#liley fan fiction

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 8,827

Cross-posted at ff.net            

Soundtrack (although not at all organized and subject to edits)

A/N: Trying something new with the second half of this chapter.  Feedback would be appreciated, although is certainly not required.  Again, this fic is rated M.

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                              Chapter Twelve: Helen of Troy

Maya thought for sure she would be the last person up the next day.  She glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand as she rolled out of bed.  It was nearly 11am.  She took one look at the other bed and quickly noticed that Riley was completely passed out.  She had no idea what time the brunette finally went to bed, but Maya wasn’t about to wake her up until she absolutely had to.  Last night was rough for everyone, but Maya knew that it was especially rough for her best friend.  If Riley could find a few moments of peace in a different realm, who was she to disturb her?

Maya yawned as she quietly tiptoed out of the room.  She could feel the effects of a small hangover as she closed the door behind her.  She had a very faint headache, but knew from experience that one good meal would quickly cure her.

As she walked toward the kitchen, she noticed that only one other person was seated at the island.  As she drew closer, she realized that it was the last person she wanted to see after the previous night.  “Good morning,” she mumbled as she made a beeline for one of the cabinets.

“Morning,” Lucas grumbled in response before he sipped his coffee.  He had been up for a few hours already as he tried to figure out what to say and how to pretend that his heart hadn’t been splintered into a thousand pieces last night.  So far, he hadn’t come up with anything he could feasibly do.  He considered hopping on the first plane back to New York, but he knew that he couldn’t hide from her forever.  He didn’t want to hide from her, even though every protective instinct in him screamed at him to hide, to preserve some dignity and pride.

“Where are Zay and Farkle?”

Lucas shrugged.  “Zay’s still asleep.  I guess Farkle is too.  I haven’t seen him.”

Maya turned toward him as she reached for the pot of coffee on the counter.  “How long have you been up?”

“A few hours.”  He looked down at the cup in front of him.  He wasn’t really in the mood for small talk.  All he wanted to do was escape to the golf course for a few hours.  He needed something to do, something to concentrate on so that maybe he could stop thinking about Riley for a minute.  “Went to the gym, got a shower, and now I’m here.”

Maya brought the mug to her lips.  “Room service?”

He shrugged as he looked up at her.  “I wasn’t sure what we were doing today in terms of meals, so I haven’t eaten yet.”

She sat the mug on the counter before she reached for the menu behind her.  “I have no idea what the plan is either, but I do know I’m going to need something soon to kick this little headache I have, and I’m not really sure that the birthday girl is going to be up anytime soon.”

At the mere mention Maya’s roommate, Lucas’s gaze lowered to the counter.  “Pretty wild night, huh?”

“You tell me,” she began as she glanced at the menu, “I’m pretty sure that you had the wildest night out of all of us…you know with the whole disappearing act and everything.”  After a moment of silence, her eyes ticked up to look at him.  If he wasn’t going to offer an explanation, then she was going to demand one.  “Why didn’t you answer your phone when she tried to call you?”

“She tried to call me?”  He frowned the second he heard the hopeful tone in his voice.  He knew that it was a perfectly normal thing for Riley to do to check up on someone if they were late or missed an event.  The fact that she tried to call him didn’t necessarily mean anything, did it?  “I left my phone on the bathroom counter last night.  It was completely dead when I saw it this morning.  It’s charging now.”

Maya narrowed her eyes at him.  “You wouldn’t ignore her on purpose, would you?”

“No,” he answered firmly.  “Things are…complicated…at best between us, but I’d never want her to worry about me like that.”

Maya studied his face for a moment.  Normally an excuse like that would be completely unbelievable, but given everything she knew and had observed about Lucas over the years, it was the only thing that actually made sense.  She tilted her head to the side.  If he left his phone at the hotel, then he wasn’t trying to hurt her on purpose.  “So,” she placed her chin in the palm of her hand as she rested her elbow on the counter, “where did you go?”

Lucas didn’t even blink.  “I know what you’re asking.  Not that it’s any of your business, but I didn’t pick up any random girls last night.”

Maya smirked.  “I figured that much.”  She leaned back as she reached for the room service menu once more.  When she looked back him, she chuckled at the surprised look on his face.  “Riley’s the one who’s scared of your dating history, not me.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.  “Oh, you aren’t,” he asked sarcastically.  “Have you forgotten that I’m just a heartbreaker?  I’m the guy who will date a girl for two months and then drop her once I get bored.” He knew his resentment was seeping out, but he didn’t even care anymore.  He was tired of hearing the same story from everyone.  Now that Riley knew how he felt, he wanted to set the record straight about his supposed reputation.

Maya shook her head before she took a sip of her coffee.  Hearing the annoyance in his tone was the last piece Maya needed to confirm everything she had suspected.  She now knew exactly what was going on.  “Nope.  I don’t think that’s the case.  I love Riley.  She’s my best friend in the world, but sometimes her insecurity prevents her from seeing the whole picture.”

“Meaning?”

A smiled spread across her face as she sat her coffee mug down.  “Meaning that you find an initial attraction with a girl…a brunette with brown eyes…and on some subconscious level, you think that this girl is going to be the one to help you get over the girl you’ve been in love with since middle school.”  When Lucas opened his mouth to say something, she held up a hand. “I’m not done,” she smirked.  She wasn’t about to give him a chance to try to deny it, at least not until she had revealed her theory.  “So, you try to make it work even though you find out pretty quickly that this girl is no Riley Matthews because…well, we both know there is only one of those in the world.  You think that you can force it…maybe even make yourself believe that this time will be different…but then around the two-month mark, a certain four letter word starts to get tossed around and you realize that you aren’t in love with the girl you’re dating.  So, instead of leading her on, you end things and move on to the next one, hoping that this one will be the one to make you forget about the girl you actually do love…the one girl you think you can’t have because she threw you into the ‘brother’ category seven years ago.”

Lucas closed his mouth as he looked back down at the counter.  Out of everyone in their lives, how did Maya figure it out?  Yes, Zay knew about it, but it was only after Lucas had practically confessed everything to him.  As far as Lucas knew, Farkle didn’t have a clue.  None of their other friends had any idea.

“But that’s just a theory I’m working on,” Maya added as she slowly spun her coffee mug around.

“How?”  He had to know how she figured it out.  “I didn’t even know I was doing it until recently.  How is it possible that you knew before I did?”

“Because you’re way too close to everything to see it.”  She crossed her arms over her chest.  “I have one more theory.  This is a new one that just came to me, but it makes all the sense in the world because…I know you.  You’re not like most of the guys we go to school with.”

He took a deep breath.  “What’s that?”

She paused.  “It’s pretty invasive.”

“Maya, after the last two days, I don’t think much can surprise me anymore.”

She bit the inside of her cheek.  He had a good point.  She felt the same way, and she still had no clue as to what happened between Riley and him last night.  “I don’t think that you’ve slept with any of them.”

Lucas furrowed his eyebrows.  “What makes you say that?”

“Because,” she shrugged, “you’re different.  Because Riley and you…are a lot alike and I firmly believe that you wouldn’t sleep with anyone you weren’t in love with.”  She waited a beat.  “I don’t need you to confirm or deny anything.  It’s not any of my business.”  She took another sip of her coffee as she considered her next words.  “I was mad at you last night…because I thought that maybe I had been wrong about you, but now that I’m standing in front of you and I see how anxious you are…I know that I wasn’t wrong.  After what I saw last night… when you came back after your little adventure…I’m pretty convinced that you’re in love with her and that you’ve been in love with her for a very long time.  I think that those feelings are pouring from you now because…because you can’t possibly hold it in anymore.  Seven years is a long time to hold feelings like that in.”

Lucas said nothing as he reached for his coffee.  He took a long sip as he considered her words.  “Wow, Maya,” he finally said as he sat his mug back down.  “You should go on the road with that act.”

She shrugged, completely unfazed by the fact that he had just confirmed everything she had been thinking for the last few months.  “It’s a gift.”

“It doesn’t change anything that happened last night.”

“Are you still mad about that kiss?”  When he didn’t answer, Maya rolled her eyes.  She hated how stubborn and dense both of them could be.  “Dylan dared Asher to kiss her…for ten seconds.  You came in around the third second.”

Yeah, it was a dare.  He was told that much last night, but even if that were the case, it didn’t help erase the crystal clear mental image of her lips on Asher’s.  “All of these games are so ridiculous.  The only thing that happens is that everyone ends up making out with everyone else.”

“I know it’s juvenile, but it’s probably the last time we’re all going to be able to act like a bunch of stupid single kids in a place like this.”  Maya sighed.  How could she make him understand what was right in front of him without telling him something that Riley should be telling him?  “Lucas, look.  What happened is in the past.  Now that it’s morning…now that it’s a new day…now that it’s her birthday…what are you going to do?  Are you going to go after what you want or are you going to watch her slip away…again?”

“She doesn’t want me, Maya.  She has this perception of me that I’m the biggest fuck boy that has ever walked the earth.”  He rubbed the back of his neck.  Maya had already figured it all out.  He might as well come clean with her.  Besides, Riley probably already told her what happened.  “Last night I told her that I loved her and a few hours later, she’s kissing one of my best friends.”

Maya pinched the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb.  So, that’s what happened.  It made perfect sense.  It explained why Riley freaked out.  It explained why he left.  It explained why he looked so defeated when he came back and saw her with Asher.  “You’re an idiot.”

Out of every possible reaction he thought she might have had, this one was nowhere on the list.  “Why?”

“No girl wants to hear ‘I love you’ from a drunk guy at a club!”  She placed her hands on her hips.  This felt like the plot of a cheesy romantic comedy.  It was a series of misunderstandings, miscommunications, and bad timing.  Both of the leads were so stupidly in love with one another that they were both acting like complete morons.  “Especially when the girl is already scared to death of losing you.”

He knew the timing was bad.  He never meant to tell her the way he did, but it wasn’t something he could take back now.  “Maya, how does she feel about me?  Really?”

“Lucas, you know I can’t tell you that, but…I can tell you that you two are the biggest idiots I’ve ever met.  You would do anything for one another…even if that meant destroying your happiness.”  She softly chuckled.  “If there were ever two people meant for one another…”  When he didn’t return her smile, she rolled her eyes once more.  “Just trust me, ok?  I’m the first ex.  I know these things.”

“That’s the first wrong thing you’ve said during this entire conversation.”  When Maya knit her eyebrows together in confusion, he elaborated.  “You’re not the first ex.”  It only lasted for a few hours, but Riley Matthews would always be his first girlfriend.

Maya gave him a knowing look.  “She was never your ex anything.”

She was hung over.  She wasn’t nearly as hung over as she probably should have been given everything that she drank last night, but still, she had a horrible headache the moment she opened her eyes.  Riley still felt slightly drunk as she wandered into the kitchen, still cloaked in the shorts and tank top she went to bed in at nearly six in the morning.  She was so grateful that Maya already had breakfast waiting for her.  As she tried to eat enough to soak up the remaining alcohol in her system, she silently thanked God that she and Maya had a spa day today while the guys went golfing.  After the insanity of last night, she needed to relax.  She needed to close her eyes for a little while as she tried to process everything that happened last night.

“So, is there anything you don’t remember,” Maya asked as they laid face down on the massage tables.  She closed her eyes as the masseuse began to rub her shoulders.  She knew that she must have a lot of tension in that area.  Between the standard end-of-the-semester stuff and the soap opera she found herself in, she had also spent the last two days trying to ensure that her best friend had a memorable birthday.

Riley sighed.  She wished that she didn’t remember parts of what had happened—like that stupid kiss with Asher and her complete inability to say anything after Lucas told her that he loved her.  “No.  Unfortunately, I remember every second of last night.”  Stupid alcohol.

Maya had to chuckle at the pitiful tone in her best friend’s voice.  “Oh, poor baby.  You drink copious amounts of vodka and wake up with only a slight hangover and a crystal clear memory of the night before.”  She shook her head.  “You know…most people would kill to be able to do that.”

Riley pursed her lips.  She knew that things would probably be ten times worse if she didn’t remember what had happened, but she also would be blissfully unaware of the pile of mistakes she had made.  While she was still angry that Lucas left, she was even angrier with herself.  How could she stand there and not say anything to him?  “Most people don’t completely freeze up when the guy they’ve been in love with for almost half of their life says that they love them.”

“So, that’s what happened?”  Maya tried to act surprised, but knew she failed miserably the moment a slight giggle slipped through her lips.  ‘Up next on The Young and The Oblivious,’ she mused.  

“It’s not funny,” Riley groaned.  “I’m such an idiot.”  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to get her body to relax, but she stiffened up even further as her mind refused to let her think about anything other than Lucas.  “We were outside…we were kissing—“

“Kissing, huh?”  ‘Huckleberry left that part out,’ she smirked.

Riley sighed.  “Ok…maybe it was a little more than kissing, but that’s not important.  He…he wanted me to tell him that when we sobered up…that when morning came…that we would be together.”

“What’d you say?”

“I told him that I couldn’t promise him that.”

Maya sighed.  “Riley, why did you say that?  You’ve been in love with him since the moment you met him.  I thought you wanted to be with him?”

Yeah, she wanted to be with him.  When she always thought about the future, he was always in it.  Even when he was with someone else, even though she knew that it couldn’t possibly happen, when she thought of the future, she immediately thought of Lucas.  “I do, i-i-it’s just that…”

“It’s just what?”

“He’s dated a lot of girls,” she softly answered.

Riley had spoken so softly that Maya almost didn’t hear her.  “So?  You’ve dated a lot of guys.”

“Yeah, but I’ve never…I’ve never been in a relationship with anyone.  I’m not…I haven’t…and I don’t want to be the next ex-girlfriend, you know?”

Maya shook her head.  She was going to lock them both up in one of the fifty rooms in their hotel suite as soon as possible.  One honest conversation could solve this whole stupid misunderstanding between them.  She knew that love tended to bring out the senselessness in people, but this was getting ridiculous.  “You would never be his next ‘ex’ anything, Riley.”

“I’m scared, Maya.  He’s the only guy I’ve ever…did you know that he got accepting into Texas A&M on a full scholarship?”  She still couldn’t wrap her brain around it.  His dream school.  The school that could make his dream career a reality and he turned it down.

Maya bit her bottom lip.  She didn’t know about that, but the moment she heard the words tumble out of Riley’s mouth, she knew exactly what her next question would be—and Maya already knew the answer.  “You don’t say…”

Riley cut her eyes in Maya’s direction even though she knew she couldn’t see anything other than the floor.  “You don’t seem surprised.”

“No, I am,” she insisted.  “I’m surprised he didn’t tell anyone about it.  Did he tell you last night?”

“No.  Zay told me.” Riley shook her head.  How she found out wasn’t what she wanted to discuss.  “That’s not the point.  Why would he give up something like that?  It’s his dream school, Maya.”

“Maybe it wasn’t his dream,” she offered.

“What are you talking about?”

Maya was getting ready to explode.  Could this be any more obvious?  Riley was a smart girl and Lucas was a smart guy, but both of them were completely clueless about how much the other person really cared about them.  “He wants to be a vet.  We all know this, but there are a lot of schools he could go to in order to become a vet.”

“Yeah, but he always talked about A&M…at least he did when we were in middle school.  Most of his family went there.  He wanted to continue that tradition.  I thought that he wanted to go back to Texas if he could…be a little closer to home,” her voice trailed off.  She narrowed her eyes as she thought about it.  “And A&M has one of the best veterinary programs in the country.  He got a full scholarship, Maya.  It just doesn’t make any sense.”

She closed her eyes as the masseuse dug into her shoulder.  “Makes perfect sense to me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Maybe there was something in New York that meant more to him?”

As soon as the girls came back into the suite, Riley made a beeline for the living room while Maya disappeared to their room to get ready for the evening.  She stopped mid stride when she noticed Zay on the couch.  His eyes were closed as his hands were folded across his chest.  She didn’t want to bother him if he was trying to sleep, but she needed to know where Lucas was.  “Zay?”

He opened his eyes.  “Hey,” he smiled as he sat up.  “How was the spa?  Are you all relaxed and ready for tonight?”

She nodded even though she was anything but relaxed.  “Where is he?”  She knew she was being brief, but she knew that she had to confront Lucas before she lost her nerve.

“He’s in the bedroom, but—“ He stopped mid sentence as Riley breezed by him to go into the guys’ room.  “He’s taking a shower,” Zay called out behind her.

Riley didn’t care or even think about what Zay said as she threw open the door to the guys’ room.

Lucas’s head snapped up as he reached for the towel wrapped around his abdomen.  “Riley!”

Riley’s eyes widened.  She knew she should leave and let him get dressed, but as she turned to leave, another thought came to her.  If he only had a towel on, he could only run away so far.  Surely he wouldn’t leave the suite dripping wet and only wearing a towel, right?  She bit the inside of her cheek as she closed the door behind her.  She knew her face was flushed as she turned back to him.  “Why are you mad at me?”

Lucas gripped the towel as he looked down at himself.  Could she not see that he had just gotten out of the shower?  “Do you really want to have this conversation right now?”

She couldn’t wait any longer.  If she waited, she would lose her nerve.  The conversations she had with both Zay and Maya helped her to piece it all together.  Now, she needed to know if it was true or if there was another reason for it.  “It was just a kiss.”

He shook his head.  “No, it wasn’t.”

She frowned.  “What do you mean ‘no, it wasn’t’?  I was there.  It was one kiss…and it was because of a stupid dare.”

He thought about trying to brush off everything that had happened between them, but as he looked into her eyes, he knew that he would never be able to hide his feelings from her again.  “A kiss is not just a kiss, Riley…not when it’s with you.”

She crossed her arms over her chest.  “Asher and I are friends. Good friends, but just friends.”

An image of her lips on Asher’s flashed through his mind. “Does he know that?”

“Yes,” she insisted.  “I didn’t…he didn’t…we didn’t feel anything when we…when we kissed last night.”

“Did you want to?”  He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, but he knew he had to find out.

“I knew that I wouldn’t,” she confessed.  She knew it before Asher’s lips ever touched hers.  

His grip tightened on the towel that was still wrapped around him.  “Why’s that?”

The right corner of her lips turned up into a shy smile.  “You know why.”

Although his heart skipped at the sight of her smile, it wasn’t enough to placate him.  He needed to hear it.  He needed to know how she felt—one way or another.  “I don’t, Riley.  I don’t know how you feel.  I know how I feel.  I know how I’ve always felt…but you…I just don’t know.”

She subconsciously licked her lips as she found the nerve to ask him the question that had been at the forefront of her chaotic thoughts for the last ten hours.  “Why didn’t you go to A&M?”

“What?”

“Zay told me that you got accepted to Texas A&M…and that it came with a full scholarship.”  When he made no move to deny it, Riley felt her heart drop.  She knew that Zay would have no reason to lie about anything like that, but to have a silent confirmation from Lucas made it seem more real.  “I know that it was your dream school,” she continued.  “I know that it was where you’ve wanted to go since we were in middle school.  I know that…I know that it’s almost impossible for an out of state student to get into the doctoral program there.  Lucas, if you went there, you would already have a leg up on getting into their veterinarian program…and I know that you know that.  So, I have to ask: why did you decide to go to Columbia instead?  Why risk so much just to stay in the city?”

He was silent for a long moment as his eyes fell to the ground.  He knew that Zay was only trying to help, but that was one secret he had hoped to take with him.  He never wanted Riley to feel like she had prevented him from chasing a lifelong dream.  “I think you already know the answer.”

Riley took a shaky breath.  “Tell me.”  She had to hear it.  She had to know.

He looked up at her.  “What’s the point, Riley?  So you can push me away again?”  He ran his free hand through his damp hair.  “I didn’t go because I thought that maybe…maybe once we got out of high school, once we were out of that bubble…that you could maybe see me as someone other than your brother.”

“Lucas, I never saw you as a brother.”

“Yeah…I kinda figured that out last night.”  He paused.  “Riley, why did you tell me that?”

She clasped her hands together as she nervously shifted the weight of her feet.  “Because I thought there was something between you and Maya.  I thought that you both weren’t acting on it because of me…because you didn’t want to hurt me…so I stepped back…so that you two could be together and not feel guilty about it.”

He closed his eyes as her words resounded through years of memories.  Did that mean that every time their eyes met, he wasn’t the only one who thought that the rest of the world faded away?  Was he not alone in this?  As her words echoed through his mind once more, it felt as if he had finally been released from the ‘brother’ shackles he had been forced to wear for years.  This moment felt completely surreal.  “You kept that a secret for seven years?”

Tears slowly formed in her eyes.  “Yeah.  Yeah, I…there were so many times that I wanted to tell you, wanted to see if maybe…if maybe you had any feelings for me, but every time I tried to, something happened.  It was easier to hide in high school…I kept telling myself that you were Maya’s ex and I couldn’t have those feelings for you, but when we went to college…things changed.  I thought that maybe we could…I don’t know…but then we went to that party and…”

He took a step closer to her.  “And what?  Because I thought that maybe we…maybe we connected that night.”

She gave him a sad smile.  “I thought the same thing, but then I saw you making out with Lauren and I—“

“Riley, it wasn’t because I wasn’t…” he groaned.  “Riley, I was drunk.  I got drunk because I overheard you and Maya talking about me.”

She frowned.  “You did?”

He nodded.  “I spent like half an hour looking for you.  I finally saw you and Maya outside.  When I got close enough, I heard my name.  I heard you tell her that you didn’t like me ‘in that way’.”

Riley winced.  “That’s what happened?  Lucas, I wasn’t sure what to tell Maya because we hadn’t talked about anything.  I wasn’t sure how she would feel about it if I told her I had feelings for you.  You two did date and besides…I didn’t know how you felt…then we went inside and I saw you with Lauren, so I thought that everything was just in my head.”  She bit her bottom lip.  While learning about their misunderstanding at that party cleared up some of the reservations she had, there was still something that nagged at her.  “What about the conversation you had yesterday?”

“What conversation?”

“You told Zay that you wanted to go out and get a group of girls and bring them back here and do…whatever it was that you wanted to do.”  Even saying it made Riley want to throw up.

“You heard that?”

She nodded.  “I was coming to talk to you…to try to figure this out…and I heard you tell Zay that you wanted to have a real Vegas vacation.”  She paused.  “I didn’t stick around to get any of the details.”

“That’s why you kept pushing me away last night.”  He let out a bitter chuckle. “Riley, I only said that because I was mad.  I was frustrated that you turned me down.  I never would have…I haven’t…” he groaned.  “I’m not the guy you think I am.”

“Who are you?”

He waited a long moment before he answered her.  She wanted to have an honest conversation with him.  If they were laying all the cards on the table, it was time she knew the absolute truth about who he was.  “Do you want to know why every relationship I’ve been in has ended around the two month mark?”

She nodded.

“That’s usually when it starts to get serious…that’s when I realize that they aren’t you.  I never wanted to hurt anyone.  I didn’t…I couldn’t…I didn’t love any of them, Riley.”  He took another step closer to her.  “I couldn’t tell them something that wasn’t true and I couldn’t…I couldn’t do anything with them that I only ever wanted to do with you.”

She furrowed her eyebrows.  “What?”

His heart thundered in his chest.  “You think that I’ve slept with half of New York when the truth is that…I’ve been waiting for you.  I don’t want to have sex with anyone I’m not in love with and I’ve only ever loved one person in my life.”

She blinked several times as she listened to his confession.  She tried not to dwell on the details of his love life, but she thought for sure that he would have had sex with someone by now.  He had dated so many girls, and some of those relationships seemed pretty physical.  “You’ve never slept with anyone?”

“No.”

She looked down as a million thoughts ran through her.  He wasn’t that guy.  He was only trying to do what he thought was right.  He was, and always had been, Lucas Friar.  Although part of her was surprised by his admission, another part of her had always hoped that would be the case.

“How could I,” he went on.  “It’s always been you, Riley.  I tried to move on because I thought it was what you wanted, but I couldn’t.”

“I couldn’t either.  I tried…I tried so hard, but I…” she took a deep breath as she tried to steady her nerves.  She had to tell him, even though she was scared.  Even though she knew that she was risking everything, she knew that he deserved to know the truth.  “I love you.”

“What?”

“I do,” she nodded as tears filled her eyes.  The seven-year dam of miscommunications and misunderstandings had finally burst.  “I knew it the moment I let you go.  I thought it would fade over time…that my head would somehow convince my heart that it was the right thing to do, but I couldn’t.  Those feelings only grew.  I pushed you away because I couldn’t breathe around you anymore.  All I wanted…all I’ve ever wanted…was you.”  She swallowed.  “I haven’t…you know…either.”

“Haven’t what?”  As he took another step toward her, he wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not.  She loved him?  She always loved him?

“I haven’t slept with anyone.  I feel the same way you do about it.  I…I wanted to be in love.  The problem was that I pushed the guy I loved away from me…to the point where I thought he saw me as…well…as a sibling.”

He slowly closed the space between him.  He wanted nothing more than to sweep her off her feet, but he was afraid that if he made any sudden movements, everything would fade away.  “I never saw you like that.  I-I tried to.  I wanted to be who you wanted me to be, but I couldn’t, Riley.”  He closed his eyes as she cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand.  That one simple gesture reinforced the fact that this was no dream.  “I couldn’t stop loving you…for seven years…I couldn’t.”

“Lucas, I love you.”

As her fingers lightly rubbed his cheek, he covered her hand with his.  “Say it again,” he begged as he rested his forehead against hers.  He wanted to hear it over and over again.  He had to hear it again.  It was easily the most beautiful statement he had ever heard in his life.

“I love you so much,” her voice cracked as she tried to quell the urge to cry.  She leaned back slightly as she looked into his eyes.  She couldn’t resist it anymore.  The walls between them had toppled down and she had to be close to him.  Seven years of separation had finally taken its toll on both of them.

The kiss was soft at first, barely a brush as their lips lightly grazed against one another.  Both felt a slight wave of nervousness overcome them as they were ushered into a new world.  This time there was no timer, no alcohol, nothing that could come between them.  They were able set their own rules and boundaries.

Only they were tired of having any boundaries between them.  They were tired of hiding how they felt.  They were tired of being unable to explore every avenue of the love they had for one another.

Riley smiled against his lips as he wrapped one arm around her.  His other hand still gripped the towel around his waist.  She slowly opened her mouth against his as she ran her fingers down his back.

Lucas shuddered as her fingers danced across his back.  Did she have any idea just how much of a hold she had on him?  He wanted to give her anything and everything her heart desired.  He knew that he was all in with her.  When her lips parted, his tongue slowly dipped into her mouth.

As their kiss deepened, Riley lowered her hands to the towel that was wrapped around his waist.  She rested one of her hands on top of the hand that had gripped the towel ever since she barged into his room.

Lucas pulled away from her the moment he felt her hand cover his.  He searched her eyes for a long moment.  “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more certain about anything in my life.”  Her moved her hands to the hem of her shirt.  Without a second thought and without taking her eyes off of him, she lifted her tank top over her head and tossed it to the corner of the room.  “Your move, Friar.”

His heart raced the moment she slid her shirt off.  It wasn’t just because she was nearly half naked in the room he shared with Zay, although he had to admit part of it was definitely because she was half naked.  Still though, it was more than that.  It was the look in her eye.  It was the confident tone in her voice.  It was everything about this moment.  She barged in.  She demanded answers.  She decided that they were worth trying to figure this whole mess out.  She knew what she wanted, and for some strange reason, what she wanted was him.  He thought he would be nervous if the day ever came that he would be able to show her how much he loved her, but he wasn’t.  The look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know.  He was sober.  She was sober.  And they needed to form a connection that went beyond words.

And they needed that connection now.

He quickly closed the space between them as his lips crashed onto hers once again.  Riley’s hands lowered to the towel once more.  This time, Lucas didn’t hesitate as he allowed her to unwrap the towel from his torso.

With both hands free, he was finally able to familiarize himself with every curve of her body.  He slid his lips down the column of her neck as his fingers danced along the straps of her bra.  As his lips continued their journey toward her shoulder, he hooked his fingers under her bra strap and slid it out of the way.

Riley shivered as he slid her right bra strap off her shoulder.  She tilted her head to the side as his lips slowly moved back to her neck.  Her hands gripped his back as he maneuvered them back toward the wall.  She gasped as her back hit the wall next to one of the beds.  “Lucas,” she whimpered as his fingers slowly, painfully so, slid the other bra strap down her shoulders.

Lucas ran his fingers down her arm as his other hand rested on her waist.  “Do you want me to stop,” he asked tenderly before his lips pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder.

“No,” she shook her head.  “I want your hands, your mouth, your…everything…all over me.”  She ran her hand through his hair.  “I love you.”

His hands slowly made their way to the clasp on her bra.  His lips found the little spot behind her ear that instantly made her shudder.  “I love you too,” he murmured before he unhooked her bra.  He could feel Riley’s pulse rate quicken underneath his lips as he tossed her bra to the other side of the room before his hands glided down the length of her back.  For the first time ever, there wasn’t anything in between the top half of their bodies as they embraced.

“This feels so right,” she whispered as she closed her eyes.  She kissed his shoulder as she reveled in the feeling of his skin pressed against hers.  “Well…almost.”  She moved her hands to the waistband of her shorts.

“No,” Lucas said as his hands covered hers.  When Riley looked at him in confusion, he smiled.  “Let me.”

Riley thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest when he took two steps back from her.  She took a shaky breath as her eyes slowly lowered to admire his body.  She knew what the male form looked like thanks to their ninth grade health class, several art exhibits Maya had taken her to over the years, and a few of the foreign films she watched on campus.  She knew what to expect, but as her eyes raked over him the second time, she knew that nothing could have prepared her for seeing him.  To say that Lucas Friar was built like a Greek god would be a severe understatement.  She bit her bottom lip as he knelt down in front of her.  As his eyes lifted to look into hers, she wondered what he was thinking about—if she was what he had imagined or not.

Lucas had to remind himself how to breathe as he took in the beauty of the angel who stood before him.  All he wanted to do was worship her entire existence every single second for the rest of his life.  She was even more perfect than he had ever imagined.  Every freckle, every dimple was perfectly placed as it all added up to the goddess before him.  He placed his hands on the band of her yoga shorts as he looked up at her.  When she gave him a small nod, he slowly began to slide them down her legs.

Riley placed her hand on his shoulder as she stepped out of her shorts.  She looked down at Lucas as he slowly ran his hands up the back of her legs.  As his fingers reached the band of her black lace underwear, he leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on her hipbone.  Riley closed her eyes as she leaned her head back.  How was it possible that a simple kiss could make her feel completely weak in the knees?

Lucas smiled against her skin as he felt several goose bumps pop up along her hip.  As his fingers hooked underneath her underwear, he kissed her hipbone once more, only this time, he casually scraped his teeth against the bone before he planted a deep open mouth kiss on her skin.  He smirked when he heard Riley softly moan in response.  He slowly tugged her underwear down as he continued to kiss along her side.

Riley knew her legs were visibly shaking as she stepped out of her underwear.  Her eyes were completely closed, and her head was tilted back as she savored every connection his lips made to her skin.

“You’re beautiful,” he said softly as his lips slowly made their way further south.  “Every square inch of you is perfect,” he continued as he finally reached the gates to the world he longed to reside in.  He ran his hand down her right leg before he lifted it over his shoulder.  He turned his head to the side as he placed a kiss against her thigh.  

Her legs quaked and he hadn’t even touched her yet.  The anticipation, the knowledge that he was about to pay homage to the most sacred place on her body was enough to send her mind reeling.  She moved her left hand behind her as she tried to find something to hold onto.  The only thing she could grip was the edge of the nightstand.  She ran her right hand through his hair as she tried to steady her already ragged breathing.

The moment she felt his tongue against her, Riley leaned her head back against the wall.  As incredible as his fingers felt last night, it didn’t compare to this.  Her mouth fell open as a soft moan escaped her.  She knew that her left leg would buckle from underneath her, and was honestly surprised that it hadn’t happened the moment his tongue slid in between her.  If she died right now, she knew that heaven couldn’t possibly be as incredible as this feeling was.

He had never done this before, so he was completely unsure if he was even doing it right, but when he heard the soft moans and sighs coming from her perfect lips, he knew that he had to be doing something right.  Encouraged by her reaction, his tongue slid up as it circled the most sensitive area of her body.

Riley sucked in her breath at the sensation.  “Lucas,” she gasped.

“Hmm?”

The vibration in his voice reverberated against her, which sent another ripple of ecstasy through her entire body.  “Lucas, I don’t want to,” she finally breathed once she was able to find her voice again.

He frowned as he slowly pulled back from her.  “You don’t want to?”

It took her another moment to catch her breath.  “I don’t want to have my first…my first orgasm…like that.”

He tilted his head to the side.  “What do you want?”

She slowly lowered her head as her eyes met his.  “I want you to be inside me.”  When he didn’t immediately say or do anything, a sense of dread filled her.  Had she completely ruined the moment?  “Please,” she nearly begged.  This couldn’t stop now.  They were close—so close.

Lucas slowly lowered her right leg before he stood up.  He would have gladly spent the next several minutes worshipping every square inch of her, but she didn’t want that.  She wanted him.  She wanted him to be inside of her.  He never thought he would ever hear those words from her, but now that he had, he knew he would gladly and eagerly acquiesce to her request.

Without saying a word, he scooped her in his arms as he walked over to his bed.  As he laid her down on top of the bed, he hovered over her.  “Are you sure,” he finally asked her as he positioned himself in between her legs.  “I know it’s going to hurt at first and I can’t stand the thought of causing you pain.”

“I’m sure,” she whispered as she pulled his face to hers.  He was really concerned about her level of pleasure right now?  Of course he was.  He was Lucas.  He always considered everyone else above himself and his feelings.  They were more alike than Riley even knew.  She didn’t think it was possible, but she was certain that she fell more in love with him in that moment.  As their lips met, Riley knew that this was perfect.  He was perfect.  They were perfect.

As they kissed, he interlaced his fingers with hers.  As she sighed into his mouth, he slowly entered her.  When she whimpered, he paused as he took a moment for her to get used to the sensation.

Riley furrowed her eyebrows as she felt the pressure from his sudden entrance.  It hurt more than she thought it would as he slowly slid into her.  She didn’t mean to vocalize her discomfort, but the moment she did, he stopped, and kissed her softly on the lips before he slowly began to kiss a trail down to her neck.

She knew she didn’t deserve this.  She didn’t deserve to be loved by him like this.  He was treating her as if she were made of glass—like she was the most precious thing in the world.  The most incredible part of all of it was that he made her believe that she was.  She knew at that moment that he really did love her.  

And he had waited all this time.  He waited for her.

Her free hand slowly roamed over his back as he continued to kiss along her neck.  She pushed down on his lower back to silently let him know that he could continue.  Without a word, he continued to slowly fill her.  Riley’s heart thundered in her chest as she desperately tried to forget the discomfort she felt.

As soon as he was fully inside of her, he lifted his head as his concerned eyes met hers.  He didn’t even think about how it felt for him because he was so focused on making this as painless as possible for her.  “Are you ok?”

Riley nearly burst into tears on the spot.  The softness in his tone, the concern etched across his face was unreal.  She nodded, too emotional to say anything.

He kissed her forehead as he gave her another moment to get used to the feeling.  When he lifted his head once more, Riley untangled her fingers from his as she placed her hands on his hips.  “I’m ready,” she finally told him as her eyes rose to meet his.

He slowly slid out of her, which incited a painful hiss from Riley.  He frowned but she gave him a small nod of encouragement as her hands gripped his hips a little tighter.  When he slid back in, she still felt some discomfort, but her heart also fluttered a little at the sensation.  When she noticed that Lucas was waiting for her to say something, to give him any sort of encouragement to continue, she gave him a small smile.  “I’m not going to break,” she insisted as she cupped the side of his face with one of her hands.  “I’m ok,” she added as she lowered his face to hers.

The only thing that encouraged him to slowly increase his speed was the feeling of her lips pressed against his, while her tongue slowly massaged his, as their bodies fused together.  Encouraged by the soft moans that escaped her lips, he began to slowly slide in and out of her.  After a few moments, his concerns about the girl under him began to fade as a wave of pleasure overcame him.  Her breathy sighs let him know that what he was doing to her was no longer painful—that she was receiving pleasure from it.

The first few times he slid into her, Riley was uncomfortable, but gradually, the pleasure from the friction overtook her.  This felt good—more than good.  How could it feel this good when it hurt so badly just a moment ago?  She nibbled on his bottom lip as his rhythm began to increase.  

Making out with Riley in the hot tub their first night in Vegas had sent him into another world.  Being able to explore her body with his fingertips last night made him feel like the luckiest man to have ever roamed the earth.  Tasting her essence gave him the chance to openly worship the woman he had dreamt about for so long.  While all of the above had led up to this earth shattering moment, he knew that this—being able to surround himself with her, to feel not just a physical connection, but an emotional and spiritual one as well—was as if heaven had cracked open up above him and entrusted him with the task of ensuring the happiness of the most precious creature to have ever walked the earth.  How fortunate was he to be able to experience one of the most sacred and cherished of acts of love with a true goddess.  Surely the divine creature underneath him wasn’t mortal.  She couldn’t possibly be.  She was his missing piece; a fact that he had suspected all along.  Nothing ever felt quite right when she wasn’t around, but now, now that they were together, everything around him felt so much more real.  He knew that he could easily become addicted to this—to her—to being anything, to being everything she needed.

Because she was already everything to him.

Riley gasped as he hit a particularly sensitive spot inside of her.  She arched her back into him as her eyes snapped shut.  “Yes,” she moaned as she tilted her head back.  “That feels so good.”

“I can tell you right now that couldn’t be nearly as good for you as it feels for me,” he murmured as he lowered his head to her neck.

She gasped again as he hit that spot once more.  “That’s not possible,” she breathed as she further arched her back to meet each thrust he delivered.

The moment she began to move underneath him, Lucas knew that it wouldn’t be long before he completely lost control.  His lips slid across her shoulder as he tried to focus on something, anything, other than the angel underneath him.

“Yes,” she whimpered as she dug her fingernails into his back.  “Lucas, please don’t stop!”

He tried to think of something other than her.  He tried to think about the starting line up of the Yankees, the time he participated in the polar plunge at Great Kills Beach last winter, and even the horrendous thought that this perfect moment with her was only a dream, but none of it worked.  It felt too good.  She felt too good.  As she begged him to keep going, he knew he had to.  He needed to hear her cry out for him.  He needed to know that he had given her some small ounce of pleasure in exchange for allowing him to enter the gates of heaven.

He increased his speed with every sound of pure ecstasy that passed through Riley’s lips.  He knew that he would do anything for her—even obliterate himself if he had to.  She was the reason for everything he had accomplished since he moved to New York.  She had taken his heart the moment they met, and now, as their bodies were one with one another, he knew that there would never be anyone else for him.

Riley moaned loudly as she felt the intense waves of euphoria flow throughout her entire body.  Her body felt completely electrified as she entered an entirely new dimension.  It was everything she had expected it to be and so much more.

The feeling of her walls caving in on him finally sent Lucas spiraling over the edge.  He buried his head in the crook of her neck as he tried to catch his breath from his own meteoric release.

[grizbehr]

What Was Lost

Prologue

"Ms. Matthews," the voice came over the phone's speaker. Riley looked up from the notes she was taking for a future show she was planning and pushed the call button.

"Yes, Charolette," she replied.

"There's a gentleman here to see you." Riley pulled up the calendar on her computer.

"I don't have anyone scheduled. Who is it?"

"He didn't want to give his name."

Riley sat back in her chair. "Does he look like a stalker?"

Charolette lowered her voice. "If he is, he can stalk me any time."

Riley thought for a moment. She trusted Charolette's judgement. "Ok, send him back. Give me five minutes and call me about a meeting in case I need to get rid of him."

"Yes ma'am." The phone disconnected and Riley went back to her notes. She had a least two minutes before whomever it was made it to her office.

"I've done this before," Riley said to herself. She flipped through her notes and found the same thing from two months ago. "I'm starting to get repetitive." She leaned her head in her hands, thinking about how she could do something different, but coming up with nothing.

"You cut your hair," a familiar voice said. Riley looked up and a smile came across her face.

"Lucas," she questioned. "Lucas Friar?" The tall man smiled and Riley leaped up and hurried over to him, throwing herself in his arms.

"How ya' been, Riles," he said, giving her a big hug.

"Good," Riley replied. "I think you've gotten taller. Come in and have a seat." Riley led Lucas to the chair and let him sit down.

"What is this," she said tugging on the hair on his chin.

Lucas laughed. "I just got into town," he said. "Should have cleaned up first, but I wanted to see you."

Riley stumbled a little sitting in her chair, but recovered. "It looks good on you," she said. "So are you here on leave?"

"No, no," Lucas shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I, uh, left the teams about a year ago."

"The teams?"

"SEAL teams," Lucas explained.

"I know what the teams are, Lucas," Riley said. "I just thought you were going into the medical corps."

"I was planning on it, but I got the offer to go to SEAL school, and turns out I excelled at it."

"Well, as long as you're happy…"

"I said I was good at it, not that I was happy. So when I had the opportunity I left. Been wandering around, doing odd jobs ever since."

"You could have always come home."

"I needed to figure out who I was first. You know how it is."

They sat in silence for a bit before the phone rang. Riley picked it up quickly. "Yes," she said. "Darn. I forgot about that. Could you reschedule it for me? Thanks."

"If you have something you need to do," Lucas started.

"Nothing important," Riley reassured him. A regretful look came over her face. "Lucas," she began.

"So," Lucas interrupted her. "What about you? How is it being a big TV star?"

"Hardly," Riley laughs.

"Come on," Lucas admonishes. "I've seen you. Traveling around, taking the viewers to little known locations all over the globe. You're show is incredible."

"I think you may be a little biased. Besides, I haven't been doing that much traveling lately."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've become too big a commodity for the production to risk me, so they send out a film crew and I stay here. They have me do an open and close in the studio and then voice over work for the episodes. It's someone else who does the actual work."

"So it's all a lie?"

"It didn't start out that way," Riley sighed. "When I started, it was just me and my camera. I'd go someplace and talk with the locals, find the really secret places and film it. It was fun. Then I got picked up by The Discovery Channel. For the first year and a half, it worked the same way except I now had a crew and a budget. Then the show became popular and the insurance company was worried about me. So I cut back a little. I would still go out, but the more obscure and potentially dangerous places I had to stay away from. Eventually we got to where I am now."

"So, 'Girl Meets World with Riley Matthews' is really 'Girl Meets World without Riley Matthews'."

"Yeah." Riley felt a little downcast. The change had happened so subtly that she hadn't really noticed it was happening. Now that she said it out loud, she realized how far she was from where she started.

"I guess that puts a spin on the other reason I came here," Lucas said standing.

"Huh?"

"Well, my main reason was I wanted to see you again. It's been too long and I've missed you. But there was something else. I was looking for a favor."

"What is it?" Riley leaned back in her chair.

"You see, Zay and I have teamed up."

"Zay's here, too," Riley exclaimed.

"Yeah. He's back at the hotel starting to prepare things. As I was saying, Zay and I've teamed up to start a salvage operation of sorts. Sometimes we get hired to do a job, sometimes we get a lead that we need to track down. Just last week, we pulled a truck out of the Mississippi that was loaded with copper wire."

"Sounds exciting," Riley said with a touch of sarcasm.

"Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Anyways, we picked up a lead on a cargo plane that crashed in the Amazon. Our plan is to fly into Brazil and then travel inward. We were hoping that maybe you could get us some press credentials. It will make it easier for us to get around in country."

"I don't know, Lucas," Riley scrunched up her forehead. "I mean we normally go to places…you know, restaurants, churches, art galleries…not the middle of the jungle. I don't even know if I could get a crew in there."

"I'm not really looking for a crew. I figured I could take a camera and record the video of our search so it's not like you would be lying by getting us the credentials." Lucas hung his head.

"The Amazon is a big place," Riley said. "Do you even have any idea where to start looking?"

"We have a good lead," Lucas admitted. "We kind of have a genius with near unlimited funds doing support work in his free time."

"Farkle?"

Lucas laughed. "Of course. We mentioned it to him casually a month ago when we saw him in Paris. He brought us to his office, tasked some satellites, did some math. He is near certain he knows the approximate location it went down."

"So what, it would just be a get in, look around for a little bit, get out type of deal?"

"Something like that. I mean, if we find it, we'll have to arrange a small crew to get in there and help us clear it out, but we need to find it first."

"That would be a great story," Riley said, mostly to herself. She looked over at the notes which had been getting repetitive.

"We'd really like you to be a part of it, Riley," Lucas said. "But I understand if you can't. I mean, we wouldn't technically be journalists, but..."

"Tell you what. Let me think about it." Riley stood up and hugged Lucas again.

"We'll be in town a couple of days," Lucas said. "Why don't we all get together Friday for dinner. You, me, Zay, Farkle, Maya…I'm assuming you and Maya are still joined at the hip."

"Yeah, she's still around. I'll set it up. You've still got my number. Give me a call tomorrow and we'll figure out where we want to meet up."

"Deal." Lucas looked down and kissed her lightly on the cheek. After all these years, it still made Riley's heart flutter. "It was good seeing you again." He then turned and left the office. Riley couldn't help but watch him walk away. He turned and waved before disappearing around the corner. Riley stayed there looking after him a moment before going back to her desk.

She barely had gotten seated when Charolette came rushing in. "Spill, girl," she said excitedly. "Who was that hunk of a man?"

"That," Riley mused. "That was the one who got away."

Next Chapter

I’m taking a little break from Second Chances. It’s not wanting to let me write it. Here is the start of something that’s been playing around in my head. I’d rate this T(Teen) for Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco and Alcohol, Violence. Hope you enjoy.

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 7,236

Cross-posted at ff.net            

Soundtrack (although not at all organized and subject to edits)

A/N: Warning: this chapter sucks.  Something got lost in translation from my brain to my fingers.  I’ve tried to smooth it out the best I could, but I’m still not happy with it.   Also, if you’re curious about the chapter title thing, there is a HUGE clue about the origination in this chapter.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A | J |

                                  Chapter Eleven: Knave

A standard room at the Bellagio runs around $200 a night, but he didn’t want there to be anything standard about what the next few hours held for them. He knew exactly what kind of room she would want without her ever having to say a word.  He knew that she would want one with a magnificent view of what had captivated her attention every time her beautiful brown eyes landed on it.  Without a second thought, he knew that she would want a picture perfect view of the fountains, although if he had his way, she would miss the rest of the shows that night.

She wasn’t sure how he managed to slide the key card in and pull on the handle while he had her pinned against the door.  Their lips seemed to have been permanently bonded together the moment they reunited in the elevator on the way up to the 21st floor.  

Thankfully, no one else had joined them on the ride up.  Even if they had, Riley wasn’t sure that they would be able to wait.  It was completely unexplainable.  They had been able to keep their distance from one another for so long.  It stood to reason that they could wait another five minutes.

But they couldn’t.  

Seven years of repression erupted from them the moment he told her that he loved her.  She wasn’t sure how they made it as far as the elevator without ripping one another’s clothes off.

As soon as the elevator doors closed behind them, and they were finally alone, she knew that all bets were off.

“Tell me again,” he growled as he pulled her to him.  “I have to hear it again.”

“I love you.”  She barely got the words out before his lips crashed to hers in a frenzy.  As the elevator began its trek up to their floor, their hands roamed all over one another as their mouths refused to be separated.  Nothing else existed in that moment but them, this moment, and the realization that they were literally holding onto everything they had ever wanted.

She gasped as he lifted her off her feet.  She wrapped her legs around his waist as he pressed her back against the wall of the elevator.  She snaked her arms around his neck in a desperate effort to get even closer to him.  She wiggled in his arms in sheer anticipation as she felt his hands slide up her dress.  A shiver rippled through her entire body when he finally gripped her ass.

“I need you,” she begged the second he released his lips from hers.  As soon as his lips connected with her collarbone, she arched her back as a soft moan escaped her.  “Lucas, I can’t wait another second.”

Riley reluctantly opened her eyes as the elevator chimed.  They had made it to the 21st floor.  As the doors opened, she noticed that no one was on the other side.  Lucas said nothing to her as he carried her down the hallway to the room.

As soon as he opened the door to the hotel room, he scooped her in his arms once more as he hurried inside.  He had her dress already halfway unzipped by the time he booted the door closed behind them.

Riley kicked her heels off as he carried her the entire way to the bed.  As soon as her feet touched the ground, she slid her dress down.  She always thought she would be scared to death about her first time, but there wasn’t a nervous bone in her entire body.  Why should she feel nervous when everything felt so right?

As her dress pooled around her ankles, her eyes locked onto his.  The look of pure adoration in his eyes was enough to fill her with a confidence she had never felt before as she stepped out of the garment.  She closed the space between them as her hands reached for the tie around his neck.

As she began to loosen his tie, he leaned forward to place a soft kiss against her lips.  “I love you,” he murmured as he threaded his fingers through her hair.  As she slid the tie off and reached for the top buttons of his shirt, he placed his hand over hers to stop her.  “I never stopped loving you…even though you told me that you only saw me as a brother.”

If her head had been a little clearer, if her heart had been a little less scared, if she hadn’t heard his comments to Zay earlier that night, or if she had been able to keep her brain turned off, then maybe it would have happened just like that.  Maybe she would have lost her virginity to Lucas Friar at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas on her 21st birthday.

But she didn’t.  

She was practically catatonic as seven years of memories—of everything she thought was real but suddenly wasn’t—faded away into something much more complex and raw.  She had been wrong about everything the entire time?  It didn’t make sense.    

She shook her head as his words bounced around her mind.  Her knees desperately tried not to buckle from underneath her as she tried to pull herself out of her daydream.  Her eyes fell to the ground as her brain finally caught up with everything that had happened between them in the last fifteen minutes.  He loved her when they were in Texas and she stepped back?  He loved her now?  What about the parade of girls that had gone in and out of his life in between then and now?  What about what he told Zay earlier that night?  What about that stupid party?  What about the girls who had surrounded him all night?  Everything he said to her contradicted the last seven years of her life.  How could she even begin to process all of this, especially while she was inebriated?  How could she push through the fog in order to reach the logical part of her brain when her body screamed at her to stop thinking and do whatever it took to get him into that hotel room?

As her eyes slowly wandered back up to him, she realized that he was no longer standing in front of her.  He left.

Again.

He left her on the patio at Hyde for the second time that night.  Tears welled in her eyes as she looked back at the fountains for a moment.  “No,” she murmured before she turned back toward the door to the club.  It wasn’t right.  He couldn’t just tell her that he loved her and then walk away from her.  That wasn’t fair.  It wasn’t fair that he could say all of that and not give her a moment to process the fact that that everything she had known about the last seven years was a complete and utter lie.  

With a renewed sense of determination, she marched back into the club.  The adrenaline that filled her carried her trembling legs as she looked for him at the table, every bar in the club, and even the dance floor.  She must have searched for him for twenty minutes before she began to worry.  Where had he gone?  He didn’t actually leave the club, did he?

By the time she reached the table, her adrenaline had completely evaporated as a blind panic charged through her senses.  “Where is he,” she asked the small group.

Maya frowned as she took in Riley’s frazzled appearance.  Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were bloodshot, and she seemed to be coming apart at the seams.  Maya knew it only had to mean one thing.  “Lucas?”

Riley nodded.

“He left,” Farkle answered.

Riley crossed her arms over her chest as she released a shaky breath.  “He left? W-Where did he go?”  She glanced around the table.  She noticed that the two women he had been around for most of the night were also gone.  “W-What happened to those girls?”

“They left too,” Dylan told her before he finished off the rest of his beer.  “Around the same time he did.”  He glanced at Asher as he sat the empty glass back down on the table.  “Dude, do you think he left with both of them?”

Asher shrugged.  Truthfully, he had no idea what was going on with Lucas.  First, he didn’t say a word about being in Las Vegas when he knew damn well that Dylan and he were going to be there.  Secondly, Lucas had barely said two words to him all night.  Thirdly, he seemed to have this major chip on his shoulder.  He wasn’t acting like the Lucas he had grown up with and had known for most of his life.

Maya’s frown deepened as she listened to Dylan.  She looked back up at Riley, whose eyes were filled with tears.  Something bad had happened.  Something major and bad. She was afraid to ask, but knew that she had to.  “What happened?”

Riley slowly shook her head as desperately tried not to fall apart in the middle of the crowded club.  She couldn’t lose it now.  She had to remain calm.  She had to remain focused.  She had to find him.

“Are you ok,” Zay asked her as he climbed out of the booth.  

She shook her head again.  “Um…I’m getting a little tired.  I think I’m going to…head back.”

“We’re coming too,” Maya insisted as she stood up.  She had no idea what was going on with Riley, but there was no way she was going to let her go back to the hotel by herself.

Riley tried to text him the entire ride back to the hotel.  As soon as the group entered the suite, she made a beeline to the bedroom she shared with Maya.  She quickly dialed his number as she closed the door behind her.  After four rings, his voicemail kicked in.  “Lucas, i-it’s Riley.  I-I’m sorry that I didn’t immediately respond to what…to what you said.  I…I was in shock…and I’m…I’m really drunk…you’re really drunk…and i-it’s just a lot to take in.  I mean…did you even mean it?  God, I probably shouldn’t even be asking you this over a voicemail because what if you didn’t mean it?  What if…what if it all came out in the heat of the moment?  What if it was just…what if it was just some drunken word vomit because we were about to—“ she cringed as she pulled the device away from her ear.  She quickly erased the message and started a new one.  “Lucas, it’s Riley.  Please call me back or text me or something.  No one knows where you went and I’m worried.  Just…just send me something to let me know that you’re…that you’re ok.  Don’t worry about waking me up.  I’m not going to be able to sleep until I know that you’re ok.  Ok.  Bye.”  She hung up her phone as she slowly sat down on the bed.

She ran a hand through her hair before she fell backward on the bed.  She gripped her phone and closed her eyes as she tried to quell the intense urge to bawl her eyes out.  Was it real?  Did he love her or was it because of the fact that they were about to do something incredibly stupid right outside of a Las Vegas nightclub?

She groaned as she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face in the mattress.  She would have gladly and eagerly given her virginity to him outside of that club if it had gotten that far.  God, if his fingers felt that amazing, how incredible would it feel to actually have him inside of her?

An image of the two women he had been with for a good chunk of the night flashed through her mind.  Riley’s stomach churned as a wave of nausea overcame her.  Was he with them right now?  Were they at wherever those girls were staying?  Were they having the time of their lives because Riley hesitated—because she couldn’t immediately give him what he wanted at that moment?  

‘No,’ she reasoned as she tapped her phone against the bed.  He wouldn’t do that.  He wouldn’t tell her something like that and then run off with two complete strangers.  

At the same time though, he was drunk and she knew that he was mad at her.  What would stop him from doing something like that—especially if he didn’t know how she felt?  She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but if he didn’t know how she really felt, what would stop him from making his threesome dreams a reality?

She squinted as she glanced at her phone.  Nothing.  “Dammit Lucas,” she muttered as she slowly sat back up.  He could yell, scream, call her every name in the book if he wanted to; she just needed to know that he was ok.

Maya knocked on the door once before she entered the room.  “Hey.”

Riley turned to her.  “Hey.”  She knew Maya had to be curious about what had transpired at the club, but Riley had no idea what to say to her.  She had no idea what was going to happen next.  She wasn’t sober enough to field questions about what she and Lucas were, are, or going to be.  All she knew was that she wasn’t going to be able to sleep until he came back to the suite.

“Do you want Asher and Dylan to leave?”

Riley shook her head before she looked back down at her phone.  “No…I have a feeling I’ll be up for awhile.”

“You haven’t heard anything from him yet?”

“Nope,” she sighed.

Maya walked around the bed in order to sit down next to Riley.  “What happened?”

Riley ran a hand through her hair once more.  “I can’t even begin to tell you…not now anyway.”  She slowly stood up before she walked toward the dresser to grab a change of clothes.  The small act distracted her—gave her something else to think about for one second that didn’t completely revolve around him.

“Ok, you don’t have to tell me…not now, not even later if you don’t want to.  I just want you to be ok.”

“I’m fine,” she lied as she pulled out a pair of shorts and a tank top.  “I just…I need a distraction.  I need to get my mind off of him before I completely lose it.”  She tossed the garments on the bed before she looked up at Maya.  “Why’d he leave, Maya?  Where did he go?  Who is he with?”

“I wish I knew.”  As she watched Riley throw her hair back into a bun, Maya couldn’t help but to feel helpless about the whole situation.  She knew that Riley was about to come apart at the seams, and there was nothing she could do about it.  She was beginning to regret not locking them in a room when she had the chance.  “I’m sure he’s ok.  The guys said that he disappears sometimes…he’ll be back soon.  I’m sure of it.”

“But he just left.”  Riley clenched her fists as her lips formed a thin line.  Was he ignoring her on purpose?  Had he listened to her voicemail yet?  What if he really left with those girls?  What if he was covered in lipstick and cheap perfume when he finally decided to come back?  The pit in Riley’s stomach swelled at the mere thought of it.  “I called.  I texted.  He’s not answering anything.”

“Maybe he went to the casino or something,” Maya tried to reason.  “I’m sure he’s not ignoring you on purpose.  He’ll call.  I know he’ll call.”  As Maya stood up, she thought of a hundred different ways she could kill Lucas and make it seem like an accident.  She knew that whatever happened had to be some ridiculous misunderstanding, but she would always have a fierce loyalty to the brunette who seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.  She knew she needed to stay out of it, but if he hurt her, Maya knew she couldn’t be held accountable for the certain pain she would inflict on him.  “Zay’s ordering food from downstairs.  Any special requests?”

Riley shrugged.  Food was the last thing on her mind.  “I’m ok with whatever you guys want.”

“I’ll let you get changed.”  When Maya reached the door, she turned back to Riley once more.  “It’ll work out, Riley.  I know he’s not going to do anything stupid.”

Riley laughed as she took another sip of her drink.  An hour had passed since she seemed to be on the verge of a complete meltdown.  Within that hour, her mood must have changed five different times.  She was worried, then she was upset with herself, then she was angry with herself, then she was angry with him, and finally, she reached the most dangerous stage of all: denial.  She had managed to convince herself that she didn’t care where he was or what he was doing.  He hadn’t called her.  He hadn’t texted her back.  He had been gone for about an hour and a half, and Riley figured that he must be trying to punish her for hesitating, for trying to work through their complicated history before responding to his confession.  He had no right to be mad at her.  She needed to think.  She never even wanted to have that conversation while they were intoxicated.  He pushed it.  He pushed her and then he left without waiting to hear an answer from her.  This wasn’t her fault.  And now, he was gone.  He was somewhere in Las Vegas ignoring all communication attempts she made to him.  “Someone has to teach me about blackjack before I lose all of my money tomorrow at the casino.”

Maya glared at the drunken brunette as she watched Riley slowly lean closer to Asher.  She knew that she had encouraged Riley to have fun and maybe forget about the whole Lucas thing for now, but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to see her friend quite like this.  She was more than pissed off at Lucas and the way he abandoned whatever conversation they were having.  As she listened to Riley giggle at something Asher said, Maya knew she would be damned if she let Riley do something she would regret in the morning.  She had to keep an eye on the brunette.  She was drunk, embarrassed, and angry.  She wasn’t sure what Riley was capable of right now.  She had never seen her so worked up in her entire life.

Zay shuffled the deck of cards before he dealt out two to everyone. “Ok, Riley…for this round, I’ll show you my cards so I can tell you what is what and everything.”  He flipped his cards over as dealt out everyone’s hands face up.  “Ok, so I have a dime and a deuce.”

She frowned.  “Wait.  What?”

“They’re just nicknames for a ten and a two.  The number cards value is whatever it says.  The face cards—jack, queen, and king—have the value of ten…like dimes do. Aces can count as either eleven or one.”

She nodded as she narrowed her eyes at the cards in front of her.  “Ok, so I have a queen and an eight…so, I have eighteen.”

“Exactly.”  How was it possible that Riley had gone through the first twenty-one years of her life having never played blackjack—even just for fun?  “Now, the object is to get the closest to 21 without going over.  Your goal is to beat whatever the dealer has.”

She nodded.  She had never played this card game before, but the concept seemed simple enough.  “Ok…so...hit me.”

“I thought you said you never played before,” he smiled before he looked back down at her cards.  “I gotta tell you though that eighteen is pretty good.  I might stay if I were you.”

She grinned as she reached for her drink.  “I’ve seen the movie ‘21’ and I like to live dangerously.”

He laughed.  “Very well.”  He turned up her card.  “Wow.  A trey.  You’ve got 21.”

Riley squealed as she victoriously raised her hands in the air.  “Yes!”

“I really don’t understand where Lucas went.” Dylan rubbed the back of his neck as he wandered back over to the rest of the group.  Yeah, Lucas had been known to disappear at times, but he would usually tell someone where he was headed and an idea as to when he would be back.  Even if he ran off with those girls, he thought for sure that he would at least text someone to let them know not to wait up for him.

Zay shook his head as he shuffled the cards.  “I wish I knew.  He only said that he needed some space and a change of scenery.”

Riley stared at Zay until he finally looked up at her.  Thank God for vodka.  An hour ago, she would have been scared to ask anyone where he could have gone, but now, after not hearing anything from him, and after consuming two more drinks, the brunette felt more prepared to face the truth—no matter how much it hurt.  “Is that code for wanting to have sex with a random stranger…or strangers as the case may be?”

Zay furrowed his eyebrows.  Where did that come from?  “You know he’s not like that, Riley.”

“Zay, you have to admit that he does go through girls pretty quickly.”  Farkle reached for a slice of pizza.  “I think I’ve never loved pizza more than at 3:30 in the morning.”

As Zay dealt the cards, he shook his head. “Yeah, it might seem like he goes through a lot of girls.  I mean…he’s had a lot of girlfriends, but that’s not exactly what…he’s not that guy.  Trust me.”

“Then what’s going on with him?”  Maya wasn’t sure what to think anymore.  She thought she had a picture perfect view of him, but this whole disappearing act—not to mention Riley’s emotional roller coaster ride since he left—suggested that he wasn’t at all who she thought he was.  Something wasn’t adding up.

Zay sighed.  He wanted to tell everyone why Lucas had been in a sour mood throughout the whole trip.  He wanted to tell everyone everything he had learned earlier that evening, but as much as everyone liked to think that Zay couldn’t keep his mouth shut, he knew that this time, he had to.  If Lucas wanted to tell Riley how he really felt, then he would.  It wasn’t Zay’s call to make that decision for him.  “I can’t get into that right now.”  He glanced at Riley.  She seemed worried when they first got back to the suite, but for the last half hour or so, she acted as carefree as she was at the beginning of the night.  Maybe Lucas was off trying to figure out how to tell her how he felt?  There was no way he was somewhere having sex with a random stranger—not after the way he acted earlier.  He wouldn’t sabotage himself like that, would he?  “Besides, it’s her birthday and I know we all just want to have a good time, right?”

Maya slowly nodded.  “Yeah.  Right.”  She wasn’t sure where Lucas was, who he was with, or what he was doing, but at that moment, Maya knew that when morning came, she was going to have a little chat with him.

“Enough with the heavy stuff then.” Asher was beyond exasperated by the conversation as he stood up.  It was Riley’s birthday and he was tired of theorizing what was going on with Lucas.  The guy was one of his best friends, but none of them were in the right state of mind to accurately assess his state of mind.  He wanted to have fun with the people he only saw once a year.  He wanted Riley to have a good birthday.  “We have this incredible suite.  Let’s make the most of the rest of this night.”

“What do you suggest,” Farkle asked.

Asher looked around the living room.  There was the pool table, the bowling alley, and the hot tub.  The possibilities were endless, but he wasn’t sure which option would be the most entertaining for everyone.  “I don’t know.  What did you guys do last night?”

Lucas thought for sure everyone would be asleep by the time he made it back to the suite.  It had to be close to 4:00am.  Time had completely slipped away from him.  He didn’t want to have a third round with Riley tonight.  He was irritated with himself for walking away from her after his admission, but he didn’t see any possible positive outcome for him—especially when she didn’t immediately say anything back to him.  He figured that she would laugh in his face, not believe him at all, or feel obligated to say something like that in return.  As he waited for her to say something—anything—he realized that his admission wasn’t fair to either of them because in her drunken state, he wasn’t going to entertain any response from her.  He didn’t even mean to let it slip out like that.  So, instead of putting her through the pressure of having to answer him, he left.  He didn’t know what else to do at the time.

He was frustrated, angry, and more than a little drunk as he climbed into the elevator to go back to the penthouse suite.  He had never been this angry with himself.  He had been able to keep everything together for seven years and within a few heated minutes, he had drunkenly bared his soul to her.  

As he walked out of the elevator, he prayed that everyone would be asleep.  He couldn’t stomach the idea of confronting her, or any of them, right now.

All he wanted to do was forget the whole thing for a little while.  So, he sat alone at one of the bars downstairs for nearly two hours as he desperately tried to forget everything that had transpired with Riley.

Only, he couldn’t forget.  He realized that he didn’t want to forget.  As much as it would hurt to get rejected by her again, he knew that he had finally taken a chance.  It took him years—and a lot of alcohol—to get to that point, but he finally told her how he felt.

She was in his arms.  For a few glorious moments, he knew that she had melted into him.  God, he wanted nothing more than to get a room for the night for them—something private, something special.  He knew that he’d never want anyone the way he wanted her as his fingers dipped into paradise.  The gateway to Utopia was pressed against his fingertips and it was at that moment that he knew he wanted to live there forever.

But then he had to open his mouth and beg her to be his.  He had gotten greedy by wanting more and more of her.  She didn’t want to talk about it while they were drunk, so instead of respecting her wishes, he pushed her.  Why?  

Because he needed to hear the words more than he needed to feel her around him.

He was a fool—a hopeless fool in love.

He sighed as he slid the key card into the door.  As he opened the door, he was mildly surprised to hear conversation come from the living room.

As he wandered into room, his curious frown deepened as he came face to face with the one thing he was trying to avoid the entire trip.  His heart dropped into his stomach as his eyes refused to look away from them.  

Riley and Asher.  Asher and Riley.  He knew that he was drunk.  He hoped that he would be unable to recollect the sight before him when morning came, but as he watched one of his oldest friends kiss the woman he was in love with, Lucas knew that the image had been permanently seared into his brain.

As the door closed behind him, Riley detached her lips from Asher.  The others were also in the living room, but Lucas wasn’t interested in what they were doing or what their reactions were to his presence.  He only wanted to see her reaction.  He only wanted to know if she cared that he had forced himself to watch her lips move against someone else’s.

“There you are,” Dylan happily exclaimed.  

The others remained completely silent.  No one wanted to move, to breathe, out of fear for what might happen next.  The look on his face said it all, at least it did to Maya, Zay, and Farkle.

Riley’s eyes widened as she spun around to face him.  Her hands fell to her sides as she waited for him to say something—to react—to do anything other than look at her as if she had just stabbed him in the back.  She didn’t even want to play the stupid game in the first place.  She only did it because she didn’t want to go to bed.  She didn’t want to be left alone with her thoughts.  She didn’t want to call him for the twentieth time and plead for him to come back to the suite.  

“Y-Yeah,” Maya stammered as she looked back and forth between Lucas and Riley.  How was she the first person to recover from the shock of Lucas coming back?  She thought for sure Zay or Farkle would have already explained the situation to him.  Did they know what was happening between Lucas and Riley?  “We were just playing truth or dare.”

Lucas slowly walked further into the living room as he slid his jacket off.  “I bet.”  A lot of emotions charged at him in that moment, but the only one that seemed to have a stranglehold on his heart was the feeling of complete and utter defeat.

“Do you want to play with us,” Asher asked as Lucas casually laid his jacket on the back of one of the chairs by the bar.  The entire mood of the room shifted the moment his friend walked into the suite.  He wasn’t sure why everyone seemed so tense all of a sudden.

Lucas bit down on his bottom lip as he turned back to the group.  He glanced at Asher before his eyes finally rested on Riley.  “No,” he answered calmly as he loosened his tie.  “I’m done playing games.”

The hardness in his tone nearly knocked Riley back.  She crossed her arms over her chest as she tried to steady her nerves.  “Where were you?”  Her voice quaked with every syllable.  She didn’t want to know, but at the same time, she had to know.

He slid his tie off his neck.  He didn’t notice the tremor in her tone.  His despondency had completely taken over him.  It was easier to deal with what he had just witnessed this way.  This way, he could retreat to his room without making another unnecessary scene with her.  “Doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“I bet you met a girl,” Dylan grinned as he slapped his friend on the back.  He wasn’t sure why Maya, Riley, Farkle, and Zay seemed so tense.  “She wore you out too, right?”

Lucas’s eyes never left Riley’s.  “Yeah,” he answered slowly before he sighed.  “She really wore me out.”  His heart ached more and more with every breath he took.  Maybe he should have stayed downstairs until the sun came up.  At least then, he wouldn’t have the mental image of her lips locked with Asher’s in his mind.

“Nice,” Dylan smirked before he wandered over to the bar to grab another beer.

“You guys have fun,” Lucas told the group before he finally tore his eyes away from the brunette who remained frozen in her spot in the middle of the living room.  Lucas looked down at the tie in his hands as he turned to go to his and Zay’s room.  “It’s been a long day and I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

As she watched Lucas retreat to his room, Riley could feel a wave of tears sting her eyes.  It was their second night in Las Vegas and both nights left her in tears because of something stupid she did.  She wanted to go to him.  She wanted to talk to him, but at that moment, she had no idea what to say to him.  She also knew that perhaps for the first time ever, he didn’t appear to want to talk to her at all.

“And then there were two,” Zay sighed.  Once Lucas went to bed, the others slowly drifted to their rooms.  Farkle was able to get Asher and Dylan a ride back to their hotel before he went to bed.  Maya waited until Asher and Dylan actually left before she finally called it a night, which left Riley and Zay alone in the living room.

“It’s 5:30,” Riley stated as she looked down at her hands.  She didn’t feel nearly as intoxicated as she did earlier in the night, but she still felt out of it.  She wasn’t tired, although the severe lack of sleep over the last two days made her body cry out in a desperate need to rest.  Her brain wouldn’t let her—not yet anyway.

“I know you’ve got to be tired,” he yawned.  He knew he was exhausted.  It was a fun night, for the most part.  He hated to see it end, but they also had one full day left.  Although they weren’t going to party quite so hard their final night in town, they were still planning on having fun at the casinos.  He and the guys had a 1:00pm tee time on one of the golf courses while Maya and Riley had a spa day planned.  He was going to be dead on his feet if he didn’t at least try to get a few hours of sleep in.  “Why don’t we go to bed?”

She crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back into the seat.  “I’m not sleepy.”

Zay frowned.  “How is that possible?  We’ve been up for almost 24 hours.”

Riley bit her bottom lip.  She knew that dragging Zay into this whole situation probably wasn’t a good idea, but if anyone knew what was going on in Lucas’s mind, it was Zay.  He had known Lucas the longest, and had also been a witness to most of their friendship.  If anyone could shed any light on it, it would be him.  “I have a lot on my mind.”

Zay didn’t miss a beat.  “Lucas?”

Her head snapped up to look at him.  “He told you.”

“Nah.  Not really.  I think you forget that he and I are a lot like you and Maya.  I know when something is bothering him.”  He waited a beat as a frown crossed his features.  “Although apparently, I’m not as in sync with him as I thought I was.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I only realized what was going on between you guys before we went out tonight.”  He slowly lifted his eyes to look at her.  He knew that there was only so much he could say to her, but maybe if she talked to him about it, he could fix whatever miscommunication was going on between them.  The tension between them had expanded so rapidly over the last few days.  He was certain that it was all leading up to some sort of explosion.  “What’s going on, Riley?”

“I wish I knew.”  She sighed as she sat up.  She took deep breath as she pulled the hair tie out of her hair.  “When did everything get so complicated Zay?”

He thought about it for a long moment.  “I think it got complicated when we realized that some feelings run deeper than those of a normal friendship.”

“I don’t know if I want anything to change,” she confessed as she ran a hand through her tangled locks.  Along with everything else, it was something that had been at the forefront of her thought process.  She knew that they had been drifting apart, but was she willing to risk losing him completely if it didn’t work out?

“I think things are going to change either way,” he offered.  “We’re growing up, Riley.  At some point, we need to all move forward…that includes allowing our friendships to evolve.  Who knows what’s going to happen a few years from now?  You could get a job on the other side of the country while the rest of us are in New York.  We could all end up in different cities with different lives.  Life is going to happen whether or not you want it to and even if you’re not ready for it.”

He made sense.  He made perfect sense, but was she ready to take that chance?  “But does it have to change now?  What if…what if everything changes and we end up drifting away from one another?”

“Wouldn’t that be better than drifting away without taking a chance?”  He paused.  “I don’t know what happened.  I don’t know what’s going through his mind right now.  I do know that he cares about you.  I know that the last thing he would ever do is hurt you.”  He wasn’t sure how far things had gotten between them, or even if she had any inkling about how he felt, but she had to know that what he felt was real.  She wasn’t some fling.  She never was.

“What if it doesn’t work out?”  She looked down at her hands.  She couldn’t believe she was bearing her soul to Zay at 5:30 in the morning, but she had to verbalize the stream of thoughts that had been flowing through her mind for most of their trip.  “I’ve never been in a relationship and he…he’s been in more than I can count.”  She leaned forward as she looked him in the eyes.  “What if it ends?  What then?”

He smiled at her.  “But what if it doesn’t end?”

“It’s always ended before,” she reasoned.  He always got bored and moved on to someone else after a few months.

“You forget that none of those girls are you.”  He tapped his fingers against his leg as he contemplated his next words.  Would Lucas murder him for telling her one of his secrets?  He might, but what if a slight insight helped her to understand the depth of Lucas’s feelings for her?  She deserved to know.  “Do you want to know a good Lucas story?”

She chuckled softly.  She always loved a good Lucas story.  Ever since Zay came into their lives, he always had the best stories about him.  She had learned a lot about Lucas’s childhood through Zay over the years.  “What is it?  Something about your rough and tumble days in Texas?”

Zay shook his head.  “Did you know that at the beginning of senior year, Lucas applied to go to Texas A&M?”  There.  He said it.  It was out there in the universe.  He had held onto that little secret for a few years now, and while he promised Lucas he wouldn’t tell anyone, he knew that Riley deserved to know.

Riley frowned.  “I didn’t know that.” She knew that A&M had always been the place where Lucas wanted to study veterinarian medicine, but when it came time to apply to colleges, he never mentioned to her that he actually applied.

“I figured that you didn’t know,” Zay paused as he watched a barrage of emotions cross Riley’s face.  She seemed confused more than anything else, but perhaps, she was also slightly disappointed.  Disappointed that he didn’t tell her about it?  “He didn’t tell anyone,” he offered.

Her eyes fell to the ground.  “He told you.”

“Only because I was there when he got the acceptance letter.”  As soon as Zay saw the letter, Lucas swore him to secrecy about the whole thing.  Lucas had initially applied just to see if he could get in.  Zay knew he was tempted to accept, but he didn’t go.  Instead, he chose to stay in New York and attend Columbia.

“He got in?”  Of course he would have gotten in.  He graduated near the top of their class with several academic and athletic honors.  Riley always thought that Lucas could conquer the world if he really wanted to.  Farkle may have been the genius in the group, but he wasn’t the only scholar.  Lucas had to work hard, but Riley always knew he could do anything he set his mind to.

Zay nodded.  “He got a full scholarship too.”

Riley took a deep breath.  He had a full ride to a school that had one of the best veterinary programs in the country.  “That was his dream school.”  She had to ask the most obvious question, but she wasn’t sure if Zay would even know the answer.  Still, she had to try.  “Why…why did he stay in the city?”

Zay smirked.  “I’ve spent the last few years trying to figure it out.  It’s the million-dollar question.  A full, free ride to his dream school and he turns it down for a partial scholarship to Columbia…which is a great school…but it was never really on his radar.”  After the conversation with Lucas earlier, Zay realized that he had finally discovered the answer to the question.  Although he didn’t know for sure, it was the only thing that made sense.  “Riley…besides Maya…what type of girls has he dated?”

Riley flinched at the question because it seemed like such an odd transition in conversation.  What did his preference in women have to do with where he ended up going to college?  She shrugged.  “Brunettes with brown eyes.”

He nodded.  “Exactly.”  Everything made sense to him now.  It was the only logical explanation that made everything fit.  It explained why he couldn’t stay in a relationship for very long and it explained why he decided to stay in the city.

Riley still wasn’t sure what sort of connection Zay was trying to make.  Either he was too drunk to make sense or she was too drunk to understand it.  “What are you saying?”

“They’re you.”  He smirked.  “He has a type…and that type is Riley Matthews.”  He paused. “It’s taken me almost three years, but I feel like I finally know why he decided to stay in the city.”  He tapped his fingers against his leg as he let his words sink in.  

After a moment, he slowly stood up.  “Anyway, I should probably go to bed and at least get a few hours of sleep in before I have to be on a golf course for most of the afternoon.”  He watched as a wave of confusion crashed over her.  He knew that he had already said too much, but he also knew that she deserved to know the truth.  “Riley, if you care about him even half as much as he cares about you, I know for a fact that you two would be together forever.”

She looked up at him.  How could Zay feel so confident in something that she wasn’t even sure she fully understood?  “You sure about that?”

“I’d bet on it.”

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 8,708

Cross-posted at ff.net            

Soundtrack (although not at all organized and subject to edits)

A/N: This song got dropped today, but it’s P E R F E C T to listen to as you read this chapter: “It Won’t Kill Ya” by The Chainsmokers.  

Also, 21 is now rated M.  And yes, I do take a little advantage of that switch in this chapter.  This chapter is dedicated to @gmwpluto because she held my hand and kicked my butt throughout multiple rewrites and edits.  She is the best sounding board ever cause she makes you kinda fight for what you’re doing and explain the reasoning behind it and yeah, I’m gonna get killed for this chapter, but I stand by everything that happens and considering the meltdown I had about it, I’m pleased with the result. Thank you Amy.

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                                      Chapter Ten: Tension

Her brain couldn’t process anything that was running through her chaotic mind.  She had hurt him.  She knew that much, but he had hurt her too.  He accused her of trying to pit Asher against him, of trying to create this buffer between whatever was growing between them, but that wasn’t true.  It wasn’t true because she knew that whatever this was couldn’t possibly last longer than the next few days.  He had always been non-committal when it came to his girlfriends.  A few weeks or even a few months would be the most she could possibly hope for.  She wasn’t willing to sacrifice her friendship with him when they were in middle school, and as strained and practically non-existent as it was now, she still didn’t think she could bear it if he completely vanished from her life.  That’s what would happen next, wouldn’t it?  They would go out for a while and he would realize that she wasn’t what he was looking for, so he would break up with her.  Afterward, she wouldn’t be able to be around him because it would hurt too much.  Their friends would be forced to take sides, and the entire group would fall apart.  She couldn’t let that happen.

As tears streamed down her cheeks, she knew that one day, she’d look back on this whole experience and know that she made the right decision by walking away from this before it was too late.  As she watched the fountains dance to the beat of the music, her heart finally declared war on her brain.

She wasn’t sure how long she stayed on the patio by herself.  Part of her had hoped that he would come back outside so they could go ahead and completely annihilate one another with more accusations and resentment.  Maybe it would be better to get it over with in one fell swoop as opposed to prolonging the inevitable.  It was her fault, anyway.  She was the one who suggested they play ‘seven minutes in heaven’ for real.  She was the one who could have walked away after her alarm went off the first time.  Maybe then, they wouldn’t be like this.  Maybe then they wouldn’t act like two complete idiots who, if she didn’t know any better, seemed to be completely in love with one another.

She scoffed as she wiped her eyes.  That was impossible.  While she knew that it was true on her end, she knew that if he wanted to figure everything out, if he really wanted to work through it, that he wouldn’t have left her the way he did.

She didn’t even want to have the stupid conversation in the first place—not now anyway.  She was drunk.  He was drunk.  She knew it would end badly, but he kept pushing her until he finally figured it out.

As Riley turned away from the show to go back inside, her head was spinning.  He knew now.  After seven years of hiding it from him, he now knew that she didn’t step back from him because her feelings for him had changed.

She took a deep breath as she made her way back to the table.  She had never felt more sober in her entire life.  She hated it.  She was never a huge drinker, and didn’t anticipate that trend changing just because it was suddenly legal for her to do so, but the battle her heart and brain waged was beginning to take its toll on her.  All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep through the next 48 hours.  She wanted to wake up in her dorm room in New York and chalk this whole trip up to being a bad dream—a cautionary tale about the perils of giving into temptation.

Her eyes locked on to Maya’s as she slowly approached the table.  She wrapped her arms around her body as a shiver rippled through her.

As soon as Maya saw Riley, she stood up and quickly made her way toward the quaking brunette.  “Riley?”  When Maya reached her, she rubbed Riley’s arms in an attempt to warm her up.  “You’re freezing.  Are you ok?”

Riley shook her head.  She was the complete opposite of ok.  How did everything get this complicated?  She just wanted to go out and have some fun and now she wasn’t even sure which way was up anymore.

“What happened?”

Riley shook her head once more.  She didn’t want to talk about it, not now anyway.  “Maya, I-I need…I…” She looked all around them.  What she was in search of, she didn’t even know.  She suddenly wanted to claw through her own skin, shed herself of her own body and simply float away.  This was all too much right now.  

As her frantic eyes continued to search the room, she spotted him.  He was seated at the main bar, and he wasn’t alone.  He wasn’t with the same woman as before, but it was another blonde woman and she wasn’t alone either.  A brunette woman had her arm looped through the blonde’s as they giggled at something Lucas said.  Riley felt a fresh batch of tears sting her eyes as her mouth fell open.

Maya furrowed her eyebrows together when she noticed anguish slowly seep into Riley’s eyes.  “Riley?  Riley, what is it?  Do we need to leave?”

Riley blinked several times as she stared at the three people who didn’t seem to have a clue that they were being watched.  Lucas seemed completely unfazed by their earlier conversation.  He laughed at something the blonde woman said, and made no move to remove the hand that the brunette woman had placed on his arm.  Riley’s throat ran dry as the blonde slid onto the barstool on the other side of him.  He was perfectly nestled between both girls now.

What a happy little threesome they seemed to be.  

The agony Riley felt when she stood outside rapidly faded.  Her desire to finish their conversation evaporated as she watched him take a sip of his scotch.  From where she stood, their conversation was over and he seemed more than content enough with the outcome.  

She’d be damned if she’d ever allow him to see how deeply he had gotten underneath her skin and into her heart.  If he was about to fulfill his quest to bring multiple women back to the suite, then she was hell bent on doing what she had set out to do the entire night—not think and not second-guess a single move she made.

But first, she needed to reclaim the buzz she had before she stepped outside with him.

“No,” she finally answered as she turned back to Maya.  She wiped her eyes.  “I want to stay.  I-Is my makeup ok?”

Maya wiped underneath Riley’s eyes to get rid of the slightly smudged eyeliner.  “Yeah.  You’re fine.  Why?  Riley, if you’re upset, then maybe we should—“

“Drink,” she offered even though she knew that wasn’t what Maya had in mind.

“No.  Maybe we should call it a night?”

Riley shook her head.  “No,” she answered as a slow smile tugged at the corners of her lips.  “The night’s only just begun.”  She glanced at the bar.  “I just need to find my buzz again.”

Maya was grateful that Riley’s master plan only seemed to consist of more vodka and dancing.  She had no idea what had transpired during Riley’s dance with Lucas, and while she wanted nothing more than to lock both of them in a closet and let them duke it out, she also knew that tonight wasn’t the best time to do it.  Everyone was intoxicated and she knew that Riley’s emotions were at an all time high.

Although Riley had taken to dancing with any guy who showed a remote interest in her, Maya knew that it could only go so far as long as she were nearby.  She was grateful that Zay and Farkle had joined them a few songs in.  Initially, Farkle had only shown up to give them each another drink, but Riley insisted that he stay with them and dance for at least a few songs.  She batted those beautiful brown eyes and told him that all she wanted for her birthday was to dance with her friends.  Farkle never stood a chance.  Her entire group of friends always ended up giving in when she pouted.

Maya noticed that not once since they hit the dance floor did Riley look back at Lucas.  She considered it a small victory.  She wanted nothing more than to see Riley and Lucas give it a shot, but she also knew nothing good would come out of a drunken conversation right now.  They had a lot to work through and discuss.  If they could make it through tonight, then maybe, just maybe, they would be able to work it out when their heads were a little clearer.

Riley laughed as she wrapped her arms around Zay’s neck and pressed her body against his.  “Dance class has really paid off, huh,” she grinned as they moved to the beat of the club music.

“You all laughed at me in middle school, but it’s always been a lady magnet,” he answered a he focused on the best place to hold Riley.  The last thing he wanted was to get in between whatever was going on with her and his best friend.  Incurring the wrath of Lucas Friar was one thing he did not want to do tonight.  He glanced over his shoulder as Maya cozied up behind him.  He turned back to Riley as he gestured at the blonde behind him.  “See?  Total lady magnet.”

“You’re in the middle of a Riley and Maya sandwich,” Riley laughed as she wrapped her arms around Maya as the trio rocked to the beat of the moderately slow R & B song.  “Do you know how many men would kill to be in your shoes right now?”

Zay chuckled nervously.  She was right.  He was nestled in between two beautiful women, and he knew damn well that if Lucas caught a glimpse of him right now that he might not live to see the sunrise.  “I know of one guy who probably would like to kill me right now if he saw this.”

“Make way for me,” Farkle announced as he ducked in between Riley and Zay.  The entire group laughed as Farkle slithered in between his friends.

“Farkle, I’m not that drunk yet,” Zay smiled before he spun around to dance with Maya.  The genius was one of his best friends, but his dance moves could prove to be lethal.  Farkle needed space to dance, and in his currently inebriated state, Zay wasn’t sure that he would understand that he only had a small space to work with.

Riley laughed as she placed her hands on Farkle’s shoulders.  “Oh Farkle…how are you doing?”

“Pretty good right now,” he smiled as he placed his hands on her waist.  He wasn’t really sure what he had been drinking or even how much he had.  He had placed Zay in charge of everything he consumed since he had never been much of a drinker.  “I can’t really feel my face right now.”

Riley’s eyes widened for a moment before she nearly doubled over in laughter.  “Oh my God,” she snorted as she gasped for air.  He couldn’t feel his face?  She had never been that drunk in her life.  That couldn’t possibly be normal, could it?  “I am so not on your level yet, Farkle.”

“Try me,” he grinned.  “I’m not kidding.”

“So, you can’t feel this?” She lightly touched his cheek.

He shook his head.  “Not at all!”

She tapped his cheek as her smile widened.  “And that?”

He shrugged.  “Nope.”

She lightly smacked his cheek.  “Still nothing?”

He laughed.  “Not a thing.”

“Wow.”  She was more than a little impressed.  Maybe she should get Zay to dictate the rest of her drinks for the night?  She moved her hand back down to his shoulder.  “If you were ever going to get into a fight, tonight would be the night to do it, Farkle.  Only…please don’t do that because then the night would be over and I’m having way too much fun to get kicked out of this club.”  She spun around before she placed her hand over top of his as she moved her hips from side to side.  “I love that you’re dancing right now,” she called out over her shoulder to him.  She couldn’t remember the last time she had been able to dance with him.  It had to have been high school.

“I told you guys that I would loosen up once we got here tonight,” he called out from behind her.

“I know, but I haven’t seen you have fun in a long time.”  She spun back around to face him as the song ended.

He shrugged as a more upbeat song began to play.  “Comes with the territory, I guess.”  He leaned in to speak directly into her ear as the DJ increased the volume of the music.  “I know you wanted this trip and it was your idea, but I needed it.  I needed to spend time with you guys…get out of New York for a few days.”

Riley frowned at his words.  He never talked about the breakup—not since the night it happened.  She turned her head to speak in his ear.  “Does it hurt?  Seeing places that you shared with her day after day?”

He nodded.  “Not as much as it used to, but sometimes I’ll walk past a coffee shop or restaurant or even somewhere that we only went to once, but I’ll think about her and it’s like…it’s like I can’t breathe.”  He sighed.  It was the worst form of torture he could possibly think of.  “For six months I felt so claustrophobic everywhere I went.  I thought I was going crazy.”  He rubbed the back of his neck.  “Maybe I am.”

“That’s how you know it was real.  I know it doesn’t help anything, but we’re here for you.  We’re all here for you, Farkle.”

“You know, the worst part is that…she’s gone.  She’s still in the city, but Riley, she might as well be in another country.  I haven’t talked to her since it happened…I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to be friends again.”

Riley nodded slowly.  It made sense.  Even in her muddled thoughts, it all made perfect sense.  Her heart broke when he called her that night and told her that Smackle broke up with him.  There wasn’t any build up or longstanding issue between them.  She simply told him that her feelings for him had changed and while she wasn’t sure how or in what way, she needed to take some time for herself to figure it all out.  Six months later and Farkle hadn’t heard a word from her.  “So you not only lost someone you loved, but you also—“

“I lost my best friend.”

Riley’s eyes scanned the club.  She couldn’t see much of anything past the dance area.  Was he still here?  Had he already left with those girls?  She had easily been on the dance floor for half an hour, maybe longer than that.  As Farkle’s words echoed through her hazy mind, her heart ached.  Her brain was winning the battle, despite the fact that she had subconsciously turned off both organs the moment she saw Lucas with those women.

It wouldn’t take her long to find out where he was.  As the small group made their way back to the table, she spotted Lucas, the blonde woman, and the brunette woman at their table with Asher and Dylan.  Instead of sitting down or even acknowledging the strangers who seemed to be latched onto him, Riley headed directly toward the bar.  The conversation with Farkle still rang in her ears as she ordered a shot.  As soon as she downed it, the bartender smiled at her.  “You’re the birthday girl, right?”

She cringed as her throat burned.  She nodded as she sat the glass back down.  “Yeah, I’m Riley.  And you are?”

“Mark,” he smiled.  “Listen, I know this might sound a little weird, but are you willing to help us out with something?  I can guarantee you that you’ll have fun and you won’t have to pay for another drink tonight.”

She raised her eyebrows.  She came here to have a memorable birthday.  Judging by the smile the bartender gave her, she knew that she had to do whatever it was he wanted her to do.  She needed some fun.  “Mark, you had me at fun.  What do you need me to do?”

Lucas looked up at the bar as he watched one of the bartenders whisper in Riley’s ear.  When he saw her laugh in response, his jaw twitched.  He couldn’t stand this.  The air around them felt so thick.  How was she able to laugh and carry on like this when the entire future of their already fragile friendship seemed so uncertain?  He reluctantly looked away from her when he heard the cackling of the brunette seated next to him.  Why did Dylan insist on inviting them back to their booth?  He had hoped to pawn the women off on Asher and Dylan and kill two birds with one stone, but Dylan didn’t quite get the hint that Lucas had no interest in either woman.  How could he when the one woman he wanted was so close, yet so far away from him?  

He hated the way they left things outside.  He hated that he stalked off, but he was so frustrated and so mad that she would think, for even a second, that if they became something more, that he would eventually end it.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he had earned the reputation he had for a reason, but she didn’t know the whole story.

“Why is she standing on top of the bar,” Zay suddenly asked as he watched one of the bartenders help Riley climb on the bar.

“Seriously?”  Maya stood up as she turned toward the main bar.  “I thought she was only going to get a drink…not let the whole world see up her dress,” she groaned as she watched Riley run a hand through her hair.

Lucas snapped his head up to look at Maya.  “Excuse me?”  He turned his head toward the brunette.  Sure enough, Riley Matthews had climbed on top of the bar.  Apparently the members of their table weren’t the only ones to notice as a group of guys crowded around her.

Maya glared at the back of Lucas’s head before she walked toward Riley.  The others followed closely behind.

“Tonight at Hyde, we are very fortunate to help celebrate this beautiful woman’s 21st birthday!”  Mark gestured to Riley who grinned when the crowd cheered.  “And she has so graciously decided to help us deliver a round of shots for anyone who might be interested.  It’s an apple pie shooter and the way it’s gonna work is that Amber will pour some apple juice into your mouth.  After that, I’ll come by and add in some vodka, then Miss Riley over here will top it off with a dab of whipped cream!”

“Well,” Farkle smirked as he watched the bartender hand Riley a can of whipped cream, “She said she wanted to have fun tonight.”

“She’s making memories that she might not actually be able to remember tomorrow.”  Zay glanced at Lucas.  He could practically feel the anger and jealousy billowing from his best friend.  At least that anger couldn’t possibly be directed at him.

As Mark grabbed a bottle of house vodka, he gestured to the area around them.  “So, line up around the bar if you want one.  First come, first served!”

“I don’t know about you guys,” Maya smirked as she slid up to the middle of the bar, “But I’m getting a free shot.”  She couldn’t believe what was happening, but she had to admit that it would definitely make one hell of a story.  Riley Matthews was serving whipped cream to a bunch of strangers on her 21st birthday.  As she heard Riley laugh, Maya figured that maybe doing something a little crazy like this could be good for her.  She had played it safe for her entire life.  She was due for a semi-wild night—as long as it didn’t involve some sort of exchange of bodily fluids with a random stranger.  

Most of the group followed Maya’s lead as they stood in front of the bar.

Lucas didn’t want to do it, but he knew there was no way she would willingly climb down and forget the whole thing.  If he could prevent her from spraying whipped cream into just one stranger’s mouth, then he’d stomach what was sure to be a disgusting shot.  Instead of lining up with the rest of his friends, he moved to the end of the bar.  If he had any luck, he would be the last one.  If he had a little more than luck—and if his brain hadn’t been completely thrashed by the jealousy he knew he’d have by watching her doing this—then maybe he could get her attention long enough to apologize for running away from her earlier.

He watched her slowly bend down to spray the whipped cream in the first few guys’ mouths.  Lucas noticed that there were a few women by the bar, but most of the patrons consisted of guys—guys he knew couldn’t wait to get their chance to hit on Riley.  Lucas’s focus never wavered as she moved from person to person.  She laughed when she saw Maya and the guys about midway through her trek around the bar.  After she squeezed some of the contents of the can into the blonde’s mouth, she kissed her cheek.  Both girls giggled as Maya swallowed the shot.

Lucas noticed that Riley seemed to be getting more and more into what she was doing as she skipped down the line.  He clenched his fist as she slowly slid her index finger down Asher’s cheek before she squeezed the whipped cream into his mouth.  Did she know he was watching her?  Was she purposefully trying to drive him insane with jealousy?

It was a great exercise in patience and test of his growth as a person to watch her casually flirt with about twenty-five random strangers.  It felt like an eternity had passed by the time she reached him.  Luckily, their friends had retreated back to the table, as had most of the other people who had gotten a shot.

As he opened his mouth for the apple juice and vodka, he wondered if she even noticed that he was there.  As the two bartenders turned back to make drinks for the crowd that awaited them, Riley’s eyes finally locked onto his.

She was surprised to see him.  She thought that if he had wanted a shot, he would have been lined up with the rest of their friends and the two girls he had been with for nearly an hour.  She had never been so tempted in her life to drown the two women in whipped cream, but she managed to avoid a murder charge as she breezed by them.  Now, as she looked down at Lucas, she wasn’t so sure she’d be as successful with him.  She crouched down as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.  She wasn’t sure that she had ever been this angry with him.  It was new territory for her, but she gladly welcomed it compared to the agony she felt when she first saw him with the two girls.  “Thanks for proving my point by walking away earlier,” she snarled before she sprayed the substance into his mouth.

Lucas swallowed the shot the moment she began to spray the cream into his mouth.  He thought for sure she would try to use up whatever was left in that can on him in an attempt to cover him in the frothy concoction.  While she did end up giving him more whipped cream after he swallowed, it wasn’t nearly enough to make him choke on it.

As she turned to leave, all thoughts of an apology escaped him.  He wanted to apologize, but he couldn’t remember the speech he had formulated as he watched her dance around the bar.  So, he acted completely on instinct when he grabbed her arm and gently tugged her back down to him.  He lifted his head slightly as his lips met hers in a searing kiss.

The first thing Riley could taste was the whipped cream in his mouth.  She was shocked that he had pulled her to him, but as she felt his tongue slip into her mouth, her anger melted into an unbridled passion that she had no idea how to subdue.

When she heard herself moan into his mouth, she snapped herself out of her daze.  She pulled back from him without saying a word and turned to the bartenders.  “Is that it,” she asked as she wiped a little bit of the whipped cream from her mouth.

“Not quite,” Mark smiled.  “It is your birthday, and what good is a birthday without a birthday cake?”

Riley smiled as she spun around to see one of the other bartenders bring a cake over to her table.  She quickly climbed down from the counter as she walked over to the chocolate cake lit up with sparkler candles.  Lucas trailed several feet behind her as her friends sang “Happy Birthday” to her.

She pushed the brief interlude with Lucas to the back of her mind as she looked at the friends who surrounded her.  This was the moment she knew she’d remember for the rest of her life.  She had made it to twenty-one.  She had no clue what the future held, but if this group of people remained in her life, she knew she’d be ready for anything.

After the song was over, Riley closed her eyes as she made a wish.  Her wishes over the last eight years hadn’t changed, but this one was slightly different.  It still centered on the Texan she had just kissed, but instead of wishing to be with him, she wished for some sort of sign to know what to do, whether to let go or to hang on.  She pulled her hair back as she leaned over and blew out the candles.

Everyone around her cheered as she raised her head back up.  “This is so incredible,” she happily smiled as she sat down in the booth.  She turned to Farkle.  “It’s perfect, Farkle.  The place, the cake…everything.”  She glanced around the club.  “You know…if I had to pick anywhere in Vegas to celebrate my 21st, it would have been here…the fountains, the dancing, the ambience…it’s perfect.”

He smiled.  “I wish I could take the credit for it, but I can’t.”

She frowned.  “What are you talking about?”  She thought Farkle had planned the entire trip out.  If he didn’t set all of this up, then who did?

Farkle searched the club for his friend.  He couldn’t believe that after everything, Lucas missed the cake being brought out, especially after how specific he had been about where and what cake to get.  “I thought for sure he would have told you, but it makes sense why he didn’t.  He’s not one to really brag, but…Lucas set up the whole thing.”

Riley glanced at Maya before she looked back at Farkle.  “What are you talking about?”

“I had no idea where to even begin to look for a place.  Lucas told me that he wanted to plan your birthday celebration.  He’s the one who booked the table here, got us all into VIP, and he even picked out the cake.”

“He planned it?”

Farkle nodded.  “I thought I knew you better than anyone…well, except for Maya, but…I think Lucas beat me on this one.  This place screams Riley to me.”

Just then, Lucas walked around the table as he sat down at the other end of the booth.  Riley couldn’t help but to stare at him.  He planned the whole night?  How did he pay for this?  Riley didn’t even want to think about how much it all must have cost him.  

She watched as the two girls she still didn’t know the names of turn their attention away from Dylan and back to Lucas.  As she reached for the drink Maya ordered for her while she was on the bar, her inebriated brain began to weigh her options.  On the one hand, she could continue to ignore him to the best of her ability and watch him accomplish the mission he had set out for himself at the beginning of the night—or—maybe she could be the mission.

As the vodka slipped past her lips, she figured that it would actually be pretty poetic to lose her virginity to him in Las Vegas on her 21st birthday.  He had been her first everything—first date, first kiss, first boyfriend, first love.  Why not complete the circle?  Why couldn’t she be the hookup he craved tonight?  It was only sex, right?  If she could keep her heart silent, then maybe it would actually help her begin to move on.  Maybe they wouldn’t be physically compatible?  Maybe this was the first step to letting go?

She smirked as she continued to consume the contents of her glass.  There wasn’t enough liquor in the world to convince her that sex with Lucas wouldn’t be good.  A few heated kisses told her everything she needed to know about their physical compatibility.  Still, she was feeling completely light and free.  Maybe she needed one night of passion with him in order to finally close the door on her first love.

Once she finished the drink, she slowly stood up and walked to the other end of the booth.

Lucas’s attention immediately shifted to Riley the moment she stood up.  He was more than a little surprised when she stopped right in front of him.  He had no idea what to expect.  Was she going to yell at him in front of everyone?  Was she going to get back on the bar and do something else that would surely test his self-control?

“Hey Huckleberry,” she smirked as she casually drummed her fingers on top of the table.  “Are we dancing or what?”

He knit his eyebrows together in confusion.  He knew that he must have misheard her.  She wanted to dance with him?  After their argument outside and after everything that had transpired between them in the last 24 hours, she actually wanted to dance with him?

“It is my birthday.”  Her smile never wavered as she watched him reach for his drink.  She raised one inquisitive eyebrow at him as she waited for him to finish drinking the amber substance in his glass.

Lucas finished off his scotch and sat the glass down next to her hand before he looked back up at her.  “Lead the way.”

He thought for sure that she would take him to where she had spent the better part of the night with most of their group.  Instead of going to the dance floor, she led him back outside, back to their hidden corner, back into the darkness.  Only a few people mingled outside, as the temperature must have dropped another five degrees in the hour since they were last out there.  Riley felt a chill ripple through her as soon as she stepped outside, but she didn’t care.  This was the only place she knew of that they could have a little bit of privacy.  They were nowhere near the music, although they could still hear the bass beat as clear as day.  

Riley didn’t say a word as she spun around and placed his hands on her waist.

“Riley, what are you doing?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck.  “I don’t want to talk.”  She knew that this would go a lot better if neither of them said a word.  Every time one of them opened their mouths, they ended up in some ridiculous fight.  If they could just somehow float together, let things happen naturally without having to discuss the past or what it all meant, then maybe they could work this out without a fight.

“What do you want to do?”  Lucas swallowed as he stared at her.  He had no idea what was going through her mind.  She didn’t want to talk.  That was fair enough.  Every conversation they attempted in the last 24 hours was disastrous to say the least.  He never wanted to ruin her birthday.  If she wanted to dance with him in silence, then he would take that time trying to commit every millisecond of it to his memory.

“Have fun.  Not think.”  She shrugged her shoulders as she glanced at the fountains for a moment before she looked back at him.  “I’ve spent the first twenty one years of my life thinking about every move I made…doing the right thing…saying the right things.”  She shook her head.  “I don’t want to do any of that tonight.”  She was tired of having to be perfect all the time.  She was tired of her brain stopping her from doing the things she wanted to do.

He sighed.  Despite the canyon between them, he knew who she was.  He had always known.  “And what happens tomorrow when you wake up?”  She was saying all of this now, but he knew that once she sobered up, she would regret it if she did something completely reckless.

She shrugged.  “I don’t want to think about that.”  Didn’t he understand?  She wanted to give into her emotions for once.  Maya always led with her heart while Riley had always led with her brain.  Leading with her brain had only made a huge mess of everything, so why couldn’t she simply give into her feelings for one night?  What was so terrible about that?

“But I do.”  He wanted to step back from her.  He wanted to remove his hands from her waist and go back inside, but he couldn’t.  He wasn’t strong enough to separate himself from her right now.  He was a man who had been starving for a third of his life over the woman who stood before him.  At this second, he was holding the only thing he had ever really wanted.  He couldn’t let go.  Maybe if he was a little more sober, he could.  Maybe if she wasn’t looking at him in the way he had always wanted her to, he could let her go and walk away.  

“You’re not pulling away from me,” she murmured as she stepped forward and pressed her body against his.  She lowered her right hand to the nape of his neck as her fingertips brushed through his hair.  She bit her bottom lip as her eyes lowered to his lips.

“I need to,” he groaned as she leaned forward to kiss his cheek.  The alcohol in his system worked against him as he felt himself slowly give into whatever she wanted to do.  He knew that he was wrapped around her finger, but he never knew how much until tonight.  He’d die to try to give her the world if she wanted it.  He’d move heaven and earth for her if she asked him to.

“You don’t need to do anything,” she responded softly before she began to plant open-mouthed kisses along his jawline.  

Lucas felt his earlier anger dissipate with every connection her lips made to his skin.  It wasn’t fair.  None of this was fair.  Every single emotion he had felt tonight was placed into extremes.  He was certain he had never been angrier with someone in his entire life, but at the same time, he knew that he had never loved her more.  It wasn’t just the fact that she was stirring up every single hormone he possessed, but it was the fact that for the first time ever, he finally realized that she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her.

He swallowed as she moved her attention to the other side of his neck.  He craned his neck back and stifled a moan as she scraped her teeth against the base of his neck.  He was rapidly becoming putty in her hands.  Whatever she wanted, he was prepared to give her.  Anything—everything.  He just had to know that she wanted him and only him.  

Finding some inner strength that he didn’t know he possessed, he slowly moved his hands up to her shoulders as he nudged her back slightly.

Confused, Riley lifted her head.  “Isn’t this what you want?”

The way her eyes had darkened nearly set off an explosion in the Texan’s mind.  Dear God, he knew that no matter how much alcohol he consumed, he would never forget the way she looked at that exact moment.  Her cheeks were slightly flushed, her breathing had become slightly labored, and the way she pursed her lips immediately made a certain body part of his throb in sheer anticipation.  He knew he had to maintain his composure for at least another minute.  He had to know she really wanted this and she wouldn’t claim it was some drunken mistake tomorrow.  “Is it what you want?”

She smiled as she slowly, purposefully so, closed the space between them once more.  “Yes,” she purred as her lips quickly covered his.  She wanted to silence him before he had a chance to think, a chance to ruin whatever moment they could have together.  

Lucas felt most of his remaining defenses slip away as her fingers slowly danced down his chest.  As her tongue slipped into his mouth, his hands slid up her back as he quickly guided them further into their little oasis.

As soon as her back hit the wall, she shoved one of his hands down to her thigh.  “I want to feel your hands all over me,” she murmured as she hooked one of her legs around his waist.  She smashed her lips to his once again as she wanted nothing more than to feel him explore her entire body.

He squeezed her thigh as her tongue met his once more.  When she moaned into his mouth, he felt the last shred of ‘Lucas the Good’ slip away.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that while whatever they were doing was completely and utterly right, the timing of it and the location of it was not at all how he had imagined it.  Still, the alcohol in his system and eight years of dreaming about the woman in his arms night after night tipped the scales into Lucas the not-so-Good’s favor.  When she placed his hand on her thigh and told him that she wanted his hands all over her, he nearly took her right then and there.  As soon as she moaned into his mouth, ‘Lucas the Good’ ceased to exist all together.  His hand slowly crept up her thigh.  He knew that if she didn’t want this, she would push his hand down, pull away from him and tell him that they were going too far.

But she didn’t.  As her nails scraped across his back, she wiggled against him in a desperate attempt to get his fingers toward their destination quicker.  She needed to feel him. She needed him to touch her in a way that no one else had before.

Up until that moment, Lucas didn’t know that his brain possessed an off switch.  As his fingers slowly disappeared under her dress, Riley whimpered in sheer anticipation.  How many times had he dreamt about them like this?  How many times had he woken up and taken a cold shower because the woman he fantasized about wasn’t next to him?

“Please,” she murmured desperately in between kisses.  “I want you to.  I need you to.”  Goose bumps peppered her entire body as she felt his fingers graze the outside of her underwear.  “Please, Lucas.”

All he wanted to do was to make her happy and to make her feel good.  She wanted this.  He wanted this.  As he opened his eyes, he noticed that hers were already opened as they continued to kiss one another.  He looked for a sign of hesitation, any indication that it was merely the alcohol talking and not something she really wanted.  It was the only thing that could possibly hold him back from doing this.  A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she lightly bit his bottom lip.  “Please,” she begged once more.

At that moment, no one on Earth could have resisted her.  

She gasped as soon as she felt his fingers slide into her underwear.  She dug her nails further into his back when his lips reclaimed hers while his fingers slowly explored a new uncharted territory.  Was this real?  As his fingers paid homage to her most private of regions, Riley sighed into his mouth.  God, it felt so much better than she imagined, and it wasn’t even the real thing.  Her entire body felt completely electrified by his motions.  As insanely wonderful as it felt, she wanted more.  This was becoming an addiction.  He was becoming an addiction.   She had to have more of this.  She had to have more of him.

Lucas wished that she had left with him earlier when he mentioned it.  It was a mile and a half back to their hotel, but with traffic, it could easily take 20 minutes to get back to their suite.  He wasn’t sure about her, but he knew he couldn’t wait that long.  He wasn’t even sure they could make it to a room at the Bellagio at the rate they were going.  

Riley couldn’t stand it anymore.  She thought she could be placated with a tease, with a glimpse into a world that had been forbidden for so long, but it only made her demand more.  She dragged her fingernails down the length of his back before she brought them in between their bodies.  As she lowered her lips to his neck, her fingers grazed the outside of his pants.

He groaned the moment he felt her fingertips against him.  Did she have any clue how close he was to taking her right then and there?  All it would take is one word, one indication of consent and he would happily spend the rest of the night—the rest of forever—worshipping her like the goddess she was.

He used his free hand to run through her slightly tangled hair.  As she lifted her head up, he pulled her face to his in a scorching kiss.

Lucas quickened his pace as his mouth desperately sought contact with hers.  Riley could hear her heart race in her ears as the pressure within her began to build more and more rapidly.  She wasn’t exactly sure how she was able to pull in any oxygen between the breath Lucas commanded and the fact that his ministrations had already labored her breathing.  She felt like she could pass out at any moment from sheer pleasure.  If she died right here, she would die the happiest woman in the world.  She never wanted this feeling to end.      

He kissed her with every single feeling she was giving him in return.  A lethal combination of love, lust, anger, jealousy, and passion swirled within him as he desperately tried to tell her everything she was doing to him without ever saying a word.  He was a man possessed.  He couldn’t control anything anymore.  “Tell me,” he commanded as he slid his lips across her bare shoulder.  His free hand fell to her lower back in order to support her when she threw her head back and desperately gasped for air.  “Tell me that I’m the only one you want.  Tell me you don’t want him.  Tell me, Riley,” he pleaded as his lips brushed against her collarbone.  “Tell me that when we wake up tomorrow, we’ll be together.”  He kissed his way toward the base of her neck as he waited for her answer.

Riley’s heart pounded even harder as she listened to his pleas.  As her mind desperately tried to fight through the thick fog of alcohol and lust, she replayed his words again.  Be together as in dating?  Her mind raced as the logical side of her brain tried to dissect his words and the meaning behind them.  She couldn’t do this right now.  She was hammered.  She told him that she didn’t want to talk.  She didn’t want to make a life altering decision while they were intoxicated.  

She thought this would be easy.  She thought that maybe they could get whatever this was out of their system tonight—chalk it up to the city, to the alcohol, to being young.  She knew that on some level, she had waited for him, had wanted him to be her first because he had been her first everything else and that maybe she could begin to move on if she got some sort of closure from the last seven years.  She knew that at least for her, it wouldn’t be so simple to walk away, but maybe it would be for him.  Maybe getting the tension out of the way could somehow pave the way for them to repair their friendship.  At least, that was what the inebriated side of her had foolishly thought.  

She closed her eyes a newfound embarrassment filled her.  For one moment, she had successfully turned off her brain.  For one moment, she led with something other than the sense that had kept Lucas Friar at arm’s length for a third of her life.  In one foolish moment of weakness, she might have just wrecked an eight-year friendship.  

She slowly opened her eyes when she felt his lips slowly pull away from her neck.  They weren’t on the same page at all.  She knew that couldn’t risk this anymore than she already had.  Her body still cried out for him, but her mind had finally taken control once again.  She thought she could give into this for one night, but she wasn’t that kind of girl.  She never was.  “I can’t,” she answered weakly as she braced herself for the fallout she knew she deserved.

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on the Texan.  He felt completely paralyzed as the weight of those two words fell on his shoulders.  She had driven him completely insane.  He never would have allowed things to get this far between them if he thought that she didn’t want to be with him when morning came.  As he slowly pulled away from her, it felt as if a thousand knives had penetrated his heart.  He couldn’t do this anymore.  He couldn’t be around her while he was still in love with her.  If the last seven years were any indication, he knew that trying to get over Riley would be nearly impossible.  As he shoved his hands into his pockets, he knew that he had to get away from her, but first, before he threw himself off a cliff, he had to know why.  “Why,” his voice cracked with the weight of emotion that flowed through his heart, “Why is it so hard for you to understand that I want to be with you?”

Riley slid her dress back down before she wrapped her arms around herself.  She wanted to tell him it was because of what she had overheard earlier that night, but the real problem extended beyond that.  “Because,” her voice shook, “it was so easy for you to accept what I told you we were and move on.”  She looked down.  “If you did it back then, I know that you’ll do it now.”

“But I didn’t accept it!”  His eyes widened as he waited for her to say something else.  Was there no other reason than the stupid label that she put on them when they were in middle school?  “Don’t you get it, Riley?  Everything that’s happened since then has been because of this ridiculous idea you got into your head that Maya and I liked one another.”

She cut her eyes up at him.  “Didn’t you?  Even for just a second?”

“No!”  He shook his head as he tried to pull himself together long enough to explain to her what actually went on in his confused fifteen year old mind.  “I thought that…that maybe there was…or that there could be…but I realized later that I only thought about that after you told us there was something there.”  He scoffed when she said nothing in response.  “Do you not understand that Maya and I only dated because the person we loved the most in this world told us that we had to see how we felt about one another?  I’ve been chasing you ever since then.”  He shook his head as he looked away from her.  This was completely ridiculous.  Was he supposed to pay for her decision for the rest of his life?

Riley furrowed her eyebrows.  “What did you say?”

His eyes fell to the ground.  “I’ve been chasing you, Riley.”  Was she going to laugh in his face?  Was she going to completely pulverize the last shred of hope he had for them?

She shook her head.  “Before that.”

He took a moment to think about what he had actually revealed to her.  When his words came back to him, he realized that after seven years, he finally told her how he felt.  As he lifted his gaze, he knew that he had never intended for it to come out like that.  He had always imagined some huge romantic reveal—something that would rival the white horse he rode in the gymnasium at John Quincy Adams Middle School—but perhaps some of the purest moments didn’t need to come with pomp and circumstance.  Maybe they were best received when spoken from the heart, even if it’s outside of a club at 2:00 in the morning.  “Maya and I only went out because the person we loved the most in this world told us that we had to see how we felt about one another.”

Riley was convinced that the entire earth was currently spinning at a rate that would perplex scientists for the rest of eternity.  She swallowed in a desperate attempt to ensure that her voice didn’t shake when she finally asked him the most important question she had ever asked anyone.  “You loved me?”

“Yes!”  He looked all around them as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  Had she not been listening to anything he had said or done in the last 24 hours?  Could she not see it before then?  Did she never suspect how destroyed he was over what happened to them in middle school?  Did she never catch on to the fact that his gaze always seemed to stay on her no matter where they were, who they were with, or what they were doing?  Did the woman before him have zero clue that he not only wanted to give her the world but that she had been his entire world for the last eight years?  “I loved you then,” he finally declared.  As she lifted her eyebrows in surprise, he realized that she really had no idea what he had sacrificed just to be able to continue to orbit around her.  “I love you now,” he confessed.  She had to know.  She had to see that this wasn’t some random hookup to him.  She had to know that this was the culmination of seven years of emotional repression.  “I never stopped loving you, even for a second…even though you told me that you only saw me as a brother.”

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M (because of language, situations, and it’s Vegas, soooo yeah)

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 9,778

Cross-posted at ff.net            

Soundtrack (although not at all organized and subject to edits)

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A | J |

                     Chapter Nine: The Curse of Scotland

Riley blinked several times to pull herself out of the memories of that horrendous night.  She could practically taste the bile that had risen up in the back of her throat.  “On second thought,” Riley called out to Asher, “A double shot of vodka sounds perfect.”  When he raised an eyebrow at her, she smiled.  “I know I’m going to want liquor later when we go out, and you know the saying ‘beer before liquor, never sicker’?”

Asher smiled.  “Of course.  Do you want a chaser for it?”

Riley shook her head.  She had never consumed a shot without any sort of chaser, but she was on a mission.  She had to get the memories of that stupid party out of her head and the quickest way to do that was to drink.  She didn’t want to take the time to chase anything.  She wanted to feel the vodka slowly burn down her throat.  She wanted to feel something other than the emotional torture she had continued to put herself through over the last several years.  It wasn’t healthy.  None of it was.  She wanted to forget that stupid dance.  She wanted to forget the way his eyes pierced through her body and into her soul.  She wanted to forget how he made her feel like she was the only girl in the world in those four minutes.  One thing she didn’t want to forget was the sight of him wrapped up in the girl who would later become one of his many girlfriends.  No, that memory had to stay.  It was one of the few things that had kept her tethered to Earth after those 21 minutes spent with him the previous night.

“Good idea,” Lucas smirked, completely unaware of the brunette’s train of thought.  He assumed that she changed her drink order to prove some stubborn point that she wouldn’t allow herself to be put in a situation like that again.  It stung, but he knew it was the nature of the beast when trying to get under her skin.  At the same time, he needed her to know that he had thought of those four minutes quite often.  “I’d hate to have a repeat of the last time.”  That had to be the biggest lie he had ever uttered.  He was more than hoping for a repeat of last time.  They never got to finish that dance.  He never got the chance to prove her wrong, that they weren’t just good friends.  He needed that.  He had to show her that what happened last night wasn’t a fluke.  They were made for one another.  

He had tried to play by her rules.  He tried to move on and forget her, but it didn’t work.  It never worked.  He tried everything he could think of, but it always came back to her.  He knew that he could lose her forever, and that their fragile friendship wouldn’t survive the aftermath, but as the minutes slowly ticked on by, he knew that he had to take that chance.  He couldn’t hide this any longer.  He was angry at her for what she told him at the Dam.  Oh, he was more than livid with her about it and about the fact that she was trying to make him jealous.  She knew that if she flirted with Asher, he would lose his cool.  After all, he had a history of being jealous of any guy Riley gave any attention to—the most notable being Charlie Gardner.  Well, if she was determined to put someone in between them, then he was determined to draw her out from behind that barrier.  He tried to ignore them at the restaurant, but it only stoked the fire that was threatening to erupt within him.  If he could get under her skin a little bit, maybe he would distract her enough to where she would forget about Asher.  He wasn’t part of this.  This was about him and her.  Maybe if he could keep her engaged in a conversation, even if it was a heated one, then maybe then they could stop whatever game they playing and actually talk about how they really felt.

Riley bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming or to keep herself from crying, she wasn’t sure which.  Why was he being so mean?  Were those four minutes so completely unbearable for him that he had to throw it in her face?  Not to mention having to watch him suck face with a near perfect stranger an hour after it.  That was the night she decided she had to figure out a way to push him away.  Yes, they went to the film series at NYU that fall, but those screenings were the only real time she saw him.  She knew they wouldn’t have much time to talk, and it was her way of slowly letting go.  As she turned to look at him, she wasn’t sure how she would ever be able to fully let go of him.  She hadn’t been able to yet, and that was before the events of the last 24 hours.  Was she forever doomed to spend her life basking in the beauty and subsequent heart wrenching anguish of those 21 glorious minutes with him in that hot tub?  Was he going to torment her in front of everyone for her four-minute dive into a world that could never be her own?  Was he getting her back for turning him down earlier?  Couldn’t he see that those pick-up lines weren’t going erase seven years of having to witness him parade around girl after girl in front of her?  Riley had to act like his words had no effect on her.  So, she tilted her head to the side as she pursed her lips.  “That was the night you met Lauren, right?”

Lucas’s smile slowly faded as he looked into her smoldering orbs.  He could no longer see where her pupils ended and irises began.  He didn’t mention the party to bring up anyone or anything other than their little interlude in the living room.  He certainly didn’t want to bring up one of the worst lapses in judgment he had ever committed.  He knew she saw it.  Zay told him as much the next day.  He wanted to talk to her, explain that he was only trying to do what she had always told him to, but he didn’t.  She told Maya that she still saw him as a friend, even after what he thought had been a real moment between them.  There was no use in trying to explain that night to her.  She never asked and he was too embarrassed to ever try to explain it.  “Yeah,” he muttered as he turned away from her.

Dylan frowned as he slid into the seat on the other side of Lucas.  “Who’s Lauren?”

“A girl I went out with for a few months freshman year,” Lucas answered as he looked up at Zay.  His frown deepened when Zay’s lips curled up into a grin.  Was everyone delighting in his past mistakes?  How had it all spun against him so quickly?

“They met at a party,” Riley added.  “I think his lips fell onto hers or hers fell onto his.  I forget the story.”  

Zay had no idea what Lucas was up to, especially when he mentioned their first college party.  The scowl on his face told him that whatever plan he had was rapidly backfiring.  “What do you want to drink?”

‘Finally,’ Lucas thought as he took a breath, ‘A little bit of help.’  “I’m going to keep it classy tonight,” Lucas began as he tried to rebound from Riley’s comeback.  He smiled as he tapped his fingers against the counter.  “In honor of the fact that we’re all dressed up, and I’m sure, will all act like grown ups tonight…how about a nice scotch?”

Riley rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her seat.  She crossed her legs before she placed her forearm on the counter.  It was her turn to lightly tap her fingernails on the counter as she eyed him from head to toe.  “You drink whiskey all the time.  Scotch isn’t that far off.”

Lucas inhaled a shaky breath as he watched the brunette cross her legs.  He wasn’t sure if she was doing it to torture him for bringing up that party, or if she was simply unaware of the fact that every single move she made pushed him further toward the edge of his sanity.  He desperately wanted to pull her to him at that moment, but instead, he stood up and leaned in to whisper in her ear.  “Are you really that concerned with what I put in my body?”  His voice was deep and husky, full of pent up emotions that he had been able to keep at bay for years.  He hadn’t had a drop of alcohol and yet, he was already coming apart at the seams.  He knew at that moment that everything was going to come to a head tonight.

Goose bumps peppered the entire right side of her body as he whispered to her.  As Riley reminded herself to breathe—in a desperate attempt to settle her rapidly unraveling nerves—she felt slightly lightheaded by the scent of his cologne.  That smell was uniquely Lucas, so as she breathed it in, a million memories careened back to her, including those stolen moments at the Hoover Dam.  She had to get a grip on reality.  What was taking Asher so long with her drink?  It was just a stupid glass of vodka.  She cleared her throat before she forced herself to rotate her head in order to lock eyes with him.  Their faces were mere inches apart.  All it would take was for one of them to lean in a few insignificant inches to knock down the rapidly building tension between them.  Riley would be damned if she gave into his biting comments.  She had to be strong.  She couldn’t let him see that everything he did affected her in some way, whether it was throwing their past in her face or ignoring her completely as he did at dinner.  “Do whatever the hell you want to, Lucas,” she practically snarled before she turned back around to watch Asher pour her vodka into a glass.

Lucas’s smile didn’t waver as he slid back onto his chair.  Inwardly, he knew that acting like a pompous ass wouldn’t get him anywhere with Riley, but he had to hold her attention.  Maybe if the others wandered into the other room to play pool or something, he could talk to her about what happened earlier, explain that he wasn’t the guy she thought he was.  Still, he knew that the odds of her putting herself into a situation where they would be alone would be very slim.  So, Lucas decided to throw in a little honesty, even amongst their friends.  He didn’t care what they thought, not about this.  He didn’t care if they found out about their hookup.  Maybe it would get Asher to back off.  “Already tried to,” he sighed as he stared at the brunette next to him.  “I got shot down.”

“Who shot you down,” Dylan asked him as he looked at the incredible liquor collection on the back wall of the bar.  “For as long as I’ve known you, I don’t think any woman has been able to resist that southern charm.”

Lucas was suddenly very grateful for Dylan’s presence tonight.  He only needed one person to ask the obvious.  “Ah, I was bound to get turned down some day,” he drawled out as he turned to address Dylan.  “The joke’s on her though because I could have given her something that would have lasted a lifetime.”

“And what was that,” Riley asked him as Asher placed the glass of vodka from her.  She picked it up as she slid out of her seat.  She was tired of whatever game he was playing with her.  She knew that her heart would ache no matter what he did, but whatever this was, was more than she could bear at the moment.  She was more prepared for him to stay away from her tonight.  She thought for sure that he would be too preoccupied coming up with a game plan to get a group of co-eds back to the suite than to try to get under her skin.  “An STD?”

“Woah,” Dylan’s eyes widened as he released a low whistle.  “That was a major burn, Riley.”

Riley raised her glass to the Texan before she threw the contents back.  She could feel every drop of it burn her throat as it slid down to her stomach.  Part of her wanted a chaser, something to soothe the burning sensation she felt, but she’d much rather focus on that than whatever conversation she was in the middle of.  She was furious with him.  He had completely shifted her entire world and the moment she thought that maybe they could talk about it, he tells Zay that he wants to have a ‘real’ Vegas experience.  “You know what Dylan,” she began as she sat the empty glass on the counter, “That’s probably the exact same thing that poor girl would have eventually said to him if she hadn’t turned him down.”  She immediately regretted her words.  She thought being cold would make her feel better, but she couldn’t do it.  She wasn’t this person.  She wanted to be happy.  She wanted to have a good time.  She didn’t want to think about the past.  If only she hadn’t gotten into that stupid hot tub with him.

Lucas said nothing as he waited for Zay to pour him a drink.  He knew he should drop it, and consider this round a loss, but her comments felt like nothing short of a slap in the face.  She was the one who turned him down.  Why was she taking cheap shots at him?  As Zay sat his drink in front of Lucas, he looked at the amber liquid for a long moment.  She had no clue who he was.  That realization alone was enough to send him for a loop.  “You’re one to talk,” he mumbled before he took a sip of his scotch.  As soon as the words left him, he regretted it.  The last thing he wanted was to start an ethical argument with her.

Riley shook her head as she processed his mumbled reply.  “Excuse me,” she snarled as she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Nothing,” he answered before he downed the rest of his drink.  “Zay, I need another.”

“Ok,” Zay slowly answered as he took the glass.  He wasn’t sure what was about to happen between his enraged friends.  It was definitely a cheap shot by Riley to insinuate that Lucas had an STD, but Lucas had been trying to get under her skin for the last ten minutes.  Everyone in the room knew it—they just didn’t know why.

“He’s going to need more than that in a minute,” Riley responded darkly.  She wasn’t about to let that comment slide—not from him.  “What is your problem?”

“I don’t have a problem.” Lucas stared straight ahead at the bar as he answered her as evenly as he could.  He knew that if he took one look at her, it would all fall apart.  He thought that he would be used to her rejection, but for some reason, it felt so much worse this time.  Maybe it was because he really put himself out there at the Dam.  Maybe it was because this time he really tried to fight for her and she didn’t seem to care.  Maybe it was time to say goodbye.  First thing’s first.  He had to get through the rest of this trip.  “So, are we good?”

Riley stared at the glass on the counter for a long moment before she looked back at him.  She had always known that she was going to get drunk for her 21st birthday.  Now, she had a new goal in mind.  She wanted to feel completely numb.  For one night, she wanted to feel nothing.  “As long as you keep the snide comments to yourself.”

He tapped his fingers on the counter three times before he finally turned to face her.  “Likewise.”

Riley looked over her shoulder.  “Asher, could you make me another one, please?”  She gave him a smile as he reached for her glass.  As she waited for him to pour her another drink, she looked back Lucas.  “Fine.”

She was nearly numb by the time they finally reached Hyde.  That was what she needed, what she had to be in order to forget everything else that had happened on this trip.  She wanted to have fun tonight.  She wanted to ring in 21 the way she wanted to ring in birthdays 15-20—without Lucas Friar on her mind the entire time.

By the time the group reached their table, midnight struck.  Everyone at the table cheered and hugged the birthday girl as Maya bought the first round of drinks for everyone.  When Farkle tried to protest, Maya held up a hand to him.  “You’ve done so much for us on this trip, Farkle.  I want to do this one.”

“We have such a good view of the Bellagio Fountains,” Riley smiled as she reached for her drink.  This place was so perfect.  She could get up and dance whenever she felt like it.  She could go into one of the side rooms to watch the fountains.  She could hang out in their booth.  The ambience was perfect.  The lights were dimmed and everyone was dressed to the nine’s.  She didn’t feel too crowded.  She had always dreamt of ringing in twenty-one like this.  Maybe this year would be her year.

“Yeah, you can go on the patio out there and watch the show if you want to,” Farkle mentioned as he gestured in the direction toward the fountains.

“I will definitely be going out there at some point tonight.”  She smiled softly as she looked around the club once more.  “I know this trip has gone by so quickly already, but I just want to take a moment to thank all of you for being here.”  She glanced at the drink in her hands before she looked up at the friends who surrounded her.  “I couldn’t imagine a better way to ring in my 21st year.” She raised her glass.  “Cheers to you guys…for being the best friends anyone could ask for.”

“Cheers to you,” Zay told her.  “I think it’s safe to say that without you, the rest of us wouldn’t be friends.  You’re the heartbeat of this little family, Riley.”

Riley smiled at him.  “Thank you, Zay.”

“Ok, ok,” Maya shook her head.  “I’m not going to get emotional.  Tonight is for fun, only.”  She looked all around them as she sipped on her drink.  She grinned when she noticed the crowd of people dancing across the room.  This was exactly what she had in mind to celebrate her best friend’s birthday.  “Come on!”  Maya sat her drink down on the table before she stood up and reached for Riley’s hand.  “Let’s go dance!”

As Maya pulled her away, Riley forced herself not to look back at the group.  Their little argument at the suite aside, she had done a pretty good job so far of creating some much-needed space between her and Lucas.  It was pretty easy to do considering the fact that he hadn’t said much of anything to her since his biting comment about her one and only foray into the world of beer.  

Everything had changed between them that night.  Before then, she had been able to accept the fact that she was the one who created this whole situation by lying to him, but after that dance, after knowing that her feelings for him were stronger than she even realized, she knew that for the sake of her sanity, she had to step back, at least until she was able to move on.

Two years later, and she was still stuck, but now, it was so much worse than that night.  She had actually tasted the forbidden fruit this time.  Yes, her first kiss was with him on the subway when they were in seventh grade, but did that really count for anything?  It was barely a peck and while she felt a little something at the time, it didn’t even compare to the fire his lips ignited when they brushed against her skin.  As the alcohol danced through her system, the memory of his lips on her sent an electrical charge throughout her entire body.  She thought consuming alcohol would allow her to forget him for a little while, but instead, it forced her to confront the fact that all he had to do was say the word and she would willingly give him every square inch of her body.

As she and Maya danced to the beat of the song, Riley closed her eyes when she could practically feel his hands slide across her body as he did that night two years ago.  She had to finally admit to herself that their four-minute dance last year left her wanting more—so much more.  Of course, a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her when she saw him devouring Lauren Montgomery’s face an hour later.  Maybe that was why she had been able to resist him until now.

When she opened her eyes, she finally glanced back at their table.  She spotted the guys in the booth, but quickly noticed that Lucas wasn’t with them.  She frowned as she instinctively searched for him.  Her heart dropped when she finally spotted him at the back bar.  His elbow was propped up against the counter, his chin rested in the palm of his hand as he spoke with a drop-dead gorgeous blonde.  Her stomach churned when she saw the smile plastered on his face.  His earlier comments to Zay came careening back to her as she helplessly stared at the pair.  It was happening all over again, only this time, it was going to hurt so much more.

Maya turned her head the moment she saw Riley’s smile falter.  It took her a moment, but when she spotted him, Maya rolled her eyes.  “I’m sure it’s nothing,” she told Riley as she turned back around to face her friend.

Riley took a deep breath as she forced herself to look away from the pair.  They were barely inside of the club and he had already met someone.  “She’s blonde.  That’s…a change of pace.”

“Riley, come on!  He was telling you a few hours ago how he wanted to be with you.  Do you really think he’ll come to a bar and hit on the first girl he sees?”  Maya felt that she knew Lucas pretty well.  He wasn’t the same guy he was in middle school, but she was fairly certain she knew how he felt about Riley.  There was no way that he would go out on Riley’s birthday and pick up a random girl hours after telling her that he wanted to be with her.  Had he done some bone headed things over the last few years?  Absolutely, but to Maya’s knowledge, he had never set out to purposefully hurt Riley.  Even if she was resistant to their conversation at the Dam, Maya refused to believe that he would suddenly seek revenge on her.  If he really loved her, if he really wanted a chance with her, he wouldn’t pick up a stranger tonight.  Maya knew that, and she knew that Lucas knew that too.

But Riley didn’t know that.  Riley only knew what she overheard earlier in the evening and what she had witnessed two years ago.  If his comment earlier hadn’t stirred up all the memories of their first college party, then seeing him talking with that blonde woman would have.  Riley looked down at the ground as she slowed her movements.  

Maya frowned as she stopped dancing.  “Riley?  What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing.”  She looked back up at Maya.  “It’s nothing,” she answered a little stronger.  “It doesn’t matter.  He wants to have a good time tonight…and so do I.”  She tossed her hair to the side and closed her eyes as she tried to lose herself in the music instead of drowning in the memories of him.  “You know what they say,” she began as her eyes remained closed, “what happens in Vegas…”

“Yeah…for most people, but not for Riley Matthews.”  She glanced at Lucas before she turned back to the brunette once more.  She had no idea what Lucas was doing at the bar with the blonde girl, but there had to be some logical explanation for it.  There was no way he would give up on Riley in the middle of one conversation about their feelings for one another.  Granted, Riley was a lot better at hiding her feelings than Lucas was, but Maya could tell that cracks were forming in the wall Riley had built around her heart.  It was only a matter of time before everything came out.  “You have the biggest heart of anyone I know.  It’s a blessing and a curse sometimes.”

Riley shrugged.  She had spent the first twenty-one years of her life playing everything safe, putting everyone else in front of her.  Maybe tonight she could be a little selfish.  Maybe she could make a mistake and have it not be the end of the world.  Maybe she could act as careless as him.  Maybe, for one night, she could send her brain and her heart on a little vacation and just enjoy being young.  Wasn’t that what this entire trip was about?  “Maybe just this once I could be that person.”

Maya stopped dancing as she reached for Riley’s hands.  She was going to do her best to keep her eyes on the brunette tonight, but she also knew that if Riley wanted to do something stupid and reckless, nothing would stop her.  “Please don’t get hurt.  That’s all I’m asking.”

Riley nodded as she squeezed Maya’s hands.  “I won’t.  That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing…so I won’t get hurt and so I can enjoy my birthday.”

An hour into being at Hyde and he felt like a complete stalker.  That was the only way to describe it.  He had become Lucas Friar: stalker of Riley Matthews.  He had kept an eye on her the entire time she was on the dance floor, even when that blonde woman tried to talk to him.  He briefly entertained the idea of doing something ridiculously stupid just to try to forget about his rejection for a few miserable moments, but when Riley’s face flashed in his mind, he knew he’d never be able to do it.  He was furious with her, that hadn’t changed, but he wasn’t about to slam the door closed on them forever.  He had waited seven years.  He couldn’t give up after one unfinished conversation.

So, he politely walked away from the woman once he got his second drink.  As he settled back in his seat, he spotted Riley on the dance floor.  She danced with Maya for a few songs, then Asher and Dylan stepped in and danced with them as one cohesive unit.  Gradually, they broke off into pairs.  He wasn’t sure how long Asher danced with her, but Lucas was well into his third scotch when the idea of cutting in hit him.  He was trying so hard to let her do what she wanted.  He didn’t want to be the guy who had to stake his claim on anyone.  She was single, as was Asher.  If they wanted to dry-hump on the dance floor, then Lucas should have the grace to let them do just that.  He knew that if he exploded, if he stalked to the dance floor and barged in, it would only make her angrier.  So, he desperately tried to keep his distance from the brunette while she was on the dance floor with Asher, but with every passing second, the inner voice he had been able to quell for so long threatened to burst.  With every dance they shared, Riley and Asher’s initial awkwardness faded as they physically drew closer to one another.

He couldn’t stand it.  Asher was one of his oldest friends, but Riley was his heart—fight or no fight, misunderstanding or not.  He hoped that they would stop soon.  His will was rapidly fading.  He was either about to make a complete jackass of himself on the dance floor or bolt to the nearest exit.  As he sat the empty glass down on the table, he knew that he wasn’t nearly drunk enough to do both.  His emotions were threatening to boil over, but he still managed to maintain some of his sensibilities.

After awhile, he wasn’t sure how much alcohol he had consumed in that first hour.  All he knew was that the bartender swiped his credit card, which set him up with an open tab.  He had hoped that eventually, the alcohol would dull his senses and allow him to endure the show he felt forced to watch, but instead, with every drink, with every fleeting moment, his jealousy grew stronger and stronger.  All he wanted to do was tell her just how much seeing Asher and her on the dance floor affected him.  He was losing his grip on reality.  Seven years of pent up emotions were swirling within him, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep it all in.

Riley fanned herself as she made her way back to the table.  She had no idea how long she and Maya had been on the dance floor with the guys.  All she knew was that she felt much better about everything that had happened earlier in the evening.  She was there to have fun with her friends, and her time on the dance floor definitely provided her with a much-needed distraction.  

When she reached the table, she was mildly surprised to see Lucas sitting with the guys sans the blonde woman.  The endorphins swirling through her mind protected her from everything her heart was feeling.  “It’s warm out there.”

“Drink this,” Zay instructed as he handed her a drink.

“Oh, this looks fruity,” she grinned as she examined the frothy, pink drink in her hands.  She took a sip.  “Oh, this is amazing!”  It was cold and sweet—exactly the combination she craved at the moment.  She took another huge sip as she bobbed her head to the beat of the song.

“Yeah, the bartender wouldn’t tell me what’s in it,” Zay answered, “I just said make the birthday girl something with strawberries.”

“It’s delicious!” She took another long sip as she swayed her body to the music.

He wanted to wait until they were both sober.  He wanted to wait until it wasn’t her birthday.  He wanted to hold off just a little while longer so they could really talk without an audience, but needing and wanting were two very different things.  He knew he wouldn’t be able to stand it if she got back on that dance floor with Asher.  He knew that he would explode and do something even stupider than what he did at that ridiculous party.  He only needed a few minutes.  He only needed forever.  So, he finished off the scotch in his hands before he sat the glass down on the table and stood up.  “Dylan, can you order me another one?”

“Yeah, sure.  Where are you going?”

“Well,” he began as walked toward Riley, “It’s Riley’s birthday and I would like to dance with her.  That is, if it’s ok with her?”

Riley nearly spit out her drink at his question.  He wanted to dance with her?  Had she heard him correctly?  She thought for sure that he would want to stay as far away from her as humanly possible after their biting exchange in the suite.  

She had no idea what she was going to do as she took a few more sips of the drink.  Was she strong enough to handle one dance with him?  Her track record wasn’t so good, and she was way more intoxicated now than she had been at that party.  At the same time, she couldn’t help but to feel like he was challenging her somehow and she wasn’t about to back down from it.  “Sure,” she answered as she sat her drink down.  

He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his lips.  He honestly didn’t expect her to agree to it.  Was he actually going to get a few minutes alone with her?  “Follow me,” he instructed as he offered his hand to her.

Riley looked down at it for a long moment before she placed her hands in his.

As they wandered through the club, she thought for sure that he would take her to the area where she danced with Maya and Asher, but instead, he turned left and led her outside.  It was a much less crowded space.  There were only a few people standing around due to the fact that it was freezing outside.  Riley eagerly welcomed the cold chill.  It felt good considering how overheated she felt inside.  She smiled when she spotted a few couples dancing closely with one another.  Other people seemed entranced by the Bellagio fountain show.  As Lucas led her to a small corner, she couldn’t help but to notice that they were secluded from everyone else—even those who were outside with them.  “Lucas, I think most people are dancing inside.”

“I know,” he responded as he turned to face her.  “It’s why I brought you out here…away from everyone…away from the possibility of being interrupted again…somewhere that the music wasn’t quite so loud so that maybe for five minutes, we can be us…and not the us that we’ve been the last two days and definitely not the us we’ve been for the last seven years.”  He gave her a small smile.  “I want us to be the people we were before it all got complicated.”  He slowly brought her hand around his neck before he lowered his hands to her waist.

As they began to sway to a beat that in no way aligned with the pulsating club music inside, Riley took a deep breath.  “That…that was a really long time ago.”

“You don’t think we could ever be like that again?”

She shrugged.  It wasn’t a simple yes or no question, but it was something that Riley had thought about for years.  She still wasn’t sure of the answer.  “We grew up.  A lot has changed.”  As she looked into his eyes, the intensity of his stare nearly made her knees buckle from underneath her.  They had only been alone for a few seconds, but her body was already betraying her attempt at remaining guarded.  It took her an hour to put the past out of her mind, and now, he wanted to bring it back up.  She laughed nervously as she forced herself to look over his shoulder at the fountains.  “I’m really not sober enough to have this conversation right now.  Maybe we can wait until—“

“I can’t wait anymore.”  He waited until she slowly lifted her gaze back to his before he continued.  “Riley, please tell me what’s going on.”  When she didn’t reply, he felt his carefully constructed walls come crashing down.  He closed his eyes as he lowered his head to rest against hers.  There was nothing more he wanted in that moment than a few minutes of honest clarity between them.  Quite often over the last seven years, he had planned out several different scenarios for how he would do this, what he would say, how he would act, but all of that planning, of standing in front of his mirror and rehearsing, was for nothing.  He could only say what he felt, and what he felt was unlike anything he had ever known before.  His voice trembled when his pleas didn’t elicit a reaction from her.  “I know you feel this too.  I don’t want to fight.  I just want to figure this out.”  He swallowed harshly as he closed his eyes.  He knew he had to brace himself for her rejection.  “Please say something,” he begged as his voice cracked slightly.

“I don’t know,” she finally whimpered as she closed her eyes.  Her heart raced from the sheer proximity of him.  Her brain attempted to clear out the alcohol-induced haze she had eagerly welcomed not five minutes earlier, to no avail.  This was too much for her to handle right now.  She couldn’t think about something like right now—not after their conversation earlier and not after the all of the drinks they had consumed.  Was he saying this just because he was drunk?  Would he wake up tomorrow and regret this entire conversation?  She couldn’t let her guard down while they were inebriated.  It would hurt way too much if she found out that it wasn’t real.

Lucas took a deep breath as he pulled back from her.  He knew he was putting a lot of pressure on her, but he had finally cracked.  He wasn’t sure if it was because of what happened last night, that afternoon, or if after seven years, he had finally reached his limit, but either way, he didn’t care to hide from her anymore.  He wanted her to remember the only decent part of the night of that party.  He wanted her to remember just how amazing last night was.  So, for a third time, he lifted his left hand in order to tuck her hair behind her ear as a soft smile slowly formed on his lips.  “You’re driving me crazy, you know that?”  His words seemed accusatory, but his delivery was so soft and reverent that it felt like a compliment.

Riley shivered as he tucked her hair behind her ear.  Suddenly, the simple gesture seemed to mean so much more than what it was.  She took a shaky breath as he leaned in closer to her.  Her heart pounded even harder when she felt his lips lightly brush against her cheek.  She closed her eyes at the sensation.  How could a simple kiss on the cheek send a wave of excitement throughout her entire body and into her very core?  

Because it was from him.  

When she didn’t push him away, he pressed his lips to her cheek once more before he began to kiss along her jawline as he slowly made his way toward her neck.  The only thought running through Lucas’s mind was that he had to be close to her.  Whatever she wanted, he would give her.  Thank God it appeared that she did not want him to stop his slow decent to the base of her neck.

Riley’s body betrayed her as she shivered against the feeling of his lips across her skin.  She felt goose bumps instantly pop up along her arms and neck as he moved her hair to the side before he finally lowered his lips to the base of her neck.  She slowly slid her hands down from the nape of his neck to his shoulders and finally his biceps as she leaned her head back to allow him better access to the flesh that he was currently adulating.  “That feels so good,” she breathed as she quickly ascended back into the heavens he had sent her to last night.

He smiled against her neck while he placed his hands on her lower back.  He nudged her forward in order to close what little space remained between them.  He didn’t want to let her go.  He wasn’t even sure if he could at this point.  Whatever was flowing through him at the moment had to be flowing through her too.  Something this powerful, this intense couldn’t possibly be one sided.  He detached his lips from her neck as he lifted his head to look into her eyes.  He had to know what was on her mind.  He noticed that her lips were slightly parted and her eyes were closed.  Was she was thinking the same thing he was?  Did she crave this as much as he always had?  Did she need him just as badly as he needed her?  As he cupped her cheek, she slowly opened her eyes.  As they stared at one another, he lightly ran his thumb across her bottom lip.  God, he wanted to kiss her again.

“We shouldn’t do this,” she breathed.  As the words tumbled from her, she knew that there was nothing she wanted more than to feel his lips and hands explore every square inch of her body.  This felt too good.  He felt too good.

“You keep saying that, but we keep doing it anyway,” he answered just as softly as he lowered his head.  If she wanted to stop this, she would.  If she wanted to go back inside and forget the whole thing, then she would.  Only, she wasn’t moving away from him.  As he inched closer to the sweet utopia that her lips possessed, he held his breath.  When she closed her eyes and licked her lips in anticipation, he nearly groaned.  That was the reassurance he needed.  He now knew that she had been anticipating this reunion as much as he had.

The logical part of her brain that had stopped them earlier that day was long gone.  It was replaced by the wonderful buzz that afforded her the chance to simply enjoy this moment.  This was what she needed.  She needed a night of recklessness.  She needed to not think and simply give into what she had deprived herself of.  When his lips finally brushed against hers, she realized that this was the perfect birthday present: another stolen moment with him.  Despite the fighting and the unresolved anger that still simmered between them, nothing felt more truthful than this.

The softest of kisses slowly morphed into a quiet desperation for one another. Years of longing and suffering created this insatiable need for one another.  Riley dug her fingernails into his back as she opened her mouth against his.  She wanted to be closer to him.  She had to be closer to him.  She wanted the taste of him to be burned into her soul.

Lucas moaned into her mouth as she pulled him closer.  He knew they were both drunk, and that this wasn’t the best way to start whatever it was that they were becoming, but at that moment, he didn’t care.  He would never be so bold with her after a fight while they were sober.  He would never have the guts to put himself out there mere hours after being rejected by her.  He thought he’d spend the night trying to forget about the brunette in his arms, but ever since she stepped into the living room, he knew it would be impossible.  When he saw her flirt with Asher, his heart ached.  When he saw her press her body up against him on the dance floor, he knew that his will had finally collapsed.  He desperately wanted to ignore them, but every instinct he possessed demanded that he show her how perfect they were for one another.  She had to see that.  There was no way that she didn’t know that now—drunk or not.  They were made for one another.

His hands slid across her lower back as he nudged her forward so that she was completely flush against him.  Riley sighed into his mouth when she felt his entire body pressed against hers.  She needed more.  She needed him to touch her, to explore her entire body if he wanted to.  She knew they were in a public place, but they had found a small sanctuary in a darkened corner.  They were practically invisible to everyone else around them.  She wasn’t sure how far they would take it, but at that moment, she wanted it all.

His hands ran across the length of her back three times—each time he ventured a little further south.  He wasn’t even thinking about what he was doing.  All he was aware of was that his dream girl, the only one he wanted, but could never have, was slowly causing the destruction of ‘Lucas the Good’.  Everyone around him would claim that he hadn’t been ‘Lucas the Good’ since middle school, but he knew better.  He knew the truth, and right now the truth was that no one had ever extracted every single emotion from him at once—both good and bad.  They had a lot to discuss, and lot to work through, but first, they needed this moment.  He needed to feel her—to know she was real, to know that this wasn’t some dream.  When he lowered his hands down her back a fourth time, Lucas finally forced himself to detach his lips from hers.

Pure instinct had taken over both of them.  He closed his eyes as he rested his forehead against hers once more.  His brain was spinning; his heart was swelling.  Both of them were breathless, both charged on something they had never ever experienced before.  “You want this,” he panted as his right hand slowly ran down the length of her arm.  He interlaced his fingers with hers before he continued.  “I know you want this, Riley, but I need to hear it.  Tell me.”

“I do,” she breathed as she closed her eyes.  She was going to hell and she was going to be completely destroyed the entire way down, but this felt too good.  Her entire body hummed as her heart raced.  Truthfully, she had never wanted anything more.  “I want you, Lucas.”

“Let’s get out of here,” he said softly as he pulled back from her.  He lifted her hand to his lips before he placed a kiss to her knuckles.  “Go back to the hotel room…talk…”

“I can’t,” she groaned as she felt some of her common sense coming back to her.  “It’s my birthday party and everyone is here.”  She looked away from him long enough to glance inside.  She couldn’t see their table, so she wasn’t sure where their friends were, if they were waiting for her, or even how long she had been gone.  As she turned her head back to him, she knew that the hypnotic spell she was just under had faded.  “And I don’t think we should talk about this right now.”

He slowly detached his hand from hers as he took two steps back from her.  His smile slowly faded into a frown as he processed the meaning behind her words.  She still didn’t want to talk to him about this?  “Why not?”

“We’re drunk,” she answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  “We can’t talk about this while we’re both hammered.”  She waited a beat as she crossed her arms over her chest.  His earlier comments at the hotel, not to mention the image of the blonde woman at the bar, rang through her mind.  “I’m not some random girl at the bar.  I’m not going to listen to a bunch of stupid promises to only have you leave my bed in the morning and never call me back.”

Lucas’s eyes narrowed.  “You still think that this is a random hookup, don’t you?”  How?  After every that happened, how could she possibly think that?  Did she not feel the same thing he did?

“I don’t know,” she answered as she shrugged her shoulders.  “I know…I know what I see…what I’ve heard.”  She wasn’t prepared for this conversation.  She could barely think right now, let alone go another round of arguing with him.  Couldn’t they just go back inside, enjoy the night, and talk about it tomorrow when they were both sober?

Her words stung.  He knew he should walk away before they got into another argument, but he wasn’t exactly thinking logically as the scotch swirled within him.  He was only thinking emotionally and irrationally, with was a lethal combination when mixed with alcohol.  “What about you, Riley?  You like to put all of this on me, but as I seem to recall, you’ve never made it past a handful of dates with a guy.”

Riley bit her bottom lip.  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”  He didn’t know anything.  He didn’t know that she didn’t make it past the first few dates with anyone because she realized that she couldn’t replace the man who stood in front of her.  He didn’t know that she had been searching for someone to make her forget how she felt when she was around him, but that so far, she had yet to find anyone who even came close.

“Just like you have no idea what you’re talking about in regards to my relationships.”  She didn’t know that he was only trying to survive the tag she had placed on their relationship.  She didn’t know why he couldn’t make it work with anyone past the two-month mark.  She had no clue that when it came down to really committing to someone, that he couldn’t because of her—because of how he felt about her.  

His jealousy began to bubble back up along with his anger.  Was she trying to push him away because she had already found someone? “What’s going on with you and that Steve guy?”

Her eyes widened.  “That’s none of your business.”  How was all of this getting turned around on her?  She wasn’t the one cozying up to some blonde at the bar.  She was the one who was trying to talk this through logically.  Clearly, they didn’t need to be having this discussion right now.  They were both too drunk and too emotional.  The last thing she wanted was to completely wreck whatever shred of friendship that remained between them.

Lucas didn’t pick up on the hint that she didn’t want to talk about this right now.  All he heard was that she wanted to keep whoever this Steve guy was a secret.  Well, fine.  She wasn’t obligated to tell him anything about that, but he felt that he did deserve to know about what was going on with her other suitor.  “And what about Asher?  He’s one of my best friends, but I had to watch you dance all over him for an hour, Riley.  It killed me!”

She could practically see red as her hands began to shake in an anger she had been able to repress for seven years.  Had he no idea what he actually just said?  Did he really have no clue what hell she had been dragged through over the last several years?  “Oh,” her voice rose.  “That killed you, Lucas?  THAT killed you?  How do you think it felt for me when I had to watch you and Maya date in middle school?  She’s my best friend, but you had no problem dating her anyway, did you?”

“Because you told me to,” he bellowed.  How could she possibly throw this back at him?  She told him that he was like a brother to her and that he should date Maya.  She was the one who pushed him toward her in the first place.  He lowered his voice as an unresolved pain splintered through his words.  “You told me to date Maya.  You told me that there was something going on between her and me.  You told me that I was your brother, Riley. You told me that there was nothing going on between you and me and that I should be with her.”

“And you listened!”  Tears swam in Riley’s eyes as she felt that brick wall around her heart finally tumble down.  For years she had wanted to have this conversation with him, but always chickened out.  Now, it was the absolute worst time for any of this to happen, yet here they were—rehashing their past in the middle of a Las Vegas club.  “Some part of you knew that there was something more between you two or else you wouldn’t have done it!”

Lucas started to shake his head when he suddenly stopped.  He was intoxicated, so his brain felt fuzzy, but suddenly, it felt like everything around him became crystal clear.  When he looked back up at her, he noticed the unshed tears that swam in her eyes.  Everything suddenly made perfect sense.  “You lied to me.”  It wasn’t a question; it wasn’t even an accusation.  It was simply a statement that she didn’t have to confirm or deny because he already knew the truth.  She lied to him.

Riley didn’t answer as she pursed her lips together and her eyes fell to the ground.  Was this actually happening right now?  She had waited so long for him to figure it out.  Part of her had hoped he never would, but an even bigger part of her always knew that one day, he would discover the truth: that she never, not even for a second, saw him as a brother.

“You told me that you saw me as a brother, but that wasn’t true, was it?”  He didn’t wait for her to respond.  “You saw…something…between Maya and me and…and you stepped back.”  A bitter chuckle exploded from him as he connected the final piece of the puzzle.  “It all makes sense now!”  He shook his head in disbelief as he stared at her.  All this time.  All these years.  “You have no idea how often I replayed every conversation we’ve ever had.  How I tried to figure out what I did, where I went wrong to make you see me in a different light.  You have no idea how long I’ve waited for an answer.”

“Yeah, you waited such a long time,” she finally snapped back at him as her own resentment poured from her.  “The moment I told you that, you turned around and went out with my best friend!”  She shook her head as she forced herself to not give into the urge to cry.  She wasn’t going to cry tonight—not about this and not about him.  “And ever since then, you’ve been running around with any girl who gives you the least bit of attention, so excuse me for being hesitant about anything you’re telling me right now.”

“Meanwhile, you’re out there shaking your ass against one of my best friends,” he seethed.  He wasn’t sure what he felt at the moment: he was plagued by a deep seeded anger that he had never felt before, the jealously that filled his veins had his mind in a vice grip, but at the center of it all was the woman he loved more now than ever before.  “You know exactly what you’re doing…and you know what?  It’s working.  I’m losing my damn mind right now because of it.  Watching you act like that with someone else is killing me, Riley.”

Maybe if she were sober, she would feel more sympathetic about the fact that a bomb had just been placed in his lap, but she wasn’t sober.  She didn’t want to talk about this right now, but he had pushed her.  And now, he had pushed her too far.  He had to know that what he was experiencing right now was something she had to experience over and over again for years.  “For one hour, you got to see me dance with someone else.  For seven years, I had to watch you parade girl after girl in front of me, so excuse me for not apologizing to you for living my life.”  When he opened his mouth to respond, she cut him off.  “And for your information, I like Asher.  He’s a really nice guy and we’ve been friends for a while now.  Whatever is going on between him and me is between him and me.  It has nothing to do with you.”

“But it does,” Lucas insisted as he took a step closer to her.  “It has everything to do with me because I know that you want to be with me.”  His eyes slowly raked over her body.  He was still completely furious over the fact that she did what she did when they were in 8th grade, but all he wanted at that moment was to take her in his arms, go back to their hotel, and spend the rest of his life making up for the fact that he didn’t see this sooner.  “Two minutes ago, you were ready to give into this.”  When she took a step back from him, he lifted his eyes back to hers.  “Now, you’re just going to run away…go back inside and what?  Hook up with Asher tonight?”

Her knees went weak when he inched closer to her, but as a blend of anger, love, lust, and jealousy swirled within her, she knew that she needed a break from this entire situation.  “I’m not you,” she grounded out as an image of Lauren and that blonde woman came to her mind.  “I don’t run around sleeping with anyone who’s ready, willing, and able.”

“How can you possibly believe that all I want from you is a one night stand?”  His anger quickly dissolved into a despondency that immediately shut down any sense of fight he had left in him.  If she wanted to think that, after everything that happened the last two days, then what else could he do?

“Well, you brought me out here, and after what, two sentences of conversation, you start kissing me.  What am I supposed to think right now?”

He couldn’t take it anymore.  He needed another drink and he needed to get some space from her while he tried to figure everything out. “You’re wrong, Riley,” he muttered as he breezed past her.

Riley bit the inside of her cheek in order to keep herself from crying.  She looked up as the Bellagio fountains sprang to life in front of her.  She wrapped her arms around herself as she watched the show for a moment.  It would have been an incredible memory to make with the right person, but as she looked around her, she realized that this was one memory she alone would have.

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M (because of language, situations, and it’s Vegas, soooo yeah)

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 4,855

Cross-posted at ff.net            

Soundtrack (although not at all organized and subject to edits)

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A | J |

             Chapter Six: Loyalty at the Risk of Death

He thought that it would be easy to bury his feelings.  After all, he had gotten pretty good at it over the years.  He had been able to navigate high school and the first two years of college without begging her to reconsider her 8th grade edict, but after the previous night, there was no way he could remain silent.

They kissed—for fifteen glorious minutes, his lips were on her lips, but it was more than that.  It was unlike any other make out session he had ever participated in.  It was more than just lips pressed against lips.  It went so much deeper than that.  It felt like, for the first time in years, he could be himself.  He could let his guard down and let his heart reign over his mind.  He felt light.  He felt happy.  He felt free.

All of that couldn’t be one sided, could it?

Did she really still think of him as her brother?

He pretended to sleep the entire way to the Hoover Dam.  He was afraid that if he opened his eyes, if he looked at her once, he would completely breakdown in front of everyone.  They didn’t need to be privy to this conversation, especially if she shot him down again.

He “woke up” as soon as they arrived.  He feigned interest in what their tour guide had to say as they wandered around the structure.  He only spoke when spoken to as his mind was transfixed on the brunette who walked approximately five steps in front of him.

As the group walked through one of the tunnels inside of the dam, he noticed that Riley had begun to linger several steps behind the others.  He wasn’t sure what they were going to do once they got back to the hotel or even if he’d get another chance to speak to her alone.  If she wanted to avoid him, he knew Maya would stick to her like glue.  

So, once the group turned down another hallway, he slowed his pace even more.  As Riley was about to round the corner, he wrapped his hand around her waist before he pulled her back to him.

Riley’s breath caught in her throat as she felt someone’s arm wrap around her waist.  She had been in a complete daze throughout their whole tour.  As desperate as she was to get her mind off of Lucas, she couldn’t think of anything else since breakfast.  She wanted to do her father proud and listen to the tour guide, maybe even learn something new, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything around her.

Somehow, someway, she failed to notice that anyone else had lingered behind.  She took a deep breath in order to scream out for help, but her captor’s hand covered her mouth as he spun her towards him.  Once her bewildered eyes recognized him, her heart quickened its already rapid pace.  “Lucas,” she hissed as soon as he lowered his hand from her mouth.  “What are you doing?  Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

He thought he could let her walk away again.  He thought he could handle the role she had forced him into, but he couldn’t—not anymore.  He had a glimpse into a world that contained everything he had ever wanted.  He had to fight for that, because he knew that what happened between them last night was real.  It had to be.  She had to know that too.  “I need to talk to you.”

Riley bit her bottom lip as her eyes lowered to the ground.  She couldn’t do this right now, but truthfully, she wasn’t sure she could ever handle having this conversation with him.  She was petrified of what he wanted to say.  On the one hand, he could confirm everything he said last night.  He could chalk it all up to some ridiculous side effect of the alcohol they had consumed.  On the other hand, he could confirm everything she felt in that hot tub—and that scared her more than anything else in the world.  How easy was it to completely lose herself in him? Last night, she realized that her feelings for him ran a lot deeper than she ever suspected.  To have him feel even a fraction of that unnerved her because she knew that she would give her entire self into whatever this was.  To give someone that kind of power—the power to break you—had to be the scariest thing in the world.  “Look, I told you earlier that it’s ok.  I know…I know what you meant last night and…it was just a stupid thing.  Thanks for humoring me.  I guess…I guess with the alcohol and the setting and everything that…that we just got carried away in the moment.”

He wasn’t going to let her write him off that easily.  When her eyes fell to the ground, he knew she was about to smash his heart into smithereens, but he couldn’t go back to how things had been between them.  She needed to know.  “I’m sober now.”

Riley frowned.  Out of all the things she expected him to say, that was nowhere on the list.  “Well, that’s good considering its not even ten in the morning.”

He clenched his fists in order to keep himself from pulling her to him to reignite the fire that had consumed him less than eight hours earlier.  “You’re sober too.”

She nodded.  She still had no idea what being sober had to do with anything.  “Yeah.  I don’t want to lose my liver this weekend.”

He knew he wasn’t making any sense, but he hadn’t exactly planned any of this out.  His plan only went as far as being able to talk to her without an audience.  Honestly, he thought that in and of itself would be an impossible task, so he didn’t bother coming up with a solid plan.  “We’re both sober.  If what happened last night only happened because we were drunk…if…if you’re willing to chalk whatever we felt last night to alcohol…to being drunk, then…then you won’t feel anything if we kiss now.”  Oh God.  Did he really just ask her if they could kiss again?  He knew what her answer would be before she even comprehended the question.  ‘Smooth, Friar.  Real smooth.’

Riley’s breath caught in her throat.  Was he being serious?  He wanted to do this again?  Sober?  Had he actually felt something between them last night?  Was she not going crazy?  Was she ready to open Pandora’s Box?  Was she ready to step back into that world?  She never wanted to leave that paradise last night.  Would she be strong enough to walk away again?  She swallowed.  “Lucas, I…I…”

“I said ‘yes’ last night,” he murmured as he brushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes as the memory of that first touch echoed through his mind.  He knew that he was practically guilt tripping her into agreeing to this, but he was desperate to get some answers to the questions that refused to leave his brain.  “Remember?  Can you say ‘yes’ to me now?”

As he tucked her hair behind her ear, the memory of him doing that exact thing charged back at her.  She could feel the goose bumps rise up on her neck as his fingers brushed against her ear.  When she lifted her eyes to meet his, she knew that there was no escaping this moment.  His emerald eyes had completely captivated her.  This was either going to be the biggest mistake of her life or the start of something deeper than anything she had ever known.  As she inhaled to answer him, she wondered if the two options were mutually exclusive.  Even if something started between them, she was certain that she would regret every moment of it the day he broke her heart.  “Yes,” she finally whispered.

He couldn’t wait another second.  His hand slid to the back of her neck as he lowered his lips to hers.

The kiss was chaste at first.  Both were scared of how the other would react.  Both expected the other to pull away almost immediately, but when neither of them did, their hesitancy slowly faded as a new feeling emerged.

Lucas slowly threaded his fingers through her hair as they took a few steps back into the corner he had initially pulled her into.  When Riley’s back hit the rock wall behind her, she placed her hands on his forearms while he lightly brushed her cheeks with his thumbs.  This couldn’t possibly be happening right now.  There was no way that this was real.  When she felt his tongue graze her lips, she opened them as an involuntary sigh escaped her.

Suddenly, his sullen mood faded away as he focused on the woman in front of him.  At that moment, he knew that she felt it too—that spark, that connection that he had only ever heard about before.  

For seven long years he dreamt of this moment, a moment he was certain would never come.  It wasn’t any wonder why it never worked out with anyone before.  None of those girls were her.  None of them ever made him feel the way she did with a single look.  None of them ever sent a shiver down his spine with a simple touch.  None of them ever shook him down to his very core with one brush of their lips against his.  He had convinced himself for so long that he had moved on from Riley, that they would never become anything more than friends because she didn’t see him in that way, but his heart had never been able to let her go.  That was why he had never been able to maintain a relationship with anyone.  No one could ever compare to Riley Matthews.

This felt good.  Too good.  As Lucas’s hands slowly slid down the length of her body, she shivered.  When his hands finally rested on her hips, she reached for the front pockets of his shorts.  She tugged them toward her, which thrust him flush against her.  It was true that she was completely sober, but as her lips hungrily sought his, she couldn’t help but to feel a different kind of high.    

She wasn’t sure how long they stood against the wall.  She wasn’t sure if anything would ever force them to stop doing whatever it was that they were doing, but when she felt his phone vibrate against her leg, she found herself rapidly falling back into reality.

What were they doing?  What about everything she told him?  What about everything that happened since she ended their unofficial thing years ago?  What about all of the girls he had dated?  Riley was sure at one point they felt the same thing she was feeling now.  No, this couldn’t happen.  It was wrong.  She couldn’t become one of those girls.  She couldn’t lose him like that.

Her mouth slowly closed as she finally nudged him back.  Her heart and her body screamed at her while her brain quickly reminded her why she had been backing away from him from the last two years.  “Your phone is vibrating.”  It was a lame remark considering what they were doing ten seconds earlier, but it at least bought her a moment to better compose her thoughts and to silence every nerve in her body that screamed at her to pull him close once more.

“It can wait,” he murmured as his right hand moved back up to her shoulder in order to maintain some sort of physical contact with her.  He could feel her slipping away.  He only hoped that she understood what he now did—that connections like this didn’t happen everyday.  “Riley, I know you felt that.”

She closed her eyes as she tried to forget the last few moments.  When all she saw, when all she felt, was his lips on hers, she opened her eyes once more.  “I can’t do this, Lucas.”

He frowned.  This couldn’t be happening.  There was no way that she could possibly stand there and pretend that she still only saw him as a brother.  He slowly moved his hand from her shoulder as he took a step back from her.  “Can’t do what?  I know you don’t see me as a brother, Riley.  Maybe…maybe you did when we were younger, but after last night…after just now, there is no way that you see me like that anymore.”

“I don’t…I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”  She waited a beat.  “I don’t want to go out for a few months and then break up and not be friends anymore.”  She took a shaky breath.  “Look at everyone we know.  Look at Farkle and Smackle.  They were together forever, and now they can’t even stand to be in the same room as one another.”

“Who says that we’d break up?”  He didn’t want to hear about Farkle and Smackle.  Yes, their break up had been a shock to everyone, but they weren’t Farkle and Smackle.  They were Riley and Lucas.  This was completely different.

“It’s a fact.”  She lowered her eyes to the ground once more.  Was she really doing this?  Was she turning him down?  All she had dreamt about for the last seven years was this very moment, and not once, in all of her daydreams about it, did she turn him down.  She thought for sure that if he ever gave her the word that she would come running to him, but that was exactly the reason why she couldn’t do this.  “I think the longest relationship you ever had was the one with Maya…and even then it only lasted a few months.”  She hated herself for what she was saying.  She didn’t want to hurt him, she never wanted to hurt him, but seven years of resentment seemed to flow from her easier than she ever thought possible.   “For the last seven years, you’ve had girlfriend after girlfriend.  Those relationships lasted a few weeks, maybe a month or two, but…then nothing.  You didn’t remain friends with them…I’m not even sure you remember all of them.  I can’t do it, Lucas.  I can’t be another notch to you.”

“Another notch?”  Even though her eyes were downcast, his eyes remained fully locked on her.  How could she possibly think that she would ever just be ‘another notch’ to him?  How could she think that all he was after was sex?  If she only knew the truth.  If she would only open her eyes, she would see that he wasn’t after her body.  He was always after her heart.  “That’s what you think of me?”  His voice was even, cold as he slowly digested her concerns.  “Riley, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“No, I-I think I do.  You forget that I’m not like the others.  I was there through every relationship you had.  You only want this because I’m the only girl here that you haven’t already dated.”  She cut her eyes up to meet his.  “And I fit your current preference.”  She shook her head.  “Once we get back to the city, the magic of being on vacation goes away.  You’ll be back at Columbia and I’ll be at NYU and all it’s going to take is one co-ed to turn your head and we’ll be done.”  The thought alone was enough to make her stomach churn.  “So, you see…I do know what I’m talking about…and that’s why, for the sake of our friendship, I’m not walking away from this, I’m running away.  The stakes are too high.”

The sounds of footsteps effectively ended their conversation.  “There you guys are,” Maya smiled as she rounded the corner and spotted the pair.  Her smile immediately dropped as she sensed the practically palpable tension between the pair.  “Are you guys ok,” she slowly asked as she turned to Riley.

“Just…clearing the air a little bit,” Riley answered as she faced Maya.  “Where are Farkle and Zay?”

“Gift shop,” the blonde smiled tightly.  As she gazed at Lucas, she could tell that she had definitely stepped into the middle of a very intense conversation.  When she looked back at Riley, she could tell that the brunette was grateful for the interruption.  “I think we’re about ready to head back, unless you two wanted to stay a little longer?”

Riley glanced at Lucas briefly before she turned back to Maya.  “No.  I think we’re ready to move on to the next thing.”  

“You said ‘no’?  Riley, a month ago you were in tears because he was with someone else.   He tells you that he wants to be with you and you said ‘no’?”  Maya shook her head as she pulled her hair back into a messy bun.  “No wonder he’s pissed.”

“It’s complicated,” Riley mumbled as she reached for her foundation.

Maya turned the faucet knob before she cupped her hands under the running water.  “How is it complicated?  You like him.  He likes you.  Neither one of you are seriously dating anyone else.”  She lowered her head as she splashed her face with water.  That two-hour nap was much needed after their afternoon of shopping.  She was beyond exhausted and knew that they were in for a long night.  Two hours of rest had rejuvenated the blonde.  She now felt more prepared for whatever the evening had in store for them.  

Riley bit her bottom lip.  It wasn’t that easy.  Not after the last seven years.  Not after seeing him have girlfriend after girlfriend.  Not after overhearing him talk about her freshman year at that stupid frat party they went to together.  He wasn’t the guy she thought he was when they met.  He wasn’t the guy she fell in love with.  She had known that much for years, but it didn’t help.  She was still a sucker—a sucker in love with someone she needed to distance herself from, yet for some reason, couldn’t help but to always want around.  Maya was wrong.  It wasn’t easy at all.  “I can’t do it, Maya.  My self-respect won’t let me.”

“You’re scared,” she said matter-of-factly as she wiped her face with a washcloth.  “Not that I can blame you,” she added as an after thought.

“I’m not scared,” Riley lied as she reached for her eyeliner.

“Then you’re crazy.”  Maya waited a beat as she tossed the washcloth toward the corner of the bathroom.  “Any girl in her right mind would be scared because you’re right.  He’s been with girl after girl ever since…well…ever since we were in middle school.  He’s never been tied down with the same girl for more than a few months, and they’re always back to back.”

“Exactly,” Riley replied as she leaned forward in order to apply the black eyeliner.  “I respect myself too much to be another name on the list.”

Maya furrowed her eyebrows as she dug through her makeup bag.  “I don’t know, Riley.  Do you really think that after eight years of friendship, he would throw it away just to get in your pants?”  It didn’t sound right.  That wasn’t who Lucas was.  Sure, he had a bit of a reputation, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he was womanizer.

Riley stopped applying her eyeliner as she looked at Maya through the mirror.  She had a point.  Lucas may have had a colorful dating history, but she didn’t really have a reason not to believe him.  Maybe they needed to finish their conversation.  Maybe she needed to hear him out in order to help her figure it all out.  If he was just as confused as she was, maybe they could somehow fumble toward a resolution.

Zay sipped on his first drink of the evening as he strolled back into the room he shared with Lucas.  “What’s going on with you,” he asked Lucas as he watched the Texan fidget with his tie.  He swung the door closed behind him as he headed toward the dresser where Lucas stood.  While last night had been more relaxing, tonight—at least the first part of the evening—was definitely set to be more formal.  They all wanted to dress up, go somewhere nice for a late dinner, come back to the suite and hang out for a little bit before they headed to Hyde where they had a VIP table reserved for Riley’s birthday.  “We’re in Las Vegas, man.  We’re going out tonight.  I figured you’d be on top of the world because Vegas was made for guys like us.”

Lucas frowned as he finished tying the dark gray tie that hung around his neck.  “Guys like us?”

“Yeah,” Zay began as he sat his drink down on the dresser before he opened the top drawer to grab a pair of socks.  “Guys who don’t want to be tied down.  Guys who are looking to meet new people.”  He closed the drawer before he sat down on the edge of his bed to put his socks on.

Lucas’s frown deepened as he turned to Zay.  “What makes you think I want to meet new people?”

Zay chuckled as he slid the second sock on.  “How else are you going to meet the next one?”

Lucas narrowed his eyes as he placed his hands on his hips.  “The next one?”  What did that even mean?  Had he dated girls?  Yes, but that didn’t mean that he was always on the hunt for his next ex.  After everything that happened with Riley, Lucas was fairly certain he was going to remain single for the rest of his life.  He knew there was no way nothing could ever compare to the feelings she evoked in him.  It would only ever be a waste of time and energy.  He tried to move on before, but nothing ever came close, and after kissing her again, he knew nothing ever would.

“Yeah.  You’re single now.  I figured you’d probably meet one or two girls here and then once we get back to the city, you’ll have the next brunette all ready to go.”  Zay paused as he reached for his shoes.  “I’m not sure why you only go for brunettes.  You’re missing out on half the population with that mentality.  Why not try a redhead?  Or even a blonde again?”

“Zay, I really don’t want to talk about this.”

“Why not?  I predict a wild night ahead of us, man.  We’re each other’s wingmen!  We need to be on the same page.”  As he began to put on his shoes, a new predicament hit him.  “Like how will it work if we both bring girls back here?”

Lucas walked over to his bed as he clenched his fists.  Since when did his reputation consist of being a complete philanderer?  “I’m not going to bring a girl back here.  So, if you do, I’ll sleep in the living room, ok?”

“Really?  I thought you’d disappear for most of the trip.”

“Why?”  His exasperation had finally reached a boiling point.  He wasn’t that guy.  Maybe it seemed like that to everyone else, but to him, he was only trying to survive in the world that Riley had forced him to live in.  “I don’t know who you all think I am, but I have never had a one night stand with anyone in my life.”  He unzipped his suitcase as he tried to find his shoes.

Zay watched him for a long moment as the puzzle pieces started to come together.  “What happened last night with Riley?”  At the mere mention of her name, Zay noticed Lucas clench his jaw.  “Lucas?”

“Nothing,” he grumbled as he sat down at the edge of his bed.  “And even if something did happen, she made it perfectly clear that it would never happen again.”

Zay stood up and walked over to the dresser to retrieve his drink.  “But you want something to happen again?”  

Lucas didn’t say anything as he busied himself with putting his shoes on.  When Zay opened his mouth to repeat the question, Lucas’s cut him off.  “It doesn’t matter,” he answered coldly.  “She told me in 8th grade that she saw me as a brother and now…well, she thinks I’m scum.”  He stood up and checked his appearance in the mirror once more.  His initial shock over how everything went down at the Hoover Dam was rapidly fading away as anger quickly filled him.  She had no clue who he was or everything he had been through over the last seven years because of her.  She had no idea who he was or what he had done.  She was so quick to label him as a certain type of person.  Fine then.  Why not be that guy?

“You know what Zay?  If she already thinks I’m scum, then why not prove her right?  I mean…there is nothing I can do to change her mind.  When she sets her mind to something, there is no use in trying to change it.  She doesn’t think of me in a romantic way, and probably never has.”  He stalked back to his bed to grab his jacket.  He was livid.  Did everyone around him think that he was some sort of vulture who preyed on poor women just to use them and spit them out?

Riley took a deep breath as she walked toward the boys’ room.  Her conversation with Maya made her realize a few things, the main one being that she never really gave Lucas a chance to explain anything.  If they were both feeling the same emotions, the same charge, then maybe this wasn’t some fleeting thing?  Maybe after years of pining over him, it was their turn.  Maybe it was time to finally tell him how she felt.  

She took a deep breath as she stood in front of their door.  She smiled softly as she looked down at her trembling hands.  Was she actually going to tell him how she felt?  As she lifted her hand to knock on their door, she noticed that the door was already cracked open.

Lucas couldn’t remember the last time he felt so angry, so frustrated with someone.  He thought he had worked through all of that pent up anger years ago, but as he replayed his brief conversation with Riley at the Dam over and over in his mind, he was left with one conclusion—she would never be with him because she thought he was nothing more than a womanizer.  “You know what Zay?  You’re right.  Why shouldn’t we have a little fun while we’re here?  We’re in Las Vegas, man!  We’re about to go to one of the best clubs in the city.  I’m sure we can find a few girls…hell, maybe we can meet a bunch of different girls...take them back here…get in a little hot tub action and then…” he shrugged, “this suite is definitely equipped to impress the ladies.  Why not go out and try to bring back a whole group…some for you and some for me?  Make it a real vacation to remember.”

Riley’s eyes widened as she listened to him.  She knew it.  She knew that he wasn’t the same guy anymore.  Her bottom lip trembled as she thought back to their earlier conversation.  He wasn’t looking for something real and deep.  He really only wanted a hookup, and apparently, he really didn’t care who it was with.

She closed her eyes for a brief second before she turned around and quickly sprinted back to the room she shared with Maya.  She had to get away from him.  God help her, if she came back to the suite and saw a group of girls in the hot tub with him, she would vomit right then and there—drunk or not.

As she closed the bedroom door behind her, she knew that she had to distract herself.  She wasn’t going to let him ruin her birthday.  If she came back to the suite tonight and saw his arms draped around a couple of brunettes, she wanted to insure that she wouldn’t remember it tomorrow morning.  

Zay frowned as he watched his best friend collapse in defeat on the bed.  He said nothing as he watched Lucas place his forearms on his knees as he stared at the ground in front of him.  When he noticed that his friend’s anger had melted into melancholy once more, everything finally clicked.  “You love her, don’t you?”

Lucas’s lips formed a thin line as he continued to stare at the ground.  God, why did he say all that stuff?  He wasn’t going to go out and hookup with a bunch of random women.  That wasn’t him, that was never him, it would never be him.  He was just so frustrated with Riley.  He was so confused and so scared that he had already lost her because of his desperate attempt over the last seven years to respect her wishes.  “It doesn’t matter anymore.  I told her what I wanted…and she turned me down.”

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M (because of language, situations, and it’s Vegas, soooo yeah)

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 8,789

Cross-posted at ff.net

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A | J |

A/N: 21 definitely has more than one meaning as it pertains to this story.

                         Chapter Four: The Devil’s Bedpost

As soon as the 8-ball easily skidded into the corner pocket, Maya shook her head.  “Is there a sport that you aren’t abnormally good at?”

Lucas smirked as he looked up at her.  “It was a lucky shot.”

She narrowed her eyes at him as her frown deepened.  She couldn’t handle ‘Mr. Modest’ right now, especially with the current winning streak he was on.  “You’ve won the last four games.”

He chuckled as he leaned against the pool cue.  “Pappy Joe taught me how to play a long time ago.”  He glanced at the quiet brunette in the corner.  His smile slowly faded as he watched her type something out on her phone.  Was she texting someone?  Who could she be possibly texting when it was 4am in New York?  He sighed as he turned back to Maya.  He had hoped that this trip would somehow afford them a chance to talk, to get reacquainted, to bridge the gap that had been rapidly expanding over the last two years.  He hadn’t felt that close to her since they were in middle school, but her distance as of late had set him on edge.  Finding out about the trip through their friends and not through her had sent him into a perpetual state of pensiveness over the last two months.  Why was she being distant?

“You should go on the road with that act,” Maya told him as she reached for the rack.  “You could make some good money by being a pool shark.”  She walked around the table as she pulled the balls from the pockets.  She stopped suddenly as an idea came to her.  “Hey!  It could pay your way through vet school.”

Lucas reached for his drink.  He had no idea just how much alcohol he had consumed over the course of the last several hours.  He had stopped for a while when they were bowling and when they ate some pizza.  He knew that he was currently on his second drink since they started playing pool.  Before that though, he wasn’t sure.  He didn’t feel drunk.  He was buzzed and felt a little more relaxed than he did when they first arrived, but that wasn’t saying much.  His eyes drifted back to Riley before he sat his drink down.  “One thing you’ll probably learn while we’re here is that the house always wins.”  He rotated the pool cue in his hands.  “It’s only a matter of time.”

Maya snickered at him.  “I thought drinking would loosen you up a little,” she sighed, “but you’re still dealing out these little pearls of wisdom that no one asks for.”

He shook his head as he released a soft chuckle.  “And that you’ll never listen to.”

Riley sipped her drink she listened to their banter.  Zay had disappeared behind the bar for a few minutes, which left Riley alone to witness Lucas and Maya’s playful exchange.  She wasn’t jealous, at least that’s what she told herself.  It reminded her of how they used to act around one another in middle school—before they became boyfriend and girlfriend.  Was there something more there?  Were there some unresolved feelings?  As far as Riley knew, Maya had no interest in him romantically, but did he still have feelings for her?  Maya’s observation about the type of girls Lucas seemed to be attracted to rang through Riley’s mind.  ‘This is ridiculous,’ she thought as she drank the rest of her margarita.  She wasn’t sure how much she had, but she knew it wasn’t enough.  She was still on edge around him.  As Lucas and Maya started another game, Riley stood up and quietly left the room.  ‘The whole point of this trip was to not think about this,’ she sighed as she wandered toward the bar.

“You do not look happy,” Zay told her as he poured some tequila into a glass.  “Did Lucas win again?”

“Yeah,” she gave him a half smile as she sat down.  “What are you making?”

“Just a little something for the soon to be birthday girl,” he placed the shot in front of her.

Riley looked at the glass skeptically.  “A tequila shot?”  She wanted to feel numb.  She didn’t want to black out.

He smirked.  “You look a little tired.  Figured you needed a little boost.”

She ran a hand through her hair.  Though she wasn’t technically 21 yet, she was aware of her limits when it came to alcohol.  Watching Lucas and Maya tease one another, no matter how innocent it was, definitely killed whatever buzz she thought she had.  She knew she had no claim on the Texan, and had endured far worse over the years, but seeing them together brought back a barrage of emotions she thought she had buried.  “I don’t know.  Maybe I should just go to bed, you know?  It’s almost 1am as it is and we…we have to get up in five hours.”

“Or…you could refuel a little bit, maybe eat some more of that pizza in the kitchen.”  He paused.  He could tell that there was something on her mind.  He didn’t want to see her go to bed unhappy.  “You know I’m right, Riles.  I was right about that pizza, and I’m right about this too.”

If she went to bed, she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep.  She could hear Lucas and Maya laughing in the next room.  She knew the sound would echo through her mind as she was unwillingly forced to take a stroll down middle school hell memory lane.  The two months her best friend dated Lucas were two of the longest months of her life.  Every single day she had to pretend to be happy for them, while trying to hide her real feelings from them both, and now, here she sat, desperately trying to brace herself for the possibility that it was happening all over again.  The only difference now was that her feelings for Lucas ran so much deeper than they did back then.  Maya knew about her feelings for Lucas, that was also a change from last time, but Riley knew that if something was developing between the two, she wouldn’t be the reason why they didn’t reconcile—if that was what was happening.

It was all too much for 1:00 in the morning.  She was jet lagged and in close proximity to the guy she had been emotionally running away from for seven years.  How was she going to survive the next few days?

Riley reached for the glass before she could second-guess herself.  Zay was right.  She had to drink more.  The pizza had sobered her up too much.  It allowed her the time to absorb everything that was transpiring around her.  She wanted to drown out all of the voices in her head that screamed at her that she would forever be in love with Lucas Friar.  She needed to dive back under the water and try to figure out a way to get through the next few days without completely drowning in her emotions.

She cringed as she sat the glass back down.  “Yeah.  I needed that,” she wheezed before she coughed.  Once she cleared her throat, she nudged the glass towards him.  One wouldn’t be enough.  If she was going to stay up, she needed another.  “I need more.”

“Farkle is going to kill me tomorrow,” Zay chuckled as he poured another shot.

Riley placed her hands on the counter as she watched Zay fill up the glass.  “We’re still young.  We can run off of very little sleep, right?”

“So what now,” Lucas asked the group as they lounged on the couches in the living room.  They had played half a dozen rounds of pool and bowled several games.  He figured they would all want to crash soon, but he wasn’t about to be the first person to leave.  The feeling that something was going to happen still nagged at him.  He wouldn’t feel at peace until he knew she was asleep.

Riley glanced at Zay before she tossed a piece of popcorn at him.  “I think we’re losing Babineaux,” she chuckled.

“Nah, nah,” he said as he yawned.  “I’m just resting my eyes.”

“I’m tapped out,” Maya said as she laid across from Riley.  When Riley offered her the bowl of popcorn, she took it.  As she popped a piece into her mouth, she looked up at the ceiling.  “I can’t think of any other good games we haven’t played yet.”

Riley pursed her lips as she glanced around the living room.  Finally, her eyes fell on an empty beer bottle on the coffee table.  For some strange reason, she reached for it.  As she picked at the label, she smirked as her moderately tipsy brain remembered one other game they could play.  Her eyes lifted to look at Lucas.  What were the odds that it would happen again?

Maya watched the brunette for a moment before an evil gleam crossed her eyes.  She knew exactly what was running through Riley’s mind.  She just needed a friendly push to get it started.  Farkle was asleep and Zay was almost passed out.  No one would be the wiser in case it didn’t work out.  “I’ve got it,” she grinned as she sat up.

Riley and Lucas looked at her.  “What,” Riley asked as she looked back down at the bottle.

Maya gestured to the bottle.  “A time honored classic, but,” she glanced across the suite, “with a twist.”

Riley had no idea what the blonde was getting at until she looked back up at Maya.  She merely grinned as she stared at the object in Riley’s hands.  “Spin the bottle?”  The brunette sat up.  The last thing she wanted to do was play spin the bottle.  There would only be three participants and she wasn’t about to partake in a game that could end up with her best friend kissing the guy she had feelings for.  “Maya, there are only three of us,” she tried to reason.  She glanced at Zay once more.  “Zay is completely out.”

Maya looked at him.  If everything fell as she knew it would, they wouldn’t need his help.  She only needed one spin.  Everything else would take care of itself.  It was perfect.  “We can wake him up when it’s his turn…and I’m not talking about spin the bottle.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Seven minutes in heaven…but instead of a closet,” she turned away as she looked at the darkened room at the back of the living room, “we use the hot tub.”  When she spun back around, she was met with disinterested looks from both Riley and Lucas.  She rolled her eyes as she stood up.  All they needed was a nudge.  She was certain that the Texan had feelings for Riley.  It was past time for one of them to finally make a move.  “Come on…we know we don’t have to actually do anything…but we haven’t gotten in the hot tub yet, and I don’t know…it’ll give us a chance to talk one-on-one.”  She raised her eyebrows as she waited for their answer.

Riley sighed.  “I’m not sure that this is such a good—“

Maya raised a hand to stop her.  “I’m sorry, but we are in Las Vegas and we are all adults here.  Logic left the room around 9:30 when the King of Logic went to bed.  I don’t know about you guys, but I think it would be nice to visit our teenage-hood one more time.”  When Riley and Lucas made no move to say anything, Maya frowned.  “If you’re both too scared to do it, then—“

“I’m not scared,” Riley told her as she stood up.  She knew that Maya only said that to bait her, but Riley didn’t care.  She had gotten her buzz back and if she were ever going to play this stupid game, it would be on this trip.

“Good,” Maya smiled before she faced Lucas.  She knew that she would get a much better grasp on his feelings by his willingness to play her game.  “What about you, Huckleberry?  Going to go to bed to leave me, Riley, and Zay to duke it out or are you in?”

“I haven’t backed out of anything yet,” he answered evenly.

“I’ll take that as an enthusiastic ‘yes’, then.”  Maya turned back to Riley.  “It’s your birthday.  You get the first spin.”

“Fine.”  Before she even sat the bottle down, Riley knew exactly where it would land.  She knew because it was Maya’s game and because fate, destiny, or whatever force that seemed anxious to destroy her always wanted to throw what she couldn’t have in her face.  She took a deep breath before she spun it.  Even though she knew what was about to happen, it still felt like an eternity before the bottle stopped its rotation.  When it finally did, she lifted her eyes as the bottle landed on the one person she was the most scared of being alone with.

As Lucas closed the doors behind them, he could have sworn he heard Maya laughing.  If he lived to be a hundred, he would never understand her.  He shook his head as he turned around.  He stopped dead in his tracks as he watched Riley lift her tank top over her head.  He was certain that the last time he saw her in a bathing suit was right after high school graduation.  They all had taken a trip to Texas and had gone swimming at the lake on the edge of his grandfather’s property.  He thought for sure they would reconnect on that trip, but she and Maya were attached at the hip the entire time.  

He took swig of his drink to try to steady his quaking nerves.  ‘This isn’t a big deal,’ he reminded himself as he watched her place her shirt on the bench by the hot tub.  The electric pink bikini she wore contrasted perfectly with her olive complexion.  It was taking every ounce of strength he had not to reach for her in that exact moment.  He rubbed the back of his neck as he sat his drink down on the counter on the far wall.

Riley sat her phone down on top of her shirt.  She seemed to be completely oblivious to the effect she was having on the anxious Texan.  “This shouldn’t be too bad, right?  Seven minutes in a hot tub.”

“Yeah,” he agreed as he turned around to face her once more.  He watched in wonderment as she shimmied out of her gym shorts.  ‘Stop staring.  Stop staring.  Stop being a creep.’  He knew he had to distract himself while she got situated.  

Once she was in the water, he hoped that he would be able calm his suddenly raging hormones and quiet the lustful thoughts that came charging toward him as she undressed.  He cleared his throat as he walked over to the window to pull the curtains back.  He gave himself a minute to compose himself before he spoke.  “I can’t get over this view.”

“It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it,” she responded as she slowly dipped her toes into the water.  She was still completely oblivious to the effect she had on him.  “I still can’t believe we are here and in a suite like this,” she added as she slowly sank underneath the water.  She reached for her drink, which sat at the edge of the tub.  “It all feels like a dream right now, you know?  I feel like I’m going to wake up tomorrow and be forced to walk through the freezing cold in order to get to my bio final.”

“It definitely feels like a dream,” he mumbled as his eyes lingered on the city lights below them.  He reached for the hem of his shirt before he lifted the garment over his head.

Riley tilted her head to the side as she admired the way his muscles rippled across his back as he took his t-shirt off.  It had been nearly two years since the last time she saw him without a shirt on, and her memory did not do him justice.  She knew he had been working out a lot more lately, but she hadn’t been able to notice a difference until now.  Her lips parted slightly as he turned around and tossed his shirt to the corner of the room.  She counted eight abs on his torso as he slowly sunk his toes into the water.  

She blinked several times as she quickly tried to figure out if she was openly drooling by the mere the sight of him.  ‘Great job on making it not awkward, Riley,’ she mentally chastised herself.  She cleared her throat as she sat her drink next to the tub.  She reached for her phone as she set an alarm for seven minutes.  “I thought it would be a lot like the city, you know?  Lights and traffic everywhere.”  She placed her phone on the edge of the tub before she turned to face him.

“Well,” he chuckled as his body slowly sank underneath the hot water, “it is.  Just a lot more neon than we’re used to.”

“Not to mention that the desert is right there too.  It’s crazy that you can see where the city ends and the desert begins from our room.”  She paused as she glanced out the window.  She couldn’t see that definitive line from where she sat.  She could only see the bright lights of America’s Playground.   “I wonder if you can see the stars out there.”

“I’m sure you can,” he answered as he craned his neck to look out the window.  After a moment, he turned back to her.  “I’m sure it’s like Texas.  Once you get away from the lights, you’ll be able to see the entire night sky.”

“Hmm,” she contemplated as she reached for her drink once more.  “I wonder if we can go out there one night…try to see them.  I really miss seeing the stars.”

“It’s your trip.  Whatever the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets,” he smiled.

‘I wish,’ she thought to herself as she sat her drink down.  After about ten seconds of excruciatingly painful silence, she pressed the home button on her phone.  This had to be almost over, right?  “Six minutes to go.”

Lucas waved his hands around under the water as he tried to think of something to say to her.  They had already made small talk.  He could ask her about Steve, but he knew he wasn’t prepared to hear the answer to that particular question.  He wasn’t hammered, but he was definitely intoxicated enough to say something he knew he would regret in the morning.  “This whole thing so ridiculous,” he finally said to her.  “The five of us have been friends forever.  I doubt anything could change between us in seven minutes that hasn’t changed in the last seven years.”

She slowly nodded as she felt a pang in her chest.  Of course he would feel that way.  Even in a romantic setting, he wouldn’t ever want anything to happen between them, and maybe he was right.  Nothing had changed between them in seven years, although she could have sworn that they came pretty close a few times.  She knew that the next six minutes would be filled with more awkward small talk and even more uncomfortable silence.  It was excruciating. “Yeah.  We’re friends.”

He reached for his jack and coke.  “Yeah,” he took a long swig as he considered his next words.  “I’m your brother, remember?”  Maybe he shouldn’t have said it, but there were only so many impulses he could control in his intoxicated state.

Riley hated that word, at least when it came to describing her relationship with the guy she sat across from.  ‘Brother’ was the exact opposite of how she felt about him.  She saw all of the others as members of her family, but not him.  It was always different with him.  

Seven years after that stupid comment, and she was forever forced to endure the label she had placed on their relationship.  “Yeah.  It would be too weird to…after so long…” she trailed off before she frowned.  She wasn’t sure if it was the heat from the tub, the alcohol in her system, or the fact that she knew she was at the end of her rope, but something Maya mentioned to her at Zay’s birthday party had been nagging the brunette for months.  Witnessing the playful interactions he had with her best friend earlier still lingered in her mind.  If they were going to talk for the next four minutes, then maybe she could at least gain a little clarity about one aspect of her predicament.  “Lucas, can I ask you something?”

He looked away from her as he sat his drink back down.  “Sure.”

Riley subconsciously licked her bottom lip as she tried to brace herself for his response.  She couldn’t believe she was about to ask him this.  She had never really asked him anything about his love life before.  It was too weird, not to mention the fact that she didn’t want to inflict any more pain than necessary on her beaten heart.  “Maya told me that…that you have a type…that the girls you date look…well, that they look like me.”  When he didn’t flinch, she continued, “I don’t see it, but…when she brought it up…it made me wonder because…because I’ve never really seen you with someone who didn’t have dark eyes and dark hair.”  As his eyes slowly looked up into hers, she took a shaky breath.  “Is there something to that?”

Lucas thought his heart had suddenly stopped beating.  Out of everything she could have possibly asked, she decided to ask about his love life?  He thought for sure that they would talk about the most basic things as they always had: school, weather, childhood memories, or food.  He had no idea where to begin or even what to tell her.  Leave it to Maya to figure out his pattern.  He didn’t even realize his affinity for brown-eyed brunettes until Zay pointed it out a year ago.  Should he confess what he thought was the reasoning behind it?  Should he reach for her, swear that it had always only been her—that he only went out with other girls because that was what she told him to do, that he was trying to respect her wishes?  Should he finally admit the feelings he had been forced to suppress for the last seven years?

Riley was beginning to regret her question as she waited for his answer.  Was Maya right?  Did he have a type?  Was he transfixed on dark haired, dark eyed girls because he was in love with someone else?  She twisted her hair tie around her wrist as she waited for him to answer.  “Is it…is it because you still have feelings for Maya or something?”

The corner of his mouth lifted into a half smile.  If she only knew.  “No,” he answered as he reached for his drink once more.  If their conversation was going to go any deeper, he would need all of the help he could get in order to calm his unstable nerves.

The brunette frowned as his answer only frustrated her more.  If that wasn’t it, then what was it?  She could tell that something was on his mind.  She was a jumble of nerves as she waited for him to elaborate.  When he didn’t, she slid the hair tie off her wrist as she pulled her hair up into a messy bun.  The ends of her hair were already wet, but she didn’t care.  The act only served as a distraction—something to do in order to keep herself from climbing out the tub and running to her room.  “Talk to me.  We’re friends, right?  You know that you can tell me anything…don’t you?”  She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the truth, but it did bother her that he seemed uncomfortable around her.  She knew it was her fault.  She had been pushing him away for a long time now, but in her inebriated state, the thought of him actually pulling away from her was unsettling.

He finished the rest of his drink as he thought about what to say.  He said nothing until he sat the glass back down and turned to face her.  “Riley, we haven’t been that close since I rode Tombstone…since you told me the truth about how you felt about me.”  He glanced around the room.  “I mean…you didn’t even think to invite me to this…and I’m pretty sure you never would have if the guys didn’t mention it.”  Maybe it was harsh, but if she wanted him to be honest with her, then this was the only place to start.

“Yes, I would have,” she frowned as she considered her own words.  Would she have invited him if he hadn’t overheard the guys talking about it?  All she wanted was to get away.  She wanted to not think about anything for a few days, and she knew that if he came, he would invade most of her thoughts.  She sighed.  “It’s just…I…I…”

Hearing her stumble over her words pierced his heart harder than whatever she could possibly be keeping from him.  “What?”

She couldn’t do it.  “I can’t…I can’t tell you.”

“That’s my point.  We can’t talk to each other…and Riley…I hate that we can’t.”  The dam he had been able to maintain for so long finally cracked as he was forced to face the reality that they were practically strangers now.  “For a long time, I thought that we could…be close, but…I feel like the older we get, the more distant we become.  What happens after graduation?  Are we just going to go our separate ways and only see each other at high school reunions?”

Riley shook her head.  She hadn’t thought that far ahead.  “No.  Of course not.  I can’t…I can’t imagine my world without you in it.”  Despite everything, she knew she didn’t want him to disappear from her world.  At the same time, she had to figure out a way to get over him for once and for all.

“You say that, but Riley…I know nothing that’s going on with you.”  ‘Like who you’re dating or the last movie you saw or your favorite song on the radio.’  The distance that separated them was what was killing him.  He figured out years ago that he would rather be in her orbit as a friend—and watch her live her life on the sidelines—than to be completely kicked out of her solar system.  She was the damn sun and he needed whatever warmth she could provide.  He had lived in the darkness for far too long.  He needed her in order to grow, to survive—even if it was just as a friend.

She shrugged.  “What do you want to know?”  It was a dangerous question, but she was tired of hiding.  She knew it was the alcohol talking, but if he was going to ask, then the least she could do was answer.

He looked into her eyes.  “What are you thinking about right now?”

She laughed.  There was no way that he wanted to know what was rolling around in her intoxicated brain at that exact moment.  Even she couldn’t believe the memories she was recalling as they sat in the hot tub.  “The truth?”

He loved the sound of her laughter.  If this could be the first step toward a different kind of friendship between them, then he was more than willing to listen to whatever she had to say.  “Please.”

“I’m…thinking about Darby’s sixteenth birthday party.”  She waited for him to give her a confused look.  When he didn’t, she leaned back in the tub.  Already she was beginning to feel more comfortable around him.  “I’m pretty sure that was the last time we played a game like this.  You and I…ended up in the coat closet.”

“I remember,” he smiled.  “Zay’s ear was propped up against the door the whole time.”

Riley laughed.  “That’s right!  I forgot about that.  The door hit him when you opened it and he fell.”

Lucas chuckled as he glanced at the closed door.  He knew their friends were nosey and if they were awake that they would be right on the other side of the frosted glass.  He couldn’t see any silhouettes or shadows.  Maybe Maya got bored and went to bed.  Lucas was certain that Zay had finally passed out on the couch.  He was pretty much asleep when they left the living room.  “At least he learned not to be so nosey.”  His eyes lowered back to Riley.  “Why are you thinking about that?  Just because we got thrown together again?”

“For the most part.”  She should have said ‘yes’ and left it at that.  She knew that leaving her answer open like that would only invite him to ask her more specifics about why she was thinking about that party.  God, the alcohol must have finally taken control of her of sensibility.  Either that or seven years of repression were the most she could possibly endure.  

He raised a curious eyebrow at her.  “For the most part?”

As their eyes locked, she felt the wall between them come tumbling down.  “Do you ever…I don’t know…wonder…what might have happened if we had…you know…kissed…in that closet?”  ‘Wait,’ her brain suddenly panicked, ‘did I actually say that out loud?  Stupid tequila.  Stupid, stupid tequila.’

It felt like her eyes burned right through him as they stared at one another.  Was he so transparent?  How was she capable of seeing right through him?  He could hear his heart pulsate in his ears.  “I have,” he finally answered.  “You?”

“Yeah…but…you know…I think about your track record and,” she shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“My track record?”  What did his dating record have to do with something that could have happened in a closet when they were sophomores in high school?

“You know that you date around.”

“So do you.”  He still wasn’t sure what their dating lives had to do with it.

“I do,” she agreed.  “But I don’t…I don’t get into all of these two month long relationships.”  She paused.  “Honestly, I feel like this is the first time you’ve been single since that birthday party.”

He looked at her for a long moment.  What was running through her mind right now?  “What are you trying to say?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t even know.”  She laughed.  “Maybe the alcohol is getting to me.”  She should leave well enough alone.  They only had a few more minutes left.  She should just be quiet until her alarm went off, but that wasn’t what she wanted.  She wasn’t sure if she would ever get a chance like this again.  She had been drinking.  He had been drinking.  They were technically supposed to be playing ‘seven minutes in heaven’.  Maybe they could—she smirked at the thought.  “This could be the last time, though…you know.”

“Last time?”  He wasn’t sure where their communication had broken down.  They were having a pretty good conversation before Riley brought up Darby’s party.  Now, he wasn’t sure what she was saying.  

“Who knows?  Maybe you’ll meet Miss Right tomorrow.  Maybe we won’t be forced into a hot tub for seven minutes in heaven again.”  She paused as her heart raced.  She knew she had to be drunk.  She had never been this bold in her entire life.  Was she actually suggesting this?  “It’s not a big deal right,” she reasoned.  ‘Wrong,’ the tiny part of her brain that remained sobered screamed at her.  She shrugged.  “Even Maya and I have kissed on a dare before.”  Was she trying to downplay it to convince him that it wasn’t a big deal or was she trying to downplay it to convince herself that it wasn’t a big deal?  “We’re not thirteen years old anymore, Lucas.  A kiss between friends is not life and death.” ‘Or is it?’  

His heart skipped a beat as he listened to her.  He had to make sure that he had heard her correctly.  Was she actually suggesting that they finish what they never started in that coat closet five years ago?  “You want to actually play seven minutes in heaven?”

“I never have before.  Not really, anyway.”  As she waited for his answer, she determined that this didn’t have to be some earth shattering moment.  It would just be a drunken moment between two friends who were in Las Vegas to have a good time—or so she convinced herself.  “I’m about to turn 21.  I’m in Las Vegas.  Why not do something I’ve never done before with someone I trust?”  When he still said nothing, she began to back peddle.  Clearly it was too much—too weird for him.  This was what she was afraid of.  She knew she would do or say something stupid to him.  She only wished that she could have caught herself before she opened up her drunken mouth.  “It’s pretty stupid, right?”

He knew that it was a bad idea.  He knew that they shouldn’t do it.  He knew that he should stay exactly where he was—at the other end of the hot tub.  He knew that he shouldn’t close the space in between them.  He knew that he shouldn’t brush away the tiny wisp of hair that had fallen across her eyes.  He knew that he shouldn’t give into the beginning of a fantasy he had imagined for so long.

But, he had to.  He had to know if this moment was real.  He had to know if everything he was feeling was one sided.  He had to know if she really did see him as a brother.  They didn’t get their chance in Darby’s closet five years ago.  He wasn’t about to make the first move on her back then, especially with the entire sophomore class on the other side of the door.  This felt different.  She was asking him to kiss her.  She was asking him to play this game with her, and even though she said it wasn’t that big of a deal, deep down, he knew that everything between them was about to change.

Good or bad, he knew that something had to give.  He couldn’t remain in purgatory for the rest of his life.

Her eyes slowly lifted to meet his as he closed the space between them.  Neither said a word as he tucked those few loose strands of hair behind her ear.  He swallowed as his fingertips lightly brushed against her cheek.  He wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating or not, but he could have sworn that she leaned into his touch as his fingertips grazed her jaw.  He paused as he wordlessly offered her a way out of this.  When she didn’t make any move to back away from him, his heart pounded even faster.  This was real.  He was mere inches from tasting heaven right on earth.  He knew he had to act before he could talk himself out of it.  As he lowered his head and closed his eyes, he knew that he was about to finally give into the one impulse he had suppressed for seven years.

As Riley’s eyes fluttered closed, she couldn’t help but to feel that it was all happening in slow motion.  The anticipation was almost paralyzing as she waited to feel his lips brush against hers.  She held her breath as his nose lightly grazed her cheek.  This was it.  Her heart thundered even harder as his lips finally met hers.

Eight years after their first kiss, they finally had their second, which was quickly followed by their third and fourth.  Half drunk and more in love than ever, she wrapped her arms around his neck as their lips refused to leave one another.

Lucas gripped the edge of the hot tub with one hand while his other arm wrapped around her waist.  This had to be a dream.  He knew that at any second he would wake up alone in his dorm room—haunted by the knowledge that this moment could only ever exist in his own bittersweet fantasy.  There was no way that, after all this time, God would smile down on him and bless him with a glimpse into paradise.

He braced himself as he waited to be thrown out this beautiful utopia.  He expected to be transported back to New York—back to the loneliness he had felt ever since the horrific moment she told him how she really felt when they were in the 8th grade—but that moment never came.  As soon as she opened her mouth against his, he released a quiet moan.  He felt completely drunk in that moment, but it wasn’t because of the alcohol.  It was because he knew that when you dream about something for so long and you finally get it, everything around you becomes surreal.  Dream or not, he wanted to savor every precious millisecond of this moment.  As her tongue slowly entered his mouth, he pulled her closer while her fingers slowly danced down the length of his arms.  He thought for sure she was about to pull away, to confirm that he was nothing more than a big brother to her, but when her hands finally landed on his hips, she nudged him closer to her.

Encouraged by her gesture, his hesitancy melted away as he deepened their kiss.  Fear disappeared into a sense of passion that he had never felt with anyone else before.  He guided them backward, toward the edge of the hot tub, as his tongue explored the sweet taste of her mouth.  

When the back of her legs hit the seat in the corner of the tub, she sat down at the edge as she wrapped her legs around his torso.  Eight years since that first little taste, that first little jolt between their lips, and now, she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to go back to the life she knew before this moment.  This was unlike every other kiss she had ever experienced.  Even though they were in a hot tub, she could feel goose bumps rise up all over her body.  It was as if the logical part of her mind had detached itself from her body as she allowed herself a few precious moments to give into everything she had wanted for so long.

As soon as she wrapped her legs around him, he knew this had to be some drunken delusion.  Reality had never been this kind to him.  He shuddered when she ran her fingers across his chest.  Whatever was building between them was nothing short of electric.  They were nothing short of perfection.  This moment and everything that surrounded them was beyond perfect.  Her lips were the gateway to a world he had long since desired to reside in.

When he wrapped his other arm around her, completely enveloping her in his arms, Riley knew she had left Earth.  Her soul now dwelled in a place that didn’t have any understanding of the concept of time or reality.  She had dreamt of being in his arms for as long as she had known him, and here she was, perfectly safe from the harsh realities of the world that surrounded them.  They were only kissing, but it felt like so much more.  It felt like a homecoming.  It felt like years of misunderstanding were beginning to melt away.  It felt like the beginning of something new.

Riley’s phone lit up as her alarm echoed throughout the otherwise silent room.  She could feel herself plummeting back to earth as her phone unforgivingly reminded her that sometimes seven minutes could feel like seven seconds.  ‘Seven minutes in heaven.  More like six minutes of talking and one minute in heaven,’ she thought bitterly as she reluctantly pulled away from him.  She took a deep breath as she reached for the shrieking device.

Lucas never heard her phone go off.  He was suspended in a reality where nothing else existed but the woman in his arms.  It was only when she nudged him back that he heard the obnoxious sound of her alarm. “It’s been seven minutes,” he questioned as he watched her turn the alarm off.  He took a deep breath as he quelled the urge to reach for her once more.  He only had a glimpse of this new world, but he knew it was exactly what he had been looking for.  

After she turned the alarm off, she looked up at him.  His face was slightly flushed and his lips were slightly parted as he tried to catch his breath.  She thought for sure that he would pull away as soon as they kissed.  She was certain that he would tell her it was way too weird, but he didn’t.  As her eyes lowered to her phone once more, she knew that it could have easily gone further had her alarm not gone off.  “Since we got in here,” she finally responded as a blush crept up on her cheeks.  ‘How far would it have gone?’  

Lucas still felt slightly disoriented as he processed her words.  That was not seven minutes.  It barely felt longer than a few seconds.  Suddenly, their entire conversation came back to him.  “But technically, most of that was spent talking.”

Riley’s heart fluttered as she looked up at him.  “What are you saying?”

He looked at her for a long minute as he carefully considered his next words.  He wasn’t sure if he was ready to put himself out there.  He wasn’t sure if she would laugh in his face or call him ridiculous, but he also knew that if he let her get out of the hot tub without at least asking, he would regret it.  They were on the verge of something, he could feel it.  She had to have felt it too.  It was too intense to only be one sided.  “You wanted to play seven minutes in heaven,” he began as he forced himself to remain where he stood, “not one minute in heaven.”  All he wanted to do was to reach for her, to feel her pressed against him once more.

She bit her bottom lip as she looked back down at her phone.  As she set a new alarm, she realized that she was definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol that coursed through her system.  She knew it because every cell in her body felt a jolt at his suggestion and she immediately knew she was not strong enough to deny herself another glimpse into a world she had quite often fantasized about.  

She sat the device down and reached for her drink.  She said nothing as she downed the rest of the contents.  She knew that this was a mistake—one that she would pay for a very long time, but she also knew that those extra minutes would be worth every second of torture she was sure to endure once it was over.

After she sat the empty glass down, she closed the space between them as her fingertips skated across the water.  Once she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his neck.  “Ok, Friar,” she smirked.  “Let’s play then.”

He didn’t hesitate.  If he did, for one moment, he would have stopped whatever it was they were doing.  He knew that he had to tell her how he felt.  He knew that they had to work out whatever feelings that may or may not exist between them, but after years of broken dreams and constant longing, his brain no longer ruled his body.  Maybe it was the alcohol, but maybe, just maybe, somewhere deep within him knew that whatever they were doing was real and, in a way, it was the most honest conversation they had ever had.

Their eight minutes in heaven rapidly turned into fifteen minutes in heaven as Lucas fumbled around to hit the snooze button on her phone after the second set of seven.  She made no move to pull away from him as he opened his eyes long enough to silence the device.  Neither said a word when he casually tossed her phone toward the corner of the room because their lips were already speaking volumes.

When her phone shrieked seven minutes later, Riley frowned against his lips.  Had seven minutes passed so quickly?  She was completely oblivious to the fact that a total of fourteen minutes had passed since she first set that alarm.  Her frown melted into a smile when he pulled her closer to him.

She knew she would pay for this for an eternity.  She knew that these precious minutes would haunt her until she was able to force him from her system, but she knew it would be worth it all.  Every caress, every kiss, every touch was the perfect movement at the perfect time.  She had never felt more alive than in those fifteen minutes.  She didn’t want it to end.  She didn’t want to be forced back into reality.  She didn’t want to sober up.  She didn’t want to feel awkward around him when it ended.  She wanted to stay exactly as they were.

As her phone continued its relentless chime, she knew that whatever this was—whatever lapse in judgment they had fallen into—was over.  Even Cinderella had to face the real world after dancing with her prince all night.

Riley slowly pulled away from him when he began to kiss along her jawline.  She wasn’t sure if it was the heat in the tub, the heat between them, or the sudden sense of self-awareness that shot through her as her alarm continued its relentless call back to reality, but she had to create some space between them.  What was happening?  Was any of this real or was it all one drunken mistake?

Once she was able to catch her breath, she turned away from him.  “I’m sure the others are probably wondering what we’re doing,” she told him as she forced herself out of the hot tub.  She reached for a towel on the bench by the tub as she quickly dried off.  She had to go to bed.  She had to get out of that room.  Simply leaving the hot tub wasn’t enough.  The temptation to return to him was too strong.  She turned her back toward him as she ran the towel down the length of her body.  She paused long enough to notice that her hands were shaking.  ‘Really, Riley?’  She tossed the damp towel to the side before she walked to the other side of the room to silence her obnoxious phone.

Lucas was slightly dumbfounded as he watched her fumble around with her phone in order to turn off her alarm.  “Did I do something wrong,” he asked as he climbed out of the tub and closed the space between them.

Riley spun around to answer him, but didn’t expect him to be so close to her.  Her brown eyes were immediately met with his green ones as he stood mere inches from her.  It would be too easy to reach for him, to dive back into the paradise she had discovered between his lips.  Her breath caught in her throat as his lips slowly turned up into a small smile.  “N-No,” she stammered.

It took every bit of self-control he had not to pull her back in his arms.  She looked frightened, but he wasn’t sure why.  Was she worried about everyone else?  “I don’t think the others care what we’re doing,” he offered.  “It is our first night here, and it’s almost 3am…so, 6am in New York.”  His eyes slowly drifted toward the door.  “I’m sure Zay is passed out on the couch where we left him, and Maya probably got bored and went to bed.  If I’m wrong and they’re both on the other side of that door, then,” he sighed as he looked back at the brunette, “I mean we’ve all had a lot to drink tonight, right?  Maybe they’ll be too drunk to remember that our seven minutes in heaven lasted a lot longer.”

‘Too drunk to remember.’  His words echoed through her slightly bewildered mind.  He was absolutely right.  They had all been drinking.  Riley knew that she would have never suggested the game in the first place if she had been sober.  Still, she had no clue how drunk he was.  He didn’t seem to be smashed, but he definitely had more to drink than the rest of them did.  Her eyes ticked over to the hot tub.  She released a bittersweet chuckle as her eyes finally lowered to the ground.  She knew exactly what this was, and she couldn’t be mad about it because it was her idea!  Lucas Friar, serial monogamist stood before her.  He was single (for the moment).  He was in Las Vegas.  They decided to stay in their first night.  This was only ever meant to be a one-time thing.  She knew she had to play it off.  She knew that she had to walk away and pretend that the last twenty-one minutes hadn’t completely spun her world off its axis.  She turned away from him as she reached for her tank top and shorts.  “Yeah…what’s the big deal, right?  We’re both drunk.  The setting was perfect and now…I can scratch something off the bucket list.”

The only thing colder than her words was the icy tone that matched it.  Lucas frowned as he took a step closer to her.  He didn’t mean that he was too drunk.  He was only trying to assure her that the others wouldn’t care what they were doing.  “Riley, that’s not what I—“

Her head snapped up to look at him.  She couldn’t listen to another word.  She was already mortified enough.  “Thanks, Lucas.  You’re a good friend.”  The right corner of her lips lifted into a small smile—one that instantly made her nauseous—before she opened the door and quickly retreated to her room.  She didn’t dare peer into the living room to see if anyone else was still awake.  She only wanted to get away from him and this awkward conversation.

Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose as he quelled the urge to let out a frustrated groan.  What the hell just happened?  Yes, they had been drinking, but it wasn’t like they were completely wasted, right?  He knew he was buzzed, but he was well aware of the decisions he had made in that hot tub.  Riley seemed fairly in control of herself as well.  If he thought for one second that she was completely smashed, he never would have agreed to her request.

He reached for a towel and wrapped it around his waist as he grabbed his shirt.  He wandered into the living room and noticed that Zay was sleeping in the same spot where they left him twenty-one minutes earlier.  Maya was nowhere in sight. ‘Good,’ he thought to himself as he made his way to his room.  ‘There will be fewer questions to have to answer in the morning.’

Riley leaned her head against the door as soon as she closed it behind her.  Even in the darkened room, she could tell that Maya was asleep in the bed on the far side of the room.  Riley closed her eyes as she quietly bumped her head against the door three times.  She couldn’t go back out there.  She was completely humiliated by everything that happened in that stupid hot tub.  Who asks someone to play ‘seven minutes in heaven’ with them just to fulfill some stupid ‘bucket list’ request?  She knew that she felt something when they kissed, and for a while, she thought that maybe he did too, but then again, maybe he didn’t.  Maybe he was right.  They all had been drinking for several hours.  Maybe it was all an illusion—a convenient hookup because they were both lonely.

As she reached for her pajamas, she prayed that the alcohol she consumed would allow her to forget the twenty-one minutes she spent with Lucas Friar in the hot tub.  When she crawled into bed, she closed her eyes.  When she still felt the burning sensation of his kiss on her lips, she knew that it would be easier said than done.  

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she's turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.

A/N: Starting off with Chapter Two because Chapter One is ‘Dancing On My Own’ (linked below under the ‘1′) and it works a lot better with my chapter titles to start it off with two.

Rating: M (because of language, situations, and it’s Vegas, soooo yeah)

Pairing: Rucas

Cross-posted at ff.net

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A | J |

                                             Chapter Two: Deuces

Two months later...

‘Vegas, Vegas, Vegas,’ Maya chanted in her mind as she tossed half of the clothing she owned into her bag.  It was finally here.  After months of planning, they were going to Las Vegas to celebrate Riley’s birthday and to celebrate the fact that their whole group was finally twenty-one.

She walked out of her closet and toward her nightstand as she reached for the book that rested on top of it.  ‘Card Counting for Dummies,’ she smiled as she slid the book into her carry-on bag.  ‘Time to see if you actually work or not.’  She turned back to her suitcase.  Several clothing items had spilled out of the wheeled luggage.  She quickly scooped up the fallen garments and tossed them back into the bag.  She closed the lid and attempted to zip it up.  She got about halfway around it until the zipper suddenly stopped.  Maya bit her bottom lip as she tried several times to tug on the zipper.  It didn’t budge.  “Hmm,” she mused as she turned around and sat on top of the uncooperative bag.  She was able to get another two inches of it zipped up before it stopped again.  “Riley,” she finally called out.  “Riley, come here!  I need your butt for a minute!”

Riley stopped in the doorway as she tiled her head to the side in confusion.  “Did you just say you needed my butt?”

“Yeah,” the blonde groaned as she helplessly yanked on the stubborn piece of metal that refused to move any further.

Riley’s eyes widened as she took in the sheer amount of clothes her best friend had packed.  “We are only going to be there for four days, Maya.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know what I’m going to feel like wearing once we get there.  We’re going out to some nice meals, the club for your birthday, and then I have my gambling attire.”  She thought for a moment.  “Oh!  I forgot about shopping outfits.”

The brunette chuckled.  “Scoot over,” she instructed as she sat down on the other side of her best friend’s luggage.  She furrowed her eyebrows as she struggled to get the zipper to move, but after a few moments, it finally conceded and zipped up.  “There,” she said as she stood back up.  “Are you about ready?  The boys should be here any minute.”

“Yeah.  I just need to wheel this stuff to the door and grab my carry on.”  Maya surveyed her belongings for a moment before she glanced at the brunette.  “You ok? You don’t seem particularly thrilled.”

“I am,” she shrugged.  “Just anxious…about the flight, I guess.”  Liar.  She had already confessed her deep dark secret to her best friend, but maybe some habits were hard to break.  When Maya raised an eyebrow at her, Riley sighed.  She should have known that the blonde wouldn’t buy that excuse.  “It might also be the fact that I get to spend the next four days with someone who couldn’t be any more unavailable.”  She ran a hand through her hair.  She thought that it would get easier as the years went on, that her feelings for Lucas would simply fade into the background, but they hadn’t.  If anything, they had only grown stronger, despite her attempts to keep him at arm’s length.

“You need to tell him,” Maya insisted as she surveyed her luggage once more.  She was beginning to feel like a broken record because every conversation they had about Lucas always ended up like this.  Riley had to talk to him.  It may be awkward and weird at first, but if there was even a chance that he reciprocated her feelings, wouldn’t it be worth it?  “I’m like 95% sure he feels the same way.”  ‘More like 100%,’ the blonde mused.  Lucas hadn’t verbalized any romantic feelings he had for Riley since they were in middle school, but the way he acted around her seemed to tell a different story.  Whenever she entered a room, no matter who he was around, his attention immediately drifted to her.  She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t seen it sooner, but ever since Riley’s confession, Maya made it her mission to figure out what was going on with him.

“You don’t know that.”  She refused to entertain the notion that Lucas Friar had any sort of romantic feelings for her.  If he did, he would have said something by now, and besides, he had a girlfriend who looked like she just stepped off a runway.  If he could get a girl that gorgeous, then he would only be wasting his time with a ‘plain Jane’ like her.  “It doesn’t matter anyway.  It’s just…a stupid crush.”

Maya brushed a piece of stray hair away from her face as she turned to her best friend once more.  “Who do you think you’re trying to fool with that?  I know you, Riley.”

Riley took a deep breath.  “It doesn’t matter,” she reiterated.  “We’re friends.  That’s what we are.  That’s what we’ve always been.  Besides, he has a girlfriend.”

“We broke up,” Lucas told the group as soon as the girls climbed into the van to the airport.

Maya glanced at Riley knowingly.  What a surprise.  “That’s…too bad, Huckleberry,” she smiled.

He had only brought Alicia around the group once, but still, that gave Maya no reason to seem so happy about it.  “Yeah, you seem really broken up about it,” he deadpanned before he glanced at the brunette next to her.

“I’m sorry, Lucas,” Riley told him.  She couldn’t believe how happy Maya seemed over the situation.  Just because Lucas was single now didn’t mean that they would suddenly start dating.  “What happened?”

He shrugged.  “Just wasn’t meant to be, I guess.” ‘Or it’s because I’m in love with you,’ his brain screamed in response.  He knew he could never verbalize the real reason why it never seemed to work out with anyone else.  He knew that it wasn’t what the brunette wanted to hear.  Their friendship was already strained, to say the least.  The last thing he wanted to do was to put more pressure on it by forcing her to see him in a way that she clearly didn’t.  “It’s ok.”

“Hell yeah, it is,” Zay spoke up from behind him.  “For the first time since I moved here, we’re all single…and we’re all going to Vegas?  The next four days are going to be so amazing.”

Farkle frowned.  “We were all single when you moved here.”

“Not even close,” he answered as he leaned back in his seat.  “Don’t you remember?  Back then, Riley and Lucas had their little thing going on.”

“Well, yeah, but I would hardly call that dating,” Farkle told him.  Sure, they went out on a date and they had the typical middle school unofficial relationship for a little while, but it wasn’t like they were ever serious or in a committed relationship.  If they were, Lucas wouldn’t have jumped from Riley to Maya as quickly as he did.

When Lucas turned his head back around to look at Riley, she spun around in her seat.  Farkle was right.  What they did could hardly be called dating.  They had decided right before Zay showed up that they weren’t in a relationship.  Despite the fact that she wasn’t ready to be in a relationship at the time, it never changed how she felt about him.

“So,” Maya grinned as she clasped her hands together. “Vegas, here we come!”

As the van pulled away from the girls’ dorm, Farkle turned back to the group.  “You guys packed swim suits, right?”

“Crap,” Maya exclaimed as her eyes widened in horror.  “We have to turn around.  I forgot mine!”

Riley shook her head.  “It’ll take you an hour to pack up all of the ones you own.  We aren’t going to the end of the earth, Maya.  They have stores there.  We can stop and get one on the way to the hotel.”

“Fine,” she huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.  

Riley stared out the window during the entire take off.  The older she got, the more she wanted to travel.  She knew it was a pretty stereotypical thing to want to celebrate your 21st birthday in Vegas, but it wasn’t just for her.  It was for all of them.  She was the baby of the group, so they weren’t able to really have a huge celebration until now—although that fake id had served her well in the city.

She didn’t want to have to worry about getting caught using it on this trip.  She wanted to relax and enjoy this time in her life.  She needed a break from school, from trying to figure out what to do for the rest of her life.  She also needed a break from the constant inner turmoil she had about the guy who sat right behind her.

“I love first class,” Maya happily sighed as she reclined her chair back.  She glanced at the guy across the row from her.  “Thanks for the upgrade, Farkle.”

He smiled.  “Of course.  If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right.”

“Meaning,” Zay asked from his seat behind Maya.

Farkle smiled.  “Let’s just say, my parents decided to help make this a trip we won’t forget.”

“I love the sound of that,” Maya grinned.

Riley looked at her best friend.  “Are you going to go to sleep?”

“Yep,” she said as she popped the ‘p’.  She wasn’t anticipating getting much sleep over the next few days, so she thought sleeping on the way there would be a good use of her time.

“Really?  You’re not even going to stay awake to enjoy the first class luxuries?”

Maya shook her head.  “I’ve got to rest my brain so I’m ready for the tables when we get there.”

Riley chuckled as she turned to the screen in front of her.  She flipped through the movie list until she found something that piqued her curiosity.  She wanted the flight to go by quickly and needed a distraction from the fact that the guy she was in love with sat behind her—newly single and probably ready to mingle.  She thought that Maya would be able to provide enough entertainment to keep Riley from delving into the angst ridden thoughts she wanted to keep at bay over the next several days, but as she glanced at the already sleeping blonde, she knew that plan wouldn’t work out as she had imagined.  The last thing she wanted to think about was the fact that he could very well find some random girl in Las Vegas to hook up with.

Riley cringed at the thought.  She knew that Farkle had gotten them a suite at the Hard Rock Hotel, but she wasn’t sure how big the room actually was.  If she had to see him with some random girl, or even worse, if she had to hear whatever it was that they did, she knew she’d hop on the first flight back to New York.

The mere thought him tangled up with someone else made her stomach turn.  The image was so unbearable that she had completely forgotten was she was doing.  Her hand hovered over the start button as she thought about her escape plan should this nightmare become a reality.

Lucas tilted his head to the side when he noticed Riley’s sudden immobility.  Mistaking it for nervousness about the flight, he leaned forward to check on her. “Are you ok, Riley?”

His voice shook her out of her horrendous thoughts.  “Hmm,” she responded before she looked down at her hand.  “Oh.  Oh yeah.  N-No, I’m ok.”  She quickly hit the start button.  ‘Way to keep it cool, Matthews.’

“I’m watching that one too,” Lucas smiled.  He shouldn’t have been surprised.  They had similar tastes when it came to most things.  It was one of the things he liked about her.  They used to be able to talk about anything and everything, and they had so much in common with one another.  He missed that.  His missed having those deep conversations about astronomy, religion, music, sports—anything really.  He hoped that this trip would somehow bring them closer together, if not romantically, then at least get them back to where they used to be.

“Really?”  She cleared her throat as she looked down at her headphones.  “Yeah…yeah, I heard good things about it.”

He hesitated for a moment.  If he was determined to renew their friendship, then the sooner that first step was made, the better.  “Do you…want to watch it together?”  He glanced at the guy who sat next to him.  “I’m sure Zay will switch seats with you.”  His palms immediately began to perspire as he waited for her response.  Why was he nervous?  It wasn’t a date or anything.  It was just two friends watching a movie together on a plane.  ‘No, it’s not,’ he thought.  It would never be ‘just’ anything with her.

Riley took a deep breath.  Why was she petrified of something as simple as watching a movie with him?  It wasn’t as if they were alone in a darkened theatre or anything.  She glanced at the blonde next to her, who had already begun to snore.  “That’s…ok.  Maybe next time,” she offered lamely.  “I’m kind of tired…I don’t want to fall asleep on you.”

“Oh,” his heart dropped as he leaned back in his seat.  “Ok.”  ‘I wouldn’t mind it at all if you did,’ he thought as he slid his headphones on.  ‘In fact, I’m pretty sure I would love it.’

Riley instantly regretted her decision as she glanced out the window once more.  ‘Goodbye New York.’

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M (because of language, situations, and it’s Vegas, soooo yeah)

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 3,890

Cross-posted at ff.net

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                                           Chapter Three: Treys

“Farkle Minkus,” Riley’s mouth fell open the moment the manager of the hotel opened the double doors to the penthouse suite of the Hard Rock Hotel.  Her eyes widened as she surveyed the expansive living room of the 4,200 sq ft suite.  “This can’t possibly be right.”

“It is,” he smiled as he turned to the manager. “My father also said something about a butler?”

“We get a butler,” Maya hissed at Riley.  She knew that Farkle’s parents wanted to pay for their room, but she had no idea that they paid for them to stay in heaven for the next few days.  How was she ever going to go back to her cramped dorm room after this?

“This is unreal,” Zay marveled as he walked around the main living room.  Couches, TVs, and various pieces of artwork were everywhere.  As he wandered toward the corner of the room, he noticed a neon light in his peripheral vision.  He slowly turned toward it.  When he did, his eyes widened.  “Oh shit,” he chuckled.

“What is it,” Lucas asked as he and the girls followed the sound of his voice.

The four of them stood shoulder to shoulder as they gawked at the one lane bowling alley in the middle of the suite.

“This is it, guys,” Zay grinned as they stared at the structure.  “It will never get better than this exact moment.”

Riley glanced at Lucas, but quickly turned her head when she noticed his eyes move over to her.

Maya examined the bowling lane for a moment before she shrugged.  “How much do you want to bet that it actually does get better than a bowling alley in the living room?” Maya quickly reached for her best friend’s hand.  “Let’s see the rest of our home for the next four days,” she squealed.

Farkle wandered over to the group as they continued to take in their surroundings.  “There are three bedrooms, a couple of different sitting areas, a bowling alley, a pool table…there is a hot tub in there,” he gestured to the back of the suite, “And we have a butler on call 24/7 for whatever we might need.”  He tried to think if there was anything else.  “Oh, and a fully stocked bar over there,” he gestured to the other end of the bowling alley.

“I’m never leaving this room,” Zay told the group.  “You guys can go and explore Las Vegas all you want to, but I already know that nothing could be better than this.”

Riley’s wide eyes turned to Farkle.  The room was nicer than anywhere she had ever been in her life, but she couldn’t help but to wonder how much this was going to cost.  “Are you sure about this?  It must cost—“

“It’s fine,” he assured her.  “Mom and dad insisted.  They knew we were waiting to properly celebrate until we all turned 21.  They didn’t want us to worry about anything while we were here.”

“Is it too late for them to adopt me?”  Maya strolled over to the pool table.  “I seriously don’t want to leave the room now.”

Riley put her arm around Farkle’s shoulders as she gave him a warm smile.  “Thank you, Farkle.  It’s already so much more than I ever thought it would be.”  She brought her other arm around to hug him from the side.  It was truly incredible.  When she pulled away from him, she glanced around the living room once more.  They had only just arrived, but she had a feeling that it was going to be their biggest adventure yet.

“Then why don’t we just stay here tonight,” Zay finally yelled overtop of everyone as they debated on what to do that evening.  He raised his hands as he gestured at the space around them.  “I mean, we already have the best room in town.  We just got here, and I’m sure we’re all a little jet lagged, right?”  When Farkle and Riley nodded, he continued.  “So, let’s go grab some food, come back here…maybe bowl a little, play some pool, hop in that Jacuzzi…” he paused.  “Staying in tonight makes sense to me.  Riley doesn’t turn twenty-one until tomorrow night at midnight, so if we’re going to chill out one night, it needs to be this one.”

“He makes a good point,” Farkle agreed before he turned to the girls.  “What do you think?”

Maya glanced at Riley.  It wouldn’t be fair to try to go out when Riley had to wait one more day.  She was itching to gamble, but she wasn’t about to do it without her best friend.  “Yeah.  I agree.  We can all relax and enjoy the room tonight.  Tomorrow, we do…whatever it is that you have already planned, but tomorrow night…we go all out.”  She wrapped her arms around Riley.  “It’s not every day your best friend turns twenty-one.”

“Awww,” Riley cooed as Maya hugged her.  She glanced at Farkle.  “So, where are we going for dinner tonight?”

“It’s a surprise,” Farkle grinned as he stood up.  “We do have a reservations somewhere, so why don’t we get dressed and meet back in here in an hour?”

“Sounds good,” Maya said as she stood up.  She reached for the brunette next to her.  “Come on, Riles.  Let’s see what we’re working with in our bathroom.”

Zay and Lucas slowly stood up as the girls walked to their room.  “I’m going to shoot some pool,” Zay told the remaining members of their party, “Because it will not take me an hour to get ready.”  He glanced at the guys.  “Anyone want to play?”

“I need something to drink,” Lucas answered for the first time in several minutes.  He was content enough to let everyone else decide what they wanted to do.   He was pretty open for anything.  Besides, his mind had been preoccupied with a few things that were definitely more important than their plans for the evening. “Farkle, can you show me the ins and outs of the bar?”  He didn’t wait for an answer as he walked toward the corner of the suite.

Farkle frowned, but followed him regardless.  Out of the entire group, Farkle would have been voted ‘least likely to be found in a bar’.  He knew very little about alcohol, but also knew that Lucas was well aware of that fact.  “Lucas, I’m not really a heavy drinker, and the bar seems pretty self-exclamatory.”

“I know,” he answered as they reached the little alcove.  As soon as Lucas walked behind the bar, he faced Farkle.  Was he actually about to do this?  Was he going to risk giving himself away?  To be frank, he didn’t really care about the repercussions.  He had to know if he had a chance.  He had to know if there was someone else.  “I needed to talk to you and…I really need a drink of something before I do.”  He was nervous.  He had never been nervous to talk to Farkle before.  The genius was one of his best friends.  They were practically brothers—which is exactly what made this conversation even more nerve-wracking.

Farkle frowned as he watched Lucas quickly pour himself a double shot of whiskey.  “Why do you need a drink to talk to me?”  His eyes widened when he watched his friend quickly down the amber liquid and pour himself a second one.  “We’ve been friends for eight years now.  What could it possibly be—“

“It’s about Riley,” he said before he slid the second one back.  He knew that the effects wouldn’t be instant, but he had to take the edge off.  It was crazy.  Ever since they got off the plane, ever since he checked his phone, a hurricane of anxiety raged within him about the brunette girl who was currently on the other side of the suite.

“Riley?”  Farkle glanced at the direction of the girls’ room.  “What about her?”

Lucas looked down at the glass in his hands.  He hadn’t told anyone about his deeply rooted feelings for the brunette.  He didn’t want any of his friends to interfere or to be forced to keep it a secret from the others.  No, it had been his burden, and his alone, to bear for the last seven years.  He thought as the years went on that his feelings for her would fade, but instead, they intensified with every interaction they had.  He thought for sure she would notice.  He thought that they all would have seen it by now, but maybe they hadn’t because they didn’t know to look for it.  “Yeah, I noticed something earlier…and wanted to ask about it.”

Farkle didn’t understand what Lucas was trying to say.  “Ask what?”

Lucas sat the glass down.  He had to spit it out.  It was like ripping off a Band-Aid.  He only hoped that what lied beneath wasn’t a deeper cut.  “Is there…something…going on with you and Riley?”

Farkle lifted his eyebrows in shock.  “What,” he nearly shrieked.  “No.  No, no, no, and no.”  He shook his head for emphasis as he leaned against the counter.  Riley was like a sister to him, nothing more.  “What makes you think that?”

Lucas looked down at the counter before he sighed.  “This is a really nice suite, Farkle.  I know you said it was for all of us to celebrate, but it is her birthday…and you’re taking her to a surprise place for dinner.”  He shrugged.  He had to downplay his line of questioning the best he could.  “I was just curious.”

“Riley is one of my best friends.”  He paused.  “So is Maya.  I’ve known them both for far too long to ever see them as anything other than a sister type.  I mean…if something was going to happen with either one of them, it definitely would have been before now, don’t you think?”

Lucas crossed his arms over his chest.  “Yeah.  Yeah, I guess so.”  ‘Nonchalant, Friar.  Nonchalant.’

Farkle watched as Lucas preoccupied himself by looking around the entire bar area.  Farkle could swear that Lucas had looked everywhere around them except for him.  “Why are you so curious about it?”

Lucas took a quick breath before he finally looked up at Farkle.  “What do you mean?”

Farkle gestured to the empty glass.  “Why did you need to take two shots before you asked me about it?”

“Oh, you know…we don’t really talk about dating stuff.  I was just curious.”  He picked up the glass and turned around to sit it in the sink.  He was grateful for the ten-second distraction.  “I didn’t know if Zay and I needed to help push you…closer to her over the next few days.”  He paused as he turned back to his friend.  Thank God he didn’t have to push his friend toward the one girl he had never been able to forget.  “You know since she’s been talking to that Steve guy.”

“Steve?”  Farkle had to think for a moment.  Steve who?  “Steve Fitzsimmons?”

Lucas shrugged.  ‘Good job on that transition,’ he mentally applauded himself.  “I saw Maya’s instagram post earlier…the one with the picture of Riley on the plane.  Asher tagged me in the comments and I noticed that a guy named Steve said something about taking Riley out for her birthday when we got back.”

“Oh.  Yeah, I think she’s gone out with him a few times over the last couple of weeks.”

Lucas knew he should drop the conversation.  Riley was free to date whoever she wanted to and Farkle didn’t seem that suspicious of his fascination with Riley’s love life.  Still though, he couldn’t help but to press the genius a little further.  “Do you think it’s serious?”

“No idea.”  Farkle chuckled.  “But it’s Riley.  She never gets serious with anyone.”  Farkle’s smile slowly faded as he studied Lucas’s pensive expression.  He was deep in thought about something, and truthfully, Farkle could have sworn that his friend seemed tense.  “You ok?”

“Yeah,” Lucas shook his head as he tried to force the brunette from his mind.  “Yeah.  Why do you ask?”

“Are you upset about the breakup with Alicia?”

“No,” he sighed.  “You know how it is with me, I guess.  Can’t ever quite reach the committal stage.”  He glanced at the clock on the far wall.  “I probably should go get ready.”

Farkle frowned as he glanced at the glass in the sink.  Something wasn’t adding up. He turned around as he watched Lucas retreat to his room.  Was Lucas asking from sheer curiosity—as a protective older brother type—or was it something more?  Was he jealous or was he merely envious because he was still dealing with his most recent breakup?  Something definitely didn’t seem right.

“Top of the World,” Riley squealed as she twirled in the middle of the suite’s living room.  Not only was she was staying in the most beautiful room in the world, but she also just had the most amazing meal ever.   “The view was so incredible,” she grinned as she turned to her friends.  There was no way anything would top the view from their table.  She felt like she was in heaven as she spent most of the night staring at the glimmering lights below them.

“It was really nice,” Maya agreed as she walked toward the whimsical brunette.  “I’m not sure how we’ll be able to top that place as far as our meals go.”

“There are so many places to eat at around here,” Zay told them as he strolled over to the bar.  “I’m sure we’ll have just as much fun tomorrow night…although, you did set the bar pretty high, Farkle.”

“So, what do you guys want to do here tonight?”  Riley glanced at the bowling alley.  “We have the pool table, the bowling alley, the hot tub.”

“Yes,” Zay exclaimed as he pulled out several bottles of liquor.  He placed them all on the counter and grinned as he looked up expectantly at his friends.

Riley chuckled.  “Yes to what?”

“All of it,” he answered decisively.  “It’s about 9:30 now, and I don’t know about you guys, but I am so not ready to go to bed.”  He looked down at the liquor sprawled on the counter.  “So, how about this?  I’ll be the bartender tonight and you guys can go get changed into your suits while I think of some games we can play.”

Farkle yawned.  “It’s 12:30 in New York.”

“But it’s 9:30 here,” Zay reasoned.  “I’m prepared to keep this party going all night.  Who’s with me?”

Riley raised her hand as she walked over to the bar.  “I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a really long time.  There is no way that I am crashing at 9:30 on the first night.”  She turned to Maya.  “What do you think?”

“I’m in,” she smiled.  She knew those few hours of sleep on the plane would come in handy.

Riley looked to the abnormally quiet Texan.  She wasn’t sure why he had been so quiet for most of the evening.  Maybe he was thinking about Alicia?  Riley assumed that he was the one to end things—he usually was—but maybe something else happened this time?  “Lucas?  What about you?”

His head snapped up at the sound of his name.  Truthfully, he hadn’t heard much of their conversation.  His thoughts had been completely focused on the girl who now looked expectantly at him.  “I’m sorry.  What?”

“Are you going to go to bed or are you going to stay up with us and enjoy everything this room has to offer?”

Maybe he should go to bed.  Maybe he should regroup and start fresh in the morning.  He knew that if he mixed alcohol with being in such close proximity to her, that something might slip out.  He had done a fairly good job at hiding his feelings from her for the last few years.  Was he finally breaking down?  Did his heart have an eight-year cap on repressing his true feelings?  He wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t about to retreat to his room only to find out something insane happened that he could have prevented if only he had been there.  “Yeah.  Yeah, I’m in.”

“Great,” she smiled.

“You guys have fun,” Farkle yawned once more.  He was excited to be in Las Vegas, but he had also been up since 5:30.  He knew if he had just one drink he would pass out.  “I have got to get some sleep.  We have a packed day tomorrow.  Our wake up call is at 7am.”

Maya flinched.  “I haven’t seen 7am since high school, Farkle!  I thought this was a nocturnal town?”

“It is.  We’re going to the Hoover Dam in the morning and it’s going to take about an hour to get there.  If you combine that with how long it’ll take everyone to get ready and eat, and well…7am wake up call.”

Maya pouted.  “Really?”  Did they have to go to the damn Dam that early?

He nodded.  “Afraid so.”

“I’m still staying up,” Riley declared as she pulled out one of the chairs in front of the bar and sat down.  She slapped her hand on the counter.  “Bartender, make me a margarita.”

“Sure…after I see some ID.”  When Riley raised her eyebrows in response, Zay laughed.  “You know I’m just kidding.”  He waited a beat.  “I can only make this joke for one more day!”

“I’m staying up too,” Lucas told the group as he loosened his tie.  “Zay, can you make me a jack and coke?  I’m going to go change.”  Maybe this was a bad idea.  Maybe something would slip out during whatever drinking game Zay would concoct, but truthfully, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep everything bottled up.  He was tired of being tense around her.  He was tired of having to be mindful of every look, every word he directed at her.  He wanted to relax.  He wanted to be himself around her again.

“Well, if you guys are staying up, so am I,” Maya said as she slipped her shoes off.  “Zay, vodka and redbull.  I’m going to need some energy.”

“You guys have fun.  I’m exhausted and jet lagged.”

“Goodnight,” Riley called out to Farkle as he headed off to his room.  Once she heard his door shut, she turned back to Zay.  “I can’t get over this suite,” Riley told him as she glanced around the room.  “I could spend the next four days in here and be perfectly happy.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!”  He pulled out a few glasses from the cabinet and sat them in front of the brunette.  “I know one thing…I’m going to take advantage of that 24/7 room service.”  

Riley placed her head in her hand as she rested her elbow on the counter.  “We just got back from dinner.”

“Not right now…but if we’re going to stay up late…and especially after getting a few drinks in?  You’re going to be begging for some pizza.”

She smiled as her eyes drifted toward the wall.  “Too true.”

As Zay filled the glasses with some ice, he glanced at his friend.  He couldn’t help but to notice that she seemed to be in a daze as she stared at the back wall.  “So, how’s life Riley?”

The right corner of her lips turned up into a smirk as she looked back at Zay.  “Life is…life.”

He nodded.  “Have you been seeing anyone new lately?”

She raised her eyebrows.  That was a pretty loaded question, and honestly one that didn’t have a short answer.  Was she dating around?  Yes.  Was she serious about any of them? No.  Not yet, anyway.  “I don’t know…you interested,” she teased.

He chuckled.  “Sorry, girl.  I’ve known you for too long to ever risk losing your friendship.”

She drummed her fingers on the counter as she sat up.  “No worries.  You’re one of my best friends.  It would be too weird, I think.”

“Yeah,” he agreed as he poured Lucas’s drink.  “I feel like it would be with all of us though.  We’ve all been so close for so long…why rock the boat now, you know?”

Riley’s lips formed a thin line as she stared at the counter.  She knew it would be weird, and awkward, and the odds of it ending well were practically nonexistent, but that didn’t stop her from thinking about Lucas in that way.  It didn’t stop her from constantly daydreaming about where a relationship with him could go.  It didn’t stop her from falling more in love with him with every passing day.  “Yeah.”

“How are those drinks coming,” Lucas asked as he strolled out of the room he was to share with Zay.  

Riley turned around to look at him as he walked toward the bar.  He had changed into a pair of swimming trunks and a white t-shirt.  Even dressed down, he looked positively god-like.

“Perfect timing.  Yours is ready, my friend,” Zay told his best friend as he handed him the drink.

Lucas took a small sip.  “This is strong,” he commented before he took a longer swig.  Strong was good.  Strong was the quickest way he would be able to relax around Riley and quiet the voices in his head that screamed at him to tell her how he felt.

“Doesn’t seem to be stopping you any,” Zay responded as he poured Riley’s tequila into a glass.

“We’re here to have fun, right?”  Lucas glanced at Riley.  He was surprised that she hadn’t gone to change her clothes yet.  “Are you going to go change?”

“Yeah.  Absolutely.  I was just trying to butter up the bartender here so he would give me a good pour.”  She slid out of the chair as she turned her head toward the back of the living room.  “I’m dying to see the view of the strip from that hot tub.”

Lucas swallowed harshly as the mental image of Riley clad in a bikini flashed through his mind.  He looked down at the drink in his hand before he quickly downed the rest of it.  He had never been a really heavy drinker, but considering the amount he had already consumed since they arrived, he had a feeling that this weekend would be an exception.

“Here, take this with you,” Zay instructed as he handed Riley her margarita.

She took a sip of it.  “Whew.  Definitely strong, Zay.”

“We’re going to do Vegas right,” Zay grinned as he popped open a can of Red Bull for Maya.

“I have a feeling that Farkle’s going to have a very hard time getting us up in the morning,” she told the guys before she wandered to her room to change her clothes.

As soon as Riley closed her bedroom door, Zay reached for Lucas’s empty glass.  “What’s going on with you, man?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know you have a high tolerance for alcohol, but I also know that you’ve never been a big drinker.”  He reached for the bottle of whiskey.  “I’ve seen you drink more already tonight than in the last two months.  What’s going on?”

Lucas shrugged.  “Nothing.  You just said you wanted us to ‘do Vegas right’.  I do too.  I want to have fun.”

[gilbertandanne]

                                                      “Perfect”

A/N: Post-Infinite one shot, but I don’t think you have to read it to understand what’s going on in this one.  Definitely giving a shoutout to @gmwmeetsniall for asking about a post-Infinite one shot.  I never planned on doing it, but Ed decided to write the P E R F E C T song (haha, get it?). Fluff is not my strong suit, and I’m afraid it shows.  I hope you all like it anyway. <33

Song by: Ed Sheeran

Word count: 7,660

Pairing: Rucas

Rating: T

Lucas stood in front of the mirror in a desperate attempt to tie his tie.  Logically he knew that his reflection wouldn’t help the slight tremor of his hands, but at that moment, he was unable to think logically.  His hand shook a little more violently as he picked up the ends of the tie.  He wasn’t sure why he was reacting like this.  He wasn’t nervous at all and he wasn’t the least bit scared.  If anything, he felt more relaxed than he thought he would be—given the circumstances.

“About ten minutes,” Farkle said as he walked back into the dressing room.  He stood next to Zay as the two men watched Lucas fumble with the tie.  “How long as he been trying to tie it?”

“My guess is ten minutes,” Zay shrugged.  “It’s kind of entertaining.  You think he’s just about figured it out, but then one end falls and he has to start all over again.”

Lucas flipped the tie around for another moment before he growled in frustration.  Why was this happening?!

Farkle chuckled as he walked over to the Texan.  “You a little nervous,” he asked as he grabbed the tie.  He had never seen Lucas so flustered before.  It was quite a switch from the normally reserved veterinarian.

“No,” he huffed as Farkle slid the tie around his neck.  “How…how does she look,” he asked as a new wave of tranquility overcame him.  Just the mere thought of her seemed to put him at ease.  He looked down.  His hands still shook slightly, but not nearly as aggressively as they did a minute ago.  That was exactly the effect she had always had on him.  She calmed him, even if he were thousands of miles away.

Farkle smiled.  “You already know the answer to that.”  He finished the last loop.  “There.  Perfect.”

Lucas looked at himself in the mirror.  “I can’t believe it’s finally here,” he said as he examined his appearance.

“I don’t think any of us can,” Maya smiled from the doorway.

Lucas’s eyes snapped toward the blonde.  “Maya?  What are you doing in here?  Shouldn’t you be with—“

“The bride?”  She raised her eyebrows as she raised her right hand up.  In it, she held a folded piece of paper.  “As matron of honor, it’s my duty to make sure that the bride gets everything her heart desires today.”  She walked toward Lucas.  “She wanted me to give this to you.”

Lucas’s heart began to race as he stared at the paper.  “W-What is that?”

“How should I know?”  She handed the letter to Lucas.  “She tells me a lot of things, but I have no idea what’s in there.”

Lucas’s panicked eyes lifted back up to Maya’s.  “She’s not backing out, right?”

Maya glanced at the letter.  “Only one way to find out.”

Lucas turned away from his friends as he opened the note.  His heart leapt into his throat as his eyes slowly began to scan its contents.

‘Dear Lucas,

I wanted to do this in person.  I wanted to do it last night, but everything got so hectic at the rehearsal dinner, and then you spent the night at Maya and Josh’s.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to see you until the ceremony, but I have to tell you this before I see you:

I love you.

I know that seems ridiculous, because we’re about to get married, but over the last several days, I’ve been thinking about everything we’ve been through—the good, the bad, and the really bad.  Through it all, even when everyone else thought that there was no way we’d survive, even when I thought we wouldn’t, you believed.  You never gave up on us—even when I told you to, even when I begged you to.

When we, technically, weren’t dating in college…when we only talked when we met up…I knew how you felt.  Maybe not at the time, because I refused to see it, but looking back on it now, I knew that you loved me, and that you were trying to step back to give me what I thought I wanted.  I also know that you were there when I needed you.  I knew that if I needed someone to talk to, that you would be there.

Most guys would have been happy with the deal we had, but you never were.  I know you’ve said that before, but when I think back to those days, I see it so clearly.  I’m not sure how I missed it.  Maybe I was so far in denial of my own feelings that I failed to see yours most of the time.

I was so selfish back then.  I was so scared.  I thought that I was doing the right thing, when in reality, it almost cost me the best thing in my life.

I don’t deserve you.  I don’t deserve the happiness you bring to my world everyday.  Waking up next to you is the best way to start my day and falling asleep in your arms is the gateway to nothing but happy dreams of our future.

That future is here now.

Today, we’re going to stand in front of everyone we love and commit ourselves to one another for the rest of our lives.

Before we do that, I want to tell you that I think it’s unfair that you got to propose twice.  I know we said the first one doesn’t count, but it does.  I don’t want to erase our history.  I know that there is no way I could ever top the second one, so let me just tell you this:

With every fiber of my being, with every beat of my heart, I will love you.  I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, and I will love you even after my last breath.  You are my past.  You are my present.  You are my future. You’re my best friend.  You’re everything to me, Lucas.  You’re the one I want to walk through life with.  So, today, on the most perfect of days, will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?

If so, I’ll see you at the end of the aisle.

Love Always, Riley’

Lucas slowly folded up the note as he slid it into his pocket.  He took another moment to compose himself before he turned back to his friends.  He knew that if Maya saw the tears that had pooled in his eyes, she would never let him forget it.  He cleared his throat as he finally turned around.

“Feeling better,” Zay asked.

He nodded.  “I’ve waited a really long time for today.”

“We all have,” Maya smiled.  “Ready boys?  I think Huckleberry has waited long enough.”

The note burned in his pocket as he stood at the end of the aisle.  He watched as his parents and Riley’s mom were escorted to their seats.  As the music faded, he glanced at the men who stood beside him.  He wasn’t sure if this day would have even happened were it not for them.  Josh, Zay, and Farkle were truly some of the best friends he could ever hope to have.  He was so thankful that they were there.

His palms began to sweat as the bridesmaids began to walk down the aisle.  The first was Meredith, a girl who went to school with Riley.  Next was the wife of one of his best friends—Isadora Smackle-Minkus.  She winked at Lucas as soon as she reached the end of the aisle.  He shook his head as he smiled.  Some things would never change.  He looked back at Farkle who only chuckled.  Lucas turned his head back toward the aisle as Maya reached the small group.  He noticed that tears brimmed in the blonde’s eyes.

As the bridal march began, his eyes slowly wandered toward the double doors at the back of the library.  He held his breath as two of the ushers slowly opened the only barrier that separated him from being able to see her.  As the doors creaked open, the smile on his face steadily grew.  When her eyes met his, everything around him seemed to stop.  

//I found a love for me Darling, just dive right in and follow my lead//

If he lived to be a thousand, he knew he would never forget a single detail of the exact moment he saw her in that gown.  He sucked in a breath as she, escorted by her father, began to slowly walk towards him.

She was a vision in a white strapless gown.  Her normally long brown hair was pinned up with a few small flowers peppered in.  He was fairly certain his heart stopped beating when she smiled at him.  He knew that he didn’t deserve the goddess who slowly floated toward him.  Her dress billowed behind her, which created an even more ethereal effect.

All of this must be a dream.  This couldn’t possibly be real.  What had he done in a past life to deserve the amount of happiness he currently felt?  He prayed that this wasn’t a dream.  He prayed that this was his reality—that the woman who had tears glistening in her soulful brown eyes was about to become his wife.

He swallowed as she finally reached him.  When her father let go of her arm in order for her to take his, Lucas bit his bottom lip to hold back the tears he knew he would shed.  When she touched his arm, he knew that this was no dream.  This was real.  After years of dreaming about it, after years of torturing himself with a future he knew he would never have, here they were.

//Well, I found a girl, beautiful and sweet Oh, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me//

The ceremony flew by in a flash.  Before he knew it, it was time for them to recite their vows to one another.

“Lucas,” Riley began as two tears slipped from her eyes, “When I sat down to write out my vows for you, I realized that this was going to be one of the most important things I would ever write.”  She paused as another tear slid down her cheek.  “We’ve been through so much.  From the day we met, I knew that you would be someone important to me.  We became friends first, and then, when I was ready…we became more.”  She cleared her throat.  “When I wrote that down, I realized that you’ve done that for me throughout our whole relationship.  You waited for me.  You were patient with me.  No matter what I did, how I reacted, you still loved me.  You still wanted to be with me.  I…I know I can’t take back the time we lost, but I can guarantee you that there will never be another day where you have to wonder how I feel, because I’ll tell you every chance I get that I love you.  I love you, Lucas…no matter what life has in store for us.  Good or bad, it doesn’t matter.  I know we can make it through anything.  I promise that no matter what, I’ll love you til my dying day…and even beyond that.”

When Lucas noticed the tears steadily streaming down her cheeks, he lost every intention of trying to make it through the ceremony without crying.  As the first tear fell from his right eye, he looked down at their joined hands.  “Riley, I’m not sure where to begin.  We met the day after I moved to New York.  You…literally…landed in my lap.”  He smiled as he looked back up at her.  “You helped this angry kid from Texas adjust to life in the big city.  You became my home.  You became the peace that I had been trying to find.  We’ve had ups and downs, and there have been times where it felt like everyone else had moved on, but I knew it wasn’t the end for us.  I knew it because I knew that we’d be here one day.  You are the only one for me, Riley.  No matter what happens next, no matter where we end up, it’ll be home because you’re there beside me.  I know that every day will be the best day because you’ll be there to share it with me.  My heart is yours.  It’s been yours since day one.  It’ll be yours long after we’re both gone.  You’re a part of me…the best part.  I love you—yesterday, today, tomorrow, and,” he swallowed as a few more tears cascaded down his cheeks, “forever.”

After he slid the ring on her finger, he looked up into her tear filled eyes.  As soon as the preacher announced that they were husband and wife, they grinned at one another.  Lucas cupped her face in his hands before his lips found hers in a tender kiss that held the promise of a beautiful future filled with nothing but love.

//'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love Not knowing what it was I will not give you up this time//

“Is it better,” Riley asked Maya as the blonde tried to fix her best friend’s makeup after the ceremony.

“Yeah, almost there,” Maya answered as she wiped away the last of the runny mascara.  She reached for the tube as she reapplied it.  “I knew we should have gone for the waterproof.  I knew you both were going to lose it.”

“Ok, I seem to remember you practically wailing when you married Josh,” Lucas defended as Smackle straightened his tie.

“I did not wail,” she protested.

Lucas turned to Josh.  “Tell the truth.”

Josh cringed.  “Lucas, first rule of marriage—never take the opposite side of your wife.”

“Thanks honey,” Maya smiled.  “Ok, Riles.  Now, we can take pictures and get to the party.”

“How do you want to do this,” Farkle asked the couple.

“I was thinking that the photographer can do all the group stuff, and then go to the reception while…while Maya helps us take some couple pictures.”

Maya frowned.  “Me?”

“Yeah,” she smiled as she reached for her hand.  “No one can capture us better.”  She glanced around the room.  “Besides…it’s the library.  It only feels right to have you do it.”

“I married such a brilliant woman,” Lucas smiled as he closed the space between him and Riley.  He wrapped his arms around her waist.  “Hey, Mrs. Friar.”

She grinned.  “Hey Dr. Friar.”

“You ok?”

She pressed her lips to his.  “Never been better.”

//But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own And in your eyes, you're holding mine//

“Ok, Riles.  We have about twenty minutes.  What did you have in mind?”

Riley smiled as she walked over to a book bag Farkle brought in for her. She pulled out a farily large book and wandered back to her husband and best friend.  “Candids.  I don’t want to pose.  I want this to feel real.”  She showed the book to Lucas.

“Tales of Human Interaction,” he read before he looked up at her.

“Too cheesy?”

He shook his head.  “Just the perfect amount.”

“As long as you too don’t consummate anything on the table, then I’m ok with whatever you want to do.”  Maya smiled as she reached for her camera.  She wasn’t as good with photography as she was with art, but she was comfortable behind the camera.  Riley and she had taken a few photography classes when they attended NYU, so she at least knew the mechanics of the art form.

Riley sat the book down on the table as Lucas took a seat in front of it.  Maya snapped a few pictures of them re-reading the pages of the book that brought them together nearly a decade and a half ago.  After Lucas read one particular line, he looked up at Riley.  Maya took a picture at that exact moment.  She didn’t need to look at it again to know that would easily be one of the best pictures of the day.  It encompassed everything about them that she loved.  Their connection had always been strong.  She had never seen either of them as happy as they did in that moment, and that meant everything to her.

//Baby, I'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favourite song//

Lucas thought for sure that his smile couldn’t get any bigger, but when the DJ announced the newly crowned husband and wife as they entered the reception, he was fairly certain the whole room could see every single tooth in his mouth.  He couldn’t wipe the grin from his face, even if he tried.  

He was grateful that most of the guests had already eaten by the time they arrived.  He couldn’t sit still if he tried to, and he didn’t have an appetite.  All he wanted was to be by her side.  All he wanted to do was to engrain every second of this day into his memory.

“Would it be weird if we stepped out for a moment while everyone finished eating,” she whispered to him.  “I’m not hungry at all, but I’d really love a moment alone with you.”

He leaned in to whisper in her ear.  “I was thinking the exact same thing.”  He offered his hand to her.  She smiled as she took it.

//When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight//

He thought about going back to the part of the library where they took the pictures, but he knew that would be the first place they would look for them.  He knew they couldn’t be long, but he desperately wanted a few minutes with her.

“The girls’ dressing room,” she told him as they walked down the end of the hallway.

Neither said a word until Riley closed the door behind him.  She quickly spun the lock.  “They may know we’re in here, but at least they can’t just barge in.”  She turned around.  “Hey.”

He smiled as he reached for her.  “Hey.”

“This is all I want,” she murmured as he wrapped his arms around her.  She closed her eyes as she simply breathed in this moment with him.

“Well,” he smirked, “Maybe not all.”

She smiled.  “Enough for now,” she amended.  They stood like that for a long moment before she pulled back from him.  “This actually happened, right? We’re married?”

He nodded.  “Too late to back out now,” he teased.

“I would never,” she said as she started to play with his tie.  “Riley Friar,” she mused.

“Sounds perfect to me,” he responded.  “Riley Friar.  I could say that a thousand times and never get tired of it.”

“That’s good, because that’s my name now.”  She wrapped her arms around his neck.  “I love you, Lucas.”

“Say it again,” he smiled.

“I love you.”  She looked into his eyes.  “Thank you for not giving up on me…even when I told you to.”

“I couldn’t,” he answered simply.  “I meant what I said earlier.  You’re a part of me…the best part.  You taught me how to have hope…to believe in something…to fight.”

“You’ll never have to fight alone.”  She pressed her lips to his in a gentle kiss.  “We’ve been planning this thing for about a year now.  Now that it’s finally here and almost over, what happens next?”

He smiled.  “I was thinking that maybe we can stay at Farkle’s for awhile longer…until you finish school.  That’ll give me some time to set up my practice, get established.”

“Then?”

“Whatever you want,” he smiled.  “Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do.  I only want to be where you are.”

“You stole my answer,” she smiled.  “Maybe in a few years we can find a place outside of the city.  I wouldn’t mind having a yard, a little space.”  She paused.  “Maybe…maybe a few kids.”

He grinned as he reached for her left hand.  He brought it up to his lips as they began to gently sway back and forth.  They couldn’t hear any music, but that didn’t matter to him.  He looked down at her wedding band.  “Kids, huh?”

She smiled.  “Think about it.  A little boy running around.  Wild, free, with a heart as big as his father’s.”

“A heart like this mother’s you mean.  You taught me how to love, Riley.  If I have a big heart, it’s because of you.”  He paused as his eyes lifted back to hers.  “Everything good in me is because of you.”

//Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home//

“You need to give yourself more credit,” she told him.  “You carried us…for four years…you are the reason why we are standing here right now.  You are the reason why we have a future to begin with.  I wish I had your strength.  I wish I had the hope you have.”  She paused.  “You once told me that I had lost my ability to believe in us, but I think it was bigger than that.  I lost myself.  The only time I felt…even remotely like myself was when I was around you.”  She took a deep breath.  “And that scared me, Lucas.  It scared me to know that even after trying to push you away…after trying to convince myself that it was the best thing for both of us…that I still wanted to be with you…that I still loved you.  I needed some connection to you.  I think that’s why I suggested the friends with benefit thing.  I thought it would be easier to control my emotions if I could have that connection with you without…without telling you how I felt.”

“And I was so desperate to keep that connection that I agreed to it.”  He rested his forehead against hers as they swayed to the music.  “It doesn’t matter how we got here, Riley.  It only matters that we’re here.  We’re together.  We’re married.”

//I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets To carry love, to carry children of our own//

He knew when they got back to the reception that they would be pulled in opposite directions for most of the evening.  It was ok.  He knew that everyone there wanted to offer their support and congratulations and he wanted to thank every single person for coming and being a part of their day.

He just hated that he couldn’t stay near her.  It all felt so raw, so fresh.  He was afraid that if his eyes left her for a second, that she would disappear or he would wake up in his old dorm room in Texas.

As he spoke with the guests, he couldn’t help but to watch her as she spoke with members of her family.  When she smiled, he smiled.  When she laughed, he lightly chuckled.  It was as if her emotions were his emotions.  She had completely hypnotized him.  

When her eyes met his across the room, he fell in love with her all over again.

//We are still kids, but we're so in love Fighting against all odds I know we'll be alright this time//

When the DJ announced that it was time for their first dance as husband and wife, Lucas felt his heart skip a beat.  Husband and wife.  They made it.  Riley had accepted his proposal nearly two years ago, so he had plenty of time to get used to the idea of it, but for the last two years, he often wondered if it was all a dream.  Even after he moved in with her a year ago, he often wondered if he would wake up one morning and realize that he had actually tumbled into the worst version of hell he could ever imagine.

But that didn’t happen.  Every morning, he woke up next to the only woman he had ever loved.  Every night, he held her close as they were both whisked away to a dream world that could never be as beautiful as the life they shared together.

Admittedly, he wasn’t looking forward to everyone watching him dance with her.  Dancing had never been his strongest area, but if it gave him a few minutes with her, if it made her smile, then he was more than willing to do it.

As soon as he held her hand in his, he relaxed.  As he wrapped his arm around her waist, it felt like he was home.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you all night,” she said as he looked into his eyes.

“I feel the exact same way,” he answered as they began to move across the dance floor.

“Promise me something,” she nearly whispered.

“Anything.”

“Promise me that, at the end of the day, we’ll always be as happy as we are right now.  No matter what comes next.  Even if we get into a horrible argument over something ridiculous like whose turn it is to do the dishes…promise me that you’ll love me as much as you do right now.”

He paused as he stared into her eyes.  “I can’t,” he finally told her.  When her eyebrows pulled together in confusion, he smiled.  “From the day we met, my feelings for you have only grown.  I don’t think getting married is going to suddenly place a ceiling on that.”  He smiled.  “What I can promise you is this: I will love you more and more everyday.  I know that the joy I feel right now is only going to grow over time.  I’m going to be happier tomorrow than I am today, and happier still the day after that.”  He gently squeezed her hip.  “And in fifty years, when we’re celebrating our golden anniversary, I can guarantee you—with our family around us—that there was never a day when I loved you less, where I was any less happy than the day before.”  

//Darling, just hold my hand Be my girl, I'll be your man I see my future in your eyes//

“You are the most important thing in the world to me,” he continued.  “I know that the happiness I feel right now is only the beginning.”  He placed a gentle kiss to her lips before he rested his forehead against hers.  “I love you, Riley Matthews.”

“Friar,” she gently corrected as she smiled.  “I’m Riley Friar now.”

He chuckled.  “Say it again.  Tell me this isn’t a dream.”

She smiled.  “My name, sweet husband of mine, is Riley Friar…and this is no dream.”  She rested her head on his shoulder as they continued their dance.  “No dream could ever be this perfect.”

Lucas noticed a flash at that moment.  He looked up and noticed Maya on the upper level, camera in hand.  He didn’t have to see the picture to know that it would be the best one taken from the day.  

//Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song//

All too quickly, their dance was over.  They spent the next several songs dancing with various family members and friends.  Once again, they were pulled to opposite sides of the room.  It wasn’t until Farkle and Zay gathered everyone around for the toasts that they were able to stand beside one another.

Lucas placed his arm around Riley’s waist as the DJ handed Maya the microphone.  “This going to be bad, isn’t it?”

Riley grinned.  “She’s been writing this for two years…that I know of.  This is her one chance to publicly air out everything.”  She looked up at him.  “Yeah.  It’s going to be bad.”

“Hey everyone,” the blonde began as she looked across the crowd.  “I’ve been working on this speech for…awhile now…but honestly…I don’t think I’m going to use it.”  She stuffed the piece of paper back into the pocket of her dress.  “Most of you know how the bride and groom met, but for those of you who don’t…when we were younger, Riley and I used to ride the subway to school.  Well, on one particular day, we magically reached the age where Riley’s parents finally agreed to let us ride the it by ourselves.”  She smiled as she looked at Cory and Topanga.  “So, I guess we have you to thank for this story,” she chuckled.  “Anyway, Riley and I get on the subway, and she goes off on one of her tangents about becoming more like me…because…who wouldn’t want to be like me,” she laughed.  “Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed this guy who had been periodically looking at us.  So, I decided to approach him.”  She paused.  “I honestly don’t even remember what was actually said, but what I do remember is walking back to Riley, and telling her that if she wanted to be like me, then she needed to not think about what she was doing.  I pulled her hand away from the pole just as the subway stopped.  Now, if you know Riley, you know that she isn’t the most graceful person in the world, so she went flying backward.  If you don’t know the story, you probably think I’m the worst friend on the planet right about now, but something…something inside of me told me that this perfect stranger would catch her.”  She paused as she looked at Lucas.  “He did.  And that’s how Riley and Lucas began.”  

She turned back to the crowd.  “I know everyone here has their own stories about Riley, Lucas, and them as a couple.  We’ve all been fortunate enough to know these two, and to be a witness to their incredible journey.  At one point, no one thought they would ever be in the same room again, let alone get married, but…here we are.”  She turned to the couple.  “You’re perfect for one another.  I’ve known it for a very long time…even after the break up.  You make each other better by just being around one another.  I think that’s what love really is.  I-I don’t feel the need to wish you both happiness and love in your life ahead, because every single person here knows that’s a given.”  She smiled.  “What I am going to wish for you is a life that you both have earned.  You took the long road to get here, and now that you are here, I want nothing but the best for you.”  She smiled.  “Huckleberry, I know you’re going to take good care of her.  I wouldn’t have let her go if I had an ounce of doubt.”  She swallowed.  “And Riles?  I can’t wait for our future children to become best friends and experience the world the way we did.  I love you both.  Congratulations.”

The crowd lifted their glasses as they toasted the couple.  Riley wiped her eyes as Maya walked down the stage and over to them.  “I love you,” the brunette told the blonde as she hugged her.

“Love you too, Riles,” Maya responded as she pulled back.  She turned to Lucas.  “You’re the only person in the world I trust to take care of her…because I think you love her almost as much as I do.”

He wanted to correct her, to insist that he loved her more, but it was an argument that no one would ever win.  Instead, he hugged Maya and assured her that he would.

It was the easiest promise he ever would make.  

//When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful I don't deserve this, darling, you look perfect tonight//

“How are we ever going to top that one,” Zay asked Farkle, who stood next to him on the stage.  He looked down at the microphone in front of him.  “Damn Maya,” he said as he brought the device to his mouth, “Thanks for hitting that home run.”

Riley crossed her arms over her chest as she reached for Lucas’s hands who were wrapped around her waist.  “I think this is the one we need to worry about,” she whispered.

Lucas kissed the top of her head.  “We probably have it coming.”  He paused.  “We did fool around on Zay’s bed that one time.”

“Oh God,” she groaned as she turned back to the stage.

“I think it’s safe to say that between Maya and us, we’ve spent a good chunk of our lives wrapped up in the story that is Riley and Lucas,” Farkle smiled.  “We’ve waited for this day for just as long as they have…maybe even longer.”

“They’re both very stubborn people,” Zay added.  “The two most stubborn people I’ve ever met.  They’re also incredibly self-sacrificial…which makes for a lethal combination.”

Farkle chuckled.  “Yeah, we’ve had to save them from themselves how many times now?”

“So many times that they should name their children after us.”

“Farkle Isaiah Friar?”  Farkle cringed.  “That poor child.”

“What about Isaiah Farkle Friar?”  Zay winced.  “Ok.  Ok, you two are off the hook on that one.”  He paused as the crowd laughed.  “Anyway…these two people, who we all love…nearly destroyed every shred of happiness they ever had all in the name of trying to protect one another.”  He paused.  “That’s…incredibly stupid…but, it’s also incredibly beautiful if you really think about it.  They were willing to give up what made them the happiest in order to make the other person happy.”

“They just failed to recognize the fact that what made the other person the happiest was simply being together.”

Zay nodded.  “You know, I’ve got to hand it to Maya for trying to push them back together at that party a few years ago…you know…after they led us all to believe they hadn’t seen or even talked to one another in four years.”

“Here we go,” Lucas groaned loud enough so only Riley heard it.  

“But little did we know that Lucas and Riley had seen one another since then…on multiple occasions.”

“I knew we should have made my cousin the best man,” Lucas told his wife.

Riley turned her head to look at Lucas.  “And I thought we had to worry about Maya.”

“They hid it…from everyone,” Farkle told the group.  “We all thought that they couldn’t stand the sight of one another anymore, when the truth was…that they loved each other so much that it physically hurt them to be in the same room with a bunch of prying eyes around.  I once asked Lucas why they felt the need to sneak around…and his answer made all the sense in the world.  He told me that he only really felt like himself when he was with her.  He was afraid that if everyone knew, that it would be like middle school all over again…that they would have to figure out all of the answers immediately, and he knew that she wasn’t ready for that.”  He glanced at Lucas.  “You have always put her first…even when it meant breaking your own heart over and over again.  You were willing to be whatever she needed you to be.”  

Farkle looked around the room as he took a moment to compose his thoughts.  “Sometimes at weddings, I’ll hear people whispering and wondering how long the marriage will last or if the couple actually loves one another.  It’s pretty disgusting, actually, because you’re supposed to be there to celebrate the love between two people, not to bet on the duration of the relationship.  I can honestly say, that in all my conversations tonight, no one has even hinted of this marriage not lasting…and it’s because we know this couple.  We’ve celebrated their highs and cried with them during their lows.  The love they share for one another is so deep that you can feel it whenever you’re around them.  When Isadora and I were in high school, we often pondered the concept of love.  She and I were, and still are, people of science and love seemed to be this abstract concept that couldn’t possibly be measured or defined.  One day, we all sat around Riley’s mom’s bakery, and…that’s when we saw it.”  He paused.  “We were kids then—fifteen years old—and love was such a foreign concept to all of us, but we saw the hope they had for one another, for their relationship, and it blew us away.  Even with the knowledge that it could end one day, they still gave their hearts to one another.”  He turned to the couple.  “You showed us what love was.  You opened that door for us, and there is nothing I could ever do to properly thank you guys.  I know your life together is going to be amazing.  Thank you for making me part of the story.”

“When I first moved here, I thought Lucas and I could just pick back up where we left off in Texas.”  Zay smiled.  “You see, he and I used to get into trouble sometimes.  Well, I would get into trouble and he would always bail me out.  When I got here, I noticed that he had changed.  He seemed to have a more level head on his shoulders.  He seemed happier.  He wasn’t the angry kid who used to run back to Texas every weekend he could.  This guy now called New York his home.  It didn’t take me long to figure out who had changed my best friend.”  He smiled at Riley.  “Maya is right.  Love should make you better, and these two are the best versions on themselves when they’re together.  I could get into the details of their reconciliation and how we all found out about their little side relationship,” he smirked at the couple, “and I do owe them a little payback for something, but if there is one thing these two have taught me…it’s that there is a proper time and place for everything.”

Riley and Lucas laughed.

“Before I moved here, I thought no one in the world could be like Lucas.  The guy would do anything for his friends…even getting kicked out of school for a year just to protect his loud mouth best friend.”  He looked at the crowd.  “But then I met Riley.  She’s…unreal.  She would take a bullet for anyone in this room without hesitation.  She would, and has, given up everything she wanted in order to make someone else happy.  She tried to hide from her feelings for Lucas—not only once, but twice—because she thought it was the best decision for everyone.  That’s who Riley is.  She’d sacrifice her happiness in order to see everyone else find joy.”  He looked at the bride.  “I’m here to tell you, today, that you can’t do that anymore.  Your happiness is linked to his…and that happiness is tied to every single person in this room.  You’ve spent your whole life making sure that those around you are happy.  Now, let me speak for everyone when I say that you being happy is what makes us happy.  So be happy, Riley.  Be a little selfish.”  He turned to Lucas.  “And I don’t even have to ask you to make sure she’s happy, because I know you do nothing without thinking about her first.”  He raised his glass.  “I love you both.  You’ve set an impossible standard, but I hope to find that kind of love one day.”

//Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song//

Before they knew it, the night was over.  The magical day they had waited nearly a lifetime for was done, but they knew the real fairytale was about to begin—the ‘happily ever after’ part.  

They hugged all of their loved ones as they made their way to the limousine that would take them to their hotel for the evening.  In the morning, they would be well on their way to their honeymoon destination, Paris of all places.  When he initially questioned her about the choice, she assured him that it was time to make new memories.  She wanted to go back to the city that had once destroyed them and replace every bittersweet second with nothing but sweet, loving memories.

As soon as the driver shut the door, Lucas leaned close to her.  He cupped her cheeks in his hands as he placed his lips against hers.  “I love you.”  He knew he had already said it about a hundred times that day, but he couldn’t help it.  The only emotion he was capable of at that moment was love—love for her.

“I love you,” she smiled against his lips.  “Now, the real fun begins.”

He smirked as he pulled away from her.  He glanced around the space.  “You have a thing for limos, don’t you?”

She playfully swatted at his arm.  “Not at all what I meant,” she smiled despite the blush that crept up on her cheeks.  She was well aware of the fact that he was referring to the last limo ride they shared.  “Besides, it’s not going to take 45 minutes to get to the hotel.  More like 15.”

“Well, Mrs. Friar, my only plans for the evening consist of showing you over and over again just how happy you make me.”  His lips slowly descended to her neck.

Riley took a shaky breath.  “We have an early flight tomorrow.”

“We can sleep on the plane,” he answered as he planted kisses along the column of her neck.

“This is so not fair,” she breathed as his hands slid across her bare back.

“You know last time we were in a limo, we played by your rules.”

“And you didn’t complain,” she smiled.

“This time, let’s play by mine.”

She raised an eyebrow.  “Dr. Friar.  We have about twelve minutes until we reach the hotel.  What do you propose?”

He lifted his head as his gaze caught hers.  “That I get to spend the next 11 minutes and 30 seconds kissing every inch of you that isn’t covered up by that gown, and when we get to the room, you let me spend the next several hours getting properly acquainted with the new Mrs. Friar.”

“Sounds perfect,” she practically purred as her lips brushed against his.

//I have faith in what I see Now I know I have met an angel in person And she looks perfect//

As soon as Lucas got out of the limo, he offered his hand to his bride to help her get out.  He looped her arm through his as they walked through the lobby.  After checking into their room, they were escorted to the top floor.  Lucas tipped the bellboy as soon as they reached the door.  The bellboy assured him that all of their luggage was already in the room and that everything had been set up to his specifications.

Riley furrowed her eyebrows at the comment, but said nothing as the bellboy left.  Lucas inserted the key into the door.  Riley tried to take a step forward, but he stopped her.  “I know it’s not our apartment, but tradition is tradition,” he smiled before he scooped her up in his arms.  “I’ve been waiting a very long time to do this, Mrs. Friar,” he smiled as he carried her over the threshold.

Riley smiled at him before the soft glow of the room diverted her attention.  “Lucas,” she breathed when she saw the lit candles and flowers throughout the entire suite.

“I thought rose petals would be too cheesy,” he said as he slowly lowered her to the ground, “but I wanted the room filled with all of your favorite flowers.”

“They’re beautiful,” she smiled.  “And the candles?”

“I needed to have a little bit of cheese,” he chuckled.  “I wanted to set a relaxing mood.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.  “Relaxing?  I thought that we were—“

“We have all the time in the world,” he smiled.  “Right now, I want to make sure that after all the planning and after the craziness of the day, that you could relax for awhile.  There is a bubble bath waiting for you in the bathroom.”

She smiled.  “Really?”

He nodded.

She began to play with his tie.  “Are you going to be joining me?”

He took a deep breath.  “There is nothing I want more, but right now, I want you to relax, and I can guarantee that not much relaxing would happen if we both got in.”  He smiled.  “Besides, room service should be up soon, and at least one of us should be clothed to answer the door.”

“Room service?”

“Neither of us ate at the wedding, and I’m sure once you’ve had a few minutes to unwind, you’ll find your appetite.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck.  He always found a new way to surprise her with his thoughtfulness.  She definitely felt like the luckiest woman in the world.  “I don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve so much more,” he said as he kissed her. After a moment, he forced himself to pull away from her.  “We’ve rushed through so much of our time together…but not anymore.  Now, we have all the time in the world.”  He took a deep breath as he memorized the image of her in that wedding dress.  He knew that between Maya and the photographer, that they had a million pictures to remember the day, but the soft glow of the candlelight made Riley appear positively heavenly.  She was his saving grace.  She was the reason he was the man he was today.  She was everything.

And he was going to spend every day for the rest of his life making sure she knew just how loved she was.

//I don't deserve this You look perfect tonight//

[gilbertandanne]

Those Stupid Hormones

Prompt: sounds like a weird request but would write rucas cuddling and like booty rubs and riley loving it when lucas does that idk

Anon, I’m not sure if this is what you had in mind, but I hope you like it anyway.

AU. Riley and Lucas have been dating for a year.

Rating: T (because of booty rubs)

Work Count: 1,350

That afternoon started off innocently enough.  Riley invited Lucas over to watch ‘Cuddle Bunnies’ and well, cuddle, on the couch.  Her parents had gone to one of her brother’s soccer games and would be gone for the majority of the afternoon.  

She curled up against him as they began their binge watch.  He draped his arm across her shoulders while she rested her head against his chest. She draped her legs over his as they shared a blanket.

“This is nice,” she murmured halfway through the third episode.

“Mmhmm,” he answered as he lightly rubbed her forearm.

Riley closed her eyes as she felt the surge of electricity flow through her veins at the innocent contact his fingertips made to her skin.  She then felt the all too familiar pit in her stomach.  She loved Lucas.  She loved everything about him, but lately, she realized that she wanted more from him.  She wasn’t sure what that meant.  She wasn’t sure what she was ready for, but she also knew that if he hadn’t pulled back from their last few make out sessions, she wasn’t sure she would have had the strength to.  She knew that their hormones were getting more and more uncontrollable, but maybe that wasn’t a bad thing?  She was almost sixteen years old.  He was seventeen.  It was only natural to want to get closer to one another, wasn’t it?  

After another moment of allowing his touch to leave a trail of goose bumps along her arm, she lifted her head to look at him and was only mildly surprised to discover that his eyes were already locked on her.

Without a word, they leaned into one another.  The charge she felt as soon as their lips connected was nothing less than euphoric.  Lucas had been her first everything.  Her first date, her first kiss, and her first boyfriend, so she wasn’t exactly well versed on what was or wasn’t normal, but there was no way that everyone felt that kind of connection to the person they kissed.  If they did, no one would ever break up and everyone would end up with the first person their lips ever touched.  She slowly opened her mouth as their lips began to move against one another.

Lucas eagerly opened his mouth against hers.  She was intoxicating.  There was no other way to describe it.  One taste of her, and all he could think about how to get this moment to last.  He wanted to feel this high as often and for as long as possible.

Riley slowly lifted her right leg as she slid over to straddle her boyfriend.  Her hands cupped his cheeks as her tongue slowly dipped into his mouth.

Lucas couldn’t contain the soft moan that escaped from his throat at the sensation of her tongue in his mouth.  They had made out on multiple occasions and her tongue had ventured in between his lips a few times before, but this felt different.  

At the sound of his soft moan, Riley’s confidence grew.  He wanted this too.  When he threaded his fingers through her hair, she slid closer to him as she touched his tongue with hers.

As his right hand continued to run through her hair, his left hand slowly lowered to her back as he nudged her forward even further.  Something somewhere in the back of his mind screamed at him to slow it down, to take a breath, but for the first time in a year of dating the goddess before him, he ignored it.  Just for once, he decided to feel instead of think.

When he suddenly scooped her up in his arms, Riley gasped.  In a flash, her back hit the couch as he hovered over her.  While Lucas was rapidly winning their outward physical battle, Riley remained focused on the sensation of his tongue against hers as she wrapped her arms around his neck.  Was this reality?  None of their previous make out sessions ended up like this, and she had no intention of stopping anytime soon.  It felt too good.  She loved feeling so close to him.  She loved it when he took control.

Instinctively, she hooked her leg around his hip as he finally detached his lips from hers.  She took the opportunity to take a few deep breaths as his lips slid down to her neck.  She closed her eyes as she arched her head back to give him more access to explore every last inch of her neck.  She had no idea why he hadn’t stopped them yet, but she wasn’t about to question it.  It felt too amazing.

Lucas knew that he had completely lost control of his actions as she wrapped her left leg around his lower hip.  His beautiful girlfriend didn’t only seem to enjoy it, but she was more than an active participant in their heated exchange.  As her leg slowly began to slide down, he quickly lowered his right hand to slide it back up over his hip.

Riley ran her right hand through Lucas’s hair as he continued to kiss along the base of her neck.  After another moment, she grabbed a handful of his hair in order to lift his head.  As soon as he looked up at her, she guided his lips back to hers.

Before he knew what was going on, his right hand slowly slid up her knee to her thigh.  It quickly continued its journey until it finally rested on her ass.  As Riley moaned into his mouth, Lucas finally squeezed the flesh under his palm.

Riley jumped at the contact.  It was something new for them.  It was something so unlike the Lucas she was used to—the one who had treated her with kid gloves during the first year of their courtship.  Something unexpected.  Something different than anything they had done before.

And yet, the sensation thrilled her.  It was another jolt of electricity—something stronger than the feeling of his fingertips dancing across her arm.  This sensation ran deeper—much deeper.

When Riley jumped, Lucas immediately pulled back from her.  Despite the intensity of the moment, and the fact that he really wanted to continue whatever it was that they were doing, her comfort level always came first.  God, why did he even do that?  It was like he had become possessed by months of pent up longing for the angel underneath him.

“What are you doing,” she breathed as soon as his mortified eyes landed on hers.

“I’m sorry,” he answered just as breathlessly.  “I-I-I wasn’t…I didn’t—“

Her eyes sparkled.  “What?”

“For pushing you,” he was finally able to articulate.  “I know that’s…too much…”

“No, it’s not,” she swallowed.  “I…I like it.”

He furrowed his eyebrows.  “What?”

A coy smile formed at the corners of her lips.  “I liked it.  I jumped because I wasn’t expecting it, but…that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.”  She stared into his emerald eyes for a moment before she continued.  “You know, for once, you didn’t think about every move you were making while we were kissing…you just did what you wanted to.  I want that.  I want us to be able to…feel…and not overthink everything.”

“I don’t want to push you too far, Riley.  I don’t want to compromise what we have just because of my stupid hormones.”

“I have those stupid hormones too, you know.”  She looked down as her fingers played with the collar of his shirt.  “I want us to be closer, Lucas.  I’m not saying that I’m ready for…you know…but…I am ready for more than a few kisses and retrained make out sessions.”  She paused.  “If things get too intense, I’ll tell you.”

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he held.  “Are you sure?”

She nodded.  “I trust you.  I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

She grinned.  “Good.  Now, can we just be a pair of slightly reckless teenagers for a little while?”

He smiled as he leaned into her once more.  “Your wish is my command,” he murmured before his lips captured hers once more.

[gilbertandanne]

                                                     Partition

A/N: Takes place two years before the events in ‘Crash Course’, so you don’t have to read it to understand what’s going on.  I tried to interlace some plot points revealed in CC and it’s sequel, Infinite, but again, you don’t have to read them to understand what’s going on.

Song: ‘Partition’ by Queen B

Pairing: Rucas with brief mentions of J/M and F/S

Rated: M

Word Count: 14,221 (I still don’t know HOW it ended up this long)

Totally dedicating this one to @jenn0bi bc without her calling me out on not using this song (after I promised), this would never have been written. I *really* hope you like it, Jenn. <3

Maya groaned as she cradled her phone between her ear and her shoulder.  She hated it when he made sense.  The most annoying part of it was that her boyfriend always made sense—especially when it came to the subject of his niece.  “It’s been two years,” she reasoned as she reached for her concealer.

“Yeah, but we both know that she’s different now.  She’s not the same person she was in high school.  She’s not the same person she was since they broke up.”

Maya cringed.  She hated it when he used her words against her.  “But it’s Farkle’s birthday.”

“I know.  And I know she’ll be there and try to not let it affect her, but Maya, we still don’t know the whole story.  We don’t know who broke up with who.”

“There are going to be a ton of people there,” she reasoned.  “Maybe they won’t even cross paths?  Maybe she’s doing better than we think she is?  Maybe…maybe she is over it?”  She looked down at the counter as she quickly debated on which eye shadow to use.  “She has been dating around…and has gone on like four dates with this new guy.”

Josh frowned.  “Really?  Who is he?”

She frowned.  Nothing she had was going to work with her dress.  “Uhhh…Caleb, I think?  I only met him once.”

“Is he coming tonight?”

She sighed.  The good thing about living with her best friend was that she was welcome to borrow her things—including her makeup.  “I think so.  He’s friends with Farkle too.  That’s how she met him.”

“Then maybe we only need to worry about Lucas?”

Maya scoffed.  “You can worry about Lucas.”

“Come on, Maya.  I know you still talk to him.”

“Maybe I do, but when it comes to break ups, us girls have to stick together.”

Riley took a deep breath as she examined her appearance.  Was she actually going to do this?  Was she going to willingly go somewhere she knew he would be?  There were only two reasons that kept her from changing into her sweatpants and spending some much needed time with her Netflix: the first was because it was one of her best friends’ 21st birthdays and the second was because she had a date.  That should be enough of a buffer, right?  Surely, they won’t end up in a tangled heap on her bed, like every other time she’s seen him since he left for Texas two years ago?

Would that be so bad though?  She had only ever been intimate with one person in her life, and that one person knew exactly where to touch her to send her to the peak of pleasure.  He knew the deal just as well as she did.  They agreed that it was only physical—that the feelings they once shared no longer existed.

Two years, and Riley Matthews lived happily in the land of denial.  

But what about Caleb—her actual date for the evening?  He was supposed to be her distraction, her way of forcing herself to move on from the toxic non-relationship relationship she found herself in with her ex-boyfriend.  He was a nice guy.  They got along great and had a lot in common.  There was only one problem—he wasn’t Lucas.

“Stop it,” she growled at herself before she brushed her hair out of her eyes.  No, Caleb wasn’t Lucas, but that didn’t mean that there couldn’t be something between them.  It wasn’t fair to compare eight years of history to four dates, but she had very little else to compare it to.  She never made it past the second date before, and with this guy, she had already doubled that landmark.  She needed to see where this could go.  She needed to end this cycle with Lucas.

She needed to move on.

//See me up in the club with fifty-eleven girls Posted in the back, diamond fangs in my grill Brooklyn brim with my eyes sitting low Every boy in here with me got that smoke//

The lights were dimmed, the drinks flowed, and everyone was dressed to the nine’s.  As soon as Riley stepped foot into the ballroom, she felt like she had walked straight into a Fitzgerald novel.  His parents spared no expense to celebrate the first 21 years of their brilliant son’s life.  There was a jazz band at the front of the room, an open bar along the back wall, and a massive dance floor in the middle of it all.

“Riley,” she heard the man of the hour call out to her.

She spun around as a warm smile graced her features.  “Well, if it isn’t the birthday boy.”  She opened her arms as she hugged one of her best friends in the world.  “Happy Birthday, Farkle.”

“Thank you,” he smiled as he pulled back from her.  “Where’s Maya?”

“She went to pick up Josh.  You know her…fashionably late and always wanting to make an entrance.”

“So, they’re finally going public, huh?”

Riley nodded.  “The real question is when did they actually start dating?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Farkle.  She hasn’t dated anyone in the last two years.  You can’t tell me they weren’t sneaking around.”

He wrinkled his nose.  “You really think she’d do that?”

Riley glanced around the room.  “Yeah.  I mean…if she thought people would disapprove or condemn her for it…why wouldn’t she keep it a secret?”

He shook his head.  “I can’t imagine doing anything like that.  If I was with someone I cared about…someone I loved…I’d proclaim it from the balcony of this place.”

Riley gave him a half smile.  ‘Of course you would,’ she lamented.  “Where is Smackle?”

He turned around as he surveyed the ballroom.  “Somewhere in the crowd,” he chuckled.  “I want to thank you for coming tonight.”

She knit her eyebrows together.  Why would he thank her for attending his party?  “Thank me?  It’s your birthday.”

He nodded.  “I know, but I also know that you haven’t seen…you know…since he left for Texas.”

She slowly nodded before she released a deep breath.  “Yeah.  Well…that’s what the open bar is for, right?”

He frowned.  “But you aren’t—“

She pinned him with a look.  Was he really going to stop her from grabbing a few drinks?  True, she still had about eight months to go until her own 21st, but this was a party.  She was determined to celebrate with her friends.  “Speaking of…is he…here yet?”  While she tried to sound as nonchalant as she could, it felt like her heart had done a back flip.

Farkle glanced around the ballroom once more.  “I’m not sure.  I haven’t seen him.”  He paused.  “I thought Caleb was bringing you?”

“We thought it would be easier if we met up here.  Kind of take some of the pressure off.”

Farkle nodded.  “He’s a good guy, Riley.”

“I know,” she smiled.

Farkle watched her for a moment as her eyes lowered to the ground.  He had no idea what happened between Riley and Lucas in Europe two years earlier, but whatever happened must have been really awful.  Neither of them ever talked about it, and they always seemed to shut down at the mere mention of the other.   To his knowledge, neither of them had yet to engage in another romantic relationship.  “You don’t have to force it you know.”  When her head snapped up, he gave her a small smile.  “We just want you to be happy.”

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“The bar is open…no ID required, but if you do drink, please use the chauffeur service my parents set up in the lobby.  Limousines for all my guests to get home safely.”

Riley’s eyes widened.  “Limos?”

He nodded.  “It’s not every day that their only child turns 21.”

She laughed lightly.  “In that case, how about we share a celebratory drink in your honor?”

//Every girl in here got to look me up and down All on Instagram, cake by the pound Circulate the image every time I come around G's up, tell me how I'm looking babe//

One drink turned into two, then three.  She felt numb.   She felt nothing.  It was exactly where she wanted to be if she was forced to come face to face with him in front of a crowd of people.  She had been there for nearly an hour and a half by the time she finished her fourth drink.  Caleb had showed up around drink number three, and whenever they weren’t around the bar with Josh and Maya, they were on the dance floor.

To everyone else, she looked like a woman who didn’t have a care in the world.  Despite the numbness, the anxiety she felt in the pit of her stomach grew more and more as the minutes droned on.  At any moment, he would walk in.  At any moment, she would become completely undone.  In front of all her friends, she knew she would have a complete meltdown.  She wasn’t over him.  She had convinced herself that she was—she had to in order to survive.  She broke up with him.  She refused him.  She had no right to still love him.  She had no right to still dream about him.  And she definitely didn’t have a right to want him to be next to her every single second for the rest of her life.

God, she was a terrible person.  In front of her was a perfectly nice guy.  Caleb was everything she could ever want, but all she could think about was the missing Texan.

As Caleb twirled her around on the dance floor, something in the doorway caught her eye.  Her head lifted just as he walked in.  Her heart raced as his eyes immediately locked onto hers.  

He came.

For the first time since their breakup, they were in the same place and completely surrounded by their curious friends.

Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe.  She couldn’t think.  She couldn’t stomach the idea of seeing him like this.  She wasn’t ready.  It was hard enough to keep her secret from her friends when he wasn’t in town.  There was no way she could spend the next few hours with him in the same room and pretend that they weren’t what they were—friends with benefits without the friend part.

She suddenly stood rigid as she felt the color drain from her face.  “I-I-‘m sorry,” she apologized to her date.  “I think I had too much.  I need…I need to go home…lay down.”

“That’s ok,” Caleb assured her.  “I’ll go with you…make sure you get home safely.”

“No,” she gave him a small smile.  He was such a nice guy—far nicer than she ever deserved.  “That’s ok, Caleb.  Farkle has this car service for everyone.  I’m just…going to use that and go home.  Stay.  Have fun.”  She looked around the ballroom.  “It’s a great party.”  

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.  “Absolutely.  I’m just need to go lay down.  I’m not…I’m not going to be good company.  Besides…I need someone to tell me everything that happens.”

He smiled.  “You got it.”

//Boy this all for you just walk my way Just tell me how it's looking babe Just tell me how it's looking babe (How it's looking babe)//

She escaped the ballroom through the only other exit as quickly as her legs could carry her.  She had to go home.  She had to leave and avoid him completely.  She was weak.  She knew it.  One look from him and she was about to fall apart.  They had carried on this ridiculous non-relationship relationship for a while now.  They didn’t speak when he was in Texas, but whenever he was in the city, their paths always crossed, and when they did, she couldn’t resist him.  She never could, except for Paris.

Why couldn’t she be that strong now?  Why couldn’t she look him in the eye and tell him that what they were doing was wrong and that it was only going to cause a greater rift between them in the end?  She wanted him in her life, but as they were now, he was only in her life when he was in her bed—or his bed at his parents’ place—or her couch—or the kitchen counter at her parents’ apartment—or a few other places.

She shook her head as she chased the thought of them tangled up together out of her mind.  She had to be strong, or as strong as she could be at the moment.  That meant fleeing.  That meant bailing on one of her best friends’ birthdays.  There were easily 200 people in that ballroom, but in that split second when her eyes landed on his, only two people existed.

It was too intense, especially considering the fact that she was insanely inebriated.  Little Riley Matthews, who rarely did anything wrong, was drunk and running away from her ex-boyfriend/current affair.  If only her thirteen year old self could see her now.

She sprinted through the lobby as she made her way outside.  She had forgotten her jacket, but there was no way she would dare go back inside.  She spotted a valet outside and quickly told him that she was at the Minkus party but needed a ride home.

Her fingers tapped against her clutch as she waited for her ride.  It felt like an eternity had passed by the time a limousine pulled up in front of her.  She smiled at the elderly driver as he stepped out of the limo to open the door for her.  “Thank you,” she said as she walked toward the door.

“Riley,” a voice called out from behind her.

She froze as she gripped the door.  She closed her eyes as she quickly assessed her options.  She could climb in the limo, pretend that she hadn’t heard him, go home, and sleep…or…she could face him and get this over with.  She took a deep breath as she turned around to face him.  God, even under the bright lights of the city she loved, he looked positively god-like.  She was never able to resist him, but there was something about Lucas Friar in a suit that always drove her crazy.  She swallowed as her eyes slowly took in his appearance.

“Miss,” the limo driver questioned as he waited to close the door behind his passenger.

Riley smiled at the driver as she gave him the address to the apartment she shared with Maya.  “I can get the door,” she kindly told him.  She waited until he slid into the driver’s seat and shut the door before she dared to look at Lucas once more.

“Where are you going?”  It was a pathetic question, he knew it, but he wasn’t sure what else to say.  She was the first person he saw as he entered the ballroom.  She looked like a vision in red, but unfortunately for him, she was twirling around on the dance floor with someone who wasn’t him. ‘Because you aren’t together,’ he bitterly reminded himself as he engaged in what felt like an hour-long staring match with the girl he had once been able to call his own.

When she left the ballroom, he followed her.  Farkle was one of his best friends, but Riley was—everything.  One of the biggest reasons he decided to fly in for the night was on the off chance that he would be able to see her, maybe even talk to her.  Their current relationship status, or lack thereof, was driving him to the brink of madness.  He wanted her—not just her body—but all of her.  He wanted to be hers and he wanted her to be his again.  His world hadn’t felt like his world since that ill-fated trip to Europe.  All he wanted was to wake up from this nightmare and move forward with the girl who had captured his heart nearly a decade ago.

“Home,” she said simply as her heart pounded.  She smacked her palm against the door as she bit her bottom lip.  She knew she shouldn’t.  She knew that nothing good was going to come from it, but there was something about him that she had never been able to resist. She wanted to blame the alcohol for her weakness, but even in her bewildered state, she knew it wasn’t that.  It was him.  He was her weakness.

She finally pushed the door open.  “Coming?”  

//I do this all for you baby just take aim And tell me how it's looking babe (How it's looking babe) Tell me how it's looking babe, looking babe//

She briefly closed her eyes when she heard the door shut.  She was going to hell.  She knew it.  This was insane.  She left the party to avoid him, and now, he was going to go back to her apartment with her?  She swallowed before she opened her eyes.  As the limo pulled away from the curb, she looked around the spacious car.  “Pretty nice, huh,” she commented.

“Yeah,” he released a breath.  “Farkle’s parents set this up too?”

She nodded.  “That way everyone can get home safely.”

He looked at her.  “Why did you leave so early?”

She glanced out the window.  “I wasn’t feeling well.”  Her eyes fell to her lap.

“You seemed to be doing fine when I saw you…dancing around with…”

“Caleb.”  She slowly turned to him.  “That was Caleb.”

Lucas’s lips formed a thin line as he debated his next question.  He had to ask.  He had to know.  “Boyfriend?”

Riley shook her head.  “We’ve been out a few times.  Nothing…serious.”

“Do you want there to be anything serious?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t know.  He’s nice.  He’s friends with Farkle.  He’s…everything a girl could want.”

Lucas nodded.  “Looks like it.”  He paused.  “So, if he’s Mr. Perfect, then why isn’t he in here with you?”

Riley knew that this was wrong.  She knew that she should give Lucas some stupid reason and use Caleb as an excuse to end things, but she couldn’t.  She felt like a moth drown to the flame, and it had been four months since she last saw him at Christmas.  Four months since the last time he was in her bed.

Four months too long.

She didn’t answer him as she slowly raked her eyes over his body.  She allowed the alcohol to overtake her, to quiet the annoying voice in her head that screamed at her that this wasn’t right.  She didn’t want to think.  She could think tomorrow.  Right now, tonight, she wanted to feel.  She wanted to feel something that she had only ever felt with him.

Riley slowly lifted her hand before she placed it on his thigh.  She knew what she was inviting in.  She knew that Pandora’s box had suddenly flown open, but she didn’t care.  Lucas Friar was sitting next to her, and all she wanted was to feel him inside of her.

He was jealous.  Knowing that the guy who spun her around on the dance floor was also someone she had gone on multiple dates with made him more than a little hot under the collar.  He knew he had no say in who she dated, but God, did he want one.  He wanted to keep her.  He wanted her.

As soon as her fingers grazed his thigh, he became undone.  The woman next to him completely possessed all of his senses.  He knew that this wouldn’t end well, but what he wouldn’t give for one more taste of heaven—of the goddess who haunted every dream he had since the day they met.  “How long…until we reach your place?”

She blinked. “It took me half an hour to get here.  Considering the traffic…maybe forty five minutes?”

He slowly inched closer to her before he ran his index finger along her cheek.  “Say it,” his suddenly hoarse voice pleaded with her as his hand cupped the side of her face.  “Tell me you want me.”

She watched his eyes darken as he commanded her to tell him the truth.  “I want you,” she found herself answering as she closed the remaining space between them.

He moved his hand to the back of her neck before his lips met hers in a searing kiss.

//Drop the bass, mane, the bass get lower Radio say "speed it up", I just go slower High like treble, pumping on the mids Ya man ain't ever seen a booty like this//

As soon as she felt his lips on hers, everything else melted away.  It was part of the reason why she felt so intoxicated by him.  With every touch, every kiss, every lustful whisper, they were transported to a place where time, space, and everything else that kept them apart didn’t exist.  They simple were.  They merely existed to show one another just how perfectly well they fit together.

Riley opened her mouth against his as she eagerly invited his tongue to re-familiarize itself with hers.  Her hands gripped his forearms as he cupped her face in his hands.  She knew this wasn’t right.  She knew that they were in a limo and that they could get caught doing whatever it was they were about to do, but she didn’t care.  She had been forced to be away from his touch for the last several months.  She didn’t want to sit in awkward silence for the next forty-five minutes while she could be re-familiarizing herself with every square inch of his muscular body.

She quickly slid his jacket down his arms.  Lucas broke away from her lips long enough to toss it to the other side of the limousine.  This wasn’t them—at least not completely.  Three years ago, he never thought they would be well on their way to fulfilling a stereotype about limousines, but three years ago, he never imagined that they wouldn’t be together.  She had changed a lot in the last two years.  She was more serious now.  They didn’t talk about much when they were together.  Somehow, they both thought it would be easier.  For him, it certainly was.  He knew that, given the opportunity, he would beg her to take him back, to forget about that trip after graduation.  

After she slid his tie off, he quickly unbuttoned his shirt.  He was grateful for the fact that he thought to take her ring—the engagement ring that he wore around his neck—off before he left his parents’ house.  If she ever saw it, if she knew that he wore it like a chain around his neck for all to see his ultimate failure, she would never speak to him again.  He couldn’t help but wear it though.  In some demented, self-deprecating way, it made him feel closer to her while he lived two thousand miles away.

As he slid the white shirt down his arms, he watched her scoot closer to him before she quickly pulled his undershirt off.  She then lowered her head in order to plant kisses across his bare chest.  He closed his eyes as he leaned his head back.  What he wouldn’t give to know that this was real.  He knew he had to put it out of his mind.  He knew that he had to forget, for a little while, that the heavenly creature beside him not only possessed his heart, but his mind, body, and soul as well.

His mind nearly exploded when she slowly sank to the ground in front of him.

//And why you think ya keep my name rolling off the tongue Cuz when he wanna smash I'll just write another one I sneezed on the beat and the beat got sicker Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

She had to forget that he still had the capacity to rip her heart to shreds.  She had to forget that she left Farkle’s party to avoid this exact situation.  She wanted the alcohol to wipe away every shred of feeling she had for the man who sat in front of her.  It would be easier that way.

She bit her bottom lip as she pushed every angst-filled thought away.  She could chastise herself for being weak later.  Right now, he was half naked in front of her.  He really was built like a Greek god.  Had he been working out?  The muscles in his chest seemed more defined than the last time she saw him.  She was beginning to think of him like a fine wine—only getting better with age.

It was the opposite of what she had hoped for.  She hoped that they would outgrow whatever this was.  She hoped that one day she would wake up and not love him.  It had been almost two years since she broke up with him, but here she was—kneeling in front of him—completely in awe of every square inch of him.

She scooted closer as her hands reached for his belt.

As she reached her arms out, he did as well.  He didn’t want her to kneel in front of him—at least, not yet.  He wanted to be inside of her.  He wanted to send them both to the peak of ecstasy.  He wanted to taste her.  He wanted to become completely lost inside of her.  He wanted to hear that melodic moan—the one that had haunted him since their last encounter.

Riley pulled back from him as he reached for her.  “No,” she commanded.

He raised an eyebrow at her.  “No?”

She shook her head.  “You climbed into my limo, remember?  Pretty sure that means I get to make the rules.”

“Riley,” he groaned,  “You don’t have to—“

Her eyes darkened.  “I want to.”

“Well, I want to be inside you.  I want to taste you.”

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

She placed her hands behind her as she leaned back on the floor of the limousine.  Her head slowly rolled to the side as she stared at him.  “How about this,” she slowly drawled out as the four drinks she pounded earlier began to take effect.  The old Riley Matthews would never discuss sex as freely and as plainly as she was about to, but she wasn’t the old Riley.  She hadn’t been the old Riley since she got back from Europe two years ago.

He watched as she slowly stretched back.  The act may have seemed innocent enough at the time, but while her body moved back, her dress remained stagnant.  He licked his lips as he was graced with the sight of her cleavage.  How was this fair?  He was only half dressed while she hadn’t so much as taken her shoes off.  “I’m listening,” he finally murmured.

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

“I get what I want on the way to my place…and when we get there…you get what you want.”  Her eyes slowly lowered from his own eyes, down his chest and finally toward his crotch.  She slowly rolled her head to the other side as lifted her eyes back up to his.  She was completely inexperienced when it came to the art of seduction, but those drinks at least gave her the illusion that she was doing something right.

“Or,” he countered as he slowly leaned forward, “I get what I want now…take you to a place you’ve never been before…and when we get to your apartment,” his eyes slowly roamed down her body, “you beg me to do it all over again.”

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor Like like liquor, like like like liquor//

Riley slowly inhaled as she watched him inch closer and closer to her.  His eyes had locked onto hers, and she couldn’t make herself look away.  She took several shallow breaths as he slowly sank to the floor and straddled her.  As he slowly leaned forward, her breath completely caught in her throat.

He placed his hands on either side of her as his lips inched toward hers.  He was tired of the space in between them.  He had to deal with it 99% of the time.  He was going to be damned if he would allow it while they were alone together.  

He lowered his eyes to her lips as his face drew closer to hers.  “Do we have a deal,” he rumbled before his lips lightly brushed against hers.

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

She closed her eyes at the contact.  God, he was much better at the whole seduction thing than she was.  As he slowly nibbled on her bottom lip, she felt herself beginning to cave in.  Did it really matter who was in control?  All she wanted to do was lose herself in him.  All she wanted was to pretend that her entire life wasn’t completely screwed up.

Lucas couldn’t stop the smile that formed when he heard a soft moan escape her as he lightly ran his tongue across her bottom lip.  She tasted like vodka, and he hated it.  He hated that she had been drinking.  He wasn’t going to ask how much.  He knew if he did, that it would all be over.  As much as he wanted her, he wasn’t in it strictly for the sex.  He was in it to keep some kind of connection with her.  He hoped that one of these rendezvouses would result in their reconciliation.  He hoped that, maybe one day, he would be able to possess her heart just as she had always possessed his.

For now, he had to accept their relationship for what it was—and that meant ignoring the vodka on her lips.

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

A shiver shot down her spine as his tongue slowly tasted her lips.  Could he taste the alcohol she had drank?  Did he know how drunk she was?  Did he care?

No.  She wasn’t about to allow her train of thought to stray from the intensity of the moment they were engaged in.  Her temporary restoration to reality made her realize that she wanted to be in control—at least for a while.  She wanted the power to administer, or withhold, pleasure from him.  She wanted to dominate him—just as he dominated most of her thoughts.

She nudged him back as she turned her head to the side.  When he sat back on his heels, she turned to him once more.  “No deal,” she purred.  “You can either sit back up in that seat and experience the best,” her eyes lowered to his crotch for a beat before she looked back up at him, “Or we can sit on opposite sides of this limousine until I get home, and then you can go back to the party.”

He took a deep breath.  “That’s not fair.”

She smirked.  “You won’t think that if you agree to the terms…trust me.”

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor Like like liquor, like like like liquor//

She sat up as she crossed her arms over her chest.  “Well,” she asked softly before she touched her lips with her index finger.  “Do we have a deal?”

He had no other choice.  He’d be her willing slave if she asked him to.  “You get a say now, and I get a say later?”

She nodded.  “And don’t worry…I’ve got the place to myself for the entire night.”

He raised his eyebrows.  “Really?”

She nodded.  “So, what’s it going to be, Friar?”

//Driver, roll up the partition, please Driver, roll up the partition, please I don't need you seeing 'Yoncé on her knees//

“You’re so going to pay for that,” he told her as he slowly rose and sat back in the seat.

Riley smirked as she leaned forward and began to unbuckle his pants.  “Promises, promises.”  She unzipped his pants and slid them down while Lucas kicked his shoes off.  Riley took his pants off and tossed them in the direction of the rest of his discarded clothing.  She tilted her head to the side as she briefly admired the sight of him clad only in a pair of black boxers.  ‘He could totally be an underwear model,’ she mused as she hooked her fingers underneath the band of the last remaining garment he wore.  Slowly, almost painfully so, she slid his underwear down.  She sat it next to her before she slid in between his legs.

She knew that they didn’t have long before they reached her apartment.  She knew that he ended up with the better deal, but about six months ago, she had a dream about Lucas Friar that she hadn’t quite been able to rid herself of—and it started out a lot like this.

She slowly looked up into his curious eyes.  As she lowered her head, she maintained eye contact with him.  She wanted to see his pleasure.  She wanted to know that she had some control over him—at least for a little while.

She placed her left hand on his thigh while her right hand hovered over his penis.  She slowly ran her index finger down the length of his shaft.  When he jumped at the contact, she knew that she had the potential to affect him just as deeply as he affected her.  She smiled as she watched him slowly relax as she ran her fingers over him once more.  

While his body may have relaxed against her touch, his mind nearly exploded.  What was she thinking?  What did she want to do so badly that she had to resort to threats to get him to acquiesce to her desire to take charge?  All he wanted was to reach for her, pull her close, and bury himself inside of her.  Screw the outside world.  Screw the last two years.  Screw everything that made her keep him at arm’s length.  What if he moved back home?  Would that solve everything or would that only push her further away?

He closed his eyes and hissed as her hand wrapped around his aching erection.  She was teasing him.  She had to know that she was driving him insane.  God, it was taking everything in him not to reach for her, to beg her to return to him.

//Took 45 minutes to get all dressed up We ain't even gonna make it to this club//

When he closed his eyes, Riley felt a warmness spread through her.  He was enjoying this, and she had barely started.  A surge of confidence shot through her as she lowered her lips to his throbbing member.  Her tongue darted out as she stared at the man before her.

Lucas moaned as soon as he felt her tongue slide over him.  This wasn’t the first time she had ever gone down on him, but he had forgotten just how intoxicating the sensation was.  He felt completely paralyzed as she wrapped her lips around the head of his penis.  He took a deep breath as she slowly slid his length between the heavenly gates of her lips.

With every inch she took in, she could feel the control she had over him.  It was empowering to know that she could do whatever she wanted to him in that moment and would comply.  While she was the one who rejected him, the one who ended it, she often felt like she was the one who was held captive in their new ‘relationship’.  She couldn’t explain the feeling, except for the conclusion she had reached, and then tried to bury, nearly nine months earlier—that she was still in love with him.

//Now my mascara running, red lipstick smudged Oh he so horny, yeah he want to fuck He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse He Monica Lewinsky-ed all on my gown//

She clenched her fists as she finally took him completely in her mouth.  She wasn’t going to get emotional with him.  Not now.  She could lament the absurdity of her life once he left the city.  For now, she only wanted to give, and receive, pleasure from the only person she had ever experienced it from.  She focused on the task at hand as she began to bob her head up and down.  She wanted to fully give into whatever they had become.  She didn’t want to think about the consequences.  She only wanted to feel.  She wanted him to beg for her.  She wanted him to need her just as much as she needed him.  Everything else would either fade or work itself out over time.

Lucas gripped the seat as he leaned his head back.  He had to keep his mind focused on the most revolting things to keep himself from exploding as she continued to lick and suck him.  He thought about cold showers, the starting lineup of the Yankees, even the ill-fated trip to Europe—all to no avail.  She had been moving against him for only a few minutes, but he was almost at that pivotal point.

She must have sensed it because right at the point of release, she detached her lips from his shaft.  “You ok,” she panted as she watched him slowly lower his head to look at her.

“Y-Yeah,” he stammered before he cleared his throat.  “More than ok.  You?”

“Not as good as you,” she said softly as she slowly stood up.  She placed her legs on either side of him as she straddled him.  “But,” she whispered as she lowered her head to his neck, “I’m pretty sure I can get there…with your help.”

Lucas swallowed as her lips connected with the base of his neck.  His hands moved to her back as he desperately sought contact with her skin.  He was still willing to let her control what would or would not happen in the limo, because he knew as soon as they entered her apartment, it would be his turn to dictate who received what and when.

“That feels good,” she purred in his ear.  “I love it when you touch me.”  She leaned back.  “Even if it’s somewhere completely innocent…like my back or my arms.”

He swallowed as his eyes met hers.  Was he losing his mind or did he see a flash of something more in her lust-filled gaze?  What did she mean?  Did she miss him as much as he missed her?  Did she miss them?  Did she want something more than what they had been reduced to?  “Well,” he began as his lowered his hand to the hem of her dress.  “I am more than willing to touch you wherever you want me to.”

Riley lowered her gaze as she watched him slowly slide her dress up as his hands glided up her thighs.  Her heart raced as his fingers grazed the outside of her underwear.  “And you can,” her voice quivered slightly as she looked back at him, “when it’s your turn.”

“Aw, come on, Riles,” he smirked, “You know you want me inside you just as badly as I want to be inside you.”

She bit her bottom lip.  “Mmm…I feel how badly you want to be inside of me.”

His hand slowly slid over in between her legs.  He gave her a wolfish grin as soon as he felt the moisture between her thighs.  “So do I,” he practically snarled as he ran his thumb over the outside of the thin material.

“Ravish me,” she commanded as she buried her head in the side of his neck.  “Show me, Lucas.  I want to know how badly you want me.”

He needed no other invitation.  He quickly gripped the band of her underwear and with one pull, the lacy material ripped.  He quickly discarded it before he slid her closer to him.  In one fluid motion, he filled her.

//Oh there daddy, daddy didn’t bring the towel Oh baby baby we betta slow it down Took 45 minutes to get all dressed up We ain't even gonna make it to this club//

They remained still for a few moments as the simply took in the moment.  They were finally one—they were finally connected again.  They both felt like they could finally breathe for the first time in months.  They both felt like the chaotic world that surrounded them finally made sense.  It felt like coming home.

He gripped her hips as she slowly began to rock back and forth.  He was content enough to let her control their pace—for the moment.  He knew she wanted to control the ride, so he was determined to allow her to do that, despite her pleas for him to take over.  He knew he had time to do that—once they got into her apartment.

Her hand slid across his shoulders and down his arms as she began to regain control of her senses.  This felt good—too good—better than the dream she couldn’t seem to let go of.

He wanted to touch her.  He wanted to see every square inch of her magnificent body, but he knew that they had to be getting close to her place, and again, he wanted her to dictate what he could and couldn’t see.  If she wanted to remain fully (well, almost) clothed during their first interlude, then that was completely up to her.  He could guarantee that she wouldn’t have a stitch of clothing on her during their second, and hopefully, third exchange.

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kind of girl you like, girl you like//

Riley’s movements began to quicken as she threw her head back.  Lucas wrapped his arms around her as he began to plant kisses along her neck and chest.  This felt nothing short of heaven, and he was hell bent to send her to the same euphoric paradise when they reached their destination.

He nearly snapped at her when she pushed his head back.  Before he had a chance to voice his displeasure, she quickly covered his lips with her own.  He pulled her even closer as he sought to control her mouth.  

Riley couldn’t get close enough to him as she neared her climax.  Her legs were wrapped around him as their tongues engaged in another battle of a long fought war between them.  This was everything she had dreamt of and so much more.  “Lucas,” she gasped as she pulled back.  She couldn’t breathe.  She could barely get his name out.  She moaned as she quickened her pace.

Lucas dropped his hands to her ass as he slid her to him.  If he wasn’t already approaching his own climax, he would have after he heard her gasp his name.  He never loved his name more than when he heard her say it in complete, unadulterated pleasure.  He groaned as she slammed against him.  Just a few more thrusts and he would be sent spiraling into a different plane of reality.

“Oh,” she moaned once more as her head snapped back.  She was there.  She was there.  She just needed him to join her.  She needed to feel him convulse within her.

The sight of her nearing the brink of her climax sent him tumbling over. He gripped her back as he moaned her name.  She fisted his hair as she finally gave in and careened over the edge with him.  

It was wrong.  She knew it, and he did too, but at that moment, nothing ever felt more right.

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kinda girl you like Is right here with me//

She tried to straighten up her appearance as much as she could while Lucas put his clothes back on.  Her hair was a mess, and her dress was slightly wrinkled, but she didn’t care about that.  She just hoped that the driver didn’t hear them.  She had never done anything like that in her life, but as she glanced at Lucas who seemed to be preoccupied with putting his shirt back on, she had zero regrets about it.  At the end of the day, she trusted the guy she sat next to, even if they weren’t together.  He had been her first everything, and was still her only sexual partner.  She trusted him more than anyone—even herself at times.  It was one reason why she refused to engage in deep discussions with him.  She knew she would buckle.  She knew she would confess everything to him, but she couldn’t.  He was still in Texas.  She was still in New York.  She couldn’t hold him back.  If he met someone, she didn’t want him to worry about breaking her heart (even though when the day finally came, Riley knew she would be completely inconsolable).

She shook her head.  Were they there yet?  She needed something to drink.  She was beginning to sober up and her brain was racing to catch up to her heart.  She couldn’t allow that.  She didn’t want to back out.  She didn’t want to walk away from him.  She wasn’t strong enough for that—not yet anyway.  Couldn’t they hold on for a little while longer?”

As Lucas slid his jacket on, he spotted Riley’s torn underwear on the ground.  He glanced at the brunette who stared out the darkened window.  He leaned forward as he reached for the garment.  He slid it into his pocket before he leaned back in his seat.  He slid his tie into the other pocket as the limo finally halted.

Riley turned her head when she heard the driver open his door.  She smiled sheepishly at Lucas.  “Perfect timing.”

He let out a soft chuckle.  “Yeah.”

When the driver opened the door on Lucas’s side, the Texan slid out of the limo.  Riley quickly scanned the backseat, but couldn’t find her underwear anywhere.  ‘Oh God,’ she thought as she reached for her clutch.  ‘Please don’t let this sweet man find them.’  She slid out of the car and thanked the driver for giving her a ride home.

The driver nodded and wished her a good night.

As he walked away, Riley glanced at Lucas.  Well, she was already going to hell for doing this, might as well enjoy another glimpse of heaven while she was at it.

She opened her bag as she searched for her keys.

“When did you move out of the dorm,” he asked as they walked toward the door.

“Umm…after last semester.  We…we were trying to stay at least through sophomore year, but it got to be too loud over there.  And besides,” she added as she stuck the key in the door, “Maya started dating Josh, so she was more than ready to leave the juvenile setting of a dorm room.”  She opened the door.

“So, they finally went public,” Lucas noted as they walked up the stairs toward Riley’s apartment.

“Yeah,” she sighed.  “Zay and I have a running bet on to when they actually first started dating.”  She looked back at the Texan.  “Pretty sure it was while we were in high school.”

“Oh definitely,” he agreed as he followed her on the stairs.  “She was always sneaking off…didn’t date anyone.  She went to prom by herself.”

“She didn’t go by herself,” Riley insisted as they reached the third floor.  “We all went together, remember?”

Lucas looked down as he followed her down the hallway.  Oh.  He remembered that night clearly.  It was the night he knew he was going to propose to her.  The three of them went to the prom together because Riley didn’t want Maya to go alone.  Lucas danced with both of them and the girls danced with one another.  It reminded him a lot of the triangle that wasn’t in middle school.  As he watched them dance with one another, he realized that they all had come so far from those days.  He couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.  He couldn’t imagine ever loving anyone the way he loved her.  He knew it was crazy.  They were young and both of them had committed themselves to going to schools on opposite sides of the country, but as he watched her turn to look at him and smiled while she danced with her best friend, he knew that there would never be anyone else for him.

“Lucas,” she called out to him.

His head snapped up at the sound of his name.

“Are you going to come in or stay in the hallway all night,” she chuckled.

He gave her a small smile as he followed her into her apartment.

//Driver, roll up the partition fast Driver, roll up the partition fast Over there I swear I saw them cameras flash//

Riley sat her clutch on the counter as she ducked into of the small kitchenette.  She needed alcohol to quiet the voice in her head that screamed at her that this wasn’t right.  “Do you want anything,” she called out as she opened the fridge.

“What do you have,” he called back as he slowly wandered into her small living room.  Pictures of their group aligned the walls of the small apartment.  Some of Maya’s artwork was peppered in between.  A soft smile formed on his lips as he recalled every memory of every photo that laid before him.

“Beer, wine, tequila, vodka…”

“Beer is good,” he responded as he shrugged out of his jacket.  He needed to take the edge off.  He hadn’t had a drop to drink, but if he was expected to keep up the charade of pretending that what they were doing was strictly physical, then he needed something to dull his senses.  He had nearly declared his undying love for her in the limo, and that was during a rushed exchange.  God knows what would come out of his mouth given a few more hours with her.  

For what he had envisioned for the remainder of the evening, he knew that he had to be at least slightly inebriated.

He wasn’t about to destroy the last shred of her he could have.

She heard him loud and clear: beer.  He wanted beer.  Meanwhile, she went straight for the vodka.  It had allowed her to pull through the first time.  Surely, it wouldn’t give up on her now.  “How about a shot of vodka too,” she called out as she poured one for herself.

“Sure,” he answered as he strolled into the kitchen.  He leaned against the doorway as he watched her pour him a shot.

“Do you need something to chase it with,” she asked as she opened the refrigerator.

“No,” he answered.

Riley smiled at him.  “Impressive Dr. Friar.  Learn that in Texas?”

He smirked.  “Well, in Texas, we go for whiskey.”

“Sorry,” she shrugged as she closed the refrigerator.  She grabbed both shots before she walked over to him.  She handed him the glass.  “Fresh out.”

He tapped his glass to hers.  “To…old friends.”

She looked down.  “Yeah.  Old friends.”

They both leaned back at the same time as they downed the liquid.  Neither of them reacted as it burned down their throats.  Both had become used to the taste of it.  Both of them were used to using it as a means of escaping their feelings, the reality that had taken shape of their world.

“Do you want another one,” she asked as she took the glass from him.

“One more,” he answered.  “Then I could really go for that beer.”

She smiled as she poured them another shot.  “I didn’t forget.”  She sat the bottle down.  “You know,” she began as she walked back to him, “Beer is pretty fattening.”

He looked down.  “Are you saying I’ve gotten fat,” he teased.

She handed him the small glass.  Neither said a word as they both drank the contents.  “No,” she answered as she took the glass from him.  “Quite the opposite actually.  I need to know your secret to staying fit while pounding beers.”

“I don’t drink beer that often,” he answered truthfully.

“Just on special occasions,” she offered.

He chuckled.  “Yeah…or when there isn’t an ample supply of whiskey around.”

“Ah.”  She opened the refrigerator one last time as she pulled out a beer for him.  She popped the cap off before she walked back to him and handed him the bottle.  “Well, now I know.”

“For next time?”  He took a swig as he watched her walk into the living room.

“Are you coming back this summer?”

“Yeah,” he sighed as he followed her.

“You don’t sound very happy about it.”

“I’ll only be in town for a few weeks.”

Riley slowly sat down on the couch.  “Oh.”

“Yeah,” he sat down next to her.  “Pappy Joe needs some help this summer.  I told him I’d help him.  He doesn’t really have…anyone else there to take care of everything.”

Riley folded her hands. “Well, that’s nice of you.”  Her gaze fell as she looked at her joined hands.  So, he wouldn’t be in town this summer.  Maybe it was for the best.  Maybe this was the push she needed to finally detach herself from him.  Her eyes drifted back toward her kitchen.  Would it be too much for her to finish off that bottle of vodka?

“Unless there’s a reason for me to stay.”  He took another swig of his beer.  Had he actually said that?  He waited for the fallout.  He waited for her to get upset, to kick him out.  Instead, he heard her chuckle.

“Family is family.  I don’t think there could be a better reason for you to spend the summer there.”

“Yeah,” he nodded.  He glanced around the room once more.  “This is a nice apartment.”

“Yeah,” she sighed as she looked around.  “We like it.  Nice neighbors.  It’s nice to feel independent, you know?”

“Definitely understandable.”  He looked at the bottle in his hands.

They fell silent for a few moments as Lucas took occasional sips of his drink.  Finally, Riley’s ringtone chimed through the otherwise soundless apartment.  She got up as she walked over to her clutch.  She pulled out her phone as she read her missed text message.  She took a deep breath as she typed a response.

“Who is that,” Lucas asked off handedly.  When Riley didn’t answer him, he furrowed his eyebrows.  He knew it was none of his business, but a sense of dread filled him.  “It’s him, isn’t it?”

“Him who,” she asked as she sat her phone down.

“The guy you were dancing with when I showed up tonight.  The guy you’ve been seeing.”

“Yeah,” she answered as she walked back into the living room.

“Is it serious?”

She frowned.  “Obviously not,” she answered, slightly offended that he would even consider the idea that she would cheat on someone.

“I didn’t…I didn’t mean it like that.”

Riley crossed her arms over her chest.  “I don’t have to justify my love life to you.”

“Uh…you do if you’re sleeping with him,” he responded as he stood up.  “I have a right to know who you’ve been with before we…before anything else happens.”

He was right.  She knew he was.  She would want to know if he became intimate with someone else.  It was the safest way to know whether or not she could contract something.  “No,” she grounded out.  “We aren’t…it’s not like that.”

“But you could be right,” he asked as he inched closer to her.  “Intimate…with him.”

“I don’t have to answer that,” she responded.  “I’m dating around…as I’m sure you are too.”  She paused.  “We can’t talk about this.  It’s not…we aren’t…I don’t owe you an explanation.  I’ve been seeing someone who is also friends with Farkle…we went to his party together.  We danced.”  She paused.  “He texted me to make sure I’m ok…that I got home safely.”  She waited a beat.  “You can’t be jealous.”

“I’m not,” he lied as he finally reached her.  “I was just…curious…as I’m sure you would be if you saw me tangled up with someone else on a dance floor.”  He slowly raked his eyes over her.  He didn’t want to fight with her.  Jealousy coursed through his veins, but now wasn’t the time to react.  “You know…you said once we got here that I could dictate what we do.”

She slowly looked up at him as their potential argument quickly melted away.  “What do you want to do?”

He placed his hands on either side of her as he ran his fingers over the straps of her dress.  “I want to spend the next several hours worshipping every square inch of you.”  He slowly slid the straps down her arms.  As soon as the straps were released from her, her dress fell to the floor.  Due to the low cut design of the dress, Riley didn’t wear a bra.  So, there she stood before him, completely naked.

“God,” he breathed as he slowly re-familiarized himself with every square inch of her form.  “You’re so beautiful, Riley.”

“What do you want to do to me, Lucas,” she asked softly as she made no attempt to cover herself up.  “Or what to do you want me to do to you?”

His eyes slowly traveled back up to her chocolate eyes.  “I want you to show me your bedroom.”

//Handprints and footprints on my glass Handprints and good grips all on my ass//

Outwardly, she acted so completely confident in her body that she still made no move to cover up as she walked down the short hallway to her room.  Inwardly, her brain screamed at her to cover up because she was Riley Matthews—the girl who was always insecure.  It was a very strange thing.  When he looked at her, she didn’t feel insecure.  She didn’t feel the need to cover anything up.  She felt beautiful.

As she opened the door to her bedroom, she turned back to him.  She waited for him to enter, but instead he stopped right in front of her.

She held her breath as he leaned into her.  “Do you want this,” he asked her.

She leaned her head back against the doorway.  “What?”

“This?  Our little deal.  Do you want to continue it?”

She swallowed.  “Why…why do you ask?”

“Because…you’re dating other people.  Maybe you’re interested in a relationship with Caleb.  If you are, tell me, and we can end this now…walk away as—“

“Friends,” she offered.

“Yeah,” he answered.

Riley looked at him for a long moment.  This was her chance to come to her senses and stop the insanity.  This was her chance to break the cycle for once and for all.  He gave her an opening; she only had to take it.  The problem was that this whole arrangement was her idea, and she still felt the same way now as she did then.  While she wasn’t permitted to be with him, while she knew that this didn’t make up for the loss she experienced two years ago, she still couldn’t find the words to actually end it.  She had to have any part of him that she could.  This was the only way.  Maybe one day she would gain some sense of control and end it, but she couldn’t do that now.  She was too addicted to him.  “I don’t want to stop,” she answered honestly.  “Do you?”

He did.  He wanted to stop it if it meant that he could have her completely.  Gauging by their earlier conversation, he knew that wasn’t a possibility.  Not now, at least.  He could wait a little longer.  She was worth it.  They were worth it.  He leaned down to her.  “No,” he answered softly.

As he neared her lips, she pulled back from him.  She smiled as a look of confusion graced his face.  “There’s only one rule,” she said as she ran her finger along the collar of his shirt.

He swallowed.  “What’s that?”

Her eyes fell to the floor.  “You can’t step over that threshold if you have any stitch of clothing on.”

His eyes slowly fell to the ground.  He watched as Riley slid her black heels off before she crossed the threshold.  She tossed them toward the corner of the room before she turned back to him.  “That’s it,” she smirked.  “The only rule.”

Lucas’s mouth fell open.  Who was this girl and what had she done with Riley Matthews?  She spoke with such confidence, such allure that he thought his heart had actually stopped beating.  He had always loved the woman who stood before him.  He had spent years trying to show her that she had no need to be insecure about anything—that she was an angel who walked amongst mere mortals.  Had college given her this newfound sense of confidence?  Had their little arrangement taken the pressure off to be perfect?

He had no idea, but as he found himself unbuttoning his shirt, he wasn’t about to question it. He knew she wasn’t perfect, but in that moment, he couldn’t think of a single thing he would ever change about her.  All he wanted to do was to pay homage to her very existence.  He wanted to give her what she deserved—pure, unadulterated pleasure.

As he slid his shirt down his arms, he knew that he would never be worthy of her.  He knew that he should be grateful for the years she had allowed him to be in her orbit.  He knew that one day this would end, and that he would be forced to survive in a world where he wasn’t allowed to pay tribute to her existence.

But not tonight.

No, tonight he was fortunate enough to be given the chance to make sure she knew that she held all of him within the palm of her hand.

He knew the current status of their relationship wasn’t healthy, but he didn’t care.  He knew that one day he would.  He knew that one day either he or she would confront the reality of what they had been doing for the last year and a half, but as Lucas unbuckled his pants, he sent up a silent prayer to whatever deity would listen to him that it wouldn’t end—that their impending conversation would result in a reconciliation.  He already had to live six months in a world without her.  If he had any say in his future, that would never happen again.

//Private show with the music blasting He like to call me Peaches when we get this nasty Red wine drip, we’ll talk that trash Chauffeur eavesdropping trying not to crash//

Riley watched as Lucas undressed.  She was impressed with the way she had been able to command him thus far.  She felt the vodka begin to take effect as he slid his underwear off.  ‘Good,’ she mused as he tossed the last piece of his clothing to the side.  She didn’t want to think logically.  As he stepped over the threshold into her room and strolled toward her, she knew that tonight, she only wanted him.

“Now, its mine turn,” he told her as he stood in front of her.

“A deal is a deal,” she reached behind her head to pull her hair tie out.  Her long brown hair came tumbling down, providing a sheer cover for her breasts.

Lucas ran his fingers down her tangled locks before he tossed her hair over her shoulder.  He needed to see her—all of her.  His index finger slowly slid down her arm.  The right corner of his mouth turned up into a smile when he noticed the trail of goose bumps that quickly followed his touch.  “I want to touch every square inch of you,” he murmured as his other hand gripped her waist.  “I want to hear you moan my name,” he continued as he gently nudged her to him.  “I want you to beg for more.”  His left hand lightly brushed the length of her spine.  When Riley closed her eyes and shuddered in response, Lucas’s smile grew.  “I want you to beg for me,” he finished as his eyes looked down at her.  

Riley slowly opened her eyes when she felt his gaze land on her body.  It was clear that he wanted to take his time with her tonight, but she already wanted nothing more than to shove him on her bed and show him exactly how his gentle caresses had affected her.  When her eyes met his, she took a shaky breath.  His eyes had darkened as his other hand gripped her other side of her waist.  She swallowed.  Maybe she hadn’t had enough to drink over the last few hours.  Maybe she was still too sober to do this without feeling anything for the man in front of her.

As his face leaned in toward hers, she realized that there wasn’t enough alcohol on earth to ever make her truly forget just how much she loved him.

//Oh there daddy, daddy now you ripped my fur Oh baby baby be sweating out my hair Took 45 minutes to get all dressed up We ain't even gonna make it to this club//

He wasn’t sure how long they stood in her bedroom as they kissed.  Time was no longer a concept.  They must have been suspended up in space somewhere.  It could have been seconds, minutes, hours, days.  He had no idea.  All he knew was that this time, their kisses had slowed.  There wasn’t any sense of urgency.  It was gentle, methodical.  He wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to explore every part of her.  When she released a soft moan, he pulled her flush against him.  He had to hear that sound again.  He had to know that she was enjoying this just as much as he was.

Riley’s hands slid up his arms as she finally wrapped her arms around his neck.  She ran her fingers through his hair as she opened her mouth further.  At that moment, she felt like it would never be enough.  Their bodies were completely pressed against one another, his tongue actively engaged in another battle of dominance with hers, and yet, she needed to be closer.  When she felt his hands slide around to cup her ass, she smiled.  When she felt his erection against her pelvis, she slowly spread her legs to allow him to brush against her vagina.

Lucas practically growled at the contact, but it wasn’t directed at the brunette in his arms.  He found himself thrust in his own civil war.  Part of him wanted to take her right then and there, but there was another part of him who wanted to continue with his plan.

He gripped her ass even tighter as he lifted her off the ground.  She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her over to her bed.  He finally broke contact with her perfect mouth once her head hit her pillow.  “You aren’t playing fair,” he breathed.

She squirmed under the intensity of his gaze.  With one look, she felt like he could ask her to do anything and she would comply without hesitation.  It was dangerous.  He was dangerous.  Her heart began to race as his eyes slowly ran down the length of her body.  She would give anything to know what he was thinking.

‘You got to slow down, Friar,’ he told himself as he took several deep breaths. They had all night—a luxury neither were used to.  Before, it had always been hurried exchanges between them.  Now he had the chance to truly make love to the woman in front of him.  “You’re incredible,” he breathed as his hand ran down her legs.  He paused when he reached her knees.  He gently nudged them apart as he positioned himself in between them.

Riley said nothing as she watched him slowly plant kisses along her hipbone.  She took a shaky breath as she felt goose bumps pop up along every area he touched.

Lucas smiled against her skin as he methodically kissed down the length of her right leg.  As he slowly made his way up to her hip on her left leg, he noticed her squirm.  “You aren’t enjoying this?”  His tone wasn’t accusatory.  He seemed more amused by her reaction.  He could feel the heat permeating from in between her thighs. He heard every breathy sigh she released as he paid homage to her slender legs.  There was no way on earth she wasn’t enjoying every second of this.

She closed her eyes as he began to kiss along her hipbone once more.  It was one of her tender spots, and he knew it.  She hissed as his teeth gently scraped across her flawless flesh.  “Please,” she moaned before she took a sharp shallow breath.  “Lucas, please.”

He lifted his head as he watched her lean her head back.  For a second, he thought he could hear her heart racing.  He needed to resist her pleas, for now anyway.  He had only began his exploration of her body.  “You can do better than that,” he teased as his hands moved up to cup her breasts.

Riley arched her back at his touch.  She furrowed her eyebrows together as she tried to figure out some way to regain control of her senses.  She knew he was teasing her.  She knew that he wanted to hear her beg.  She hadn’t intended for that to slip from her lips, but as he slowly lowered his head in between her thighs, she knew that it wouldn’t be the last time she begged for him.  

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kind of girl you like, girl you like//

“Oh my God,” she cried out as she felt herself fly over the edge of ecstasy.  She panted as he slowly lifted his head.  If her eyes were open, she would have noticed the ruthless grin he had as he slowly slid up her body.  Her heart slammed against her chest as she desperately tried to catch her breath.  “Lucas,” she panted as she felt him kiss along her neck.  “Are you sure you haven’t done that with someone in Texas?”  Her mind was completely fogged over as she placed her hand over her forehead.  He had gone down on her before, but it had never been quite that meticulous.  He took his time.  He made sure to pay attention to the areas she was the most sensitive to.  Basically, it was sheer perfection.

He chuckled against her neck.  “No,” he answered as his lips slid down to her collarbone.  “Just you.”

She lowered her hand as she felt her heart rate begin to return to normal.  “I can’t wait to repay you for it,” she sighed happily.

“Well,” he drawled out as he lifted his head.  “It’ll have to wait until next time.”

She frowned.  “Why?”

“My rules, remember?”  He smirked.  “I’m not done yet.”

“This isn’t fair,” she groaned as he lowered his head to kiss the other side of her neck.

Lucas slid his hand down her arm until he reached her hand.  He brushed his fingertips against hers for a moment before he lifted her hand above her head.  “What do you want, Riley?”

“You know what I want,” she whispered as his teeth lightly bit her earlobe.

“And you know what I want,” he retorted as his hands roamed her body.  He lifted his head as his eyes met hers.  He knew he couldn’t ask for the one thing he needed the most in this world, but for now, this could keep him going until the next time he saw her.  “I need to hear it, Riley.  I need to know that you need this just as badly as I do…that you want to be consumed by me.  I need to hear that you know that the fire you feel right now is because of me.”

She stared into his eyes for a long moment.  Something was beginning to shift between them.  She felt it the moment he began to pleasure her.  What had made that orgasm so intense wasn’t the way he used his tongue, or the rhythm of his fingers inside of her, it was because he had made love to her.  He still had feelings for her.  It was something she had tried to deny for a while, but as she looked into his eyes now, she knew she that it couldn’t possibly be anything else.  

They had to end this.  She knew that.  However, knowing and acting were two different things.  She wasn’t strong enough to say goodbye to him yet, because she felt the same way.

All of the reasons she broke up with him came rushing at her.  He was going to be a veterinarian.  That meant a lot more time in school than simply two more years.  What if they reconciled just to argue all the time and become even more miserable than they already were?  She couldn’t stand the thought of him not in her life.

No.  Until everything got settled, she couldn’t tell him.  She wasn’t ready to let him go.  She was stuck in this non-relationship relationship with him.  And while it had its perks, it also felt like the definition of purgatory.

“I need you,” she finally whispered as she forced herself to come back to the present.  She had plenty of time to torment herself later.  Right now, she needed to be in this moment with him.  She needed this taste of paradise.  “Please,” she begged.  “Lucas, I need more.  I need to feel you inside me.”

She didn’t think it was possible, but his eyes darkened further at her words.  Her fingers brushed against his cheek.  “Please,” she pleaded once more.

This was supposed to be his moment.  This was supposed to be the moment he knew whether or not she loved him.  He thought that if she begged for him, that he would know that she needed him as much as he needed her.  As she said the words he longed to hear, he felt himself silently plead with her to take him back.  He thought he would feel some vindication, some newfound certainty that he had taken the upper hand in their tumultuous relationship, but as soon as her hands brushed across his cheek, he knew that he would jump off the Brooklyn Bridge if she asked him to.  He was a slave to the woman underneath him.  He always was, and always would be.  He nearly professed his love in response, but quickly stopped himself.  Now wasn’t the time for that.

His lips finally crashed against hers as she wrapped her legs around his hips.  

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kinda girl you like Is right here with me//

His right hand lowered to cup her ass while she gripped his shoulders.  He quickly slid into her.  Riley gasped in response as he gave her a moment to get used to the sensation.  He tossed her hair to the side as he sucked on the base of her neck.  The act elicited a moan from the brunette.  She wiggled against him as she buried her head in his neck.  Could they stay just like this forever?  She couldn’t imagine a better form of heaven.

At first he slowly moved against her as she dug her fingernails into his shoulder blades.  She was felt so tight, so perfect.  His sexual experience was only limited to her, but he couldn’t imagine a more perfect fit as he repeatedly filled her.

“Yes,” she groaned against his neck before she began to gently suck on the tender piece of flesh behind his ear.  It was one of the most sensitive spots on his body, and she knew it.  She knew exactly what to do to speed him up, to bend him to her will.  

He both loved and loathed that she held that much power over him.  He moaned as he began to speed up his thrusts.  He took a deep breath as she wrapped her legs even tighter around him.  He wasn’t going to let go yet. This felt too incredible.  He needed this moment to last. He needed to feel this close to her for as long as she would allow him to.

“Lucas,” she panted as he palmed her ass.  “Please,” she begged, “please don’t stop.”

He nearly came right then and there.  That was what he desperately needed to hear.  He needed to hear her plead with him.  He needed to hear her pleasure.  He needed to know that he affected her just as deeply, just as primitively, just as passionately, as she affected him.  She possessed most of his thoughts, even from two thousand miles away.  He needed to know that after he left her once more, that she would think about this night and remember it.  He wanted this moment to be seared into her memory for the rest of her life.  He wanted to ruin every other guy for her.  He wanted to be the only one.  He wanted to be the one.

//Est-ce que tu aimes le sexe? Le sexe, je veux dire: l'activité physique, le coït. Tu aimes ça? Tu ne t'intéresses pas au sexe? Les hommes pensent que les féministes détestent le sexe mais c'est une activité très stimulante et naturelle que les femmes adorent//

She was there.  She was ready to release her third climax of the evening, but she wanted to wait for him.  Nothing felt better than to reach the pinnacle of pleasure with him.  “Lucas…oh God.”

He groaned in response.  If he lived to be 100, he’d never get tired of the way she breathed his name in the bedroom.  The way she said it immediately pushed him to the brink.  “Riley,” he moaned.  She wrapped her arms around his back and pressed her foot against his ass.  The act sent him even further into her, where he finally exploded.

As soon as she felt him climax, Riley followed.  She cried out as she tightened her hold on him.  She didn’t want to let go.  She couldn’t.  He was the only thing that kept her tied to the earth below.  She was on another plane of existence as they both longed to remain in that world.  In that world, nothing else mattered but them.  They didn’t have to worry about labels or figuring out the complexities of their relationship.  They merely existed to please one another.

Soon enough, gravity took control as they slowly fell back to Earth.  Lucas reluctantly pulled out of her as he laid down next to her.  He pulled her to him before he placed a gently kiss to her shoulder.  

Riley sighed contentedly as she closed her eyes.  “That was…”

He smiled against her shoulder.  “Was what?”

She searched her brain.  Had she spoken?  If so, what did she say?  She wasn’t even entirely sure where she was at the moment.  She finally let out a soft chuckle.  “I have no idea.”  She took a deep breath.  “I need something to drink.”  She turned her head toward him.  “Do you want something?”

“I’ll get it,” he offered as he reluctantly untangled himself from the goddess next to him.  “What would you like?  Water or something stronger?  I make a mean vodka cranberry…or so I’m told.”

She smirked as she caught his reference to the last time they met up.  “Both sound heavenly,” she answered.

“Both, it is.”

Riley sat up as she watched him leave her bedroom without a stitch of clothing on.  “Damn,” she mumbled as she fell back on the bed.  How was it possible that she felt like she was on cloud nine while at the same time, also felt an overwhelming sense of grief?  Tears quickly formed in her eyes.  This wasn’t allowed.  She couldn’t cry right now.  She didn’t want to think about what comes next.  She wanted to live in the moment with him.

She sat back up as she wiped her eyes.  She needed to escape for a few moments and regroup.  She wandered into her bathroom and turned on the shower.  As soon as she stepped in, she felt the water scald her, but she didn’t care.  She needed to feel something other than the rush of loneliness that had suddenly captured her.

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kind of girl you like, girl you like//

She wasn’t sure how long she stood in the shower before he entered the bathroom.  Neither of them said anything as he slipped into the shower behind her.  He hissed when he felt the scalding water.  “Jesus, Riley.”  He noticed the red marks on her skin and quickly turned the hot water down.  “Are you ok?”

She slowly turned to face him.  She wasn’t sure what time it was, but it was still dark outside.  They still had a few more hours at least.  She had a little while longer to pretend that everything was ok, that whatever they had was normal, and not the worst idea in the history of everything.  “I’m fine,” she smiled as she stepped closer to him.  Her eyes slowly traveled down his body.  “You’re ready again?”  He was completely insatiable.  She would never be able to keep up with him.

“Maybe in a little while,” he responded as he reached for her loofah.  “Right now, I’m thinking a shower…the drinks…a little relaxation.”

“I’m not sure that’s allowed,” she responded before she turned away from him.  

Her comment stung slightly, but he wasn’t about to argue with her after what had just transpired in her bedroom.  “You know,” he began as he reached for her soap, “You did say that we were friends with benefits.  Maybe in between the benefits, we could actually…be friends.”  He ran the loofah along her back.  “Friends can drink and hang out, right?”

He had a point.  They didn’t talk at all unless he was in town, and before tonight, they only had a very limited amount of time to release their sexual frustration on one another.  Maybe trying out the friends side of their arrangement would allow her the chance to become more comfortable with what they were now?  Maybe that way, she wouldn’t try to hide from him next time?  “You’re right.  Friends hang out…and we’re friends, right?”

‘For now,’ his mind screamed at him.  “Yeah.  Yeah…we’re friends.”  They had always been friends, but it had also always been more than that between them.  Was he happy with their current relationship status?  No.  Of course not.  He wouldn’t be satisfied until they were back together, but he could wait a little longer to plead his case to her.

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like//

They laid back in her bed as they watched tv for a little while.  He briefly wondered when she would kick him out of her place, but halfway through the second episode of ‘Red Planet Diaries’ she draped her arm across his waist and placed her head on his chest.  He was slightly confused at first.  He didn’t know that cuddling was acceptable in their non-relationship relationship, not that he would ever complain about it.

When her breathing deepened, he knew that she had fallen asleep.  He wasn’t about to disturb her for the world.  He wrapped his arm around her back and lightly traced out the three words he had restrained himself from saying the entire night.  ‘I love you,’ he thought as he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Riley slowly opened her eyes when she felt Lucas’ arm loosen its grip on her waist.  He was asleep.  She wasn’t entirely sure why she had pretended to fall asleep.  No.  That’s a lie.  She knew why she did it.  She didn’t want him to leave.  She wanted him to stay the night.  She wanted him to stay forever.

She took a deep breath.  Forever is a long time, and it felt like the universe had transpired to keep them apart for some reason.  She had tried to move on.  She thought that she was on the way to doing that with Caleb, but one night with Lucas changed everything.  She needed to end things with Caleb.  Farkle was right and she didn’t want to lead him on.  She wasn’t ready for another relationship.  She wasn’t sure if she would ever be ready.  She was fairly certain that she would be in love with Lucas Friar for the rest of her life, but she couldn’t have him.  Not now.  Not while they were in school.  Not while they lived on opposite sides of the country.  She wasn’t going to be the reason why he missed out.  As much as it killed her, as much as she loathed herself and the current predicament she found herself in, she couldn’t give him up yet.  

//The kinda girl you like Is right here with me//

[gilbertandanne]

Third installment to the Serendipity/Amaranthine universe. How far would you go in order to protect someone you love? WARNING: as with the first two parts in the series, there is an overall trigger warning for abuse (physical, mental, emotional). That, combined with the adult themes in this fic (alcohol, language, situations, etc), are the reason for the rating. Primarily Rucas.

Rating: M

Soundtrack (not at all in order and will be edited as the story progresses)

Word count: 3,845

A/N: Mad love to @gmwpluto for making me fight for this plot.  You know when to push me. <333

Also, if you want to be tagged in updates, let me know your user track tag. For those who already told me they wanted to be tagged, make sure I’m tagging you right. :)

Prologue | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |

                                                      Elysian

The Elysian Fields (Ancient Greek: Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, Ēlýsion pedíon) is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philosophical sects and cults. Initially separate from the realm of Hades, admission was reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes. Later, it expanded to include those chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic, where they would remain after death, to live a blessed and happy life.

Prologue

The hill.  The most magical place on earth for Riley and Lucas.  As Riley watched the sun dip down over the trees, she tried to commit everything about the moment to her memory.  She felt a connection to this place from the first moment Lucas took her there.  The memory of the peacefulness she felt when she sat on the hill carried her through some of her darkest days.

She absentmindedly ran her hand along the blades of grass as she laid on the same spot where they first confessed their love for one another.  She couldn’t explain it, but as she reminisced about days that had long since past, she could feel Pappy Joe’s presence surround her.  “I’ll take good care of him,” she spoke softly as the wind circled around her.  “I promise.”  She closed her eyes as she felt the cool breeze against her cheeks.

“Mommy, mommy,” her daughter’s voice sliced through the silence.  

Riley turned toward the sound just as the four year old nearly tackled her.  As Celeste giggled with delight, Riley grinned.  She sat up as her husband approached with Joey in his arms.  “It’s way past their bedtime.”

“It’s our last night here,” he smiled as he sat down next to her.  He looked at the sleeping boy in his arms.  “Besides, I think we already lost one.”

“He looks just like you.”  As Riley watched Lucas cradle Joey in his arms, she felt a powerful sense of déjà vu sweep over her.  She looked all around them as she tried to place it.  Everything around them seemed so familiar, too familiar.  Even the conversation they were having.  She seemed to know what he was going to say before he said it.

Lucas looked at his daughter.  “It’s only fair.  Your mini-me is in your lap, and besides…he’s not just like me.  He has your—“

“Hair,” she finished as her eyes widened in shock.  A nightmare from over a decade ago came charging back at her as she stared at her husband.

He frowned when he noticed Riley shiver in fear.  “Are you ok?”

She furrowed her eyebrows as she scanned at the sky above them.  It wasn’t the middle of the night.  The sun had barely gone down, but everything else felt exactly the same.  “Wow.”

Lucas looked around them.  Why did she seem so anxious all of a sudden?  “What?”

“Remember when I had those nightmares…after the fight you had with Farkle?”

He nodded.  “What does that have to do with anything?”

“This is the beginning of one of them.”  She looked around them before she looked at the little girl in her lap. “Even Celeste and Joey,” she looked at the sleeping toddler in Lucas’s arms.  “I didn’t know their names then…but they were there too.”  She swallowed as her panicked eyes finally reached her husband.

“Riley, it was just a dream.”

She took a deep breath.  “But I lost you in it.  I lost them.”  She turned her attention to the sky.  “I had completely forgotten about it…even though you told me not to.  In it, you told me not to forget us…not to forget who we are.”  Her eyes wandered down to the ground.  “There was an earthquake and this crack formed between us,” she placed her hand on the ground.  “Right here.”

“That’s not going to happen,” he assured her as he placed his hand over top of hers.  “Nothing is going to come in between us again.  That’s my promise to you.”

She looked up at him.  “Lucas, I need to tell you something.”

A sense of dread filled him.  He hadn’t seen her act this nervous since they were in college.  He knew that something besides some long forgotten nightmare had to have been bothering her.  He let out a shaky breath.  “What is it?”

“I was going to wait until things settled down, but I can’t keep it from you anymore.”

“Riley, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m pregnant,” she said before she could stop herself.  “I found out the morning you got the call from your dad about Pappy Joe.  I-I wasn’t sure how to bring it up with everything that’s been going on.  I know we talked about only having two kids, but I—“

“Riley Matthews Friar,” he interrupted as he squeezed her hand, “You’re pregnant?”

She nodded as tears formed in her eyes.  “H-How do you feel about that?”

“I feel like…if we didn’t have these two out here,” he glanced at Joey and Celeste before he looked back at Riley, “I would show you just how happy I am right now.”  He grinned.  “I only said two because I thought that was what you wanted.”  He leaned over to softly kiss her lips.  “There needs to be more of you in the world.”

Riley bit her lip as she looked into the emerald eyes that had held a million happy dreams for her.  She didn’t think it was possible to love someone as much as she loved him.  She was constantly taken aback by how that love continued to grow day after day.  When she saw all of the love he had for her in his eyes, she thought she was about to explode.  “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.” He slid closer to her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.  She laid her head against his chest as they watched the stars slowly appear above their heads.  “You know,” he began as he marveled at the sky above them, “Farkle told me the day we got married that it was incredible how everything came together for all of us, and it really is if you think about it.  Zay, Maya, Farkle, you, me…we all ended up exactly where we wanted to.  After everything we’ve been through together, sometimes I find it hard to believe that it all worked out…that we all ended up where we were meant to.”

A soft smile formed on her lips as she slowly closed her eyes.  “It was serendipity.”

The small family sat in silence for a long time as they enjoyed their soundings, marveled at how far they had come from the tumultuous days of their youth, and pondered the future that seemed to be nothing but bright and hopeful despite the loss Riley and Lucas felt with Pappy Joe’s passing.

Her eyes remained closed when she heard him call her name.  When he called her name a second time, she tried to open her eyes, but some force greater than her will to view their private sanctuary wouldn’t permit her to.  When she heard her name for a third time, she frowned.  Lucas wasn’t the one calling out for her.  Was it Celeste?  It didn’t sound like the voice of her daughter, but it was a distinctly feminine tone.

“Riley,” Maya called out for the fourth time as she shook the brunette’s arms.  “Riley, wake up.  We’ve got class in like twenty minutes!”

Riley Matthews slowly opened her eyes as she felt everything around her begin to quake.  It took her a moment to gather her surroundings enough to realize that she wasn’t in Texas with Lucas and their children.  She was in New York.  She glanced at her left hand.  She wasn’t married with children; she was in the dorm room she shared with her best friend.  It wasn’t even nighttime; it was morning.  As she stared at the blonde who hovered over her, tears nearly sprang to Riley’s eyes.  

That was all a dream?

“I’m awake,” she nearly whimpered as she slowly sat up.  She ran a hand through her tangled hair as she stared down at her comforter.  Even though it had been ages since she had a nightmare, the dreams she often found herself in seemed so vivid and real.  It always felt extremely bittersweet to be forced back into reality.

“Are you ok,” Maya asked as she sat down at the end of the bed.  Most mornings, Riley was the first one up and, quite often, had to be the one to wake Maya up.  Once in awhile though, Maya would wake up after their third alarm went off and be tasked with the job of pulling Riley out of whatever land that seemed to have a stranglehold on her.  It was definitely a better alternative than the nightmares that plagued the brunette while they were in high school, but still, it was never an enjoyable thing to rip Riley out of whatever world she clearly wanted to spend a little more time exploring.

Riley nodded as she nonchalantly wiped away the few tears that had trickled down to her cheeks.  Why was she crying?  It was just a dream.  It wasn’t like it was some stupid nightmare or something that was outside of the realm of possibility one day.  “That dream felt so real.”  Not to mention the fact that it was also one of the recurring dreams she had off and on over the last two years.  Even though part of her subconscious must certainly know by now that it wasn’t real, she couldn’t help but to get swept away in the perfect imagery of the moment.  The image of being with Lucas on their hill surrounded by their children seemed like the perfect dream.  She had never felt more loved or more at peace in those few fleeting moments.  Maybe that’s why it was always hard to leave that realm.  That’s not to say that she didn’t love the life she was living.  On the contrary, she had never been happier.  So, why was it so hard to pull herself away from that world?

Maya gave her a small smile before she stood up and walked over to her dresser.  “You’ve always had the most intense dreams.  Which one was it this time?”  She opened up the top drawer before she rummaged through it to find something to wear.

“The hill,” she sighed.  “Lucas, me…and…our children.”  She looked down at her flat stomach.  “And…we had a third one on the way.”

“I like that dream.”  Maya had heard about this one before.  She reached for a pair of jeans before she disappeared behind their flowery panel divider to change her clothes.  “It’s the one where Lucas and his dad reconciled right?”

Riley nodded even though she knew that Maya couldn’t see her.  “Almost the perfect dream.”

“Yeah,” Maya called out as she tossed her pajamas over the screen.  “I don’t want to think about Pappy Joe dying.”

“Me either.”  She slowly climbed out of bed as she wandered toward her dresser.  “That’s the only reason why I’m glad it’s just a dream.”  Even the thought of losing Lucas’s grandfather was enough to make Riley’s stomach churn.  He was easily one of the funniest and sweetest men she had ever met, even though he projected this air of toughness about him that reminded Riley of his grandson.

“Well, Riles,” Maya began as she walked out from behind the screen, “Who knows?  With the way things have been progressing with you and cowboy lately…you might get married and knocked up in the next few years.”  She chuckled as she picked her pajamas off of the floor to toss in her laundry hamper.

Riley rolled her eyes as she closed her dresser drawer.  “Can we at least make it through sophomore year before you march us down the aisle?”

Maya smiled as she reached for her hairbrush.  “Whatever you want.”

“Thanks,” she answered wryly before she disappeared behind the divider in order to change her clothes.

Maya brushed the tangles out of her hair before she pulled it back into a messy ponytail.  “So, have you figured out which class we’re taking together in the fall?  It’s your turn.”

“Yeah,” Riley called out as she tossed her tank top in the direction of her hamper on the other side of the room. “Dr. Meineck’s teaching an Intro to Mythology class.”

Maya snickered as she stood up and walked toward the bathroom they shared with four other girls.  “That sounds so boring, Riles.  Are you sure you don’t want to do something else…like a painting class or even another astronomy class or…anything else?”  She reached for her toothbrush.  Mythology?  It sounded like the perfect class to sleep through.

Riley laughed.  It was exactly the reaction she expected from Maya.  “Nope.  I think you’ll like it once you’re exposed to it.  Zay took me to a lecture a few weeks ago and I can’t…I can’t stop thinking about it.

Maya frowned as she put the toothpaste on her toothbrush.  “What was the lecture on?”

“He just gave an overview of a few of the myths pertaining to Greek mythology, but it resonated with me.  One of the myths he spoke about was the story of Eros and Psyche.  Do you know anything about them?”

Maya pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth.  “No,” she answered before she spit some of the toothpaste into the sink.  “Who were they?”  She looked up into the mirror as she continued to brush her teeth.  She knew that no matter how boring the story was, she would concede and would be forced to take this class in the fall.  That was how it worked with the four of them.  Every semester one of them got to pick an elective that they—Maya, Riley, Lucas, and Zay—would all take together, just so they could have one class together.  They all had to endure art history when it was Maya’s turn, so she knew that she’d have to go with Riley’s newfound love of mythology.

“Well,” Riley walked back to the dresser, “Eros was the Greek God of Love.  He was like cupid.  He carried a bow and arrow and whoever got hit with it would fall in love with the first person they saw.”  She looked in her mirror and frowned.  She had about five minutes to brush her teeth and figure out what to do with her hair before they had to rush off to their astronomy class.

Maya turned on the faucet in order to spit out the rest of her toothpaste and clean her toothbrush.  “Cupid?  As in baby cupid?”

“No,” Riley answered as she wandered into the bathroom.  “In this version, he’s a grown guy.  Hot guy.” She reached for her toothbrush and toothpaste.

“Ooh,” Maya lifted her eyebrows as she leaned against the doorway.  “Tell me more.”

Riley chuckled as she raised the toothbrush to her lips.  “Let me brush my teeth first.”

“Fine,” Maya sighed before she walked back into their dorm room to get her books. After a few minutes, Riley came back into their room.  “Ok, so the short version of the story is this: Eros’ mom was Aphrodite…and she was jealous of Psyche, who was this drop dead gorgeous mortal woman.  She told Eros to make sure that she fell in love with the ugliest creature who had ever walked the earth.”  Riley reached for her hairbrush.  She had exactly two minutes to figure out how to tame her bedhead.

“Hmmm…let me guess…that didn’t happen.”

Riley shook her head as she reached for a few bobby pins.  “Nope.  Eros accidentally scraped himself with his own arrow and he fell hopelessly in love with her.”  She took a small section of her hair and pinned it back before she continued.  “Here’s the kicker: Eros wanted to remain hidden from her.  So, she only saw him at night, in the darkness, and he always left in the morning.  She didn’t think much of it because she was in love with him.  After awhile, Psyche became pregnant and she also began to miss her family.  So, Cupid sends for her sisters.  She tells them that she’s happy and fine and in love, but her sisters were jealous of her. They convinced Psyche that Eros was this hideous beast of a creature who wanted to kill her and her unborn child.  So, one night, she goes into his room and brings a candle with her so she could see him.  She’s shocked by how attractive he is, and is so distracted by it that some of the wax drips on his chest.”

“Uh-oh.”

Riley pinned another section of her hair back before she finished the story.  “Big uh-oh.  He bails because Psyche betrayed him.  She clearly didn’t trust him and the reasons he had for remaining hidden from her.  So, she ends up wandering the earth for a while, lamenting everything that happened until she finally seeks the aid of Aphrodite.  Aphrodite gives her all of these trials and tests to prove herself, certain that either Psyche will give up or die in the process.  Psyche manages to endure every single one before she’s reunited with Eros again.”

Maya thought about it for a moment.  “I have a lot of questions about this.”

Riley smiled before she walked toward her closet.  “Well, I guess you’ll have to take the class to get those answers.”

Maya narrowed her eyes.  “Oh…you’re good.”  She smirked.  “Another case of star-crossed lovers, huh?”

Riley bent over to grab a pair of shoes before she turned to her roommate.  “What do you mean?”

“You and your boyfriend.  High school.  Or was it so long ago that you don’t remember?”

“Trust me, I remember.  And it’s not that.  I don’t know.  I just feel…connected to it.”  She sat down at the foot of her bed as slid on a pair of booties.

“Because you and Lucas are a lot like them.”  She walked toward the door.  “Think about it.  You weren’t planning on ever meeting ‘subway boy’, right?  But one day, there he is.  Despite your best efforts to stay away from him and his best efforts to stay away from you, you’re still drawn to one another.  You’ve gone through hell just to be able to be together.  You’ve fought everything…even each other…and now, after all that, you’re together.”

Riley sucked in her bottom lip as she zipped up her other boot.  She didn’t say a word as she stood up and reached for her books.  “Maybe you’re right,” she finally conceded.  “But it doesn’t make me any less interested to learn more.  If you don’t want to take the class, I’ll find another elective and just take it by myself.”

“No.  I was only playing around.  It does sound interesting…and you sat through art history class with me.  I know I owe you one.  Besides, I still need you and Lucas to sit for my final photography project.”  She tilted her head to the side.  “Speaking of…he knows the shoot is this afternoon, right?”

“Well,” she began as they walked out of their room, “I told him about it last week, but with finals and everything coming up, I’m not sure if he remembers.”

Maya bit her bottom lip.  “I should’ve gotten this done a month ago.”  She knew about the project all semester, but the subject matter made her cringe.  It was as if her professor knew the one subject she would struggle with and made sure to assign it to her.  She knew that Lucas and Riley would help her with it, but it took an unusual amount of effort to even get the guts to ask for their assistance in the first place.

“I told you,” Riley chided.  “It’s ok though.  We’ll do everything we can to get you an A.”

“Thanks,” Maya mumbled as they walked out of their building.  “So, when’s he going to Texas?”

Riley subconsciously tightened the grip she had on her books.  “A few days after we move out of the dorm.”  She didn’t want to think about it just yet.  She still had about two weeks before he left, and she was determined not to spend that time dreading his departure.

Maya nodded.  “Have you figured out when we’re going to visit?”

Riley looked at her best friend out of the corner of her eye.  “I’m not sure yet.”  Even as the words tumbled out of her mouth, she knew that there was no way Maya would buy that.

Unsurprisingly, Maya immediately stopped walking.  “You are so full of it.  I bet you’re already counting down the days.”

Riley turned to face her.  “If we’re late because of your unnecessary dramatics…”

Maya scoffed.  “You’d miss class completely if I hadn’t woke you up.”  The girls resumed walking as they headed toward one of the science buildings.

“July 4th,” Riley finally mumbled.

A wicked grin spread across Maya’s lips.  “What was that?”

“The week of July 4th,” she confessed.  “Lucas said they have this big party down there and he wants us all to come down and celebrate with him.”

“Sounds good to me.  I have nothing planned this summer.”

“Oh please!  You’ve been going out with guys left and right.  You’re due for a summer romance.”

“Maybe I’ll find me my very own cowboy,” Maya drawled out in her best southern accent.  “And we’ll ride off into the sunset like you and Huckleberry.”

Riley nudged her friend.  “Very funny.  Keep that up and you’ll be taking still life photos for your project.”

“I’ll be good,” Maya quickly answered before she mimicked zipping up her lips and throwing away the key.

“Good…and I’m telling you right now that I’m not going to be pouting all summer because he isn’t around.”

“Really?”

Riley nodded.  “I know…I know that I did last summer, but I was just so…bored.  This summer, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.  I’ve got that theatre class and apartment hunting for the fall.”

“So, it’s still you and me in the fall?”  Sure, they had talked about finding their own place off campus next year, but at the same time, Maya knew that Lucas and Riley’s relationship had gotten more and more serious (as it should).  She wasn’t sure if they had talked about the possibility of moving in together, even though she also knew that Riley’s father would throw a fit over the idea.

Riley turned toward her.  “We’re forever,” she promised.  “We always said we’d get our own place.  With the money I’ve saved plus the money mom and dad put away since I got that scholarship…not to mention the money you’ve made from your commissions…we definitely have enough to get a place off campus for the fall.  So, this summer, I want to apartment hunt with you…find something that we both agree on…and decorate it so it feels like home.”

“So, it’ll be a girls summer,” Maya smiled.  “Sounds perfect.”

[gilbertandanne]

Third installment to the Serendipity/Amaranthine universe. How far would you go in order to protect someone you love? WARNING: as with the first two parts in the series, there is an overall trigger warning for abuse (physical, mental, emotional). That, combined with the adult themes in this fic (alcohol, language, situations, etc), are the reason for the rating. Primarily Rucas.

Rating: M

Soundtrack (not at all in order and will be edited as the story progresses)

Word count: 3,377

Prologue | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |

                                                   Elysian

Chapter Three : Proteus

Proteus: a Greek god of the constantly changing nature of the sea.  He can foresee the future, but will change his shape to avoid having to.

“This has to be some form of hell,” Maya muttered as she zipped up her luggage.  “How fair is it that we study for weeks for finals and then afterward, we don’t even time to rest before we have to pack up everything and get out of the dorm?”

Riley shook her head as she sat some of her books in a cardboard box.  “Well, at least the semester is over with.”  She paused for a moment as she glanced at her roommate.  “And sophomore year is officially over with now, too.”

“You have a point.”  When Maya stood up, she blew the hair out of her eyes before she tossed the bag toward the packed side of the room.

“Besides, it’ll only take a few hours to finish this up and get everything out of here and then we can go out and have some fun tonight with the guys.”  She reached for another book.

Maya watched Riley for a few moments.  She was saying all the right things and even throwing in a smile or two, but she knew something else was on her mind.  Maya was willing to bet she knew exactly what it was.  “You’re going to have fun tonight too, right?”

Caught slightly off guard, Riley’s head snapped up as she looked at her best friend.  “Why wouldn’t I?”

Maya crossed her arms over her chest.  “Because I know that you haven’t been acting like yourself in the last few days.  Is it because cowboy is flying out in the morning?”

Riley sighed.  “It’s the fourth summer.  I’m…used to it now.”  If only it could be as simple as missing her boyfriend.  She wasn’t about to let Maya in on the dream she had last week.  It was nothing, and she knew it was nothing, but for some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was about to change.  Maybe it was because it was the end of the school year and they were all going to live off campus in the fall.  Maybe it was perfectly normal to feel like this, and she would move past it once she moved back to her parents’ apartment.

“Well, you didn’t do so hot the during the first one.”

Riley frowned as she folded up the box.  “I’m not the same person I was back then.”

“That’s true.”  Maya watched Riley slide the box toward the other side of the room.  “What about last summer then?  You pouted the entire time.”

Riley lightly chuckled before she turned to Maya.  “Am I really that bad?”

Maya wrinkled her nose.  “Do you want the truth?”

After a moment of silence, Riley shook her head.  “No, I don’t.”  She bit the inside of her cheek as she opened her closet to survey her wardrobe.  “I promise I’ll be better this time.  I’m…getting used to the situation.  I can’t promise I’m always going to be happy, but I’m not going to mope around all summer.  I don’t have the time to.”

“I’m only joking.  Look Riles, I get it…well, sort of.  I understand the concept, anyway.  You wanna be with him and you can’t.  It sucks.  You’re allowed to be sad and to miss him.”

“I know.  And I know I’m going to miss him, but we have so much to do this summer, and I think going to Texas in July this year is going to be a good way to split the summer up.”

Maya groaned as she sat down on her bed.  “It’s going to be sweltering down there, isn’t it?”

“If you think New York is bad in July, you haven’t seen anything yet,” Zay informed her as he, Lucas, and Farkle walked into their room.  Zay’s eyes widened when he noticed how much stuff they had.  “Did a clothing store blow up in here?”

“Very funny,” Maya wryly responded.  “You should’ve seen it an hour ago.”

“What do you need us to do,” Lucas asked the girls as he slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.  He wasn’t exactly excited about the idea of moving two rooms in one day, but he knew that the girls would need help.

“Well,” Riley began as she emerged from her closet, “All of that stuff in the corner is ready to go.  We just have to finish up with these clothes.  It’s…not as bad as it looks.”

“If you say so,” Farkle chuckled.

The five of them, who at one point seemed hopelessly fractured, were now stronger than ever.  After they graduated from high school, they all agreed that the past should remain in the past, and that they all needed to learn how to move forward in order to keep one another in their lives.

It took some time, but eventually, Maya and Farkle were able to navigate their way back toward a friendship.  It was different than how they were before, but they both knew that they could never completely go back to how it used to be.  They both agreed that their friendship was something worth fighting for, so they did.  It was awkward at first, both unsure of what to say, how to act, how to even breathe around the other, but slowly, they engaged in casual conversations when the entire group hung out.  Eventually, they began to have conversations with one another outside of the group.  In the beginning, it was mostly academically related.  Maya would need help with some of her general education courses, and Farkle needed help in his Art History class.  Now, two and a half years after their horrible breakup, they had reached a new, but stronger, level of friendship.

Zay and Lucas continued to mend their previously fractured friendship.  Eventually, the years long chasm of distance and misunderstanding melted as their friendship strengthened.  Like Riley and Maya, Lucas and Zay had been roommates during their sophomore year.  They didn’t live together freshman year because they had heard horror stories about what happened when friends lived together, but after experiencing their own nightmare roommates, they were willing to risk an argument here or there as opposed to another disaster with a perfect stranger.

Opening night of “Much Ado About Nothing” was the first step for Lucas and Farkle to mend their friendship.  Lucas knew that forgiving Farkle was another step on the path to his own self-forgiveness.  He knew that Farkle was upset and angry that night, and Lucas knew that he shouldn’t have reacted the way he did.  It was all one horrible lesson that he wished he didn’t have to learn.  He knew that he was still a work-in-progress, and knew that he would continue to be.  It was a decision he made every morning to let the past stay where it belonged.  It was one reason why he decided to spend his summers in Texas with his father and grandfather.  He wanted to be happy.  He wanted to forgive.  He wanted to be free.  He knew the man he wanted to be, and he knew the path toward becoming that guy wouldn’t be easy, but it would be worth it.  Riley taught him that.  Riley had taught him a lot since the day he first laid his eyes on her.

Riley and Farkle’s friendship took a little more time to rebound.  She appreciated everything he did to bring her and Lucas back together, and it was definitely the first step they needed in order to begin to heal from that horrific night on the rooftop of her apartment building.  She knew that Farkle wasn’t in a good place at the time.  She knew that he was only lashing out, but for a long time, she could only see the pain he caused as a result.  It wasn’t entirely his fault, but he had been the springboard of it all.  As she watched Lucas and Farkle slowly forgive one another, she knew that she needed to do the same.  Farkle had done the most damage to her boyfriend.  If he was able to move past it, then she knew that she needed to as well.

Two years later, and the five of them were closer than ever.  So, the night before Lucas’s annual departure from New York, instead of a having a huge party, they all decided to just spend time together.  They went out to his favorite restaurant in the city, swung by the grocery store a block from the boys’ new apartment to grab a bunch of junk food, and decided to spend the entire night together.

“You guys definitely need to hang out here more,” Zay commented as he floated on a raft on the building’s rooftop pool.  “I’ve been to all of y’all’s places…none of y’all have a pool on your roof…until now, anyway,” he chuckled.

Maya shrugged as she dipped her feet into the water. “Sounds good to me.  I still can’t believe that you guys were able to get an apartment in this building.”  She glanced at Farkle.  “I guess it helps that you’re related to the owners of the building.”

Farkle reached for a bag of chips as he walked around the pool.  “Well, when I told them that Lucas, Zay, and I were thinking about moving into an apartment in the fall, they told me that the Walker’s were planning on moving out and the place was ours if I wanted it.  I wasn’t sure about living in the same building as my parents, but you can’t really turn down a free place to stay…especially in a building like this.”

“What are the odds that something else will open up in your building?” Riley waited a beat as she pulled her hair back into a bun.  “I’m kidding,” she added as she looked down at the water.  “There is no way Maya and I can afford to stay here.”

“If there was something available, I’m sure my parents would be able to work something out with you guys.” He paused as he opened up the bag of chips.  “You’re like family to us.”

“I appreciate that, Farkle, but I think Maya and I can figure it out.”  She glanced at the blonde.  “Right?”

“Right…as long as we can come visit whenever we want.”

“Like you have to ask,” Zay told her as he stretched his arm out for the bag of chips.  “Just imagine if we could see the stars the right now.  That would make this perfect.”

Riley glanced at Lucas who turned to look at her at the same time.  “Yeah,” she smiled as she walked toward the edge of the pool.  “It would be pretty perfect.”

“You’ll get to see them in a few months,” Lucas offered as he sat down at the edge of the pool.

“I can’t wait,” she said as she slowly dipped her toes, then her feet, and then finally her legs into the pool as she sat next to Maya.

“I can’t wait to go back to that restaurant again,” Maya commented as she ran her hands over top of the water.  “What was the name of it again?”

“Chubbie’s,” Zay told her as he tossed the bag back to Farkle.

Lucas smirked.  “Are you ready to eat some more ribs, Farkle?”

Farkle laughed.  “It’s so weird.  I’ve never liked them before, but that place…man they’re so good.”

“That’s because you can’t get real southern cooking here,” Zay reminded him.  “Am I right, Lucas?”

Lucas nodded.  “New York has a lot to offer.”  He glanced at Riley once more before he continued, “but yeah, Texas can do southern cuisine better than anywhere else.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Maya rolled her eyes.  “But I can’t get takeout from anywhere my heart desires at 4am in Texas.”

“There are a few places,” Lucas told her.

“Not nearly as many as in New York.”

Farkle sat the bag of chips down next to him.  “Lucas, are you excited to go back?”

“It’ll be good to go back…see Pappy Joe and…my dad.”  He shook his head at how weird it sounded.  Had they really come that far?  Were they really at the point in which he was looking forward to spending time with his father?  His answer surprised himself, so he wasn’t surprised to look up and see four sets of curious stares back at him.  “I guess…we’ve come a long way.”

“That’s great, man,” Zay grinned.  He knew the history between Lucas and his father better than anyone else.  He knew that it was a big step for him to admit that he was excited to see his father.  “That’s the point of all this, right?”

“One reason,” he nodded.  “In the beginning, I only went to help out Pappy Joe.”

“How is Pappy Joe,” Maya asked as she watched Riley lower herself into the water.

“He’s good,” Lucas began as he watched Riley pull the hair tie out of her hair.  He couldn’t explain it, but he had noticed that her entire mood seemed to shift the moment they began to talk about Texas.  “He’s just getting older and while he’s got some help around there, no one else really knows the land like he does.  Since I’ve spent most of my life there, I knew that I could help out a lot more than some random person who doesn’t even know where the property lines are.”

“What time does your flight leave tomorrow,” Farkle asked him.

Lucas didn’t answer him immediately as he watched Riley sink below the surface of the water.  He could tell that she didn’t want to talk about his impending departure.  He couldn’t blame her.  The last thing he wanted to do was to be reminded of the fact that he was about to spend the better part of three months without being able to see her.  “Early,” he finally answered as he watched her swim to the other side of the pool.  “It leaves at 7am.”

Lucas continued to watch her as she reached the other end of the pool.  Her head slowly rose above the surface as she stared up at the starless sky above them.  He knew her well enough to know where her mind was.  He glanced at the others who had already changed the conversation to the types of snacks they bought at the store.  He took the opportunity to stand up and walk to the other side of the pool.

As he sat down at the edge of the pool, he wasn’t sure if she knew he was now in front of her.  She seemed so enraptured by the darkness above her.  “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” she answered distantly before she lowered her head to look at him.  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m not ok,” he admitted before he pushed down on either side of the ledge as he lowered himself into the water.  He reached for her hands underneath the water and gave her a small smile when she immediately interlaced her fingers with his.  “I’m really going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you too,” she said softly as she looked down at the water.  She knew that if anyone would pick up on her despondency, it would be him.

He watched several different emotions cross her features as she continued to stare at the water beneath them.  He quickly realized that this wasn’t just about him leaving.  Something else was bothering her.  “What is it?”

She took a deep breath.  “I just…I have a bad feeling.”

He furrowed his eyebrows.  “A bad feeling?  About what?”

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.  “The last few days have…unnerved me, I guess.  I don’t…I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen if you leave, and I know it sounds like I’m being a brat about it, but I promise that I’m not.  I want you to spend time with your family.”

“Do you think that I’m…that I’m going to do something in Texas?”

She shook her head as she squeezed his hands.  “No.  I know…it’s not that.  I just have this feeling. I can’t describe it.  I feel like everything is about to change again…only this time, I don’t want it to.”  She swallowed as she finally looked up at him.

“What do you need me to do?  How can I help?”

‘Don’t go,’ her brain screamed at her to say.  She hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that something horrible was about to happen to them.  She wasn’t sure what it was or if it was just the fact that he was going to be gone for the next three months.  She had only had one strange dream, and that’s all it was—some stupid dream.  So, why was it spilling over into the majority of her thoughts?  It was this sense of dread that had lingered beneath the surface for several days now—a feeling that had only grown the closer his departure came.  Hearing everyone talk about Texas and how he would leave in a few short hours almost knocked the wind out of her.  She had to get away for a moment, even if it was just to the other side of the pool.  “I don’t know,” she finally answered as she slowly detached her fingers from his.  She covered her face with her hands as a frustrated groan erupted from her.  Was she going insane?  This wasn’t fair to him.  He shouldn’t feel guilty for spending the summer with his family.

“Do you need me to stay a few more days?”

Riley shook her head.  She wasn’t about to be the reason why he delayed his trip.  Whatever this feeling was had to go away, and who knows, maybe it would disappear once he left.  Maybe once she got adjusted to her life without him in it, she’d feel a little more normal again.  “I love you for even offering, but I can’t ask you to do that.  It’ll…it’ll be ok.  Maybe I’m just anxious.”  She chuckled as she tried to chase her dark thoughts away.  “Maybe I’m just going to miss you a lot and I don’t know how to handle it.”

Lucas’s frown slowly morphed into a small smile.  He was going to miss her more than words could ever possibly dictate.  He snaked his arms around her waist as he slowly pulled her to him.  “I’m going to miss you, too…more than last summer…and the one before that…and the one before that.”

“You hated me the one before that,” she pointed out as she wrapped her arms around his neck.  “So it was easy not to miss me then.”

“I was angry that you ran away to see me,” he acknowledged as he looked into her eyes, “But don’t doubt for a minute that I didn’t miss you when you weren’t there.  It killed me to let you go.  And now…three summers later…I’m not sure how I’m going to go one day without you, let alone three months.”

She gave him a small smile.  “Well, we’ll have July 4th week.”

“I’m already counting the days,” he murmured before he softly kissed her.

Maya wrinkled her nose as she watched Riley and Lucas kiss.  Despite the look of disgust on her face, she couldn’t help but to feel envious of them.  She knew that there couldn’t possibly be a single person on the planet who had met either Riley or Lucas who wasn’t immediately well aware of the fact that they were in love.  Riley’s parents had always been Maya’s one look into how a healthy romantic relationship worked, but now, having had a front row seat to their entire relationship, Maya knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that love did, in fact, exist.  There were some things contained within that love that could never be explained, but whenever she saw Riley look at Lucas or vice versa, Maya knew that nothing could ever tear them apart.

[gilbertandanne]

Third installment to the Serendipity/Amaranthine universe. How far would you go in order to protect someone you love? WARNING: as with the first two parts in the series, there is an overall trigger warning for abuse (physical, mental, emotional). That, combined with the adult themes in this fic (alcohol, language, situations, etc), are the reason for the rating. Primarily Rucas.

Rating: M

Soundtrack (not at all in order and will be edited as the story progresses)

Word count: 2,864

If you want to be tagged in updates, let me know your user track tag. For those who already told me they wanted to be tagged, make sure I’m tagging you right. :)

Prologue | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |

                                                     Elysian

Chapter One: Baldr

Baldr: Norse god of beauty, love, peace, and light

Riley and Maya made it to their astronomy class with only seconds to spare.  They quickly slid into their seats as their professor stood up in order to begin her lecture.

As Riley opened her notebook, she heard the person next to her whisper her name.  A soft smile slowly formed at the corners of her lips the moment she heard it.  Only one person had ever said her name in quite that manner.  It sounded so beautiful, so loving, and so incredibly sensual.  She had never considered her name any of those things, but coming from his lips, they were all three and so much more.

She slowly turned her head around as her smile widened.  “Hi,” she whispered.

“Hey,” Lucas smiled as her eyes met his.  He knew without even having to ask that his girlfriend had overslept that morning.  Her hair was wavy and slightly frizzed instead of either curled or straightened.  While he loved every single hairstyle she attempted, he knew that she only ever wore her hair like that when she didn’t have time to do anything else with it.  Not that it mattered.  She could shave her head and he’d still find her to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

Riley Matthews.  Even the mere thought of her caused his heart to do a backflip.  She was the girl of his dreams, who had, by some miracle, deemed him worthy enough to become her boyfriend.  Now, two years after the conversation that led to their reunion, he couldn’t possibly imagine his life without her in it.  Somehow, they had managed to survive everything that had been thrown at them in high school.  All of that pain, all of that misunderstanding seemed like another lifetime ago.  They were so much stronger now.  They were so much closer now.  The last two years had easily been the happiest Lucas had ever known, and a lot of it was due to the brown-eyed girl seated next to him.

He wasn’t quite sure where they were headed that night in the auditorium at Roosevelt High.  They agreed to take everything slowly this time.  The last thing either of them wanted was to repeat the mistakes that had ripped them apart.  So, they started over.  It was strange at first.  They knew how they felt about one another, and there was an entire history that neither of them wanted to forget, but they slowly learned to let go.  They slowly learned to forgive themselves for the parts they played in their own self-destruction.

They went on a handful of dates before Lucas left for Texas that summer.  Before he left, Riley didn’t ask if she could visit him over the summer.  She wasn’t quite sure if it would be too presumptuous of her or if it would put him in an awkward position since they agreed to take it slowly.  Two weeks after he left, he mentioned the hill to her and how much he missed those evenings spent with her under the stars.  In the same breath, he told her that Farkle and Zay were going to see him at the beginning of August and that he was wondering if she and Maya would consider joining them.

He barely got the words out before she told him that Maya and she would be happy to go with them.

He must have told himself a thousand times before they arrived that he was going to continue to slow things down with her, but as soon as he saw her at the gate, the only thought that ran through his mind was how much he had missed her over the summer.  She was the last thought he had before he fell asleep and the first thought he had every morning.  He knew that the reason they had agreed to take it slowly was because they were both petrified of losing one another again.  He wanted to respect their agreement, but halfway through their visit, on one exceptionally starry night and at the same spot where they confessed their love for one another 15 months earlier, he asked her to be his girlfriend.

He knew that no matter what happened to him for the rest of his life, he would always remember the look on her face as she slowly turned her head toward him and blessed his vision with the biggest smile he had ever seen from her. Now, 21 months later, he knew that he had never been happier.  The girl next to him had completely changed his entire outlook on life.  Four years ago, he only saw the darkness, with no possible way out, but now, everything around him seemed so much brighter.  Life couldn’t possibly be any better than it was now, and it was due in large part to her.  She taught him how to forgive, how to have hope.  Those traits allowed Lucas to start down the long path to forgiveness with his father.  The former dread he felt at the prospect of seeing his father had slowly morphed into excitement.  Their relationship wasn’t perfect, but now he looked forward to spending time with him.  The man had changed, but Lucas would have never been able to give him the chance to prove it were it not for the goddess next to him.

He tore his eyes away from her long enough to reach for the folded up piece of paper on his desk.  When he glanced back at her, he stretched his arm out toward her before he looked down at the note in his hand.

Riley furrowed her eyebrows.  A note?  She could count on one hand—and have a few fingers left over—at how many times Lucas had written her a note in the last two years.  As she reached for the piece of notebook paper in his hand, her fingers lightly brushed against his.  He had entered her life over three years ago.  She knew that she should be more than used to his touch at this point, but she wasn’t.  A small chill rippled through her as she took the note from him. She could feel her cheeks redden as she turned back around in her seat.

Lucas felt it too—that little jolt of electricity that always hit him whenever he touched any part of her.  He used to be afraid of it—not the sensation, but what it meant.  He used to be so afraid to let anyone in, especially her.  She seemed to be completely bathed in the light while he had dwelled in the darkness for most of his life.  He tried to run from her, from them, but fate stepped in again and again.  Whenever his stubbornness forced himself to pull away from her, his heart only longed for her more.  They had been to hell and back, and now here they were, both happy and free from the chains that had weighed them down.

Riley slid the paper in her lap before she slowly opened it.  The classroom was perfectly silent aside from the lecture Dr. Harris was giving.  She didn’t want to bring any attention to herself, so she took her time unfolding the note.

One she got it open, she looked down:

‘I know we have to help Maya with her photography project this afternoon, but I was hoping that we could have dinner tonight—just us?  I have a surprise for you.

Love, Lucas’

Riley bit her bottom lip as she slowly folded up the note.  She turned her head back to Lucas and had to bite her lip even harder to keep herself from grinning like an idiot.  They had been dating for nearly two years, but that didn’t stop every nerve in her body from being thrilled at the prospect of going on a date with him.

Lucas lifted his eyebrows as he waited for an answer from her.  When she slowly nodded her head, he couldn’t help but to grin in response.

Maybe she remembered what today was, maybe she didn’t.  Either way, it didn’t matter.  He remembered, and was determined to make tonight a night she won’t forget.

“When you said you needed help, I didn’t know that it meant that I had to actually be in the photos,” Lucas told Maya as he helped her and Riley get their room set up.  It had taken the three of them about an hour to throw up the black drapes and set up the lighting in their room.  He was beyond ready to be done with it all so he could ensure that everything was set up for his surprise later, but little did he know that Maya had a surprise of her own.

Maya crinkled her nose as she tried to brace herself for his complete rejection of her plan.  “Well, if I told you that, I feel like you wouldn’t be here.” She spun around as she busied herself with closing the drapes.  Maybe if they approached it matter-of-factly, he wouldn’t have much room to refuse to help her?

Lucas glanced at his girlfriend.  He furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed that she had begun to fidget.  She only did that when she was in the middle of a scheme.  “Did you know about this?”

“Umm,” she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she turned away from him, “maybe.”

He had no choice but to chuckle at the sudden burst of meekness from her.  “Maybe?”  He turned back to Maya.  If Riley was too embarrassed to be straightforward with him, then he knew that whatever he was supposed to do would be, at best, awkward.  “So, what’s the assignment?”

Maya sighed.  “We have to convey one word into a single photograph.  Everyone received a different word and 30% of my final grade is going to be if the other students in my class can accurately guess the word.”

He frowned.  “Ok,” he answered slowly.  He wasn’t sure why Maya seemed so anxious about the project.  He knew that painting was her forte, but from every conversation he had with the blonde over the last few months, she had really enjoyed photography.  Obviously, he would help his friend with her assignment, but why the secrecy?  “What’s the word?”

“Love.”  Her lips formed a thin line.  That pesky four-letter word seemed to be her Achilles’ heel, and apparently everyone around her knew that little fact—well, at least her photography teacher caught on to it.  She sighed when she looked at the couple before her.  “While I…don’t think I’ve…experienced it yet, I know that you two have been in love with one another from the moment you met.  So, I knew that my best shot of getting an A on this project is if I captured you two together.”

He glanced at Riley once more.  That didn’t seem so bad.  In fact, he felt a little flattered that Maya came to them to help her with their project, especially considering the subject matter.  “What do you want us to do?”

She shrugged.  She had an idea of what she wanted to do, but she wasn’t about to press her luck.  She was already grateful enough that he didn’t immediately shut down her idea.  “Just be yourselves.  Act like I’m not here.”

Riley looked up at Lucas before both turned to Maya.  Neither one of them had any idea what that even meant.

Maya wrinkled her nose at her own words.  “Ok, well, know that I’m here, but just���focus on each other or something.  Don’t…Don’t do whatever it is that you two do when you’re alone.”

Riley groaned.  “Maya…do you really think that we would completely forget that you were in the room…taking pictures of us, no less?”

Maya bit the inside of her cheek.  “Actually, I sorta have an idea.”  She waited a beat as she looked back and forth between the pair.  “But you really need to trust me.”  Neither of them had any idea what she was about to ask them to do, but she hoped that they would understand that they were merely creating a work of art.

“Are you still uncomfortable,” Riley asked Lucas as Maya struggled to reload the film in her camera.  Riley knew that it was a ridiculous question, but it was one she felt she had to ask just to break the awkwardness that seemed to hang over the entire room.  She couldn’t believe that Maya was able to talk Lucas into taking his shirt off in order to take the pictures.  Even more unbelievable was the fact that Maya was able to convince her to remove her own shirt.  The blonde tried to reason that it was as if she were wearing a bathing suit top and that it wasn’t a big deal.  All of the appropriate parts were still covered up, and besides, Riley clad in a bra wasn’t anything Lucas or Maya hadn’t seen before.  It wasn’t until Maya began to shoot them that Riley realized why the blonde hadn’t enlisted Zay or Farkle’s help with the set up.  There was no way she or Lucas would subject themselves to this with their friends around.

“I feel like anyone would be uncomfortable being half naked while their girlfriend’s best friend took pictures of them,” he laughed nervously as he turned his head toward her.  “Let alone laying in my girlfriend’s bed while said best friend takes pictures of us.”  It was more than a little weird, but at least Maya hadn’t asked them to completely pose in their underwear.  The pictures were only from the waist up, which did ease her anxious subjects.  Maya reminded them more than once that she owed them for this, and Lucas made sure to tell her that she needed to remember this moment because he knew at some point, he would have to collect on said favor.

“Crap,” Maya mumbled as she struggled with the film in her hands.  “Um…you guys stay there, ok?  The film got jammed, and I need to go find Sadie to help me with this stupid thing.”  Before Riley or Lucas could protest, Maya sprinted from the room.  

“I’m half naked too, you know,” Riley offered as she turned her body to face him.  “Besides, we are helping her out, you know.  She’s been worried about this project for weeks.”

He gave her a half smile.  “Love, huh?”

She smiled sheepishly at him.  “Yeah.”

“I like it.”  He raised his hand to her face before he lightly rubbed her cheek.  “I like being known as that couple.”

“Me too,” she admitted as she reveled in his soft touch.

“So,” he looked up at her hair, which had been swept up into a loose bun.  “You overslept this morning?”

Riley furrowed her eyebrows.  She didn’t remember telling him that.  Had Maya said something to him when she was out of the room?  “How did you know?”

He thought about telling her that he noticed every little thing she did, but the last thing he wanted to do was freak her out.  They had been together for two years, and had several heart felt conversations about their feelings for one another, but he also knew that there were some things that were better left unsaid.  So, he simply smiled as he felt her fingers interlace with his.  “A lucky guess.”

Maya couldn’t believe that she had to go ask Sadie for help with reloading the film.  An entire semester in photography class and it was the first time she couldn’t get it the stupid camera to work.  She sighed as she reached the door to her room.  She wouldn’t be surprised if Riley and Lucas bailed since it took half an hour to track her friend down to get it fixed.  

As soon as Maya opened the door, she froze.  Laying on Riley’s bed were Riley and Lucas—both asleep, their hands clasped together over their heads.  Riley’s free hand rested on Lucas’s chest as they faced one another.

Maya smiled as she quietly shut the door behind her.  She held the camera up to her eye.  This is exactly what Ms. Miller was talking about: a candid moment that seemed to speak volumes.  Even the pessimist in Maya had to admit that the sight before her was nothing short of beautiful.  Both were asleep, seemingly unaware of the fact that even in their subconscious, they had to maintain some sort of physical contact with one another.  In high school, she wasn’t sure that she knew what love was—or even if it existed—but the couple in front of her taught her that not only was love the most powerful gift humans were capable of, but also that when you find it, you hold on to it for dear life.

As she snapped a few shots, she silently prayed that they would turn out half as beautiful as the vision before her.  ‘Maybe one day I’ll find that,’ she thought to herself as she looked at the couple through the viewfinder.

The photo - per Riley’s IG

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 4,338

Cross-posted at ff.net            

Soundtrack (although not at all organized and subject to edits)

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A | J |

                             Chapter Thirteen: Cowboy

Both of them were afraid to speak, to blink, to take a breath, for fear that it was just another bittersweet dream.  How could this moment possibly be real when everything around them felt so perfect?

Lucas looked down at the girl who was curled up in his arms.  His fingers traced circular patterns on her back as he tried to gather the courage to break the surreal aura of peace that enveloped them after what could only be described as the greatest moment of his life.

Riley Matthews loved him.  The girl who had held his heart from the moment he first saw her on the subway eight years ago.   The girl he had desperately tried to hold onto and, simultaneously, tried to forget because she told him to.   The girl who made him believe he could be anyone he wanted to be, although ironically enough, he only ever wanted to be hers.

Was this his reality now?  He was afraid to break the spell that seemed to have been cast over them.  After years of pining for the woman in his arms, he had a hard time believing that his residency in purgatory had ended and that he was now free to dwell in paradise for as long as this beautiful goddess decreed.

When she snuggled even closer to him, he exhaled a shaky breath.  As much as he wanted to lay there with her forever, he knew that eventually, someone had to speak.  “That wasn’t quite how I imagined it,” he murmured before he kissed the top of her head.  It wasn’t the smoothest way to pull them back down to earth, but he had to hear her speak.  He had to know that she didn’t regret a single second of it.

Riley slowly opened her eyes as a lazy smile tugged at the corners of her lips.  Hearing his voice for the first time after connecting to him on the deepest level possible set her mind at ease.  For a few moments, she was content enough to bathe the afterglow of what they had shared with one another, but as the minutes began to tick by, she started to wonder if it had all been another dream and her cruel subconscious was trying to shove her back to reality.  Hearing the sound of his voice vibrate against his chest reassured her that everything that had just transpired between them was real—and that fact made everything so much better.  “Hmm?  How did you imagine it?”

He chuckled as he slowly felt himself relax.  She was real.  This was real.  It was finally over.  The brick wall of misunderstanding had been thoroughly demolished, and if he had any say in the matter, it would never be reconstructed.  “Well, I thought that we would have gone on a date first.”

Riley frowned as she lifted her head to look at him.  “We’re doing this all out of order, aren’t we?”

He smiled as he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.  “We do what we do, remember?”

There it was again: the hair tuck.  She had no idea if he was aware of how significant the seemingly insignificant gesture was.  He had done it during some of her most vulnerable moments over the weekend, and every single time, it calmed the tidal wave of insecurity that threatened to wash over her.  “Absolutely.”  In middle school, ‘we do what we do’ had been their way of informing the entire school that they weren’t going to fit into some cookie cutter mold of who they should be.  They were going to set their own rules for their lives, and they didn’t have to answer to those who didn’t understand the connection they shared.  As she rested her head on his chest once more, she looked down at their tangled limbs.  “You know, we didn’t exactly finish that conversation.”

He slowly ran his index finger down the length of her spine.  “Oh?”

Riley shivered against his touch.  For a foolish moment, she thought that she wouldn’t feel nearly as electrified whenever he brushed his fingers against her skin, but as she felt a trail of goose bumps pop up along her spine, she knew that, if anything, the sensitivity she felt under his touch had exponentially increased.  “Yeah,” she answered as another ripple coursed through her.

Lucas frowned when he felt Riley’s body stiffen up beside him.  A sense of dread filled him as his insecurities encroached on his otherwise serene thoughts.  Had she finally come down from that high only to realize that it wasn’t what she wanted?  Had she only gotten caught up in the moment?  Was she suddenly regretting stepping foot into his room?  “Do you…regret what we—“

“No,” she quickly interrupted as she leaned her head back to look at him.  She never wanted him to think, not even for a moment, that she had any regrets about what they had done.  If anything, she only regretted that it took them that long to get to this moment.  “Lucas, I’ve waited a long time for you…to tell you the truth about how I felt…how I’ve always felt.  I couldn’t…I couldn’t wait a second longer.”  She sat up further as she leaned forward to place a soft kiss against his lips.  “I feel like I could stay like this forever.”

The furrow in his eyebrows melted away as a smile slowly returned to his lips.  “Me too,” he answered as he continued to trace patterns across her back.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone is going to…” her words slowed as her eyes widened.  She wasn’t sure how long she had been in his room, but she knew that it had to have been long enough to delay their plans for the night.  “Dinner,” she gasped before she scrambled to get out of bed.  As she looked around the room for her clothes, she began to panic.  “I’m sure they’re all waiting for us.”

Lucas sat up as he reached for his phone on the nightstand.  “Wait,” he called out to her as he read through a missed text from Zay.  “They already left.”

Riley frowned as she slid her shorts back on.  “They left?”

He nodded.  “Zay said ‘don’t worry about it’ and ‘we’ll meet up with you guys in a few hours’.”

As Riley threw her shirt back over her head, she sat down at the end of the bed.  “Do you think they know?”  How was she going to explain everything to them when she wasn’t even sure what it meant?

Lucas chuckled as he sat his phone down.  “They probably do.”  As he turned back to her, another burst of insecurity flooded him.  What if she didn’t want them to know?  What if this meant something different to her than it did for him?  “Is that a problem?”

“No,” she shook her head as she ran a hand through her tangled hair.  “I mean Maya’s known for a few months now that I…I have feelings for you.”

“A few months?”

“Yeah,” she looked down at her hands.  “She…sort of figured it out at Zay’s birthday thing.”

“You kept that from her for seven years?”  He couldn’t hide the shock in his voice.  He wasn’t sure what he was more surprised by—the fact that she kept it from him or the fact that she had kept it from Maya for that long.

Riley nodded as she looked back up at him.  “It was almost as hard as keeping it from you.”

He sat up as he leaned forward to kiss her.  They both had kept it from everyone they loved for years.  Now that they were finally free, Lucas was determined to make her realize that telling him the truth was the best decision she had ever made.  He slowly inhaled as he reached for one of her hands.  He looked up at her as he interlaced her fingers with his.  “You never have to worry about keeping anything from me…ok?  I love you, Riley Matthews.  Nothing is going to change that.”  He smiled as he lifted her hand to his lips.  He brushed his lips along her knuckles as a thought came to him.  “You know, I think this might work out for the best.”

Riley bit the inside of her cheek.  She knew that she could easily get used to this.  He had treated her with nothing but reverence the moment they lowered their defenses.  Every time their eyes met, he looked at her as if she were the only woman in the world.  “What?”

“Well, we’re in Las Vegas.  It’s your birthday and I’ve waited almost eight years to ask you out on another date.  So,” he glanced at their hands before he looked back up at her, “Riley Matthews…will you let me take you out for your birthday dinner?”

Riley couldn’t keep the grin from her face.  She had hoped that they might have been able to spend a little more time with one another before they met up with the others.  Dinner together sounded wonderful.  Calling it an actual date made it sound ten times better.  “Absolutely.”

When she told him that she was going to get a shower, he really wanted to ask if she wanted some company.  He wanted nothing more than to beg for the opportunity to lather up every square inch of her perfect form, but he somehow managed to restrain himself.  He wanted to do this the right way.  He wanted to show her that he really wasn’t the guy she thought he had been for so long.  Yes, he told her the truth, but now, it was time to prove to her an even deeper truth—that he wanted every part of her, not just her body.

Riley was mildly surprised that he didn’t ask to join her.  She thought about suggesting that they do their civic duty and conserve water by showering together, but she wasn’t sure if it would be too suggestive since they had only had one real conversation about how they felt about one another.

Even though that conversation led to the loss of her virginity, she knew that if they had showered together, they might not leave the room for the rest of the night.  Besides, she knew that they needed to resume their earlier conversation.  She still had some questions about a few things, and she knew that he had to have had some as well.  She wanted to do this the right way.  If that meant pausing any physical relationship while they closed the gap on seven years of miscommunication, then so be it.  She could keep her hands off of him.

At least, she hoped she would be able to.

So, he showered in his bathroom and she showered in her bathroom.  They both got dressed in their respective rooms, and met in the living room to go to dinner at the one place in the city Lucas had dreamt of taking her.

“Lucas, this is so beautiful,” Riley breathed as she looked around the restaurant.  As soon as the group decided to go to Las Vegas, she knew that there was only one restaurant she really wanted to go to, and somehow, he knew.  Somehow, he remembered her affinity for all things Parisian.

“It’s ok,” he agreed as he glanced around the restaurant.  After his conversation with her at Zay’s birthday, he knew that he wanted to take her to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant for her birthday—even if it meant taking everyone else as well.  Riley hadn’t quite made it to Europe yet, but he hoped that the restaurant would at least give her a taste of where she really wanted to travel.  As his eyes landed on hers, he smiled.  “It still pales in comparison though.”

She tiled her head to the side.  “To what?”  To the other restaurants they had dined at while here?  Doubtful.  The lighting, the music, and the view blew everywhere else out of the water.

“You.”

A small blush crept up on her cheeks as she turned away from him.   Her eyes fell on the Bellagio Fountains as she tried to steady the rapid beating of her heart.  “What a line,” she smirked.

He shrugged.  “Not a line at all.  Just the truth.”

She took a deep breath before she turned back to him.  “Thank you.”  They both exchanged shy smiles before they looked down at their menus.  After their waiter came and took their order, Riley glanced out the window once more.  “I think I like this view of the fountains more than the one last night.  You know…we were so close to them last night, which was nice, but from this view, you can really see the whole thing.”  She turned back to him.  “Kinda makes you appreciate it more.”

He smiled.  He thought she might enjoy the view of the fountains.  Despite everything that happened last night, he knew that she seemed hypnotized by them.  So, when he called the concierge to make the last minute reservation for him, Lucas pleaded for him to make sure they had the table with the best view of the Bellagio Fountains.  “They are pretty hypnotic, aren’t they?”

Riley bit the inside of her cheek.  She couldn’t be sure, but she had a feeling that he wasn’t talking about the fountains.  “Can we talk?  About what happened last night?”

“You can talk to me about anything, Riley.”

She opened her mouth to ask him about something that had been nagging at her ever since she left his room to get ready, but the moment she began to form the words, their waiter had returned with a bottle of wine.  After he poured them each a glass, Riley and Lucas thanked him.  After he left, Lucas held up his glass to her.  “Happy Birthday, Riley.”

She smiled as she raised her glass to her lips.  After she took a sip, she slowly sat the glass down.  “This is too much, Lucas.  I mean…last night was already just…too much and now this?”  She slowly looked up at him.  “I’m scared to know how much all of it cost.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he insisted.  “I just want you to have a good birthday.”  He sat back in his seat.  “What did you want to ask me?”

She took a shaky breath.  “A-After you left Hyde last night…where did you go?”

“I went back to the hotel…to one of the bars.”  He sighed as he leaned forward in his seat.  “I’m sorry for leaving like that.  I just couldn’t see any possible positive outcome from saying what I did and how I did it.  You didn’t want to talk about it while we were drunk and I kept pushing you.  I’m sorry for that, Riley.  I thought that if I left…it would save you the embarrassment of turning me down again.”

“I’m sorry about how I acted last night.  I was…scared.”

He frowned.  “Scared?”

“Scared that maybe it wasn’t real for you…that if we got together while we were drunk t-that y-y-you might regret it in the morning.”  She sighed.  “At the same time, I didn’t want you to run off with those girls…so I thought that…that maybe I could be enough…for one night anyway.”  She scoffed as she tried to make sense of her drunken logic.  “Seems like a really stupid idea now.”

“Riley, I need you to know that my feelings for you have always been there.  There hasn’t been a day since we met that I didn’t love you.”  He paused.  “Even when I was with someone else, even as we drifted apart.  I feel…terrible for getting into relationships with other girls when I knew that I wasn’t ready for it, but I was trying to move on.  I was trying to do what you told me to.  I thought the only way to really do that…and try to maintain our friendship…was to try to find someone else…but…I…I never could.  If I’m being honest, I’m not sure I ever will.”

Riley let his words sink in as she took another sip of her wine.  This entire time, she thought that he had moved on, when in reality, he was only trying to survive.  “I tried too.  You know…I met people…dated around…but I couldn’t…I never found anyone I wanted to really get to know…not like I did with you.”

Lucas ran his fingers down the stem of the wine glass as he forced himself to not look at her.  “So…Asher?”  He knew what they had said last night and what she said earlier about their kiss, but he had to hear it again.  He had to know that it meant nothing.

“We’re friends.  He and I both agreed on that one.”

He slowly exhaled.  “And Steve?”

“He’s a guy in my English class.  We’ve gone out a few times.  He’s nice, but…”

He cut his eyes to her.  “But?”

She bit her bottom lip as her eyes fell to the table.  “But…he’s not you.”  How could she make him understand that she was doing the exact same thing he was?  “We went to a movie a few weeks ago…and I wasn’t really watching the movie because I kept thinking about the film series we went to freshman year and even though I felt completely awkward around you at the time…I still had so much fun.  I mean…you even agreed to dress up with me.  So, as I was on this date with someone else, I kept thinking that there was no way Steve would ever humor me like that and dress up for the occasion.”  She chuckled softly.  “Honestly, I don’t even think I’d ask him to.  That was…sorta our thing, you know?”  She looked back up at him.  “What was your favorite movie from that series that we went to?”

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” he answered without missing a beat.

She furrowed her eyebrows.  Out of all the movies they saw, Breakfast at Tiffany’s would be one of the last ones she’d ever guess.  “Why?  Is it because you spent half of the movie next to some stranger because you thought they were me?”

Lucas laughed.  “No,” he answered as he reached for his glass of wine.  “I guess it was because it gave me hope that if Holly and Paul could figure out a way to be together, then maybe…maybe we could too.  They were friends first...had seen one another through so many highs and lows…I don’t know.  It just made me think that one day…maybe…maybe it would work out with us.”

As Lucas sat his glass back down, he placed his hand on the table, palm up.  “I know my track record isn’t good,” he began as she placed her hand in his.  He took a deep breath before he continued, “But I know…beyond the shadow of a doubt…that it would be different with you.  I know…I know that I’m asking you to take a huge leap of faith here…and that I probably should wait until we finish our second first date, but…would you consider being my girlfriend?”

Riley looked into his eyes for a long moment.  “Yes,” she smiled.  “I want to be with you, Lucas.  Only you.”

Maya texted Riley as they were finishing up their meal.  They were headed over to the casino at Caesar’s Palace and wanted to know if Riley and Lucas wanted to join them.  As much as Riley wanted to spend the rest of the night with her newly minted boyfriend, she didn’t want to completely close herself off from spending her birthday with her friends.  So, they agreed to meet up with Maya, Zay, and Farkle at Caesar’s Palace as a couple.

They walked in, hand in hand, determined to take the jokes and questions one at a time with grace and dignity.  They knew that they deserved every jibe for what they had put their friends through on their path to figuring it all out.

As soon as Riley saw Maya, the brunette beamed.  She was fairly certain that Maya’s eyes were about to pop out of her head.

Maya grabbed Zay’s arm as she stared at the interlaced fingers of two of her best friends.  As a smile curled at the corners of her lips, she realized that she couldn’t possibly be any happier for them.  She nearly screamed in delight when the couple finally reached them.

“Hey guys,” Lucas casually greeted as he made no attempt to hide the grin that had been plastered on his face ever since Riley agreed to be his girlfriend.

“Hey,” Maya smirked as she finally looked up at the pair.  “Care to tell the entire class something?”

It took Farkle a moment, but eventually, he lowered his eyes to their clasped hands.  “What’s going on?”

“Well,” Riley began as she turned to her boyfriend, “Lucas and I…we’re sort of…dating now.”

Zay glanced at Lucas as he raised his eyebrows.  “Dating?”

He nodded as he looked at the trio in front of him.  “Yeah.  Is that…ok with everyone?”

“I swore to myself that I’d stop speaking to both of you if you weren’t dating by the end of this trip,” Maya confessed as she pulled her best friend into a hug.

“Yeah, I’m with Maya,” Zay agreed.  “Especially after last night.”

Farkle shrugged.  “I don’t know what happened last night, but it’s about time you two got together.”

Riley and Lucas turned to one another before they looked back at the genius.  “What are you talking about, Farkle?”

“Oh come on.  I see the way you two look at each other…the way you’ve always looked at one another.  I knew it was only a matter of time.  I thought it would’ve been before now, but…I knew when Lucas was asking about your dating life that it couldn’t possibly be too much longer.”

Riley raised her eyebrows as she looked at her boyfriend.  “You were trying to get some information from Farkle?”

Lucas sighed as he closed his eyes.  Embarrassment filled him as he glared at one of his best friends.  “Thanks.”

Farkle laughed as he slapped Lucas on the back.  “Anytime.”

Riley turned to Zay.  “So, what are we playing?”

“Are you ready to test your blackjack skills?”

She cringed.  “I don’t really remember everything you taught me last night.”

“Well, you have a pro for a boyfriend, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Riley looked at Lucas.  “You play blackjack?”

“And poker, and roulette, and craps,” Zay informed her.  “Lucas taught me everything I know.”

“You like to gamble?”  Her question wasn’t at all accusatory, but merely inquisitive.  She had held him at arms length for so long that she didn’t realize until now that there was a lot about him she still needed to learn.  

“Zay’s exaggerating.”  He narrowed his eyes at his best friend.  “Thanks for making it seem like a have a problem.”

“Nah, it’s only a problem if you lose,” Zay laughed.  “Riley, Lucas and I go to poker tournaments on campus all the time.  He’s racked up quite a little nest egg.”

Lucas sighed.  Could they please talk about something—anything—else?  She didn’t need to learn about all of his vices in one night.  “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Well, at least I’m in good hands, right,” Riley smiled.  She could tell that Lucas was embarrassed by it, but she didn’t care.  She knew that he would never gamble with anything he wasn’t prepared to lose.  

“The key is in knowing that the house always wins,” Zay told her as the group walked toward one of the empty tables.

“The house always wins,” she repeated as she slid into one of the seats.

“Yeah,” Zay nodded as he sat next to her.  “Well,” he smirked, “Unless you’re Lucas.”

“Ok…let’s stop yapping and start gambling,” Maya grinned as she watched the dealer shuffle the cards.

“I really thought I’d be good at it,” Maya grumbled as they walked back into the suite.  “I read all of the books.  I thought I was ready…that I knew what I was in for.”  She pouted as she trudged into the living room.

“The house always wins,” Zay reminded her.

“Yeah, that’s really reassuring, Zay” she grumbled.  “What about him,” she gestured to Lucas, “And him,” she pointed to Farkle.  “Between both of them, I think they won every hand they played.”

Farkle laughed as he looked at Lucas.  “Yeah, we did all right.”

Lucas shrugged despite the grin on his face.  “It was a group effort.  Besides,” he glanced at the brunette next to him, “I had luck on my side.”

Maya rolled her eyes.  “I’m starting to think I liked you two more when you weren’t so nauseating.”

“I lost too,” Riley offered.

“Yeah, but you stopped after a few hands.”  The blonde flopped down on one of the couches.

Riley shrugged.  “I’m not a gambler, I guess.”

“I lost too,” Zay told the blonde as he sat down beside her.  When she leaned her head on his shoulder, he smiled softly.

“Yeah, but you weren’t up $500, either,” she groaned.  “I should have stopped.  Why didn’t you guys tell me to stop?”

“We did,” Farkle said as he sat down on the other side of her.  “We tried to tell you for the last hour to quit while you were still ahead.”

She sighed.  “Well, I have definitely learned my lesson for next time.”

“Next time,” Lucas asked as he sat down on the arm of the couch across from them.  “You know that we’re leaving in the morning, right?”

She nodded as she lifted her head up.  “Yeah, but I’m definitely coming back.  I’m not going to let Vegas get the last laugh.”  She watched as Riley placed her arm around Lucas’s shoulders as she stood next to him.  “Besides, I think it’s safe to say that we’re all winners.  We all walked away with something.”