Chasing Butterflies | a GMW fanfic

Girl Meets the Ugly Truth

As soon as Riley had spoken, it was like everyone was frozen in place. Maya's mouth was wide open, staring at Lucas. Farkle was staring at Riley.

And Lucas was staring at Riley.

His expression was one of both betrayal and bewilderment - as if he was hurt, but it had barely registered.

The only one who looked unfazed was Cory.

After a few very long, awkward seconds, Farkle spoke up. "Riley, what are you talking about? Lucas lives with his parents. They aren't dead. You met them."

Riley scowled at Lucas. "Are you going to tell them the truth, or are you just going to lie again?"

Maya looked at Lucas expectantly, prompting him to say something.

Lucas buried his face in his hands and sighed. "Riley's not lying. It's true. My parents are dead."

Maya and Farkle looked positively shell-shocked.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Farkle asked. "Because, if it is - it's really not funny."

Lucas shook his head. "It's not a joke. I lied about everything. I don't live here with my parents, I live with some of my distant relatives. I had discipline problems because the shock of my parents being dead was too much. I lied, okay? It's that simple."

"Why-" Maya took a breath. "Why would you lie to us, Lucas?"

Lucas shrugged. "I didn't want to-"

"Yeah, yeah," Maya waved a hand in the air to cut Lucas off. "You didn't want to hurt us. We get it. But, Lucas, here's the thing. You don't get to decide what will and won't hurt us. We're stronger than we look."

"And, besides," Farkle chimed in. "We're your friends. You're supposed to trust us with anything. We're supposed to help you carry your burdens. We're supposed to support you. Why wouldn't you tell us something like this? We could have been there for you!"

"This is the reason that I didn't tell any of you!" Lucas said. "I don't want your pity. I don't care if you feel bad for not being there when my parents died. It's over now, okay? They've been dead for a while. And, now, thanks to you-" Lucas gestured angrily towards Riley. "Everyone will now know me as the guy with the dead parents."

"They would have found out eventually, Lucas, and they would still act like this towards you." Riley frowned.

"Pity is a part of the human nature." Farkle added. "It just means that we're good people. It means that we're able to step back and put ourselves in someone else's shoes and feel what they're feeling. We don't pity you, Lucas. We pity the situation that you're in. We pity your past and how messed up it was. Of course we pity it - you've been bottling up and hiding this big, dark secret from the rest of us for so long. That's sad, and that's dangerous."

While Lucas seemed to be registering Farkle's comment, Maya focused her attention on Riley. "You knew," she said, her voice flat. "You knew, too, and you didn't tell us? That makes you just as bad as he is."

Riley opened her mouth to reply, but as soon as she did, the bell rang.

No one moved. From where he stood, Cory looked out at the group. "Class is dismissed. The bell has rung."

A few students quickly grabbed their things and escaped the tense atmosphere of the classroom. Riley couldn't bring herself to answer Maya's question, so instead, she grabbed her bag and quietly walked out of the classroom, brushing a tear from the corner of her eye before anyone could see it.

Maya turned and glared at Cory. "You knew too, didn't you?"

Cory nodded. "Of course I knew."

Maya let out an angry sigh before standing up and storming out of the classroom, leaving Farkle and Lucas on their own.

"For what it's worth," Lucas said. "I'm sorry."

Farkle shook his head. "No, Lucas. I'm sorry. I'm sorry we made you feel like you couldn't tell us something like this."

Lucas gave Farkle a small smile. "Thank you, Farkle."

-&-

Riley stood at the window in the school's hallway, turned away from the crowd so they couldn't see her cry. It had started to rain outside, reflecting Riley's mood perfectly. She wiped one of her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt, then looked around to make sure no one had seen it. As she looked around, her eye caught on someone walking towards her. It was Lucas.

"Oh, God. What now?" She said, her voice thick with tears.

"I-I just wanted to apologize." Lucas said, stepping closer to her, but still keeping a good distance between them. "I feel awful. You're probably being eaten up inside by the guilt of keeping a secret from the people you care about, and that's all my fault. And, now that the secret it out, people are blaming you?" Lucas hung his head. "I'm so, so sorry."

"You should be," Riley replied.

"I know." Lucas nodded. "I just hope that you can forgive me. Maybe not now - maybe not soon, but at some point. I can't live with myself knowing that you hate me."

"I don't hate you," Riley said, her voice soft. "I could never hate you. I'm just mad at you - I'm really, really mad at you - and I just need some time, okay?"

Lucas nodded. "I'll give you as much time as you need. I'll wait forever, if you need me to."

[A/N: I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've last updated!! I am drowning in school work and I've barely had time to write or update this! Hopefully, I didn't leave you all at too much of a cliffhanger last time, oops! As always, comments and votes are appreciated!]