A Scary End to the Triangle

Secret Love Revealed

Riley is surprised by Pappy Joe's instructions but follows them anyway. The other teens are so distracted to see Lucas that they don't notice that Riley had stayed back.

Pappy Joe stays with Riley knowing that she might have some questions.

Riley sits outside slowly opening the piece of paper.

She notices it's written by Lucas which makes her curious.

She then notices that the letter was addressed to her which baffles her but her curiosity wins out in the end.

She's curious to know what Lucas wrote to her in the letter.

What also makes her wonder is that what was so difficult and important that he had to write it down instead of saying it to her directly. She slowly starts reading the words Lucas wrote to her.

He starts off saying that she would probably never read this which confuses her and she looks at Pappy Joe.

Pappy Joe understands her confusion and answers her unspoken question, "Lucas wrote the letter to you because he needed an outlet for the feelings he was keeping inside himself. Thank God he realized but since he didn't feel like he could talk to you directly about this he wrote it down. I don't know what he's written but I felt you needed to know and that's why I picked it up from his desk today morning. I was thinking about how to send it without that boy knowing when I saw you at the rodeo. Read it please."

Riley could see his eyes pleading for her to read so she nods and continues to read further.

She couldn't believe everything Lucas had been keeping to himself for months.

She discovered that Lucas never had a decision to make because he knew what he wanted.

He was just taking the time to find a way out of the mess without having to directly hurt someone.

Reading the letter made her realize how much she had hurt him with her actions and also the depth of his love for her.

He loved her enough to let her go.

He suffered due to her actions caused by her own insecurities but he still loved her.

Lucas loved her unconditionally and trusted her implicitly.

She realized that she had unknowingly taken advantage of that trust.

She cried out in joy when she learnt why he had been spending time with Auggie and now loved him like his own brother.

She laughed when she read about the jelly bean experiment the boys did to make a decision.

She learnt that Lucas himself had many insecurities of his own which he hid very well.

She couldn't believe that Lucas thought he was not good enough for her.

The reason why he worked so hard to learn how to control his temper was because of her.

He wanted to be a better person so that he could be good enough for her.

She truly believed that he wanted to work on himself because he had promised Pappy Joe.

He felt that because of his anger issues, he didn't even deserve to be her friend.

After he told her about his expulsion from his school in Texas, he slowly starts believing that she accepted him.

He slowly started getting over his fear of rejection.

Her actions during the past year had brought his fears to life.

Unfortunately he had to deal with these fears and insecurities all alone because none of his friends were there for him.

She now understood why Lucas had felt so utterly betrayed by them.

He had always believed in his friends would not let him down.

He had been there to help Farkle, Maya and her with their insecurities but when he needed them none of them were there for him.

Riley finally understood how much she had hurt one of her best friends.

She also couldn't believe that Lucas had realized that Maya wasn't herself months before she, Maya's best friend, could.

The only reason why he never said anything was that he didn't think they would actually listen to him.

Riley made a promise to herself that she would never let Lucas feel like this again.

She wasn't going to keep hurting him like his parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Friar might not help them but she would make sure all their friends would.

She was going to be there for him so that he is never alone.

She vowed never to hurt him ever again.

She would protect him like she always tried to protect Maya.

She refused to lose one of her best friends because of her insecurities.

Riley now realized that the Crazy Cowboy from Texas had unknowingly stolen her heart just like she had stolen his.

The City Girl finally acknowledged her feelings.

Riley Matthews loved Lucas Friar.