a/n: the first chapter is pretty short, but the rest are long.

It takes seven years for them to get together.

One.

; Maya.

…

He's the boy on the subway; the boy with the sandy blonde, almost brown hair that's reading some random, unmemorable, novel that you'll never read. He's cute, really cute, and looks about your age, maybe a year older. He's cute but there is a lot of cute boys out there and you promised to give Riley an adventure; a story, and what's one without a cute boy?

"Hi, I'm Maya, you're really cute! We should go out sometime. You make me happy. You don't pay enough attention to me. This isn't working out. We can still be friends. Not really."

He's has this confused, but endeared look on his face as the words leave your mouth and you ignore his enchanted smile and sparkling jade eyes, pushing your best friend towards him, her landing in his lap. You smile at them because Riley's glowing and you can practically hear her heart racing from thirty feet away.

He's in your class. He says he's from Austin, Texas and there's a slight accent in his voice to prove it. He sounds so proud to be a Texan native and you make a promise to break him.

He becomes part of your group, you guess. It wasn't really a group before, just you, Riley and Farkle, but now it feels like you have a group with Lucas in it; you'll all be friends forever. You call him huckleberry, along with square dancing around him and talking in a fake Texan accent. It's all part of the process of breaking him.

He wears a cowboy hat to the school dance and puts a rose in your mouth when you're dancing with Farkle.

You say, "You actually put thought into our little game, don't you?"

"I actually do."

He actually does.

He's the moral compass, the perfect gentlemen, a prince charming. He's so compatible with Riley that it makes you sick. You listen to her talk for endless hours about his strong arms and crafted-by-the-gods face and sickly sweet gestures. You don't tell her that you had something to do with Lucas riding in on a horse, calling her princess. You don't reveal that you're still trying to give her an adventure, a fairytale, as Riley would call it.

When Riley talks about Lucas, you listen, but sometimes your mind wanders; sometimes you think of the other reasons he's great, attributes and anecdotes Riley has neglected to mention. Reasons that you think he's great, maybe. It doesn't have to do with Riley—the reasons you find Lucas Friar great—and that scares you.

"Hey, Ranger Rick."

"Hey, other one."

"You want go out with me?"

You're asking for Riley. It's always for Riley.

"What?"

"You want to take me to a movie, put our hands in the popcorn at the same time and see what happens, or what?"

He freezes, just stares at you and only you for a full twelve seconds, and you're so fixated on him, you don't even notice when Farkle goes to link his arm with Riley.

It's for Riley.

"He's doesn't want to go out with me. He's not going out with me. He's never going out with me."

You say it to reassure Riley and that's it. It's for Riley, you repeat the mantra. It's for Riley.

One.

; Lucas.

You meet her on the subway. She's blonde and five feet, calling you really cute. In a span of five seconds, you're in a relationship with the girl—Maya, but it ends in the blink of an eye, just as quickly as it started. She's gone before you can tell her your name, or say any word at all.

You stare at her, agape and amused, wanting answers because what, but also desiring to talk to her more because you've never seen a girl with such a spunk and such confidence. Also, there's just something about her.

A minute later, on the same exact subway ride, a brunette girl—she was talking to Maya—lands on your lap. You're confused and she's shy, or nervous, or both (you can tell.) You tell her your name, and she says she loves it with the most genuinely sweet smile you've ever seen, and you know this girl already is a literally ray of sunshine with just one meeting.

Both girls are in your class. The literal ray of sunshine's name is Riley and you already knew Maya's name from her weird introduction. You learn they are best friends, close as sisters and thick as thieves. Riley is nice, sweet, warm as ever in regards to you and everything else, really.

Maya is, on the other hand, wild and rebellious, talking back to Mr. Matthews and starting up riots in class. She climbs on desks and burns (literally burns) everyone's homework, setting off the fire alarm sprinklers. You use your jacket to cover yourself and the sunshine girl, watching as Maya's own antics drench her wet like a summer storm.

"Why didn't you stop your friend?" you ask Riley, glancing at the wet, out of control girl, frowning on top of the desk.

"I don't do that anymore."

"You're better than that!" you know it already. She's Riley.

"I'm just letting her be her."

But you've had a history with trouble, you're here because of it. You know better than that. So, you decide, you think maybe subconsciously, right there, that you'll look out for Maya—you'll keep her out of trouble.

Maya makes fun of your Texas heritage, but you don't really care, because it's fun to watch her struggle with not being able to get to you. You enjoy seeing her squirm when you don't react to her crazy antics or cheesy, stereotypical nick names. She thinks she's so clever, and she is, but you'd never ever admit because then she'd win the little game you have.

You bring harmonicas to class and put roses in her mouth, wearing cow boy hats to school dances. You keep it from her that your great-grandfather is a country singing famous cowboy as long as you can, but later you get your own advantage on her, learning she comes from a long line of Clutterbuckets.

"This is the greatest day of my life!" you announce at the revelation. Maya's gritting her teeth together, her arms crossed over her chest, peeved and annoyed, but you just grin at her in response. You see her lighten up, her expression softening, the corner of her lips rising up in something resembling a slim smile.

You play the game with her and call her ma'am and she shouts "ha hurr" in your face. It's a game, an innocent little game.

You feel like you're a fraud. Everyone seems to look at you as Mr. Perfect, and the only one who knows you aren't is Mr. Matthews. Is that the reason he's so afraid of you interacting with his daughter?

Maya wants you to be Riley's prince charming, but you're afraid that you're not that. You're changing, you think. You think maybe you can be a prince charming, but you have a past of anger issues and getting too close to punches, and Riley is the one who's perfect.

Still, though, you come in on a white horse and be the prince charming, hoping that here, in New York, that's all you'll ever have to be. You want to be that—for Riley. Maya is right. She deserves a prince.

Farkle has a bully.

Maya is about to go march out and do something she'll regret, so you pick her up, her kicking and grimacing in your hold, and continue to keep her in check. You continue to protect her from herself and the trouble that comes along with her fierceness.

She suggests that you'll take care of Farkle's bully, and you go on to argue against violence, even though you're all too familiar with it. You think you'll be fine—that you won't fall down that road again because New York has changed you, these people have changed you. You tell Maya that you're not that type of guy, leaving out that you once were.

But when you find out it's Billy, Billy your friend and teammate is Farkle's bully, you push him against the wall and you can feel frustration and aggravation and anger boiling in your stomach and coming up your throat. You want to punch him until he's all blue and red.

Maya jumps on your back to stop you even though she wanted you to take care of Billy. She stops you before your anger gets the better of you, before you fall back into your old habits, and reveal you are indeed not Mr. Perfect. You're more grateful for her than you've ever been.

You keep Maya in check, and she does the same for you. You wonder if you had her back in Texas, if you'd wind up with the same fate; expelled from school and put on a plane with your mother to some random city. You decide she'd stop you before you even make the first punch.

You have a conversation with Farkle about the two best friends. He loves them both, and you used to wonder how, because one is sunrays and warmth, a beautiful princess whose heart blooms sunflowers and honey sickle. She's the one who will always make you feel safe; the umbrella in the rain, a blanket in the cold; the redness in your cheeks and fluttering in your stomach.

And then there is the other one.

The other one is electricity; the ocean: dark and deep and so undiscovered and dangerous, but tantalizing to discover. She's full of thorns, but worth the wounds to feel her. She's the prick of the spindle, alluring him close with enticement and beauty, entrancing his mind with her deep sapphire eyes until he's mindless—just gravitating towards her like a creature belonging to the moon.

You recall the phone calls with your best friend from Texas about the other one, deciding that he'd be the only person you could ever discuss her with. You name her 'the blonde beauty' and says she's fierce and full of fire, trying you're best to remain platonic and casual, but still getting teased nonetheless.

Farkle says he'll take the one Lucas doesn't ask out, and Lucas knows, practically, that he'll ask Riley out. But still, he likes the idea that there is some chance, to Farkle at least, that he'll ask the other one out. He likes that the idea is out there, floating around in the universe, however unrealistic and out-of-this world it is.

She comes up to you after that, that usually glow of confidence around her. She asks you out (for the second time, you think) and you are even more confused than the time previous. You don't give her an answer, instead you just say, "what?" and she goes on to explain it. You know she is messing with you.

You never go on a date with the other one. You do, though, go on a date with Riley.

Riley's your date and the other one is Farkle's, but she's a little preoccupied when she sees her crush, Riley's cousin, Josh. It makes you realize she's not the only one who is focusing on someone else during their date. You tell Riley to go over to Maya, because she looks upset, and it's way too distracting and way too important to be ignored.

Riley kisses you and it's sweet; you like her. She's Riley. How can you not? Riley is warmth. Riley is good for you. Riley's cute and weird in the best way possible; it's impossible anyone could ever pass up on loving the girl.

But still, there's the other one. The other one who you know nothing will ever happen with.