine and daisies when he talked to Riley again, but he wasn't prepared for her reaction either. He had no idea how she could think he hated her.

"Hey Lucas!" Amanda greeted him warmly "Dr. V said to just scrub in and meet him in the back! He's working with the most adorable puppy right now."

Lucas smiled half-heartedly "Hey Amanda. Thanks."

Before long, Lucas was lost in doing what he loved. Riley was far from his mind…well, most of the time anyways. Which is why he was shocked to hear a familiar voice crying out "Help!" from the lobby about halfway through the day.

For the second morning in a row, Riley struggled to get out of bed. Although the reason for this late morning was different; she'd only had one drink the night before. She'd stayed up most of the night replaying her fight with Lucas.

She hadn't been prepared to see him again. He'd blindsided her, coming back into her life so suddenly. And with everything that had happened with Charlie still so fresh in her mind, she was more than a little embarrassed as well. Lucas had been right about him all along, and that was humiliating.

It's not like Lucas would rub it in. You know that. Her voice of reason told her, but she couldn't silence the dread and the hurt that his arrival had brought up for her.

She rolled out of bed, grateful that Maya had spent the night at Josh's place. She gave a sleeping Jasper a quick ear rub and filled his bowl with food, knowing that the pooch would barrel into the kitchen as soon as he smelled it. Riley jumped into the shower, trying to keep a certain cowboy out of her thoughts.

Twenty minutes later, Riley entered the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee. It was only when she took a seat with her steaming cup that she noticed Jasper's food and water bowl remained untouched. She glanced at the clock, it was past 12pm. Although Jasper liked the occasional morning nap, he was always up by lunch time; he would always keep her company if she was eating lunch at home.

Riley returned to her room to investigate and found her pup in the exact same position she'd left him in. She sat down beside him and gently shook him. "Jasper, wake up baby". Riley shook him one time, two times and then harder, more panicked. But Jasper wasn't waking up.

"Riley?" Lucas whispered from where he had been watching Dr. V. carefully pull thorns out of the paw of a sedated kitten. He would recognize that voice anywhere. Lucas darted out into the lobby to find Riley holding an unconscious Jasper, the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Lucas?" She said when she saw him, clearly surprised to find him here. And then she burst into fresh tears, sinking to the ground with her dog in her lap.

Silently, Dr. Vanderbilt appeared at his arm, handing the now treated kitten to Amanda and walking over to hoist Jasper out of Riley's arms before carrying him into an examination room, all while Lucas stood frozen to the spot. He finally snapped out of it and was by Riley's side in a moment, lifting her off the ground and gathering her into his arms.

"Shh Riley, it's okay. What happened?" He could feel her holding on to the fabric of his scrubs as she struggled to catch her breath.

"I… I couldn't wake him up. I thought he was sleeping but he wouldn't get up…" she sobbed into his chest.

"Oh Riles, I'm so sorry."

"Will he be okay? I… I didn't even know something was wrong with him" She looked up at Lucas with so much pain in her beautiful brown eyes that his heart broke for her.

He led her to one of the seats and sat her down, keeping his arm around her shoulders the entire time. "Dr. V's one of the best. He'll figure out what's wrong with Jasper in no time."

She turned to look up at him again. "You remember his name?" Charlie had called him Jenner on more than one occasion. It was one of the many red flags she'd ignored about him.

"Of course I do Riles," Lucas looked back at her intently for a moment.

Suddenly, she became aware of his arm around her, the feel of his taut bicep holding her. She hated herself for the way it made her heart race. He's supposed to be like your brother, remember? She stood up, awkwardly disentangling herself from his embrace, instantly feeling…colder somehow.

"I should go call Maya" she said, avoiding looking him in the eye.

Lucas got the message. Riley wasn't talking to him because she cared to speak to him; he was just in the right place at the right time. "I'll go see if Dr. V. needs some help" he walked to the back without another word.

Lucas hung back as Dr. V brought Riley into the room. She looked visibly calmer as she walked in and saw Jasper awake. Riley dropped down a cooed something in the dog's ear, before kissing his nose. The pup only blinked back up at her.

Lucas remembered back to the day after their high school graduation when Cory and Topanga had surprised Riley with Jasper. It was the happiest he'd ever seen her as she laughed and kissed the tiny puppy's face while he slobbered all over her.

"Is he okay?" Riley got up and looked at Brad.

"I gave him an injection and took some blood samples. I think it might be something he ate, but I'll need to run some more tests to see what happened. I'll have to keep him overnight so he can be monitored."

Riley gulped. That sounded serious. "Okay."

"You can come see him first thing in the morning though. I'll be busy with back to back appointments but Lucas here is going to be in for the early shift."

Lucas looked over at the doctor in surprise. He was?

"Okay. Thank you, Dr. Vanderbilt"

"Please, call me Brad" the older man said with a smile that instantly put Riley more at ease.

...

"I think your shift is about over, Lucas" The doctor said, turning to fill something in on his clipboard as Riley went into the lobby to fill out some paperwork. Lucas looked at his watch in surprise. He'd only been in for just over three hours.

"What game are you playing at, Brad?" He asked suspiciously. "My shift definitely isn't over yet, and I thought you wanted me to come in later tomorrow since Kyle couldn't close?"

"Maybe it just slipped my mind" The doctor said, all too casually.

"Somehow I don't believe that."

"Or maybe I'm selfish" the doctor finally turned to look at him, a twinkle in his eye, "Maybe I don't want my favourite employee to run off again and miss out on all the wonderful things waiting for him in this city."

Lucas's mouth opened in shock. Was he that transparent about his feelings for Riley?

"I…she has a boyfriend." He couldn't keep the bitterness out of his tone as Charlie's smug face flashed through his mind.

Brad simply picked up his clipboard and walked out of the room. "You better hurry, I wouldn't want you to be too late."

Lucas wanted to argue, to tell the doctor that he had it all wrong. But he knew the man had hit the nail on the head. Seeing Riley again had made it clear that he was anything but over her, and he hated the way they'd left things last night, so Lucas quickly slipped out of the room and hoped she would still be in the lobby.

Riley worked through the sheets of paperwork, sitting in one of the seats in the lobby as Amanda hummed softly in the background. She tried to concentrate on the forms, but the blonde was humming Christmas carols in the middle of summer, and Riley kept finding herself getting distracted, which is why she looked up when the sound suddenly stopped and followed Amanda's eyes and dreamy expression towards the examination rooms. Riley watched the woman sit up straighter in her chair. A moment later, Lucas emerged in the lobby, back in his regular clothes.

"You're leaving already, Lucas?" Amanda said with a pout. The way she drew out the two syllables of his name instantly annoyed Riley, although she would never admit it. She shifted her focus back to the last page of the forms in front of her, not noticing how much harder she was pressing the pen down now.

Lucas smiled as he put his hands in his pockets, trying not to stare at Riley as he talked to the receptionist. "Yeah. I'm done for the day"

"That sucks. Are you in tomorrow?"

"Umm yeah, I'm opening actually."

"Oh great. So am I!" Amanda practically gushed. Lucas was the only one in the room who was oblivious to her flirting.

Riley got up and placed the forms on the desk with just a little too much force, standing as far away from Lucas as she could. "I'm done" she said stonily before picking up her bag and walking out of the clinic.

"Riles wait up!" she was surprised to see Lucas jog out to join her a moment later.

"Hey. I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I know how much Jasper means to you," he said as he fell into step beside her.

Riley ignored the lump that formed in her throat. "Yeah. I just feel so guilty that I didn't see it sooner. Now that I think about it, he hasn't been himself for a couple days. I've just been so wrapped up in my own stuff I didn't even notice."

"Don't feel guilty. You're amazing with him, anyone can see that. I'm sure Brad will figure out what's wrong with him in no time." Lucas tried to make eye contact but Riley stayed focused straight ahead.

"Look, I'll be fine. I didn't mean to interrupt that."

Lucas furrowed his brow in confusion. "Interrupt what?"

"You and…" she gestured back in the direction of the clinic, the beautiful blonde woman who only had eyes for Lucas flashing through her mind.

"Amanda? You weren't interrupting anything. I barely know her."

"Yeah, well you should go back there and change that," she couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. Lucas picked up on it too.

He couldn't understand the way she was acting, the cold tone that was so unlike the girl he knew. It couldn't be…jealousy? "What's the problem, Riley? You're the one that's in a relationship?" The words slipped out before he even realized. He wasn't sure if he saw her wince slightly or if he'd imagined that. "Look…can we go somewhere and talk? Maybe grab lunch? I… I don't like how we left things last night."

Now's the time to tell him about Charlie she told herself, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She wasn't ready to face him about that yet, not so soon after everything had happened. Besides, Zay had mentioned that Lucas was only in town for a week. She could avoid him for that long…couldn't she?

"No…no thanks. I'm meeting someone for lunch already," she made a show of looking at her watch. "In fact I should get going. Goodbye Lucas." She walked away, leaving him staring after her in silence for the second day in a row.

Riley made her way back to her apartment in a trance. She had no appetite, and all she wanted was to climb into bed and pretend the last day had not happened. She had never felt as much fear as when she couldn't wake Jasper up that morning, and that coupled with Lucas being back in town was just too much to process. She climbed into her bed fully clothed and fell into a fitful sleep almost immediately.

Maya pulled out her phone at the feeling of it vibrating in her pocket as she walked briskly back to her and Riley's apartment. She had already gotten off at the stop for the vet when she got a text from Riley telling her everything was done there, so she decided to walk back to clear her head. Jasper was Riley's dog, but Maya had come to love him with everything she had. She couldn't even begin to think of the possibility of life without him.

Maya was surprised to see Lucas's name on her call display. She paused before answering. "Hello?"

"Hey Maya, its Lucas. I just wanted to check up on Riley."

Maya's heart sank. Even after a year away, it was just like Lucas to check in over something like this. "I'm heading home now. But why are you calling me Huckleberry? Why not ask her yourself?"

"I… I tried. But she ran off to meet Charlie and wouldn't give me a chance."

"To meet Charlie? She said that?" the change in Maya's tone surprised Lucas.

"Well…no. She said she was meeting someone for lunch. I guess I just assumed it was him." Lucas sighed. This was the girl he'd claimed was one of his best friends, and he barely knew anything about her now.

Maya was silent for a while.

"Are you still there?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll make sure she's fine Lucas. Don't worry. But you two really need to talk."

"I know," Lucas sighed into the phone, his frustration ringing out loud and clear.

...

Maya burst into the apartment. "Riles?!" she screamed.

"In here" she heard her feeble reply. She found her best friend curled up under her blankets in bed.

"You okay hun?" Maya climbed into bed beside Riley, sliding under the covers.

"Yeah…I just hope Jasper's okay. I don't know what we'll do without him" she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"I know sweetie. But he'll be fine. Dr. V is awesome." Maya leaned up on her elbow so she was staring directly at Riley. "Hey, why didn't you tell me you ran into Lucas today? Was he at the clinic?"

Riley tried to avoid eye contact. She'd managed to filter everything that had happened with Lucas from Maya for so long, but she just didn't have the energy to deflect right now.

"It…must've slipped my mind."

"Come on Riles" Maya rolled her eyes.

"I'm tired Maya" Riley said as she began to roll over in bed, but she was shocked when Maya pulled her back to face her.

"Not today Riles. Tell me the truth. Tell me what really happened between you two." Riley took one look at Maya's piercing glare and knew there would be no getting out of it today.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are really appreciated :)