The sun shines on her face through the windows in her room. The heavenly warmth of the brightest star in the sky almost makes her forget everything that happened during this trip. But when she opens her eyes, she's transported back to the reality of it all. She knows that she'll have to see Maya and the rest of her friends today. They'll ask questions and demand answers that she doesn't have, and the more Riley thinks about this inevitability, the more her heart constraints in her chest.

She finally gains the courage to turn herself around to face Maya and Smackle only to be met with a completely empty room. She turns on her phone to look at time, 1 PM. Of course she would sleep in a little today, after having an emotionally draining talk with Josh, and then managing to replay the triangle in her head over and over again until she passed out, Riley's surprised she woke up at all.

She bites her lip as she studies her reflection in the mirror. Her face is still puffy from the night before and her hair is an absolute bird's nest. She gathers her favorite shampoo, body wash, and lotion, deciding to take a relaxing shower before starting the day, hoping that she would gain some clarity after getting clean.

She walks out smelling like an island paradise and feeling slightly reborn, as if washing away the dirt on her body washed away the disorder in her life. She hums to herself while drying and brushing her hair, attempting to keep her mind off of Lucas. She thinks of Evan, thoughts of his dazzling smile, cerulean eyes, and rich voice all send shivers down her spine. She wonders what it would be like to hold his hand again, or even kiss him. Would she feel the gentle summer rain she did with Lucas, or would she finally understand the passion of fire? Her fantasy is interrupted when she hears her father's voice through the very thin door.

"Josh, you have to let us see her."

"No," she hears Josh say. "You two should have noticed what Riley was going through. I'm not letting anyone see her until she says it's okay."

"Josh please," her mom sounds like she had been crying and regret instantly floods her body. She never wanted to cause her parents pain.

"Topanga, I'm not doing this to hurt you, I'm doing it to protect Riley. She feels like Maya gets more attention from you two. Riley's been going through a lot and no one has noticed. I want her to feel ready to talk to you guys," Riley hears the gentleness return to Josh's voice and hopes her parents agree with him. Right now, Riley is sure she can't deal with apologizing to them.

After what feels like an eternity of silence, she hears a knock on the door, "Riley, it's me Josh, can I come in?"

"Come in!"

Her uncle swiftly opens the door and closes it just as fast, "How are you feeling?"

Riley doesn't know how to answer. A piece of her wants to lie to Josh like she would to everyone else, but she knows that he cares, and seems to be on her side of this whole mess, so decides to go with her gut and tell him the truth, "I don't know Josh. I feel relieved, but scared at the same time."

Josh nods his head, "That's understandable. Anything I can do to help?"

"How do I apologize to my parents?"

Josh fights the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Riley thought she was the one that needed to apologize, "Riley, you don't need to apologize, it's okay to be selfish sometimes. You needed your parents, and they weren't there for you."

Riley hesitates but speaks anyways, "I want to talk to them."

He looks her in the eyes, searching for any hint of fear or doubt, "Are you sure?"

The brunette nods. She needed things to get better. Talking meant fixing things right? She was always good at fixing things, "Yes. But I am a little scared."

Josh wraps his arm around her, "If you want, I can stay in the room, be a mediator to make sure you're okay."

"I'd like that."

"Good. I'll text them to let them know they can come in. Okay?"

Riley takes in a sharp breath, but smiles at her uncle.

They sit in silence as Josh rubs small circles on her back while Riley tries to calm herself down. What if her parents hated her? What would she do then? Could Josh let her move into his dorm room if they kicked her out?

She hears a knock on the door, "Come in!" Her voice cracks and she takes another deep breath, hoping that this conversation wouldn't reduce her to tears.

Her parents walk in hand-in-hand and stand in front of them. Her mom clears her throat, "Riley, your father and I are so sorry that we made you feel like you couldn't come to us about your feelings. We always want to be a part of whatever happens to you," Riley can tell her mom is crying even without looking at her face. Tears are streaming down her own cheeks too.

"I thought you loved Maya more than me. You're always complimenting her and talking to her. Sometimes I feel like a guest at our dinner table," she can barely get the words out without sobbing.

"Oh honey. We love Maya, but you will always be our daughter first. We're sorry for not showing you how much we love you lately," her mom whispers to her.

Suddenly she can feel her dad wiping her tears with his thumb, "Sweetie, we love you more than anything. It's just that you're so strong and good at hiding how you feel that sometimes we forget you need reassurance and comfort from us too."

Her mom crouches next to her dad and takes her hands, "Honey, you are a wonderful daughter, sister, and friend. We couldn't be more proud of the beautiful woman you've become."

"Really?" Her voice is steadier, relishing the fact that her parents did love her.

Her dad nods, "Absolutely, even though it hurts to call you a woman."

Riley lets out a laugh. It's light and airy and real.

Her mom chuckles and tilts Riley's head up, "Riley, if you ever need to talk to us, please tell us. I promise we'll listen."

Tears are springing to her eyes, "Okay."

Josh claps his hands together, "Well looks like my mediation wasn't even necessary. Now that that's done, since I know my niece, why don't we have a family group hug?"

The three of them tackle her and proceed to squeeze the life out of her.

"We love you Riley," her mom says.

"Please don't forget that," her dad adds.

Josh's stomach rumbles, effectively ruining the moment, but they still hold on to each other, "Sorry guys. I'm starving, why don't we have more heartwarming family time over lunch?"

She's crying again, but this time she knows without a doubt the tears spilling from her eyes represent happiness. She finally feels like she has her parents back.

The five of them are sitting in the lunch hall without a clue of what to do. The conversation is mostly lead by Zay, Farkle, and Smackle, while both Lucas and Maya sit quietly, avoiding anyone's eyes.

"Beloved look, Riley's there with dreamboat and her parents," Smackle observes.

Farkle cringes when Isadora makes the discovery, still feeling awful after Josh told him how he embarrassed her. Smackle grabs his hand and starts moving away from the table, "What are you doing?"

The genius furrows her eyebrows at her boyfriend, "I want to say hi to Bubbles, I missed her."

Farkle lets go of her hand, he couldn't face Riley, not today, "Go without me."

His girlfriend gives him one last look of confusion before heading over to the Matthews' table.

The remaining four friends watch as Riley nearly jumps into Smackle after the smaller girl opens up her arms for a hug. After Riley eventually lets go of the genius, they chat for a while and Smackle openly flirts with Josh before coming back to her friends.

"I invited her over, but Bubbles said they're having a family lunch today."

"That's nice," Maya mumbles before going back to pushing her food around on her plate. She would have been a part of that family lunch two days ago. Now she wasn't sure if she would ever have another meal with the Matthews again.

"Looks like Sunshine's having the time of her life," Zay says sadly. He didn't realize that his comments were having an impact on the poor girl.

The group looks over to the family. Josh and Riley are performing some sort of dance while Topanga claps and Cory looks absolutely horrified. Riley's giggle is loud enough to shake the entire room and for the first time in a long time, she seems to have no care in the world.

"We should go back, I wanted to check out some of the other trails," Farkle suggests.

The four other friends nod before cleaning up. As they walk out, Lucas locks eyes with Riley, her lips turn up at the corners, but she looks away as soon as possible, putting her attention back on Josh.

Lucas can tell that fight with Josh definitely had a large impact on Maya. So when Zay, Farkle, and Smackle decide to go on a hike, he decides to try and make Maya feel better, that's the least he can do after putting both girls through this triangle.

"You okay?"

Her sky blue eyes are empty, "Am I bad friend?"

"What did Josh say to you?"

"Nothing that isn't true," Maya sighs. "I stole her parents from her. Riley's Uncle Shawn barely talks to her because I take up all of his time. Whenever Josh is over, I always bother him instead of letting him hang out with her. I made her think she had to give up you, a guy she's crazy about. I didn't even notice how miserable this dumb triangle was making her."

Lucas pauses, now that Maya says it all out loud it makes sense that both girls are struggling. Riley is the sweetest person he knows, she would do anything to make Maya happy, but he also knows that insecurity is her biggest weakness. Seeing everyone gravitating towards Maya while leaving her in the dust must have hurt. Maya would never do anything on purpose to hurt Riley. Learning that her actions did just that must be killing her, especially when she heard it from Josh, someone Lucas suspects Maya still has feelings for.

"Maya you're not a bad friend. Everything is messed up right now, but you guys will get through this."

"How Huckleberry?! You won't tell us your choice, Josh won't let me talk to Riley, and her parents probably hate me now that they realize that I put her through everything," she screams. "I lost my best friend and for what? A Ranger Rick from Texas?"

Ignoring the jabs at him, he pulls her into a hug. She shrieks even louder, the hug reminds her of the campfire, but instead of the soft warmth she felt then, all she feels is the flames consuming her. Rage and hate coarse through her, "Don't touch me."

Lucas winces. He hoped that a hug would let her know that things were going to work out, but all it seems to do is anger her even more. He lets go and she runs.

When Maya gets to her room she shuts the door and slams herself against the door. How could she be so stupid? How could she let herself give up her best friend, her everything, all because of some feelings she had for Huckleberry, feelings she doesn't even understand. Feelings that feel nothing like the ones she has for Josh, who makes her toes curl and her heart melt.

She feels the door knob turn on her back. Maya wipes some tears off her face and hopes that the person doesn't notice she had been crying. She opens the door to come face-to-face with Riley.

"Peaches?" The brunette says to her, and just like that, after hearing Riley's concern and worry, Maya collapses.

Riley sits down on the floor next to her and engulfs Maya into her arms. Maya cries even harder when she realizes it feels like home.

"I'm sorry honey, Josh was right. I should stay away from you."

Riley raises her eyebrow in surprise. When did Josh and Maya talk?

"What did he say Maya?"

"I've been taking everyone's attention from you Riley. I've been so selfish and don't deserve to call you my best friend," she explains.

Riley sighs. Although what Josh said did hold some truth, she didn't want Maya to feel bad about something that didn't have any knowledge of doing, "Peaches, Josh wasn't completely wrong, but it's partly my fault. I should have told my parents that I needed their attention too. And I should have been honest about my feelings for Lucas. I'm not mad at you, I just needed some time to sort things out."

"How can you even look at me right now? I ruined everything," Maya whispers.

"Maya, I won't lie and say I haven't been miserable lately, but I will always love you. I will always be your best friend."

Maya finally hugs her back. Making a silent promise to herself that no matter what happens, she will always come back to Riley.

"Is Josh still mad at me?" Her heart pounds as she says the words. She can't imagine living in a world where Josh hated her.

Riley smiles sadly at the blonde, "He gets really protective, so he might be a little upset. You two should talk."

Maya feels the tears welling up in her eyes again, "What if he doesn't forgive me Riles? I can't live with him hating me. Not when I-"

She stops. It all become clear to her and she glances and Riley who looks more confused than ever. She really did drag this triangle for nothing. It's always been Josh. Lucas was cute and she liked the little game they had, but what else did she ever do with him?

"Maya?" Riley interrupts, "My parents and Josh are waiting for me downstairs. We wanted to go explore the forest a bit. I can cancel if you want me to?"

"No, it's fine Riles. Go, you deserve to have some fun."

"Are you sure?" Riley asks. She didn't want to leave Maya when she was so emotional.

Maya rolls her eyes, "Yes. Honey."

Riley takes one look at her. Maya can tell she still wants to stay with her, but she's sure that Riley needs to go. Soon enough, the brunette grabs her phone off the counter, says a quick goodbye, and strides out the door.

Maya grabs her own phone and sends a text.

We need to talk. This triangle needs to end.

I agree. Where do you want to meet?

Meet me in front of the fireplace in five minutes.

Okay.

When she gets to the fireplace, she notices that Huckleberry is pacing. She can't believe she didn't see it before. She especially can't believe she didn't see it when he was kicking that poor tree after meeting Evan.

"So it's me right?"

Lucas looks dumbfounded. This is not how he wanted this conversation to go.

"You and me forever right?"

Oh God. This is the exact opposite of how things were supposed to be, "Umm…"

"You could never hurt me?"

Now that was something he agreed with, "I could never hurt you."

Maya nods, "I figured that's why you waited so long."

Lucas frowns, "I'm really sorry. I do like you as a friend Maya. It's just that it's always been Riley for me. I was confused for a while and everything kept moving too fast, but my feelings for Riley have never changed."

Maya smiles at him, "I know. And surprise, I don't think I ever liked you at all."

"What?"

Maya takes a breath before continuing, "All my life, I've always wanted what Riley had. She had two great parents, hope, and a boy that was head over heels for her. I wanted it all. And when I started letting her influence take over my personality, I kind of realized how much of a great guy you are and wanted someone like you."

She pauses again, looking at the Texan in front of her whose stoic expression does nothing to calm her nerves, "Our banter started feeling more like flirting to me, and Josh never gave me any attention. It felt good having someone care about me. And I'm sorry I caused all of this. I'm sorry that I ruined things for you and Riley. You can hate me if you want, but please don't take it out of Riley or yourself, because it's all my fault."

"I don't hate you Maya. You were confused. I was confused. We both made mistakes. I should have fought harder for Riley when she started calling me her brother," he admits. "You still like Josh, don't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Lucas chuckles, "You only go crazy whenever he's around so I guess it's not that obvious."

"It doesn't matter. He sort of hates me for putting Riley through everything."

He could relate, having the person you like mad at you was like having your heart shredded, "I'm sure he doesn't Maya. I'll make you a deal. If you talk to Josh, then I'll talk to Riley."

"Nice try Ranger Rick, but there's no way I'm looking like a fool in front of Uncle Boing," she starts. "But you need to talk to Riley."

"No way! If you're not going to to look like a fool in front of Josh, I'm not going to look like a fool in front of Riley," he explains.

Maya shrugs, "Listen Ranger Rick, Boing is a fantasy for me. You don't go out with a fantasy, you only think about them all the time. Riley is your future. You can't just give up without a fight, not after everything that's happened."

He ponders her words. He told Riley that he was worth it. That they were worth it. Even is she hated him right now and needed a break, he was going to make sure she knew he was always there for her to talk to. That if nothing else, their friendship was more than worth it.

"Thanks Maya," she watches him smile softly at her and returns the favor. Right before he leaves, he turns around to look at her again, "You know sometimes fantasies do become reality, don't give up hope just yet."

The blonde rolls her eyes at his comment, "I'll keep that in mind Cowboy."

She whistles to herself all the way back to her room, relieved that at least she was out of the triangle. Her good mood disappears when opens the door to see Josh rummaging through Riley's stuff.

"Riley said she needs eye drops. I've been looking for like a hour and can't find them. She keeps texting me to keep looking."

Typical Riley, always trying to fix everything, "Riley doesn't use eyedrops. She just wants us to talk."

"I see," Josh says curtly. "Well I'm here now, say what you need to say."

He's monotone towards her, but her body still tingles at the sight of him, "I'm sorry for hurting Riley and not noticing what I was doing. But I'm not going to stay away from Riley. She's my best friend and I intend to make sure that I'm a better one from now on."

"I might have been a little harsh on you, but it was still a horrible thing to do. You can't control who you fall for, but you can control how you act because of it. You flirted with Lucas when you knew Riley had a crush on him," he's icy tone makes her cringe.

"Just please don't hate me. I don't want you to hate me," she's weeping slightly and a twinge of sadness flows through his veins.

"Maya, I could never hate you. I just want to understand why you put my niece through all of this."

"I was confused," she whispers quietly. "I wanted everything Riley had, and Riley had a guy like Lucas who cared so much about her, while the guy I like didn't even acknowledge my feelings."

She's actually crying now. He never thought he'd live to see Maya Hart cry. She was a warrior, and he made her cry, "Maya, you're a great girl, but you're still three years younger than me. I'm sorry if that hurts you, but it's the truth. Right now, we can't be together."

"I know. I know that we can never be together. I want us to be friends though."

"Maya, of course we're friends, and I said that we couldn't be together right now," her eyes widen at the prospect of having a future with him. "Tell you what, why don't you do your thing, I do mine, and it fate or the universe decides we need to be together, then it will happen. To someday, I promise."

She's smiling wider than she's ever smiled before and attacks him with a hug, "To someday."

Riley stares out the window, looking at the stars amazed at how something could be so beautiful.

"You know they'd look better when you're outside," she turns her head to see Evan.

She smiles shyly at the cute boy, "Oh, really?"

He returns her smile with a smirk, "Why don't we find out? There's a great trail for star gazing."

Riley is ready to accept his offer until she sees Lucas in the corner of her eye. He gives her a small wave, but remains glued to where he stands.

Evan follows Riley's eyes to see her staring longingly at Lucas. He should have known better, "Go. Invite him on a walk. You two need to work things out."

"No. There's too much to work out. Besides, I'm done with him."

Evan rolls his eyes, "You are the opposite of done Riley. Look, I don't know exactly what's going on between you, him, and your friend Maya, but I do know that he's been staring at you like a depressed puppy all weekend. I think you should give him the chance to explain everything. The best relationships come with effective communication."

Riley glances at Lucas, who gives her a sad smile, she turns to back to Evan, it wasn't fair to him that she still had strong emotions towards Lucas, "I'm sorry. I really wanted to like you."

He shrugs, "Don't be. We can't help who we fall for." Riley gives him a lingering kiss on the cheek and walks towards Lucas.

"Hi."

"Hey," he tries as hard to keep his jealousy for slipping through his tone, not sure if he succeeds after seeing that kiss on the cheek.

Riley moves strands of her hair behind her ear, "Do you want to take a walk? Maybe we could talk?"

"I'd like that."

They walk in silence for a while before Lucas decides to say something to get rid of the awkwardness, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay Lucas."

"No it's not Riley. I've been letting this triangle go on for so long even though I made a decision. I was too afraid to hurt anyone, but by not telling anyone my choice, I hurt the most important person in the world," he's rambling, worried that her quietness means she hates him.

"Lucas, it's not all your fault. I shouldn't have lied to you or Maya about my feelings," she admits.

"Why did you do that Riley? I know our unofficial thing was moving pretty slow, but we were happy. I thought you were happy with me."

"I don't want to lose you Lucas. I always want to be in your life. If we dated, broke up, and then hated each other, I don't know if I could survive," she pauses to prevent herself from getting too emotional. "Besides, you feel something for Maya. You wouldn't have dated her if you didn't. You two will make each other happy."

Lucas furiously shakes his head, "No Riley. That's where you're wrong. I gave it a shot with Maya because you told me I was your brother. I wanted to give Maya a chance because she liked me and she's a good friend of mine, so I figured I owed her that much. But it's you Riley, it's always been you. It will always be you."

"Why? I need to know why," her goal of not crying in front of Lucas ends in failure as soon as she asks the question.

He steps closer to her and wipes her tears with the pad of his thumb, "Because you're the only reason I survived New York. Because you make me laugh. Because I love talking to you for hours at a time without worrying about the rest of the world. Because you make my heart stop and my palms sweat and make me believe I can do anything. Because I can't live without you in my life."

"What about Maya?" she couldn't hurt her best friend, not after everything Josh said to her.

"Maya and I talked. She knows what's happening and I promise you she's fine," he answers. "You need to stop thinking about what makes everyone else happy Riley. What makes you happy? What do you want?"

"I don't want to lose you," she looks into his green eyes with tears streaming down her cheeks. His hand still holding her face.

"We don't know what's going to happen in the future Riley, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to enjoy what we have right now. What do you want Riley?" he asks more firmly this time.

Her heart stops, but she intertwines her hands with his and continues to drown in his eyes, "I want you Lucas. I want us. I want to go on dates and kiss and just be together. I've always wanted yo-"

His hands are grabbing her face before she can finish speaking. He's kissing her with such raw fierceness that she's sure she's going to fall any second. Riley wraps her arms around his neck for balance.

Lucas manages to move his arms around her waist and somehow kiss her even deeper. It's better than any moment she could have ever dreamed of, like a harsh storm traveling through her from head to toe. When they finally break apart, their foreheads meet as they breathe heavily together, neither of them sure if what happened was real.

"I missed you," she confesses.

Lucas takes in the the girl in front of him. Tears are still drying on her face and she's looking at him like he's her everything, "I missed you too."

He kisses her again. It's softer and sweeter than the one before, like a promise to them, "You'll never have to miss me again."