#me instead: gets invested in this new york au that came out of nowhere | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tempestaurora · 4 years ago

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Hi I just need to share this idea before I fall asleep: AU where Beck targeted Harley instead because Tony left Harley EDITH instead of Peter

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They showed up in the hand of a suited man who looked uncomfortably hot in the Tennessee sun. E.D.I.T.H., the card in the glasses case read, Even In Death I’m The Hero – T.S.

Harley had been to his funeral the month before, had stood outside the lake house with a collection of plain-clothed superheroes. He’d recognised some, but not all. Captain America, Falcon, Hawkeye, Bruce Banner. They were all red-eyed and sombre, donned in black suits and congregating in small groups after the ceremony. Harley had come alone, without his mother or sister, and had spoken to barely anyone, bar Colonel Rhodes who recognised him, Pepper and Morgan, who’d invited him, and the kid called Peter Parker, who looked about his age - though, post-snap, it was hard to tell anymore.

He hadn’t touched the glasses for two days before finally working up the nerve to try them on, then he’d played with them in complete awe for three days before finally putting them away again. He’d read the texts of strangers on the street, peered inside the Mustang’s engine and dissected every part, stared at the maths problems on his homework sheet and watched the numbers float off the page and solve themselves. It was a lot of power, Harley figured. Too much for a kid in fuck-all nowhere Rose Hill.

He made a small hole in the floorboards of the garage, and hid the glasses away.

He’d vanished in the snap, like half the universe, but his sister and mother had lived on for five years, continued to grow and change. He’d been in his senior year when he’d died, and now his sister was too. They shared the same classes, and though she’d desperately tried to get into science and engineering; to make use of the tools in the garage that Tony had provided Harley with, she just wasn’t interested, and leant heavily towards history, with dreams of archaeology and excavation.

They looked like twins now, and started to tell people that they were.

His little sister was five years younger than him, but they were both eighteen now anyway.

In all, despite having E.D.I.T.H. under the floorboards of the half-gutted garage (the equipment inside was both too sentimental to sell, and too expensive not to), nothing much changed with Harley as the world tried to right itself after the second snap. Time continued on, the world slowly rebuilt itself and struggled to house all the new homeless folk, and superheroes re-emerged from the cracks, fighting the everyday bank robbers and crazy scientists, rather than colonising aliens.

Harley and Ariel graduated side by side, her name read out first, then his, and they wore matching robes and smiled matching smiles for their mother’s photos. They packed up their things and both headed for New York, both of them studying at Columbia, and both of them scoring rooms in the same dorm. On the day they left; Harley’s Mustang idling out front with his sister’s music blaring from the stereo, Harley wandered around the garage, decked out by a dead man, and pulled back the floorboard. E.D.I.T.H. still sat there in the case, just as it had when Harley had first received it a year before, and he removed it, replaced the floorboard, and started the long drive north.

His classes were the good kind of difficult, and he threw himself into electrical and mechanical engineering, scoring high grades and making new friends. Parties were a rare thing in Rose Hill, as everyone lived so far apart and kids his age were rare, so now he and Ariel had new experiences to make; dorm parties and frat houses, night clubs and bars. Despite the new laws about post-snap identification, his I.D. from before still worked in some places; technically twenty-three rather than the lived eighteen.

“We’re twins,” he and Ariel would say to whoever asked; the two Keeners living on the same floor and going to the same parties. They shared a lot of friends, though drew themselves to different areas; Harley falling easily into the D&D Society, and Ariel finding herself in three separate book clubs.

“Family has become more important than ever,” the post-snap counsellor would say in their mandatory session in their first semester. Every student had to meet with them, only a year since the world came back, but Harley and Ariel attended theirs together, more joined at the hip than they had ever been when they were five years apart in age.

They went home for Christmas and returned in January, starting classes anew. It was then that Harley met his new teacher, Quentin Beck, an M.I.T. graduate who’d once been a successful head developer in R&D at Stark Industries. Harley took every reference to Tony like a stab in the side; Tony’s face was everywhere, painted in every mural. All his classmates were obsessed with the arc reactor and the Stark tech, they all held Starkphones like once everyone had held Apples. Beck’s entire first class was essentially a spiel about what he learned at S.I., and Harley felt sick by the end of it.

Just as he was rushing out of the class, Quentin – all the tutors insisted being called by their first names – called him back. “I hear you’re the student to look out for,” he said easily, resting against the edge of his desk. “Tell me, where did your interest start?”

Harley had never been asked this question, but he had always thought he’d lie if he were. Instead, facing a man who’d also known and cared about Tony Stark, he said, “I’ve always liked building things, but I don’t think it was until I met Tony Stark myself that I really got invested.”

Quentin raised an eyebrow, surprised. “You’ve met Tony Stark?”

“It’s a little hard to believe,” he admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck, “but back in 2013—the Mandarin incident? With the President?—when Tony vanished after his house got bombed, he ended up in my hometown. Broke into my garage to hide out from the snow, and well—I dunno. I got to hang out with him for a few days.”

He thought he’d be scoffed at, honestly – it wasn’t a particularly believable story, though Harley had realised that was the case with a lot of truths – but instead, Quentin smiled, like he’d found someone similar to himself, a friend. They talked for a bit about Tony, and then after the next class, they talked again. They went to Quentin’s office and told stories about working with Tony and their experiences with Iron Man. Harley showed him the photos from when he was fifteen and visiting New York mere weeks before Ultron, when he and Tony worked on the code for his own helper bot and later went to a museum together.

It was—strange, honestly. Having someone to relate to about this stuff. Having someone who cared—about Harley, about Tony, about his legacy. Quentin was the only person who got it. Ariel had never met Tony, had been too young to really remember the events anyway, and Harley hadn’t wanted to bother anyone he’d met at the funeral; their connections to Tony far stronger than his could ever be. He hadn’t known the man like Colonel Rhodes had, like Pepper had – but he still grieved, still mourned, still wanted him back.

Talking to Quentin, then working with him on his project, was a little like that; like finding Tony in the world again.

So, one day, as they worked in the shop he said, “Tony left me a gift actually.”

Quentin paused and leant back on his stool, saying, “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. When he died. Some lawyer showed up at my door with it; said he’d left it in his will for me.”

“What was it, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Glasses,” Harley replied. “They’re—it’s an A.I., called E.D.I.T.H..” He shrugged. “I don’t know why he left them to me, honestly. He already gave me a whole workshop and a vintage Mustang. And we weren’t—we didn’t talk a whole lot, even before the snap. Couple times a year, I guess. I came up to New York like, twice, and he would email out of the blue to see if I wanted to test the new Starkphone…”

“What does the A.I. do?”

“What doesn’t it do?” Harley sighed. “I’m pretty sure it’s a borderline surveillance state A.I., I mean, if the government had it. It can see everything, I think. In the wrong hands… it could be catastrophic.”

“Are your hands the wrong hands?” Quentin asked.

Harley hesitated. “I hope not. Tony trusted me with it, so he must think… must think they’re right.”

“Well,” Quentin said, “I’d love to see them sometime. They sound incredible.”

That afternoon he returned to his room, where he knelt by the drawer he’d fixed a false bottom into, pulling out the E.D.I.T.H. glasses for the first time since he hid them away in September. He tried them on, and E.D.I.T.H. greeted him in the warm tone, information pouring out before him. He peered around his room slowly, and as the sight caught on his roommate’s laptop, their tablet, E.D.I.T.H. captured the data and sent it scrolling before his eyes.

“E.D.I.T.H.,” Harley said quietly.

“Yes, Harley?”

“Why did Tony leave you to me?”

“Tony Stark left gifts for all loved ones in case of his demise. He did not tell me the significance or reasoning behind his actions.”

Harley sighed and flopped backwards onto his bed. “What did other people get?”

“Virginia “Pepper” Potts and Morgan Stark received the majority of the wealth, assets and properties under the name Anthony Edward Stark. Virginia Potts was also left controlling ownership of Stark Industries. Colonel James Rhodes was bequeathed several vintage cars, a large sum of money, and several sentimental items. Harold Hogan was bequeathed the same. Should I go on?”

“Sure.”

“Mr. Stark left various moneys, cars, sentimental items and properties to individuals he worked with under the Avengers Initiative: Robert “Bruce” Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Steven Rogers, Clinton Barton and Thor Odinson. Other moneys were left to various organisations, foundations and charities supported by Mr Stark. He bequeathed myself and a college fund to you, Harley Keener, and a matching college fund and equipped workshop space in Queens, New York, New York, to Peter Parker. He left—”

“Stop,” Harley said.

Peter Parker had been the other kid at the funeral. The one with the internship with Tony. The one at the front of the dock, who’d cried beside his Aunt, who’d been introduced to Morgan for the first time mere minutes after Harley had.

“E.D.I.T.H.,” Harley said, “do you have the contact information for Peter Parker?”

“Of course, Harley.”

Peter’s phone number, email and address appeared before his eyes. His personal information scrolled beside it; seventeen, in his senior year, Midtown Tech High School. Harley thought about calling him; about saying Hi, we met at the funeral, want to be friends? About the bond he had with Quentin, the only person who understood what Harley was going through, even a little, and how he could have it again, with someone else. Someone who had worked beside Tony and looked up to him, just like Harley.

He was about to ask E.D.I.T.H. to call the number when his phone started ringing.

QUENTIN BECK CALLING his glasses read. He and Quentin had shared numbers because Harley’s college email was glitchy and Quentin had needed a way to contact him about class schedules and extra shop time.

“Hi, Quentin,” Harley said as he picked up.

“Harley! I’m glad I caught you. I was just thinking about those glasses Tony left you…”

It didn’t take much, really, for Quentin to persuade Harley to let him take a look at them. He was a friend, he was trusted – he, too, might be the right hands. Quentin and Harley talked for hours about them, trying them out and asking E.D.I.T.H. about her various functions. Harley had been right about how incredible they were, but he’d also been right about how much power they held for trouble. How far the wrong hands could take them; they were connected to satellites across the globe, had an enabled drone strike, and could send missiles to any given place on the planet. And Tony Stark had made this?

“They’re… truly something,” Quentin had said when the sky grew dark. Ariel was texting about dinner and Harley was packing up to leave. “Don’t… please don’t take this the wrong way, Harley—but do you think they’re too much responsibility for you to have?”

“Quentin, I—”

“I know you’re not a child, I know. You’re eighteen, you’re an adult – but these glasses,” he gestured to them on the table, shaking his head. “You could destroy the world with this, Harley. You could literally take it over. And that’s—that’s terrifying. It’s terrifying that Tony would’ve made something like this in the first place, and frankly, more so that he would leave them to someone else upon his death, rather than destroying them.”

“You think they should be destroyed?”

“I think these are simply another foray into weapon building,” Quentin sighed. “Though rather than selling it to the U.S. military, he’s privatised it and kept it for himself.”

“Then why did he give them to me?” Harley asked, nervous hands picking up the glasses. Quentin was right, of course, they were too much responsibility for him. He’d stuck them under the floorboards where they couldn’t be touched because of it. Left them in the drawer and pretended they didn’t exist. Practically ignored the one thing Tony had left for him.

He bet, bitterly, that Peter Parker wasn’t ignoring the gift Tony had left for him.

“I’m not sure, Harley. And this isn’t something I’m saying about you—rather, about him—but I don’t think it was the right decision.”

Harley swallowed, turning over the glasses in his hands. “You think I should get rid of them entirely?”

Quentin sighed, passing a hand over his forehead. “I’m not sure, Harley. I’m not. Perhaps they’ll save the world someday—but only in the hands of the right person.”

Harley bit hard into the inside of his lower lip. He wasn’t the right person. His hands weren’t the right hands. What had Tony been thinking, leaving a weapon this powerful to him? He was a kid from fuck-all nowhere Rose Hill, not a superhero. He was no Captain America, no Thor, no Iron Man.

“Quentin,” Harley said, his mind made up. “If I gave them to you, would you hide them somewhere?”

“What?”

“Hide them. Like you said, they might save the world someday—but that day’s not today, and they need to be somewhere where they can’t cause trouble until then. And if I’m not the right hands—then I shouldn’t know where they are.”

Quentin took the glasses in careful hands. “Are you sure, Harley?”

He nodded, resolute. “I’m sure.”

Quentin hesitated, turning the glasses over in his hands. “Perhaps you should—you should pass over the control to me, too. They only work for you, and if you don’t know where they are…”

Harley swallowed then shook his head. “No,” he said. “I’ll keep the control.”

“But, Harley—”

“No,” he repeated. “Maybe I’m not the right hands, but maybe you’re not either.”

“Harley—”

“If you were, Tony would’ve given them to you in the first place. I just need… I just need them hidden. Until I am the right hands, or until the world needs them. Whichever comes first, I guess.”

On the way home, he called Peter Parker and arranged to get coffee in some Queens café the next weekend. After dinner, he shot off an email to Pepper Potts, too, to see how she was doing and apologise for not reaching out for so long. Her response was prompt, and the weekend after, he was to meet her at her Manhattan apartment for dinner with her and Morgan.

He felt strange, that night, and the nights after it, going to bed without the glasses in the drawer beside his head, but it was for the best, he thought, not knowing where they were.

During class on Friday, Quentin seemed busy, side-tracked, and on Saturday, Harley met Peter, who was happier than the last time he’d seen him, and more than willing to share stories about Tony all afternoon, until it grew dark and the two of them went next door for a bite of pizza.

Classes all the next week were cancelled due to Quentin being sick, and he responded to Harley’s get well soon text positively, saying he was already on the mend. At dinner with Pepper and Morgan, Harley told her about college, about meeting Peter even. He didn’t mention Quentin or the glasses, and neither did she. Instead, they laughed at Morgan’s bad jokes and afterwards played a board game and let her win.

And then Quentin didn’t show for class the week after. Didn’t cancel it either, so Harley and his classmates sat around, confused and waiting, until they got bored and went home. Harley tried Quentin’s number and he didn’t pick up. The next day he did the same and the number was cancelled.

“This number no longer exists,” the voice at the end of the line said, and Harley shuddered to a halt in the middle of the packed corridor. People bumped into him from all sides and he squeezed his way over to the wall, the truth playing in front of his eyes on loud, flashing repeat.

Quentin Beck had hidden E.D.I.T.H. and then vanished. He’d taken E.D.I.T.H. He was in possession of the most powerful and dangerous A.I. since Ultron. And Harley had given it to him.

Harley called Pepper as he from campus, searching for a cab.

“Hi, Harley,” Pepper said, “I’m actually about to head into a meeting, so could I call you back—”

“No!” Harley cried, skidding to a stop on the pavement. “It’s important!”

“Is everything alright?”

“No, everything’s not alright! It’s E.D.I.T.H.!”

“Edith? Who’s Edith?”

“E.D.I.T.H.!” Harley repeated. “The A.I. Tony left me! I was kind of overwhelmed by the responsibility of it, and my teacher Quentin convinced me that I shouldn’t have it at all, so I asked him to put it somewhere until I could use it, and now he’s gone! He’s gone and he’s the only one who knows where E.D.I.T.H. is!”

Harley was panting out on the street, but Pepper’s voice was even, hard, “Harley,” she said, “did you hand over control of E.D.I.T.H. when you gave it to your teacher?”

“No,” Harley said. “I didn’t think I should, so it’s still under my control—”

“Alright. That’s very good of you, Harley. E.D.I.T.H. can only be used by the person who has control. Tony gave that control to you, and so long as you don’t ask E.D.I.T.H. to obey anyone else, control will remain with you. Now, can you tell me the name of your teacher?”

“Quentin. Quentin Beck.”

“Oh, fuck,” Pepper said, eloquently. “Amy, would you mind rescheduling my meetings? Harley, come to the apartment. We’ll call in some help and get this sorted.”

Harley grabbed his sister on the way, relaying the events and watching as she chose between a scoff that he could be so dumb, and a pitying smile. She chose the latter and the two of them climbed in a taxi, taking it to the Upper West Side, where Pepper lived when she was in the city. The elevator opened not on the penthouse floor like last time, though, but on the floor beneath, where Pepper stood by an array of computers and Happy paced around behind her.

On one of the screens was Quentin’s face, though a good few years younger, and a long list of information.

Pepper greeted them and then told them all about Quentin Beck, the man who became his college teacher. He had worked for Stark Industries, that much was true, and he had led the development of what eventually became B.A.R.F., an incredibly complex piece of technology that extracted memories and could replay them in 3D, just like Tony had displayed at M.I.T. in 2016. But Quentin hadn’t designed it for use as a billion dollar therapy tool; he’d seen it as a weapon, as a way to manufacture events, hallucinations. With B.A.R.F., the user could extract memories exactly as they were remembered, or exactly as they decided to remember them. It could be used for interrogation, for criminal cases – or it could be used for exonerations. And in other events, it could just as easily be taken advantage of; a guilty person misremembering a murder; a victim being forced to replay a traumatic memory again and again.

He was infuriated what Tony wanted to do with his technology, and had eventually been fired for it too. He was off the deep end, Pepper said, a little crazed and dangerous. His reference had been anything but glowing, and yet he’d still managed to doctor the facts and land himself a role at Columbia during the five years between snaps. He still managed to end up as Harley’s teacher – though, it seemed, by coincidence. One Quentin took advantage of as soon as he discovered how close Tony and Harley had been, and who owned the large fund that was paying Harley’s tuition.

After Pepper told her story, Harley told his – about how dangerous E.D.I.T.H. truly is, about the responsibility of a world killer that he could wear like a pair of smart glasses. Quentin had been right, as awful as it was; Harley wasn’t ready for them, wasn’t prepared to own something like that, and in the wrong hands…

“Why do you think Tony gave them to you?” Pepper asked softly, hers hands on his arms.

“I don’t know!” Harley complained. “I don’t know why he gave them to me—”

“He gave them to you because you are the right hands,” she said. “Because you are responsible. And yes, they’re a weight to carry, and they can be scary—hell knows I feel that pressure with F.R.I.D.A.Y. standing over me at all times, knowing what she can do if I asked—but he wouldn’t have handed them down to you if he thought you couldn’t handle it. And maybe… maybe you can’t yet. Maybe you do need to grow into them, but E.D.I.T.H. is yours, and will be for as long as you want it.”

“But it can do so many bad things.”

“And it can do so many good ones, too,” she replied. “Tony was a futurist. He saw the way forward and brought it to the present. He could see the value of A.I.; of a being that learned and grew and changed, but wasn’t human. They can do a lot of bad, if you ask it to – and they’re installed with safeguards for that exact reason – but they can do a lot of good. F.R.I.D.A.Y. is a personal assistant and security system as much as she can be used as a weapon. She can keep an eye on Morgan, can deploy security measures if someone breaks in, can keep an eye on body temperatures, on health and how hydrated we are. She’s a friend as much as she’s technology. If she sees dips in mood, she can work to relieve it; when Tony was struggling after the first snap, she was also the one that alerted me, so I could help. And maybe—maybe they’re small things, compared with missiles in the sky and drone strikes, but they’re also good things.”

She sighed, smiling. “It’s like being a good person or a bad person, Harley. Just because you think bad thoughts, doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It’s what you do that counts. We all have the potential for chaos, for hurt and harm – we have to choose not to act on it. In the same way, with A.I.s in our hands, we have to continuously choose to use them for good, not evil.”

Harley felt his chest loosen a little, where it had tightened and knotted up. Maybe Pepper was right.

“But E.D.I.T.H. isn’t in my hands,” he said. “I lost her!”

“Anything lost can also be found,” she said easily, turning to the monitors. “I have F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” she said, “and I am using her for good by locating Quentin Beck using New York’s CCTV cameras and S.I.’s advanced facial recognition software—not for sale, distribution or government use,” she added, with a smile. “I could go out there myself, too, but I figured there was someone closer by.” Pepper pressed a button on the dash. “How’s it going Spidey?”

“Hey, Pepper!” a voice responded; the cheery, upbeat tone of Spiderman. “I’m actually just watching him through the window of his buddy’s apartment. They’ve been trying to hack into the glasses since way before I got here and its fun seeing them stressed. They haven’t even noticed I’m here.”

“Spidey,” Pepper sighed, “would you mind getting the glasses back sooner rather than later? And finding out who the buddy is?”

“Oh, KAREN’s already figured that out. Ex-S.I. employee. Guess they all have it out for Mr. Stark, huh?”

The image of a balding man appeared on one screen, clearly taken through the bedroom window. His name popped up next to it, with his details.

“Guess so,” Pepper replied.

It was less than an hour later that Spiderman vaulted through the window of the lab, glasses in hand.

“Oh, pizza?” he said, looking at the boxes Happy had ordered to keep himself busy. “Save any for me?”

Pepper tapped her hand on a closed box. “Pepperoni. Just for you.”

“Oh, you’re the best,” he said, passing Harley on the way to the box and handing back the glasses as he went. “For you,” he added along the way.

Harley eyed the glasses in his hands; they were very Tony, just like the ones he used to wear. He wasn’t ready for them, really. Not yet. But someday, he might be – someday, he might be able to use E.D.I.T.H.’s reach and power for good. Might be able to use her to build good things that help people, to change the world just as Tony had done.

Harley said, “Thanks, Peter,” and grinned as Spiderman, Pepper and Happy froze.

Then Spiderman whined, “How did you know? I didn’t even tell you! I swear, Pepper, I said nothing,” and Harley laughed, waving the glasses around.

“E.D.I.T.H. knows everything,” he said, remembering all the details that appeared when he asked the glasses for Peter’s phone number, “from your class schedule to your secret identity.”

Peter pulled off the mask and Ariel sniggered into her pizza as he did so. He looked so put out. “No telling,” he said, slumping onto a free chair. “I can’t believe everyone I come into contact with figures out my secret identity.”

“It’s probably because you take off the mask every time you want to talk to someone or look dramatically into the middle distance,” Happy replied, with his mouth full.

They all laughed, and Harley grinned, placing the glasses carefully on the table.

Not yet, he thought, but maybe someday.

#marvel #mcu #harley keener #quentin beck #peter parker #bethany talks #bethany writes #could've responded like a normal person and YET i didn't #i wrote this in like 3 hours and then did a quick read through #let me live #jim-hopper-superhero

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yuniesan · 7 years ago

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Matters of the Heart - Chapter Four

Matters of the Heart (Rucas Adult AU)

Summary: Lucas worked hard all of his life protecting his family. During the day he works at his security firm, at night he runs a bar in New York with his best friend and his sister, making sure that no one interferes in his business, or assaults his customers.

Riley thought she had everything she could have wished for cool friends a boyfriend who cared too much and loving parents, except she didn’t know what she wanted from her life. Her life never felt like it was hers. She saw graduate school as a way to learn more about the world and about herself.

Until they met and realized there was much more to the world than what they had thought they knew.

Chapters [1] [2] [3]

A/N: Oh look another 8,000 words to add to this rollercoaster ride of a fanfic.... so much is happening..... help me.....

Chapter 4 – What is a Lie if the truth hurts more

It was early Tuesday morning when Lucas walked out of his room and found himself in front of Maya and Zay who were both awake earlier than they normally were on a regular day. He knew that the two of them were up to something and since Lucas had spent most of the day Monday staying away from the pair since he was sure that they were both up to something. Maya had gone out with Josh yet again, but he was nowhere in sight that morning so that meant that he hadn't slept over at all. Zay was grinning at him from the kitchen and Lucas wasn't sure what the guy had in his head at that moment but it couldn't be good in anyway.

"I don't want to know," he said automatically as he walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. He found himself smiling as he took the first sip of his coffee, he couldn't help but think about taking Riley's coffee the day before.

"Someone's happy today," Maya said looking at him from the dining room table. "Did something good happen yesterday because when you left here you were in a mood."

"I'm going to ignore that," he said looking over at her. "Especially since you've had your boyfriend over almost every minute since he asked you out."

"Oh please," she said throwing a napkin at him. "You've had your whatever hookups over more than I can count over the last few years."

He hadn't been in a relationship since he broke up with his ex but he hadn't had someone over since the breakup either.

"Oh, please Lucas over here had been rusty as hell," Zay said joining them at the table. "I haven't seen him with anyone since... shit it's been a year... maybe more I don't know."

"It’s nice to see you two so heavily invested in my love life and not your own... are you both done pining? Are so bored now that you've already moved on," he said trying not to roll his eyes at them.

"We just want you to be happy geez," Maya said as she tried to push him. "Is it so bad for me to worry about my brother? Huh Lucas is it that bad."

"Yes, because if you're worrying about me then mom is worrying about me and I don't have time to deal with the two of you at the same time."

"This brings back memories," Zay said smiling at the two of them. "Remember prom night, he didn't want to go at all and your mom made him ask someone and go."

"It was supposed to be a night you're never going to forget, she told him a few times, so he asked the head cheerleader and of course she said yes because Lucas was the bad boy of the school," Maya added with a smile. "What was her name again?"

"Jenna, I remember her well," Zay said with a smile that made Lucas groan. "She was a beauty, whatever happened to her?"

"Her ex-boyfriend tried to start a fight and got knocked out remember, and she started fawning over him like he was a hero but instead he was a bully, her best friend had gone with him because they were all fighting with one another," Maya said but Lucas was trying to ignore them all. "Oh, you took her best friend home that night."

"Yeah, and if I remember she had been crying so much that he had nearly jumped out of his own car," Zay said before he started laughing.

"I wonder what happened to those three?" Maya asked looking over at Lucas as if he knew the answers to everything.

"Jenna married her ex, apparently she had gotten pregnant around that time," Zay answered, his best friend loved gossip he knew that much, and as long as it wasn't about Lucas himself he didn't care. "The guy tried to blame Lucas for getting his girl pregnant, and that had resulted in a bloody nose, they almost didn't let him graduate because of all of that, but the school had gotten a notice saying that the two of them had lied because they were trying to make everyone think that Lucas was horrible, except his grades were in the top ten and he was going to Columbia."

"Was everyone so horrible in High School or am I remembering it differently?" Maya asked and Lucas honestly didn't want to talk about any of it.

"You're remembering it differently," Lucas finally said. "Now change the subject please."

"Are you going to ask Riley out?" Maya asked looking at him while she ate a piece of bread. Lucas wanted nothing more than to throw his coffee in the air and runaway.

"No Maya, we're just getting to know each other, you two and your dating escapades have forced me and Riley to get to know one another because you're dating her Uncle and Zay is dating her best friend."

"It's interesting you say that," Zay said as he shoveled a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. "But Riley and I actually have something more in common."

"What could you possibly have in common with someone who has an Uncle Josh's age," Maya said exasperated groan coming out of her.

"Her dad is my biological dad," he said and both Maya and Lucas looked at him as if he uttered the holy grail.

"That can't be possible," Lucas said, wondering how much of Riley's life was real. He was still working on the background check so for all he knew it could be true. He didn’t want to do it without her permission, he hadn’t wanted to do it period, he had wanted to trust her but his mind was constantly telling him not to trust anyone.

"If you two are related then the world is ending because Riley's a workaholic according to Josh and you're the farthest thing from that," Maya added.

Zay made a mock gesture towards Maya, “I cannot believe, the audacity of this girl to think that I’m not a hard worker like my sister,” he said before laughing so hard he fell off his chair. When he came back up and sat at his chair with a smile and out of breath he shook his head. “I don’t think… that Shawn is her dad.”

At those words Lucas’s head snapped up and looked at his friend. “What do you mean you don’t think he’s her dad, she talks about him like he’s her father doesn’t she?”

“That’s the thing,” Zay started before drinking some water and taking a deep breath. “She calls him Shawn, they don’t even have the same last name since his name is Hunter and not Matthews, and when my mother talked to her they hugged and it felt really weird at first.”

Lucas felt as if the air in the room was slowly being sucked away, she had lied to him, even though she had told him jokingly that she didn’t know him well enough to know her life story he still had the right to know if she had a record of some kind.

“Do you think she’s hiding something?” Maya asked, Lucas knew that his sister was eyeing him, questioning everything so that it didn’t come directly from Lucas.

“I think whatever she’s hiding my mom knows about it, and Shawn does too, maybe even Josh. There’s also the fact that Josh and Riley look like family and have the same last name, but Shawn doesn’t, there’s something there I just don’t know what it is,” Zay finished with a shrug. “It’s not really our business anyway, who knows.”

“Yeah I guess,” Maya said giving Lucas a half smile as if she was apologizing for pushing the relationship issue. Maya knew more than anyone how much Lucas detested lies from other people, he worked in security, but he had lived for so long lying for the sake of protecting his family at first. Lies now just made him uneasy, it could cost the life of a client, or harm to those he cared about.

“It can’t be as bad as you’re both thinking,” Zay said looking between the two siblings. “Lucas, just give her a chance, whatever it is it can’t be end of the world bad, especially if my mother knows about it.”

“I could be overreacting,” he said out loud even though he hadn’t actually said anything.

“In that head of yours I wouldn’t be surprised, the minute you hear about someone lying, if it effects your family you tend to go nuclear,” Zay put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Don’t get too worked up over this, just let them tell you. For what it’s worth she seems like a good person from what I can tell, she has to be if she wants to be a lawyer in a city like this one.”

“That’s not really helping,” Maya said glaring at Zay.

“Shawn told me about it, she’s not looking to be a big hotshot lawyer, she wants to help families in need from the bad guys, she’s been working towards this for a very long time,” he said to the both of them. Maya relaxed hearing this and Lucas knew that he had to as well. His sister was already invested in her new relationship, even though it was still in it’s infancy.

“Sure, maybe it’s not something huge, she could just be adopted or something,” Lucas said looking at the two people in front of him. “Yeah it could be something small and I’m just being overprotective for no reason whatsoever.”

None of them talked after that, no stories, no meaningless words. In his mind Lucas was already running every possible lead to who Riley Matthews really was. He hated not trusting people but after years of protecting those closest to him he couldn’t stop himself. He hated liars. He excused himself before walking out the door and headed towards the main office where he worked during the day. All the while thinking about telling Riley to forget about the job, but when he walked into the office and saw her standing there with a huge smile talking to his secretary Lucas didn’t have the heart to do it. Why was she getting under his skin to the point where just the sight of her made him push aside the logical side of his brain.

His mind also reminded him that he was making her lie to everyone about working there in the office. When it came to Riley Matthews he was conflicted about everything and nothing at the same time and he hated feeling that way. He did things that he normally wouldn’t do and every time it happened he had done it with a smile.

Riley had gotten up early that morning, she had told everyone that she had gotten a new job at an office who was willing to let her shadow a team of lawyers. The lie had rolled off her tongue without her thinking twice, that was when she realized that it wasn’t really a lie if Lucas would let her help in the legal department. She had gotten to the office to be greeted by a blonde at the desk who was on the phone with someone named Yogi, which only reminded Riley of the cartoon bear.

“What can I do for you?” the blonde said once she had hung up the phone, a smile on her face as if Riley was a customer.

“Um… I’m here to see Lucas Friar,” she said only to have someone clear their throat behind her. When she turned around Lucas was there a small smile on his face hiding that permanent scowl he always had on his face.

“Darby I’ll take it from here,” he said as he walked up to them. “Follow me Miss Matthews.”

For some reason the sound of her last name coming from him unnerved her, as if he wasn’t sure what to do about her. They had been so friendly the day before so she wasn’t entirely sure why he scowling. She wondered if she should have brought coffee with her, was that her job as his assistant, she wasn’t sure what she was going to be doing in the office with him.

He gestured for her to follow him through a set of doors that led to a large modern office that felt more clinical than the homey feel of the office from the bar. She didn’t know what to do and when he sat down behind the desk she just stood there feeling out of place.

“I know that this was my idea,” he said looking up at her making her feel like she was in the principal’s office getting a lecture. “I’m regretting somethings about this arrangement Riley.”

“I don’t know why I’ve been nothing but honest with you,” she said looking at him hoping that he wouldn’t change his mind especially since she doesn’t have a job anymore.

“I know but I always run a background check on all of my employees and not doing it makes me uneasy,” he said and her heart stopped for a moment. He was more afraid of not knowing the truth about her life, all of her jobs in the past ran them, at least the internships did. Most of them didn’t want a scandal. Her heart slowed for a moment, even though she didn’t want him to know about the accident about her parents, this would come out eventually so she might as well let it happen without incident.

“You can do it,” she said without hesitation. “My only request is that it stays private, I don’t work for your company, I only work for you so no one should know about what comes out of it alright,” she said as her heart pounded, she was giving him permission to know the deepest and darkest parts of her life.

Lucas looked at her as if he had been waiting for her to fight him on it, instead he nodded, “That’s fair since you’re not employed by the company,” he said before gesturing for her to take a seat. “I’ll explain what you have to do here and then we can get started.”

She nodded taking a deep breath before taking out a pad of paper and a pencil, normally she would use her tablet but it died a few weeks before the beginning of the semester and she hadn’t had the chance to replace it. Especially since it had been a gift from her grandparents three years prior.

That’s when the words that Charlie had said to her not too long ago had hit her in the face, she really didn’t focus on buying things that she would need. She scrimped and saved everything even though she had enough to be selfish every once and a while. Now she had a job that would pay her well enough to not worry too much about bills but she still thought of saving everything. She wasn’t living her life, even though she was trying to achieve her dream.

She listened as Lucas talked about her responsibilities, she was going to be an extension of him in a way, helping with the multitude of things he had to do on a daily basis. He told her that she would have to buy lunch and bring him coffee, but he also wanted her to be his sounding board on some of the other things he had to do. She would be in charge of making sure that the contracts were properly written and checked, as well as delivering them.

As she listened to him talk about everything that he did she realized that this was the reason why he needed an assistant. She wondered why he didn’t have one in the first place and wanted to ask but the more he talked about work, and the fact that he ran a security company, she realized he put the protection of others ahead of his own. It made her realize just how much the background check meant to him. She was alright with it as long as it stayed between them.

If Lucas was going to ask for help by getting an assistant, Riley wanted to take a chance on herself as well. She could still save money but she could also be a little selfish for once. She thought that there might be somewhere else she could be selfish but she didn’t want to think about that at the moment. Maybe in time she could take that step.

Maya had a lunch date with Josh that afternoon, normally she would look forward to it, they’d only been together for less than two weeks but after classes and before work they always sat in a nearby diner and talked. It was a good thing, but after her earlier conversation with Lucas and Zay she needed to get to the bottom of everything. Lucas had protected them for so long, her mother was happy, Maya was happy, so now it was up to her to help her brother.

Josh was sitting in the usual booth at the end of the row looking over the menu, Maya felt her heart speed up jut from the sight of his unruly hair but she pushed it down because she was on a mission. She needed to know the truth about Riley, especially if she was the one who started pushing the relationship between Lucas and the brunette.

“Maya,” Josh said the moment he noticed her walking towards him, the biggest smile on his face. It almost made Maya hate the fact that she was going to spring this conversation on him, and possibly ruin their relationship.

“Hi,” she said feeling eternally awkward about it but she was a Hart and she didn’t back down. “We need to talk about something,” she started without hesitating because if she so much as let him say anything to distract her she would lose her focus and then run out of time.

Josh gave her a speculating look before saying, “Sure.”

She knew he was questioning this conversation and they hadn’t even had it, she wondered if there were ways to mess up a relationship if she was trying to help her brother. The damn boy couldn’t even get his head out of his ass long enough to hire an assistant to help him. She didn’t want to lose those late night conversations she had with Josh, she actually liked them it was so normal that she hadn’t known that she had craved them until they started happening. They hadn’t actually gotten to the sex part of their relationship, and it had been because she wanted to wait, she didn’t want to rush anything because she honestly saw a future with Josh but this whole Riley thing could end that.

“Maya get out of your head,” Josh said snapping her back into the present. The guy already knew her well enough to know her ability to question things, including her own happiness. “Just tell me what you have to say and we’ll work it out.”

She took a deep breath as she nodded at him. “I want to know about Riley, because Zay says that her and her father don’t have the same last name, and that it seemed like she was hiding something when he had dinner with them the other day and I don’t want my brother to get hurt if I push this relationship on him.”

“Slow down Maya, I only understood half of that, what dinner with Zay,” he questioned her.

“Apparently Zay’s biological father is a guy named Shawn Hunter,” she said and at the mention of the man’s name she saw Josh stiffen. There was something there, something they hadn’t talked about, something that could ruin the best two damn weeks of her life. “I need to know if what Riley is hiding would hurt my brother.”

The words had come out without a second thought, it was time she sacrificed something for Lucas since he had done it for her and their mother for so long.

“It’s nothing bad,” Josh said looking up to meet her eyes, there was a sadness there that she hadn’t seen before. “Well actually it’s bad but only for those of us who know about it, but it doesn’t change who Riley is as a person and it shouldn’t hurt anyone. But it’s her story to tell, not mine,” he finished his eyes glassy.

“Is she really your niece?”

“Yes, I was born two years before she was, I was a surprise to my parents, actually to my whole family but they all loved me, and when Riley was born we were raised together. She’s my family blood and all.”

“But she’s not Shawn’s kid is she, he’s connected to this in some way, and so is Zay’s mother because he said that she had hugged Riley after they had finished talking.”

“What’s his mom’s name?”

“Angela,” she said as if she were revealing something that was a secret even though it wasn’t. She heard Josh’s gasp, even though it had been very low. “She knows too doesn’t she.”

“Yeah,” he said but his words were heavy with the emotion he was hiding from her. “I want to tell you Maya, I do but I only know a part of the story, and the whole truth of what happened has been buried for so long ago.”

“Can you at least tell me how this is all connected,” she said as she took his hands. “I know there’s something there between Riley and my brother, he’s not very good at hiding when it comes to people he likes, but he’s at war with himself over whether he wants to be with her.”

“How do you know that? I mean they’ve met twice from what I know.”

“I saw her leaving the bar on Saturday morning, I don’t think they did anything… well you know, but I know ever since he’s been doing this weird push and pull with himself, so he likes her or at least I think he does. My brother is really weird about somethings it’s hard to piece things together without all of the facts.”

“Riley didn’t say anything, all she’s talked about was this new job she got at a law firm, she really does work too hard but I know this was something she had been gunning for, and I’m glad it made her quit that job she had… but now that I think about it I didn’t hear about her having an interview.”

“Well this just went deeper than I thought,” she sighed before putting her head against the table. While she was thinking about it all the waitress came over and asked for their order, Maya just ordered a tuna melt and fries, ignoring the war going on in her head. Once the waitress was gone Josh put his hands on her face and gave her a quick kiss.

“Don’t worry too much, Riley and I don’t live together so I don’t know everything that’s happening, but I’ll tell you about the mystery you’re trying to solve.”

“Really,” she said even though her face was flushed from the kiss.

“Yes, but don’t bring it up with her please it took a long time for her to understand it all herself.”

“How bad is it?”

“My brother died when she was six, in a car accident, Riley had been in a coma for about a month,” her head shot up the moment the words had left his mouth. “She doesn’t remember any of it, she doesn’t even remember their faces, we don’t know how it happened, but she was left without her parents and the little brother she still didn’t know her mother was carrying inside of her.”

“Now I feel horrible,” Maya said as a heavy weight settled in her heart.

“Don’t,” he said giving her hand a squeeze. “Riley may not remember but she hates when people define her by what had happened. I’m only telling you because we’re dating and I don’t want to keep it a secret from you.”

“How does this Shawn guy fit into all of this, wouldn’t your parents take her in?”

“Shawn is her godfather, but he was also the only one who could keep her from breaking down from the guilt of not remembering. My parents saw my brother Cory and his wife in her, they held the memory of them as well as a house full of their lives together. I remember Riley feeling awful for so long after she had gotten out of the hospital. So Shawn took her in and raised her, because he knew what she needed the most,” Josh sighed sitting back as their food was placed in front of them. “Angela, I don’t know a lot about her, she had left to be with her dad around the time I was one, but I know that she was Shawn’s first everything, but she would know my brother and his wife so that’s how they’re all connected.”

“I feel like there’s a lot more to this story, but I understand that it’s Riley’s to tell,” she said feeling awful for pushing the issue. This wasn’t what she was expecting, but she knew enough about how much faith Josh was putting in her.

“Just don’t tell Riley I told you, when she moved to New York it had been a fresh start, a place where no one knew the truth about who she was, with the exception of her best friends, no one knows about any of it.”

Maya knew all about new beginnings, she had told Josh about what had happened to her and Lucas growing up in one of those late night conversations. He had held her close until they had fallen asleep, after the tears on her face had dried from remembering the bruises on her brother. This was just another tragedy in their lives, but they had all become stronger people in the years since.

“Thank you for telling me,” was all she said before moving on to a different topic.

Riley had been working as Lucas’s assistant for two days when his secretary cornered her with a look. She honestly didn’t know what to think about the woman looking at her the way she was. For the last two days she had been looking at Riley before talking to Lucas about his scheduled appointments for the business. Sometimes Riley had heard a comment come out of the woman about something unrelated but it always felt like it fell on Riley to know what she was talking about.

“You know, he’s never hired an assistant before,” Darby said after those first two days had passed, or at least that’s what Riley remembered Lucas had calling her. She was always bad with names in the beginning especially if the person isn’t very forthcoming on anything. “Even when we all begged him to do it, so I wonder why now.”

“Uh… I don’t know,” was all Riley could say. The small smile on the other woman made her feel a little weird. Like she was being assessed for a war. Was there a war? Riley wasn’t sure.

“There’s something about you, he’s drawn to you and you seem like a good person so all I can say is that it’s about damn time that guy got his head out of his ass and took better care of himself.”

“Do I want to know what’s going on here,” Riley said trying to figure out why it was happening, why everyone looked at her with questioning looks before approving of her in one way or another.

“It’s nothing really, he’s just hard to love I guess,” Darby said with a shrug. “You’re good for him, he remembers to eat around you, he’s talking normally and the scowl is less likely to show up.”

“Did he really need an assistant before this? He always seemed self-sufficient in a way.”

“Trust me honey before you came he would be yelling at some poor unsuspecting soul who had the audacity of interrupting him during a conference call. You’ve taken a lot off his plate in just two days, and I know a lot of people here are grateful for that.”

“I feel like there’s a lot more to this conversation that I’m missing here,” she said wondering what the other woman was up to. “What should I know that you’re not telling me.”

“It’s really nothing you don’t already know, or at least will come to know soon enough. Now go to lunch before he sees you, he remembers to eat when you’re not around so it’s helpful,” Darby pushed her out the door with a smile, which only left Riley even more confused about what was happening around her.

Three days in this new world and she was completely confused by some of the approving looks she received from the people around her. Since she had always worked the morning shift at her old job, and taken classes at night Riley was unsure of what to do on her lunch breaks. Especially since they were an hour long instead of the half an hour she had been so used to for so long. So that day she was meeting up with Isadora for lunch, or in Isadora’s case taste testing the food at one of the many caterers the Minkus Family had been auditioning for the wedding. It was down the block from the office which was one of the reason she had agreed to the lunch meeting in the first place.

When she arrived all she saw was a frustrated Isadora and a table full of food that had been spread out in front of her.

“Hi Izzy, why the face,” Riley said as she walked through the door. Isadora automatically gestured towards her ear which meant that she had turned off the hearing aids, which meant that the caterer had said or done something to upset her.

‘You want to talk about it?’ Riley signed to her friend who shook her head.

Normally if Isadora didn’t want to talk about a problem it meant that whatever it had been had upset her to the point where she didn’t want to say a word. Those problems tended to revolve around her hearing aids, her inability to understand some people, or bullying that she had endured in high school. Regardless everything was connected to her impaired hearing and she hated it since she had worked harder than most to get to where she was, genius or not Isadora Smackle was still a human being.

‘Let’s get out of here, they don’t deserve your attention,’ Riley signed before grabbing their purses and pulling Isadora out the door into the summer heat.

They walked around and found a small quiet café two blocks over and sat down, Riley grabbed the menus and ordered food for them before signaling Isadora that it was alright to talk.

“I can’t believe those people,” Izzy said the moment her hearing aids had been turned back on. “The moment they saw me they were whispering about how could she be the one marrying the Minkus International heir. What made them think that just because I had hearing aids that I couldn’t hear their comments.”

“They don’t deserve your business Iz, just tell Farkle what happened and trust me either they’ll fire the workers or the entire company will lose one of their biggest clients,” Riley said squeezing her friend’s hand. “No one deserves that, they’re just waiting to be sued.”

“I just want this wedding to be over, I’m only doing this to appease my parents and Farkle’s parents,” she said with a sigh.

“I’ll help you no matter what,” Riley said with a small smile. “That’s what I’m here for.”

Isadora smiled at Riley before pulling her into a hug, “Riles, I know you’ll always be there but I also know that you need to be there for yourself as well,” she pulled away for a moment before taking Riley’s hand in hers. “We’ve been friends for a long time, but even with the wedding planning and everything, I want you to start putting yourself first, be selfish, find love, and don’t bring home another Charlie because honestly there’s only so much of him I can take and if there’s two of them I’ll strangle them both.”

Riley couldn’t help but laugh, Charlie was a bit too much somedays, but she also knew that Isadora was saying this in a sisterly way. They were a family the four of them, so there were days where they couldn’t handle each other and others where they needed one another so bad that it hurt.

“Charlie’s dating Zay now so it shouldn’t be too bad,” Riley said with a smile. “But I’ll try to focus more on myself. I realized a few days ago just how much I had been neglecting myself so I’ll work on it. The first thing we need to do is go shopping, I need new clothes.”

“Thank freaking goodness, it’s been too long, I wanted to throw out your clothes last week because you didn’t look like yourself. I remember those colorful dresses you used to wear, and how everything was so bright and shiny even if it was secondhand.”

“I guess we need to go shopping this weekend,” Riley said trying not to laugh too much.

“No, tonight after you get off work, I’m buying… better yet if I tell Farkle he’d spring for a whole new wardrobe along with a makeover, because honestly we missed you Riley.”

“We can go shopping but you and Farkle aren’t paying for my clothes, that’s ridiculous.”

“Two outfits each,” Isadora said as she started typing into her phone. Riley made a grab for the phone but the message had been sent before she could stop the other woman.

“Oh come on,” she said sighing into her chair as Isadora started laughing.

If it made her friend this happy after such a horrible day, then Riley would be alright with it.

“Fine two each, but that’s it, and you both have a budget,” she said in defeat.

“Yay,” Isadora said before sending the message to Farkle. Riley loved the two of them, and realized at that moment that they would make good parents if they fussed over their children the same way they did Riley.

Lucas felt like the scum of the earth as he read through the envelope that had been sitting on his desk for two days. It takes his team twenty-four hours to run a full background check, so the file had been sitting on his desk since Wednesday. Two whole days of training Riley in what he needed her to do, two whole days of him ignoring the papers inside. They could have emailed it to him but he wanted the option of throwing it away, burning them in the train bin. Doing anything but seeing what was inside and finding out that the woman he had hired wasn’t who he thought she was. Since she had started on Tuesday, all he could do was watched her, as she smiled and worked alongside him. She was sharp and had an eye for detail that most of the people on his legal staff didn’t.

That morning she had walked in wearing a pencil skirt in a deep blue color with a button up blouse and his head nearly exploded. Her hair was in loose curls down her back and all he wanted to do was run his hand through them. He could feel himself giving in, and when she had left for lunch with Darby he scolded himself for even thinking about doing anything.

Out of spite he had opened the envelope and read through the background check, instantly hating himself five minutes afterwards. He had learned too much about the woman he had hired, so much that he hadn’t expected the tragedy of her life to impact him so much. He now understood why she was such a hard worker, why she pushed herself, and it made him feel like utter shit. He threw the papers in the back of his desk drawer, and slammed it shut.

“You can break things like that my darling boy,” his mother said from the doorway making his head jerk up. “We’re supposed to have lunch Lucas, remember, you, me and Maya, family tradition.”

The tradition was that they would have lunch together once every third Friday of the month. It had started after college, Maya still had one year left of high school and Lucas had engrossed himself in finishing as fast as he could that they all had missed one another. The rule was that they would talk about their lives during lunch. This also didn’t count the dinners at his mother’s house every other Sunday, those were for them to get to know her husband as well, or at least that’s how they had started. Now they were just family dinners.

“Yeah momma, I remember,” he said as his southern accent started to come out. They had been raised in the south most of their lives until High School, their accents only came out when their mother pushed them at particular times but it was still a familiar sound in his life.

“Well come on baby boy, Maya is waiting,” she said while tapping her foot which only made him hurry out the door.

He looked at the drawer one last time before getting up and taking his mother’s arm and placing it around his. They walked out into the summer sun together the same way they had for so many years, holding onto one another.

Their lunch was at a nearby Italian restaurant that had been in the neighborhood for years, Lucas always ordered from them but as a family it had become a regular place for them to talk. The place was quiet during the lunch rush, most people usually went to the faster diners nearby because they had less time. The restaurant made its money from the dinner rush, since most of the employees in the neighborhood went there to unwind.

As they walked in he noticed Darby and Riley at a nearby table, Darby’s husband Yogi was with them as well as a brunette Lucas had never seen before. The group was laughing about something and Lucas couldn’t help but be drawn to the utter joy in Riley’s face.

“See something you like,” his mother whispered in his ear making him jump. She looked over at the table zeroing in on Riley, his mother knew his type it was one of the reasons he never dated someone who looked like Riley. “I see someone you would like right over there, but knowing you my beautiful baby boy you would ignore her completely. I don’t know why you don’t want to be happy.”

“Don’t worry too much about it momma please,” he said running a hand through his hair. “For now let’s just have our lunch and enjoy being a family.”

He pulled his mother towards their regular table, Maya sat waiting in front of a basket of bread that was steaming in front of her. They had a rule, none of them could eat until they were all together, so of course Maya was eyeing the bread like it was the holy grail.

“Maya you can start eating the bread,” Lucas said as they reached the table. Maya hadn’t waited to be told twice before she had picked up two pieces dipping it in the oily garlic and putting it in her mouth.

“Baby girl didn’t you eat breakfast this morning?” their mother said as she watched Maya go through both pieces of bread before picking up a third.

“I had a test this morning, so all I had was a powerbar that I snagged from the table,” she said sighing. “By the way Lucas those things are downright disgusting.”

“They’re not mine, they belong to Zay,” he said in his own defense. From across the room he could hear Riley laughing and his heart sped up from the sound.

“What should we talk about today I wonder?” his mother said looking at him with a knowing glance.

“Maya has a boyfriend,” he blurted out before his mother turned the attention towards him.

“No shit Sherlock,” Maya said. The reference reminded him of the conversation with Riley the Friday before, “His ears are turning red, there’s a story there,” Maya said the moment she noticed.

His mother was laughing before rubbing his ears, it had become some weird thing she had started doing when he first went out on a date. “My poor boy,” she said with a smile. “And I already know about Maya’s boyfriend, unlike you, she and I have lunch every other day, and she calls me on days we can’t meet up. I’m going to meet him soon.”

“Well that relationship is moving fast,” Lucas murmured.

“Not really,” Maya said back at him. “Josh was the one who asked to meet the family since he already knows you. He’s a kind person, unlike you who doesn’t want to give a girl the chance to date you.”

“Whatever Maya,” he said trying to deflect the attention away from himself for the second time.

“Well I have some news,” their mother said ending their conversation. “It’s about Kermit.”

Lucas could feel the air escape his lungs at the mention of his step-father. They hadn’t heard from him in years, Lucas had made sure that the man couldn’t get near them at all in the years since. Legally his mother was still tied to the man, the divorce had taken years to go through and it happened with luck right before her wedding to John. That’s because Lucas had told his step-father that if didn’t sign the papers that he would live to regret the day they met again.

‘I’m not that scared ten-year-old boy that you liked to beat down on,’ he had said to him over the phone. It had been a threat one that he was proud to deal out because it had given him power over the person who had beat him for so long. He hated stooping down to his level but his mother’s happiness had been tied to it.

In the end the papers had been signed, along with a lengthy court order that stated that if the older man had so much as cross state lines and entered New York, he would be back in jail. Lucas had made sure of it, he had been protecting his family for years at that point so if anything happened to them it would kill him.

“I received a letter from his lawyer,” his mother continued unaware of the inner turmoil Lucas had been living for so long. “Apparently he hit a tree while driving while intoxicated.”

Lucas’s head shot up at the words, the blood rushing through his head, “Why were you contacted?” he asked feeling as if all of the air in the room had been sucked out.

“I was still the sole proprietor on his life insurance policy, we had signed it after Maya was born,” she said her hands gripping the napkin on her lap. “I get the money that was left behind.”

“The question is, do you want it?” Maya had said looking at their mother the same look of shock on her face.

“I’m taking it,” she said the resolve in her voice strengthening. “I’m giving you two equal shares, that bastard took so much from us I’m not letting him take this with him too.”

“That’s my momma,” Maya said before getting up and hugging their mother.

“I don’t want it,” Lucas said, his voice hoarse as breathing became impossible. So many years of pain only to be given this now after he had worked so hard to gain success. “Just keep my portion, invest it, go on a trip around the world.”

“Lucas,” his mother said taking his hand but he couldn’t think he couldn’t breathe.

Standing up he kissed his mother and walked out of the restaurant, finding himself in an alley nearby trying to regain his composure. There was a darkness inside of him, one that wanted to beat a brick wall until his fist bled because the bastard had taken the easy way out after the years of torment he had endured. When he couldn’t take it anymore he hit the wall, once… twice… three times, until someone pulled on his arm and he came face to face with a familiar pair of brown eyes. Someone who had lived through something as tragic as he had.

“Lucas are you alright,” Riley asked him but he couldn’t stop himself, he started crying as her arms wrapped around him. She ran her hands up and down his back, holding him up even though he was too heavy.

Riley had seen him run out of the restaurant, she hadn’t noticed him walking into the place, too busy talking to Isadora, Darby and her husband Yogi. It had turned out that they had all grown up in the same neighborhood, Riley had known Yogi because he had lived on the same block so it was a happy moment for them to all catch up. She had been wearing one of the outfits that Iz had picked out for her, but now it felt like it was too much as she tried to comfort Lucas. She didn’t know what had happened, she had seen him with Maya and another blonde, but the moment he had rushed out of the restaurant she couldn’t help herself and she rushed off after him. He had talked to her when she had had a crappy week, she could help him in return. It was what friends did.

“Come on,” she said as she pulled him towards the office building, holding onto his bruised hands.

Once they were inside of his office, she sat him down on the couch and grabbed the first aid kit that was in the bathroom connected to the room. She had used it the first day after she had gotten a papercut, now she had to use it on his hands hoping that she could heal a little of his pain. She silently dressed his hands, working on them as softly as she could, looking up at him and seeing that his eyes were stormy, the green had been swallowed up by the pupils but what was left had turned darker. She wasn’t sure if it was the lighting or if his eyes actually changed color but she couldn’t help but look at them trying to find the Lucas she had gotten to know. The guy who stole her coffee and gave her small smiles. Once she finished dressing the cuts she did something that she didn’t know she should have, she kissed his knuckles. She didn’t know where the gesture came from since no one had done it to her but she couldn’t stop herself.

The moment she did it he looked at her surprised before his bruised hands were on her face and his lips were on hers, the moment took her by surprised making her gasp before he deepened the kiss. She hadn’t been kissed for so long and she felt herself falling into it, knowing that it was the last thing he needed.

When he pulled away he whispered, “I’m sorry,” in her ear before he started crying again.

She did the only thing she could think of doing at that moment, she held onto him and let him take the comfort. They could talk about the kiss later.

Across the street, shrouded in the darkness of the alley, a young woman stood, she had watched the two walk into the building her hands clenching when she saw them holding hands. Lucas belonged to her, and no one else, she wouldn’t have done what she had for someone else to take him away from her. She did it so that he could see how perfect they were for one another, so why would this other woman be allowed to take this moment from her.

#matters of the heart #rucas #Riley Matthews #Lucas Friar #Joshaya #Josh Matthews #Maya Hart #I'm sorry for all of the angst #Isadora Smackle #Zay Babineaux #rucas fanfic #rucas adult au

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