AN: Finally! The conclusion to my first multi-chapter fic! This story did not go the direction I originally intended, but I have to say I am pretty happy with the end result! And before anyone brings out their pitchforks about Chaya, I want to point out that I ship Joshaya, but I don't want Maya sad and alone while she waits for someday. Charlie seems like a nice first boyfriend for her, especially within the context of this story.

Anyways, thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed! I have really enjoyed writing for this fandom these last few weeks, and I am looking forward to working on some new things!

I own nothing! Enjoy!

Riley usually liked school, but today she was dreading it. After Lucas left, she sent Maya a quick text to let her know everything was okay, but other than that she hadn't seen or talked to anyone in the group. Maya had to come in early to finish up her art project, so Riley had been stuck taking the subway alone this morning.

Starting to do her combination on her lock, she looked around for her best friend, only to see Darby and Yogi standing right behind her. Yogi gave Darby a little nudge, causing her to take a step forward and speak.

"It has been pointed out to me that I may have been acting like a witch to you lately."

Yogi nudged her again. "Okay, okay, I was totally acting like a witch. Sarah and I shouldn't have campaigned for Lucas and Maya to win favorite couple, and I shouldn't have said such mean things to you about Lucas. Obviously, you guys know what you want, and we all should respect that. I'm really sorry, Riley."

"Uh, me, too," Yogi cut in awkwardly. He hated talking about all this mushy relationship stuff with anyone but Darby. "I never should have agreed to help Charlie in the first place. We all know you want to go with Lucas."

Smiling, Riley graciously accepted their apologies. "Thanks, guys. I appreciate that, but I really think it worked out for the best. Lucas and I had a long talk last night and that wouldn't have happened without you, Yogi. We decided to just keep doing what we do. It doesn't matter what anyone has to say about the two of us because we know what we want."

"That's right," Lucas said, coming to rest his arm over her shoulders. "If you guys could just spread the word that 'Rucas' is no longer up for debate, that would be fantastic. We aren't going to be nice about it anymore. No more class discussions, no more carrying us, no more pushing us. We are done dealing with all of this nonsense. We want to be happy, and I would think the two of you would understand that more than anyone else."

Darby quickly nodded. "We do. And we're sorry."

Yogi grabbed her hand. "Let's go, Darbs."

She gave the couple a little wave, calling over her shoulder. "Maybe we can double date some time!"

They both watched the couple walk away before Lucas turned to look at her. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Hi."

She giggled, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Lucas opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Maya walking up between them.

"Honey! Huckleberry! I'm so glad to see that you two crazy kids worked everything out!"

Rolling her eyes, Riley turned back to her locker. When she opened it, it was full of big, brightly colored balloons.

"Uh, oh," said Maya.

Wide-eyed, Riley tried to gauge Lucas' reaction as random classmates started bringing her flowers. It felt like everyone in the hallway was staring at her, and Lucas had an unreadable expression on his face. Wordlessly she turned to Maya.

"Peaches..."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it," she said, grabbing the flowers out of the poor girl's hands. She continued yanking flowers out of the hands of their classmates before they had a chance to get to Riley until she had the full bouquet. The lights dimmed, a disco ball came down from the ceiling, and music started playing.

Despite herself, Riley gazed up at the dancing lights in amazement. It really was incredibly sweet. One glance in the direction of the green-eyed boy, however, had her gaze trained back to the ground. She forced herself to look annoyed, bored, disgusted, but she knew that Lucas wasn't buying it.

A banner came down and as Charlie walked around the corner, Maya rushed to meet him before he reached the couple, roses still in hand.

"Yes! A million times yes!" She exclaimed in an exaggerated southern belle accent. "I would be honored to go to the dance with you, Charlie Gardner!"

"Uh..."

"Oh my god, Riles!" Maya screeched in a valley girl accent, turning to grab the brunette's hand. "We can totally double now!"

"Double?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," Maya said, her voice returning to normal. "Huckleberry and Riley made their unofficial thing official last night. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah," Charlie said as he ran a hand through his hair, trying his best not to sound too dejected. "Real great. I guess I'll pick you up tonight, Maya."

Maya forced an adoring smile on her face that immediately faded when Charlie walked away. "You both owe me!"

Riley gave her a big hug. "My best friend!"

"I'm serious! I'm talking first kid here. Maya if it's a girl and Mayan if it's a boy!"

Riley gave an indulgent nod. "We will love little Mayan with all our hearts."

She reached for Lucas' hand, who slowly came out of his mood. "Is this up for negotiation? Because I kind of already promised Farkle-"

"Farklina and Mayan Friar!" Riley exclaimed. "That's it! You are getting fixed, Lucas!"

Maya, using her fifties announcer voice, said, "It sounds like our Lucas is in quite the pickle! What will he dooooo?"

The two girls spent the afternoon giggling and getting ready, both feeling impossibly light.

"Seriously, Maya, thank you for falling on the sword for me. I'm sorry you keep getting stuck dating guys so that I can be with Lucas."

Maya shrugged as she swiped mascara on her eyelashes. "Eh, no biggie. I didn't have a date. Charlie's cute. Plus, I'm sure I can have fun messing with him."

"I'm just glad I didn't have to turn him down. I would have felt so bad for him, especially having to do it in front of Lucas."

"Right. Even I couldn't let him go through that kind of rejection. Poor kid bit by the Riley love bug. He didn't even see it coming."

Riley set down her makeup brush, staring at the counter. "Do you think I led Charlie on? I didn't know he liked me like that."

"No way. The whole school knows you like Lucas. Charlie just saw what he wanted to."

"Well, I just hope you two have a good time."

"Relax, honey. We are all going to have a good time. I'm sure of it."

Before too long, the boys were waiting in the living room, getting grilled by Corey. Lucas was used to it by now, and Charlie didn't seem fazed in the slightest. Being the only boy in his family, he was usually the one doing the overprotective routine.

When the girls finally appeared, Lucas was captivated by the girl in the yellow dress. She reminded him of sunshine and summer, and her radiant smile completed the picture perfect image.

Charlie was surprised at his reaction to the blonde. He promised himself that he would be a perfect gentleman, to treat Maya with the attention and respect she deserved, but looking at her in that gorgeous red dress, he found that promise to be the easiest thing in the world to keep. With barely a glance in Riley's direction, he grabbed Maya's hand and led her in front of the bay window where Topanga was taking pictures.

"Wow, Maya, you sure do clean up nice. You look...dazzling."

Maya smirked as she made exaggerated poses for the pictures. Giving Charlie a quick glance, she said, "You don't look too bad yourself, Sparky."

Rolling her eyes at Maya's antics, Riley turned to the quiet boy next to her. Nudging Lucas' shoulder, she said, "Everything okay?"

Lucas turned to her with a wide smile. "Just trying to commit this all to memory."

Riley leaned in to whisper with a knowing grin, "That's why we are taking pictures."

Lucas shook his head. He was standing behind Riley, hands on her hips in a classical 'prom picture' pose. "A picture could never do you justice, Riley. You look so beautiful. Thank you so much for agreeing to come to the dance with me."

Riley turned the top half of her body to face him. "Thank you for asking me."

They both leaned into each other.

"Okay!" Corey shouted, clapping his hands. "I want a picture with the two prettiest girls in New York!"

Lucas released Riley with a sigh; the magic of the moment ruined. He and Charlie stood next to the door while Maya and Riley took picture after picture with Corey, each pose more ridiculous than the last.

"Ow! My back!" Corey shouted after both Maya and Riley attempted to get on his back at the same time.

"Okay, kids, why don't you head out to the dance? Corey, let's stop by the hospital on the way to get Eric..." Topanga said.

The kids could hear the couple arguing as they quickly headed out the door.

"I'm fine, Topanga! I have to get to the dance! I can't leave those two looking all fancy alone together! You know what fancy clothes do to teenagers!?"

Once they got to the dance, both couples drifted to the edges of the dance floor. A couple guys were setting up for a band as a DJ played music.

"So, you gonna offer me a drink or what, Sparky?" Maya asked with a playful grin.

Charlie turned to her, a smile spreading across his face. "Maya, would you like some punch?"

"No, thanks."

Charlie laughed, shaking his head.

"So you gonna ask me to dance or what?"

Charlie held out his hand. "Would you do me the honor of dancing with me, Ms. Hart?"

Rolling her eyes, Maya accepted his hand and allowed herself to be led to the dance floor.

Riley laughed, watching her best friend hopping and shimmying around Charlie, who was doing his best to keep up. The smile on Charlie's face seemed to grow by the minute. Even Maya's smile seemed more genuine than before. Riley turned to Lucas to comment on it, only to find his eyes had been on her the entire time. She blushed, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"Have I told you how amazing you look tonight?"

Riley's blush deepened. "Maybe once or twice."

"Sorry. I just can't believe I almost screwed this up...Riley," he said, taking her hand. "You are really important to me. I never would have survived New York without you."

"You're really important to me, too. I would have never survived middle school without you."

Lucas laughed. "Do you want to dance?"

The two couples spent the night dancing and laughing. Maya was surprised to find that she was actually having a really good time. Charlie was a nice guy, who seemed to play off her teasing well, and to his credit, his eyes never once wandered towards Riley. She thought she would spend the majority of the night running interference, making sure Riley and Lucas had the perfect date, but instead it seemed like she was having the perfect date all on her own.

They made their way to a table for a break, Charlie stopping to get them both punch. She accepted the little paper cup with a smile, saying, "Thanks. And thanks for going with me to the dance. I know you really wanted to go with Riley."

She didn't know why she brought Riley up, but something inside her compelled her to do so. She was used to being the sidekick, the second choice, the fairy godmother, in Riley's life lessons. Now that she found herself feeling things she hadn't felt before, she had to make sure she had a safe place to land, that she wasn't imagining things just for the sake of having something that was all her own.

Charlie took a seat next to her, scooting his chair closer so she could hear him over the music. "I'm actually really glad things worked out the way they did. I'm having a really great time."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Uh, are you? Having a good time, I mean?"

For once in her life, Maya decided being serious was the way to go. She reached out and touched his shoulder. "Yeah, I actually am."

Their eyes connected, and Maya felt butterflies. Real genuine butterflies. For the first time, she thought the boy looking back at her might be getting butterflies, too. Not like with Josh, who insisted their age was a factor. Or like her recent confusion about Lucas, who she knew only had eyes and butterflies for Riley.

Riley once again noticed how happy her sister looked, staring deep into Charlie's eyes. She had never seen Maya act like this before. With Josh, it was always over the top and out of control. This seemed real, tangible, something her friend could actually hold on to.

"If you keep staring, I might start to get the impression that you're jealous, Riles," Lucas said in a forced teasing tone. Riley saw right through him.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as the music got decidedly slower, leaning in close so she could be heard over the music.

"Definitely not jealous. I am right where I want to be."

Lucas slid his hands around her waist, closing the distance even further. He marveled at how big his hands felt resting on her tiny hips.

"Maya seems happy, doesn't she?" Riley asked.

Lucas spared the couple walking hand in hand to the dance floor a glance. "Well, I guess everything worked out nicely for everyone."

"And to think we owe it all to Yogi," she giggled, coming to rest her head on his shoulder briefly before her dad came and shooed them to a more respectable distance from one another.

Lucas nodded before quickly gulping, trying to gain the courage to say what he was about to say.

"What is it, Lucas?" Riley asked. "Whatever is on your mind, you can tell me. Didn't we learn yesterday that talking is better than not talking?"

Lucas nodded again. "Look, Riley, I know we agreed to do things at our own pace, at our own time, but lately it feels like instead of moving slowly, we aren't even moving at all. I would like for us to be exclusive, uh, to be boyfriend and girlfriend. That doesn't mean anything has to necessarily change, I just want you and everyone else to know that I belong with you, not anyone else. And I would really like for you to belong to me. Not in like a possessive, obsessed, crazy way, just-"

Riley cut him off, grabbing both his cheeks to force him to look her in the eyes, his hands still firmly wrapped around her waist. She gave him a quick kiss before saying, "Lucas, I would love to belong to you and be your girlfriend. I would love for us to continue to move forward in our relationship at whatever pace we are both ready for. Right now, I feel ready to call you my boyfriend and to hold hands and go do things together, like on dates or with our friends. Do you feel ready for that, too?"

Lucas grabbed the hands that were still holding his cheeks, bringing them down until they were holding hands at their sides. He gave her a sweet, simple kiss on the corner of her mouth.

"I am most definitely ready."

Wrapping his arms around his new girlfriend, he gave a quick nod of appreciation to Yogi, who was slow dancing with Darby nearby. Yogi nodded back, faintly listening as Darby talked endlessly about her new favorite couple-Chaya.