20) things you said that I wasn't meant to hear

disclaimed

...

Honestly, Riley just wants to go home. Today's been a disgustingly long and painful day and she kind of just wants to hide under the covers of her bed with Maya.

Possibly forever.

But you know. It's fine. She's fine.

She's currently wandering the halls trying to find Maya, keys in hand because she's literally itching to get out of this goddamn school, but she can't exactly drive off without Maya. But, like, her face is actually itchy. It's probably stress hives.

She's fine. She's one hundred percent fine. Deep breaths.

Riley ducks into the art room just to check, wondering if maybe Maya's angry painting to try and forget about what happened earlier, and honestly? Riley wouldn't blame her if she was. It was a really shitty day.

Maya's not there and Riley moves on, gripping her keys even tighter and letting the ridges dig into her palm.

That's when Lucas sprints past her, Zay pulling up short to stop beside her. "Riley!" he pants, hand to his chest as he tries to catch his breath. "Let's go in a different direction." He's doubled over, so it's easy to sidestep his outstretched hand and jog in the direction Lucas went, ignoring Zay's protests behind her.

The halls are empty—Riley spent about an hour after school hiding in the back of the library, so most of the kids have cleared out. Which makes it a lot easier to hear the yelling.

And there's quite a bit of yelling.

There's some indistinct yelling and there's the deeper Lucas yelling and there's a higher Farkle yelling and Riley's heart is starting to bang against her ribcage because why on earth would her friends be yelling? Loudly?

She picks up speed, rounding the corner of the hallway at a dead sprint and skidding to a hard stop when her brain processes what's happening in front of her, seemingly in slow motion.

Maya's crouched over Matt Baczkowski. Her face is hidden by her hair, but Riley can see blood on her knuckles as she throws punch after punch after punch.

No one's noticed her yet. Riley's not sure if that's a good thing, because Maya hisses, "Do you still think it's fucking funny?" just as Lucas gets a solid grip on her and hauls her off Matt. Farkle's to the side, phone in hand, obviously the first to stumble upon this and the one to alert Lucas. Riley feels his eyes on her, but finds that she can't tear her eyes away from Maya, who's still struggling against Lucas, spitting curses at a still prone Matt.

Lucas half shouts, "He's not worth it, Maya," and Riley already knows that that's the wrong thing to say because, like, it's not about him, it was never really about him.

It's about Riley and Maya, like most things are; it's about the scars on Riley's arm and the fear that fills Maya's eyes when she looks at them, the constant reminder of how close she'd come to losing her. It's about them never talking about it, about Riley never wanting to because she doesn't really like working on her own problems, would rather put all her effort towards helping others. And it's about how easily she crumbles when someone says something about it.

Matt makes the stupidest decision then, wiping at his bloody nose with the back of his hand and only managing to spread the blood around. "You're just as psycho as your girlfriend, fuck," he grumbles, not looking up in time to see Maya rip away from Lucas and lunge for him again.

Letting out an undignified shriek when Maya collides with him, Matt goes sprawling on the ground again. Lucas has noticed Riley's presence by now, whether of his own accord or Farkle signaling, Riley's not sure; whichever the case, he places himself between Riley and Maya, trying to block her view. "Hey," he murmurs, "you shouldn't have to see this."

She leans around him to see Maya drag Matt up by his collar. "If you ever even think about saying something like that to Riley again, I'll make your life hell," she spits. "I will make you wish that you had crawled into the deepest, darkest pit and stayed there."

Matt flinches; Riley's sure that the look Maya is leveling at him isn't something anyone wants to be on the receiving end of. She finds herself moving, ducking around Lucas and whispering Maya's name. She's not loud, but it's enough.

Maya looks up sharply, dropping Matt's collar when she makes eye contact with Riley. He scrambles back, getting to his feet clumsily and running the second Maya's attention is off of him completely. Farkle follows him quickly, probably to try and convince Matt to not get Maya into the massive amounts of trouble she really can't afford.

There's something very raw about this, something that scrapes along the sides of Riley's ribs and climbs up her throat. Lucas disappears down the hall with a mumbled excuse about checking on Zay, leaving the two girls alone. Maya's still on her knees, her knuckles split and actively bleeding. There's blood on the floor where Matt was, a fine spray on across her shirt; a bruise is blooming along her cheekbone, where Matt must have landed a glancing blow before Maya got him on the ground, got the upper hand.

Riley's not sure if she should be horrified or proud or furious.

Instead of trying to riddle that one out, Riley focuses on Maya, who's staring up at her with unmasked vulnerability, hands open in her lap, palms up towards her.

"Was this about—?"

"You weren't supposed to see—."

They both stop short, biting off their sentences when it registers that the other is speaking. Riley goes and kneels carefully beside Maya, gently pulling her injured hands into her lap to inspect them. Maya winces at the movement and Riley worries that she's broken one, if not both of them.

She waits for Maya to speak first. Most of the questions she has, she can answer herself. Was this about what Matt said to me today? Yes. Have you been planning this since you found me? Yes. Do you regret it? No.

They sit in silence for what feels like an eternity, long enough for Riley to start to worry that a teacher will find them, long enough for Riley to notice that she'd dropped her keys at some point, locating them over where she had been standing, by the lockers. Long enough for Riley's guilt to seep in.

Finally, Maya whispers, "I didn't mean for you to see any of this."

Riley drags her eyes back to Maya, finds herself staring into twin blue pools of guilt and anger and fear. "I know, Peaches," she whispers back. They're going to have to talk about this soon, going to have to discuss why Maya always fighting Riley's battles isn't a solution to anything. But right now, Riley's still tired and she suspects that Maya's just about as tired as she is. So instead, she adds, "Let's get out of here. You need to have your hands looked at."

Nodding, Maya lets Riley help her up, lets her wrap an arm around her waist though Riley's sure that Maya's not about to fall over. They pass Lucas and Zay in the hall and Riley only listens with a passing interest as they urgently explain to Janitor Dan that some kid had a massive nosebleed, out of nowhere, in Hallway C.