A/N: So this is my first GMW fic. I hope everyone enjoys. I've been working on it for a while but finally got up the gumption to post it. Still a work in progress but I'll try to update as quickly as possible. Please, please review and let me know what you think! - Side note: I do not own Girl Meets World, any of its characters or things referenced henceforth. This is just my brain running with what I've got.

MAYA'S POV

"I did it again, didn't I, Peaches?"

Letting her breath out as she held her best friend, she nodded lightly against her hair. "It's okay, Pumpkin. Tomorrow is another day." and she closed her eyes as she felt the weight of the brunette on her shoulder. She hoped it wouldn't always be like this, but admittedly, she wondered if they would ever move past it. She felt the wet tears now soaking her shirt.

"I'm sorry. I keep letting you down."

"No, you're not letting me down. I just can't help but worry about you." and she kissed her temple. Once she was asleep, she sent a short text to the Matthews' letting them know she'd found her and she was with her. Then, unable to stop herself tonight, she put in his number and sent him a text. She had promised herself she wouldn't get involved but this was killing her best friend. She was getting worse and worse, spiraling out of control. What made it worse, was that no one but her, even knew why, including Lucas. Taking a deep breath, she used the digital keyboard and hit send. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

LUCAS'S POV

"She's in bad shape. You have no idea what this is doing to her."

Staring at the words, his blood boiled. What this was doing to her? What about what she'd done to him? "How soon we forget who told me to leave and slapped me in front of the entire school. And it's killing her? Maybe she shouldn't have told me to take a flying leap and then leave me standing there."

"She was confused, and hurt."

"Seriously? Hurt by what?"

"She saw you kissing Missy, Huckleberry!"

The blood in his veins froze. When she'd planted one on him, he had pushed her away and hoped like hell no one had seen them and gotten the wrong idea. But to know now, that not only had someone seen them, it was Riley. "Why didn't she ever tell me?"

"Hurt? Confused? What did you expect?"

"Well for the record, I didn't kiss Missy. She kissed me, and I pushed her away."

"Why didn't you tell her that?"

"I didn't even know she'd seen us! I didn't understand what was going on!"

"So you just decided to leave?"

"She told me to! What was I going to do?"

"You didn't even fight for her."

"I wasn't going to fight her. She made sure I knew how she felt and she made it loud and clear. So I did what she wanted."

Irritated, he threw his phone down, not even looking at it when he heard it ding again. Pacing his floor, he stared out his window, looking down on the streets below. It had dinged another couple of times before his room fell silent for the night. Standing there for he didn't know how long, he finally glanced at the clock and made his way to his bed. Grabbing his phone, he clicked the screen on and read the messages.

"You should have fought for her. She's dying inside."

"Think about that while you sleep tonight."

"You should have tried."

Finding himself shaking with emotion, he set his phone down and thought back to that day. The sheer anger in her eyes was enough to bring a man to his knees. It was hard for him to remember it, even now. The slap to his face left a red handprint on his cheek for almost six hours, and the sting lasted for weeks after.

He'd started a new school closer to his house, and had become almost reclusive, not really seeking out anyone as a friend. He'd made himself as unapproachable as possible and it had worked. There had been a couple of guys that randomly gave him a head nod, and he'd nod back, but that had been the extent of it.

Grabbing his phone once again, he pulled up a number he hadn't used in a long time. It had just been too hard to talk to anyone after it all went down and he changed schools. Pulling up the empty box, he typed in only the word "Hey." and hit send. Putting his phone back down on the bedside table, he clicked off the lamp and turned over, closing his eyes and going to sleep.

CORY'S POV

"She's okay." Topanga breathed out, looking at her phone. "Thank God for Maya. I don't know what we would do if she wasn't a part of our lives."

Cory sat down on the couch, exhausted from pacing. "Where was she?" he asked, exasperated.

"She didn't say. Just that she'd found her and she was at her place for the night."

"I don't know what to do with her. She can't keep doing this to herself."

"I don't know either. Maybe we can get her to a therapist."

"Honey, I see what you're saying, but the last guy didn't do anything."

"We have to do something. She's getting worse! I can't watch my little girl keep...destroying herself like this! She never eats any more, she's barely passing school, she's going to be a Junior next year and I don't know if she's even going to make it, I mean...when was the last time you saw her smile?"

Letting his breath out, he looked up at his wife with sad eyes. "I don't know what to do any more."

Sitting down beside him, she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't either. She won't talk any more, she never says anything about how she's doing to you or me. At least she talks to Maya."

Wrapping his arm around her, he nodded. "I'll see if I can talk to her and see if she has any ideas. I just hate to be putting all of this on her. She's so young."

"I know."

RILEY'S POV

Opening bleary eyes, she stared at her surroundings. She couldn't remember a lot of last night. It took her a second to realize she was at Maya's. Sitting up and throwing her feet to the floor, she instantly put her head between her knees.

Opening her door, she leaned against the door jamb. "Morning, Sunshine."

A short moan was her reply. She felt the bed sink as her best friend sat beside her. Not raising up, she felt a hand rub her back. "What's wrong with me, Maya?"

It had come out so softly, she wouldn't have heard her if she hadn't been beside her. "You've been through a lot, Pumpkin. You're just trying to deal with things. But you need help. Help that I can't give you. Don't get me wrong, I'll never leave your side, but you can't keep doing this to yourself. You're killing yourself slowly."

Sitting up, she looked into the eyes of her only rock. The tears were brimming her bottom lids.

"Talk to someone."

"I can't."

"You talked to me." she argued back softly.

"You're different. You're Peaches. You'd never tell my secret."

"And I never will. But you need to talk to someone. Tell someone. It's killing your parents when they have to call me because you're gone again. And I would never tell them what's happened, but you're tearing them up inside."

The guilt was piling on. She felt like she was going to be sick. She needed to get away. She needed a release. "I have to go."

"Riley..."

"I'm just going to take a walk."

They both knew she was lying. She was going to find a place to disappear. That's what she called it. A place to get away. A place where she could blend in with the crowds and not be found by anyone. A place where even Rileytown couldn't find her. But there inlaid the problem. When no one could find her, there was no telling how much trouble she was getting into and with whom. She had a bad feeling about this. She'd never gone somewhere to 'disappear' this early in the day. "What about your parents?"

"I'll text them later."

"Riley, I really think you should..."

Stepping closer, she kissed her on the forehead. "I'll call you later, Peaches." then she stopped and turned before walking out the door, giving her best friend a sad smile. "Thanks for everything. You know I love you."

Sighing in defeat, she blinked slowly. "I love you too, Pumpkin. Please be careful."