Girl Meets Wedding Bells(Joshaya & Rucas)

Girl Meets Ex

'Yes!' Riley exclaimed. 'I win again!' She punched the air with her fist. 'No fair', Maya said, pouting. 'You always win.' Riley giggled. 'Correction: my mother always wins', she said. Josh nodded. 'Absolutely true. I wonder what it would be like to win from her', he said. The three of them were sitting on the living room floor, playing some board game. A bowl of crisps and three glasses of soda were standing on top of the table nearby.

'We should definitely find a way to beat her at something - anything', Maya told Riley and Josh as she stood up to get her drink. 'Hmm, but how? It seems so... impossible', Riley replied. 'Nothing's impossible', Josh told his niece. Maya raised an eyebrow. 'Okay, then', she said, 'you have ten seconds to fly yourself to - hmm, let me think - Hawaii.' 'Maya...' Riley began to say, 'we are in Hawaii.' Maya tilted her head. 'Oh yeah. Well, um, how about you fly yourself to Thailand then?' she said to Josh, who rolled his eyes playfully. 'I can't do that, Maya.' 'Oh', she said, 'and why is that? I thought you said nothing's impossible?' she asked him teasingly. 'I can't do that, because you won't be there', he said, winking. 'Smooth', Riley mumbled. Maya didn't know how to respond.

'Let's play another game', Riley said. 'No!' Maya and Josh exclaimed simultaneously.
'Why not?' 'Because we already know how it's gonna end', Maya told her best friend. 'Yeah, you'll win. Again', Josh added. 'You never know unless you try', Riley replied. 'And besides, it's not about the finish. It's about the game itself.' 'Wow, that actually sounded really deep', Maya admitted. Riley shrugged. 'I was just trying to get you to play.'

'Fine', Josh said. He turned to Maya. 'If we ever want to beat Topanga, we'll have to pass Riley first.'

Two futile attempts later, they gave up. 'YES! I'm the queen!' Riley shouted. She started jumping up and down. 'Woohoooo.' She lowered her voice when she heard the sound of a door being opened. Soon, the people who went on Emily's ''couples' day'' were entering the room. Riley quickly sat down on the floor again when she saw them. They were standing on the edge of the room, looking as if they found the whole situation a little awkward.

'Hi guys', Riley said softly. 'Hi, Riley', Smackle replied. 'What are you doing?' Farkle asked curiously. 'Just playing some games', Riley told him. 'And for me and Josh, it's losing some games', Maya chimed in. 'How was couples' day?' Riley asked. 'It was okay', Zay said. That was when Emily stepped forward. 'Okay?' she repeated the word he'd said. 'Zay, you were laughing so hard on that hot air balloon ride you almost had to puke! And after that, we had a lovely picnic, for which I bought delicious food. You all said you had a lot of fun today!'

Riley looked at her friends, whose cheeks were turning bright red. 'It's okay, you guys', Riley told them. 'You don't have to lie.' 'It was, um, pretty fun', Vanessa admitted. After that, most of them walked upstairs to get changed. Only Lucas remained.

'Hey, Riles', he said. Riley flinched when she heard him use her nickname. 'Can I talk to you for just a minute?' 'Mm.' They walked to the kitchen, away from Maya and Josh, who were now engaged in a war of who could win the most card games.

'So, about today', Lucas started, 'I'm so sorry, Riley. Emily should have not said what she said. She can be so...' he stopped himself. 'I'm sorry, Riley.' Riley gave him a small smile. 'There's no need to apologize. It wasn't your fault.' 'It wasn't the same without you, though', Lucas admitted, looking down. Riley was silent. 'And Maya and Josh, of course', Lucas quickly added. 'I think you would have really liked today. Especially the hot air balloon ride.' Riley chuckled. 'Like a bird, remember?' They both thought about the flight to Hawaii last year, when Riley had been scared for take-off and Lucas had told her to imagine she was a bird flying away in the blue sky. 'I remember', Riley said, blushing just a little. Lucas was still looking down. 'Hey, cheer up Buttercup', she told him. 'I had a lot of fun today with Maya and Josh. You do not need to blame yourself for anything.' Without thinking, she lifted his chin with her hand and looked him in the eyes. A warm feeling started spreading through her body. 'Um, I should go back and see who won the card game war', she said, referring to the little competition Maya and Josh were having. 'Yeah, sure', Lucas told her. When Riley turned around and started walking to the living room, she felt Lucas grabbing her hand and turning her back around to face him. Lucas didn't care if he was going to regret it or not, but just pulled her in for a hug. And when he felt Riley putting her arms around him too, he relaxed for the first time in weeks.

After a few seconds they let go. 'I'm gonna, uh...' Riley pointed towards the door that led to the living room. 'Go check on Maya and Josh', Lucas finished for her. Riley nodded. For a moment, they smiled at each other, before each going their own way.

Hi everyone :) I hope you liked this Joshaya/Rucas chapter! I felt like doing another update, because I've kept you waiting so long! Thank you all so much for reading. And a special thanks to those who voted on previous chapters! I wish you all a great day :)

Love,

♥