Hey everyone! Thank you all for reading and commenting. As always, I hope you guys enjoy!
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The weekend was going by incredibly slow. Maya was enjoying lounging around and doing nothing, except for the fact that she was studying hard for her exams that started that week. Farkle had her on a studying schedule. Back in high school, Maya had never appreciated it. But in college, it was her saving grace.
Riley had been different than usual. Of course, she had been trying her best to keep calm when it came to the pressure of exams, but she had also been in a slump. Maya knew it was because of the absence of a certain Texas cowboy. She had seen Lucas around campus as well, he didnt look any better off.
Zay had told Maya how Lucas had been. He hadn't been sleeping very well and he only came out of his room when it was time to go to class or to get food. Zay said that he wouldn't take showers if it wasn't for the fact that he forced him to.
Farkle and Zay had both tried to talk to Lucas, but he wasn't budging. Maya wasn't getting anywhere with Riley either. She tried to tell Riley that she should at least try to come to some understanding about what happened and at least be friends again. But, Riley had shut her down almost instantly whenever Maya even mentioned Lucas' name.
Maya had put up with a lot in the last three months, but when Riley had started talking about getting a cat and dressing it in old scraps of clothing, that's where she drew the line. She knew she had to take matters into her own hands. She had to do something before Riley drove her crazy, or she killed Riley. Which ever one came first.
So this is the thoughts that had brought her here: Josh's dorm room. Even though it was kind of weird for her to be here, she knew that her best chance was to get Josh to talk to Riley, so she could go and talk to Lucas. Maybe they both would have better luck if they switched it up a little bit. So getting up all her courage, she knocked on the door.
"Well hello." Andrew winked at her as he leaned against the doorframe. Maya rolled her eyes as she looked at Andrew with an amused expression. "We have to stop meeting like this, people may talk." He winked. Maya laughed.
"Get out." Josh stated as he came up from behind Andrew and pushed him out into the hallway. Andrew stumbled beside Maya before looking over at Josh.
"Calm down, Josh. We didnt want you to find out this way but, I guess you had to find out sometime." Andrew teased as he put an arm around Maya's shoulders and stared back at Josh. Maya bit back a grin. Josh glared.
"Out." Josh said as he pushed Andrew off of Maya and down the hallway.
"Alright, alright." He said. "Catch you later Maya." Andrew winked before turning around to walk away. Josh rolled his eyes as he turned around to face Maya.
"I got to get a leash for him." He smiled sheepishly at her. Maya grinned at him. "So what can I do for you?" Josh asked her as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Well, I kind of need a favor." Maya told him. "And it involves your niece." She stated. Josh took a deep breath and nodded.
"I figured. I wondered how long it would take for you to come to me." He said. Maya raised an eyebrow. Josh chuckled. "I just mean that with everything that's going on with her and Lucas, I knew that you guys weren't getting anywhere with them. Riley was showing me pictures of cats in sweaters the other day. But I didnt want to pry until I was invited." He explained.
"How very Matthews of you." Maya said sarcastically.
"Actually, my family would pry anyway. I'm trying to be less nosey than them." Josh admitted. Maya rolled her eyes.
"So will you help me?" She asked him. Josh scoffed.
"Of course. I would do anything for Riley." He said. Maya's heart warmed.
"Thanks, Josh. I think she's just getting back from having lunch with Farkle. She should be back at the dorm room. I'm going to go track down Lucas." Maya said. Josh didnt get to say anything before Maya turned around and walked away.
~
Finding Lucas wasn't all that hard. Considering he never left his dorm room except for rare occasions. Maya texted Zay and told him that she was on her way to see him. Zay was going to take a walk around the campus to give Maya some time to talk to him.
Maya knocked on the door of his room but didnt get an answer. She tried the doorknob, but just like she thought, it was locked. She rolled her eyes and banged on the door.
"Hey Huckleberry! I know you're in there! Open up, it's Maya!" Maya could here shuffling on the other side of the door before it opened and she got a whiff of BO.
"Good Lord!" She exclaimed as she coughed and waved her hand in front of her face. "Zay wasn't kidding." She stated. Lucas just stared at her. "Can I come in?" She asked him. "Or can you come out, actually." Now that she thought about it, she would rather not go into the room. Lucas stepped outside of the room and shut the door. He slid down the door and sat in the floor. Maya sighed as she slid down beside him and nudged his shoulder with hers. "How you doing?" She asked him.
"What does it look like?" He asked. "I pore my heart and soul out to her in front of my family and she runs away." He muttered. Maya bit her lip.
"Well, Lucas you kind of caught her off guard. I mean you two hadn't really talked about marriage and kids yet. She wasn't expecting it." Maya told him. Lucas scoffed.
"Of course you would take her side." He stated. Maya bit her lip and sighed.
"I think that what she did wasn't cool, but I also know that she is truly sorry." Maya stated.
"Why hasn't she tried to come and talk to me about it?" He asked.
"She did. She tried to talk to you and you completely blew her off." Maya told him. Lucas sighed and leaned his head against the back of the wall.
"I'm sorry. I just wasn't ready to face her. I was totally humiliated in front of my family. For the rest of the trip I had to endure all of their questions about me and Riley. I've been ignoring their phone calls ever since I got back." Lucas explained. Maya felt really sorry for him.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." She told him. "But doing nothing and staying in your room all the time isn't going to help. Lucas, Zay is really worried about you. I am really worried about you. You're our moral compass, what are we going to do without you around?" She asked him. Lucas smiled slightly.
"You seem to be doing fine on your own. Zay's been telling me the latest on you and Josh. You're being stupid." He told her. Maya felt like she could be rich with as many times as people have told her that.
"And you're not?" She turned the question back around on him. "Lucas, you and Riley are what make sense in this world. Ever since you walked into her life, you've been able to make each other truly happy. Watching the two of you together, it gives me hope. Now I'm not saying that you should run into her arms and get back together with her, but I know that you miss her, and she misses you. I think that the two of you should really sit down and talk about this. See where you still stand, if not as a couple than as friends. Becasuse you two need each other, and I need you both."
Lucas turned and smiled at her.
"You know," He started. " I've had a lot of people try and talk to me about this thing with Riley, but you're the first person to actually make me feel better about things. Thanks Maya."
They both smiled at each other, and just like that they had come to an understanding.
~
"So you want to tell me what exactly is keeping you from talking to Lucas and sorting things out?" Josh asked Riley as he had walked into her dorm room and dropped on the desk chair.
"Did Maya send you?" Riley asked, rolling her eyes. Josh gave her a look.
"Come on, Riles. It doesnt take a genius to notice that something is wrong. You're not your usual, peppy self. Talk to me." He told her as he folded his hands together. Riley sighed as she closed the door and went to sit on her bed across from Josh.
"I dont know, Josh. I tried to talk to him about what happened, but he obviosuly wasnt ready to hear me out. I humilated him in front of his entire family. I didnt mean to, I just panicked. Lucas has only brought up marriage one time before and I changed the subject quickly. I thought he would get the message that I wasnt ready, but I guess I was wrong." Riley looked down at her hands. "I'm just-I'm not my parents, you know?"
"I get it. I know exactly what you mean." Josh nodded. "You know, Riles. I thought for the longest time that I needed to be like Cory. That I needed to find my wife in high school and get married to her as soon as I could. I thought that would be the only way I could be happy, but I was wrong. And it took me meeting that special someone to come to terms with that." He explained.
"Maya still giving you a hard time, huh?" Riley asked him. Josh shook his head.
"I love Maya, and I always will. See, I did end up finding my wife early on in life, but it wasnt quite the same way that Cory did, and that's okay. Maya might not see it now, but I know that we'll end up together. Even if it does mean me coming back in three years for her. But I found her. And if Lucas isnt the one for you, then whoever it will be is still out there. But just like I didnt find my forever the same way, you wont either. And you have to come to terms with that before you can be happy with anyone that you might meet in the future."
Riley stared at Josh and sighed.
"I dont know if Lucas is the one for me. I thought he was, but when he proposed. All I felt was fear and dread. Like if I had said yes, I would have been making the biggest mistake of my life. But he was there, on his knee in front of his entire family. I couldnt say no, but I couldnt say yes, either. So instead, I ran." Riley told him as her eyes started becoming glossy. "How am I supposed to know if he's the one?"
"Unfortuneatly, I cant asnwer that for you. Only you can. But I know that you dont have to answer it now. Riley, you and Lucas are young. You're still teenagers and you're still in school. Now, if you two dont end up together in the end because it turns out you're not right for each other, then it's better to realize that now instead of rushing into something that you're going to wake up from ten years down the road and realize you made a huge mistake. Being married and in college still is hard, ask anyone, ask your parents. If you did not feel right about marrying Lucas, then you did the right thing by saying no. But you're not doing the right thing by avoiding him and refusing to talk about this."
"But what if our friendship is runied, what if we can never come back from this?" Riley asked him in a trembling voice.
"I cant answer that for you. But you'll never know by avoiding him and not talking about it. If anything, it's just going to cause more issues in your friendship. The more you wait to confront this, the worse it gets. Right now, Lucas is sitting on transfer papers to Texas and I know that's not what either of you want. So before you throw a lifelong friendship away, why don't you guys see if there is something there worth saving."
Riley smiled and leaned in to put her hand over top of Josh's.
"Thanks, Uncle Josh. It's annoying that you always know what to say, but I'm glad that you do." Josh got up from his chair and pulled Riley up and into a hug.
"Anytime kiddo, anytime."
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