"Ring power?" I said hesitantly as Riley and I sat in her bay window.
"Ring power." She smiled. I dropped my hand and sighed before spilling my guts.
"Riley, Lucas asked me to be his girlfriend yesterday." I slowly turned to look at her face, but I couldn't read her emotions too well.
"He did?" She smiled.
"He did." I breathed letting a smile appear on my face. "And I said yes." I kept my eyes on her but she looked away from me. I couldn't tell if I hurt her or made her sad, but I need to make sure she's okay with me dating Lucas before it continues.
"Does that bother you, Riley?" I asked.
"No, not at all." She tried to smile but I could tell it was fake.
"Drop the act, Matthews and tell me what's wrong right now." I demanded.
"I don't want anyone to get hurt. He's really sweet and there's a lot more to you than you lead on, Maya. Someone's going to end up hurt." Riley seemed to genuinely be concerned. I searched her face. I could tell she wasn't acting like this because she still like Lucas, she really didn't want either Lucas or I to get hurt.
"Riley I can handle whatever comes my way. Haven't I already?" I laughed.
"Kind of." She shrugged.
"What does that mean?"
"Your father. You couldn't forgive your father, Maya." She was talking with her hands and she was walking towards me.
"How could I, Riley! You said Lucas told you what he said about me, how could you think I could possibly forgive him after that! He's also been gone for about nine years of my life, Lucas has been here for two years, though a short period of time, I know he'll be there when I need him."
"What about me? You'll still be my best friend won't you? Even when you and Lucas get married and have little Huckleberry children and move away from New York?"
I laughed at her outlook on my future and pulled her into a hug. "Yes, Riles. You'll always be my best friend no matter what happens between me and Ranger Rick, bad or good."
"I love you, Maya."
"I love you too, Riley."
"So, what about Mr. and Mrs. Minkus?" I grinned, slowly pulling apart from our hug.
"Nothing new. We've been out in a few dates, we're really comfortable with eachother. He just hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet?"
"But when he does you'll say yes right?" I wanted to make sure no one was leading anyone on, or using someone to get over someone.
"Of course!" She smiled. "He's such a gentlemen. As much as Lucas tried to be a gentlemen for me, it just comes naturally for Farkle. He doesn't have to go out of his way to do it."
"I understand. He's like a prince and you're a princess." I stated. Riley nodded in agreement and grabbed her purse off her dresser.
"Want to go get something to eat?" She asked.
"I'm not really hungry, but I'll come with." I smiled.
We walked to Topanga's and sat at a booth. Riley ordered a muffin and some hot chocolate and I decided to order hot chocolate too.
"Hey girls, what's new?" Topanga asked.
"Oh, nothing m-"
"Lucas and Maya are dating!" Riley blurted out, cutting me off.
"Maya?" Riley's mom questioned, shocked almost.
"It's true, I got me a cowboy." I smiled. I sipped my drink and watched as people flowed in from the streets.
"I'm very happy for you, Maya." Topanga rubbed my hand before turning away to get back to work.
Among the flood of people, Lucas and Farkle, laughing with eachother, came into the little café.
"Hi, Farkle." Riley said, getting up to hug him.
"What's up, Huckleberry?" I smiled. They decided to sit down at the booth with us and order food or drinks.
"Maya, you're not hungry?" Lucas asked when his food and drink were brought to him.
"Nah, I ate not too long ago." Riley and Farkle were holding up a conversation and Lucas was eyeballing me as I sipped my hot chocolate.
He pushed his plate towards me and I shook my head, pushing it back to him.
"Lucas I promise, I'm not hungry. You're gonna have to trust me when I say things like that." I said quietly.
"Fine." He sighed, knowing I was right, and continued to eat his cake.
"Hey, do you guys wanna catch a movie with us?" Farkle asked as him and Riley stood up and put their coats on.
"Nah, we're gonna hang here, too cold out." Lucas answered for both of us.
Riley gave me a hug and walked out of the building, holding Farkle's hand.
"They're cute." Lucas said.
"Isn't it funny how... they're not officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but they were holding hands?" I asked as I pushed my half gone cup of hot chocolate aside.
"I guess, but if they're comfortable with it, then it's not really weird." He was looking at me, but playing with his fingers.
"Do we have to do that? You know, since we're actually dating?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
"Only if both of us want to. We don't have to do what other people do just because. If you're comfortable with that then I'm all on board, but we could wait 'til you know one hundred percent that you want to." Lucas moved to sit next to me, taking the seat Riley was previously sitting in.
"I-I don't know if I'm entirely ready for that..." I admitted.
As much as I liked Lucas, there's a little voice in my head that keeps telling me he's doing this all as an act. Obviously that little voice hates to see me happy.
"And I'm okay with that, but if you don't mind my asking, why? I don't want this to be weird between us. I want us to be able to be comfortable."
"I don't know, Lucas. I like you, I really do... but, there's always something in the back of my head telling me that... that you're just pretending. I want to believe that you're not, but-"
Lucas grabbed my wrist, obviously respecting that I said I didn't want to hold his hand just yet, and pulled me along the sidewalks of New York until we finally reached his apartment.
We walked into his house and into his room where he locked the door.
"Why'd you do that?" I asked, pointing at the door knob.
"Because I don't want any interuptions. What do you want to know? Ask me anything and I'll answer truthfully. We can do this until that little voice in your head shuts the hell up."
"Lucas this is-"
"Trust me." He sat down next to me and I looked around, thinking of a question to ask him.
"Did you really like Riley?"
"Of course I did! I really liked Riley." He furrowed his eyebrows, almost shocked I would ask that.
"What happened?"
"My parents once told me that if there's two people you like, go with the second one because if you truly liked the first one, you wouldn't have fallen for the second... You were the second girl I started to like. After awhile of think about it, I realized I loved Riley as more of a friend."
"Your parents are smart." I smiled. They'd given him some great advice, and I'm sure that's a quote I'll remember for the rest of my life.
"Is that all?" Lucas asked.
"No." I breathed. "What all did my dad say about me?" I asked slowly. Lucas hadn't told me everything before and I wanted to know.
"Maya, I'm not answering that." He said. He seemed concerned, confused as to why I wanted to know, and a bit angry.
"You said you'd answer any question I had truthfully." I reminded him.
"Some things are better off not being repeated."
"But, Luc-"
"Please drop it, Maya." Lucas stood up of his bed and was pacing from wall to wall, clenching his fists.
"That bad... huh?" I asked nervously.
"Just know he got what he deserved. I didn't like what he said about you or how he said it!" Lucas was practically shouting by the end of his sentence.
I slowly stood up off his bed and walked towards him. When he turned to keep pacing, he ran into me, wrapping his arms around my back to keep me on my feet. I grabbed onto his biceps to stabilize myslef and Lucas seemed to calm down a bit when my skin touched his.
"I don't want you to ever find out what he said, and I'm sure your mother would agree."
"You told my mom?" I was shocked. Why would he tell my mom more than he told me?
"Yes, Maya. She needed to know the extend of your father's words. I... I don't want to to get hurt by him anymore, that's why I'm not telling you."
"Lucas."
"You're just gonna have to trust me on this one... please?" I looked up into Lucas' eyes and he was practically pleading me to drop the subject.
Maybe he's doing the right thing by not telling me... but I still want to know. Why would what he said hurt me if he left town already?