I couldn't resist spelling the title the way I did.
Enjoy!
Sitting alone in her bedroom wasn't how Riley had always imagined her prom night would be.
Yet here she was, alone on the bed, rain pattering her windows in a steady pit-pat pattern that was enough to lull her to a sad sleep if she let herself drown in her sorrows deeply enough. The sky outside was dull and dreary, and it did nothing to her mood; In fact, the sky seemed to interpret the emotions surging within her at the moment.
The lilac dress she'd bought last week for the occasion hung on her closet door, mocking her with it's square neckline and silver trim that seemed to gleam in the light of her bedside lamp. Perhaps if she thought that she was imagining the lingering gazes and subtle hints of affection that Maya Hart was giving her all throughout the semester, this wouldn't have happened.
But she couldn't help it; Despite Maya's reputation as a spunky rebel of a girl Riley couldn't help but fall for her. Couldn't help but fall for her long curly blonde locks that always gleamed like gold in the sunlight; the sly but dazzling smile that was sent Riley's way when she caught her staring; her spunk and sass and attitude and everything about her, especially her dimples - oh God those dimples…
Riley definitely had it bad for this girl. And now she had blown any chance she had with her crush by asking her out for the prom before backtracking and remembering that she didn't do proms.
Oh, and it wasn't worth remembering that Riley also blurted out her feelings to Maya before asking her out, and that confused, weirded out expression Maya gave her hurt her much more than she thought it would.
So now the biggest night of their high school career was in motion at the very moment and Riley was alone and trying not to cry. She knew she shouldn't cry over this; She had to be strong, but it wasn't really easy, considering she had just made a bigger fool of herself than she already was the morning you tried and failed in asking her to the prom.
Cupped in Riley's hands was her special bowl of chicken soup that never failed to cheer her up 'til now. Mom and Dad were away on date night, and Auggie was with Ava ten blocks away until tomorrow morning, so the soup and the mountains of blankets and Netflix was all she had for comfort.
She wasn't sure how long she'd sat on the bed, glaring at the dress and moping interchangeably.
An hour later, the soup was gone, her laptop was currently being ignored, and the blankets weren't really making her feel warmer despite the alarming amount of covers that made it look like a pile of laundry. She stood up and got rid of half of the blankets before lying down, nothing really crossing her mind but the desire for peace and quiet, maybe even sleep. It stopped raining a few minutes ago, but there was still a light fog hovering in the air outside.
She curled into a feral position before she heard a knock on the door. She ignored it, uninterested in whoever was dropping by for a visit at this ungodly time of the night. The knocking came again and she put a pillow to her ears to block out the noise. Couldn't the world leave her be to her misery?
Her prayers seemed to be answered as things fell quiet again a few minutes later. But then the knocking came again, this time on her window. It was more of pebbles bouncing off the pane of glass, but it was still considered a disturbance by the sulking girl.
She got up, intending to give whoever was bothering her a piece of her mind, but when she saw who it was, she instantly became curious. Maya was standing in her yard, arm poised to throw another rock at the window. She wore clothes that were somewhat between punk and Goth: a black Kill Barbie t-shirt, a black leather jacket with random buttons of bands and logos that Riley doesn't know anything about, a checkered grey skirt over black tattered skintight jeans and a pair of Converse. But she still managed to looked incredible, as she always did, to Riley.
"Maya?"
"About time, Matthews. Don't you ever answer the door?"
"I didn't feel like seeing anyone."
"Well, now that I'm here, do you mind letting me in? It's chilly as heck here, even with my leather jacket and everything," Maya looked up at Riley and shivered slightly as if to prove her point.
"Hold on."
Once Maya entered the house, Riley was able to get a closer look at the blonde. Her hair was slightly damp and she looked a bit tired. Her forehead was beaded with sweat, but Riley was still able to catch a whiff of her shampoo, which smelled of something like citrus, which was kind of an odd combination with her but it managed to work for Riley. She also smelled a bit of perfume coming from - was that her pulse point? She shook her head to remove any inappropriate thoughts that would have entered her mind.
"Had to run from school to here," Maya gasped as she fell to the sofa with a soft thump. "Why weren't you in the prom, Riley?"
Riley bit her lip, unable to look at Maya in the eyes. She didn't want to look at her and see another judgemental emotion plastered on the girl's face. She also moved away, not wanting Maya to hear the thump-thump of her heart for being so close to her. What was happening now was what she always wanted to avoid; a confrontation with Maya. But she can't always get what she wants, can she?
There was a tense silence in the air for a few minutes until Maya spoke up. "Riley?"
Riley didn't look up.
"Riley, look at me. Now. Please."
That voice would be the death of me, Riley thought as she spared a glance at the blonde.
And she was surprised at what she saw, because Maya didn't look angry or reproachful or anything bad. Instead, she was giving her a look that was tender and thoughtful, something she didn't see her give to anyone except to her, something Riley thought that she would probably be the only one to be given a look like that by Maya ever.
Maya moved closer and suddenly hugged her, which surprised her more than she already was.
"What's wrong, Riley?"
And then she felt like she couldn't take it anymore, because fuck it, she likes this girl too much to hide anything from her for long.
" I like you, okay?!" It comes out a bit harsher than she intended, but she doesn't stop. "I really, really like you, Maya Hart. I love everything about you, but I made the colossal mistake of asking you out for prom then knowing that you would never, ever go out with me or even look at me as a possible friend and then you'd start avoiding me and - "
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on," Maya frowned. "First of all, you ran away before I gave you a straight answer. Your telling me how you felt about me was surprising, and it was touching, and… No one has done that to me in like, ever, so you can see why it kinda took me a while to answer. But can't you see, Riley? I ran from school to here when I found out you weren't there because of me. That bummed me out," She breathed.
"But… You're not going?" It was Riley's turn to frown.
"Actually, I was thinking of going, but seeing as the girl who likes me wasn't there, I went to her place and planned to tell her how I feel about this whole situation."
"Oh." Riley blushed and gestured for Maya to continue.
"Riley, I thought about what happened earlier. I know we're not like, friends yet - "
"Gee, thanks," Riley grumbled under her breath.
"Yet," Maya smiled. "But like I said, I thought about it and I realised that I do want to go out with you, y'know? I want us to know each other. I'd love for us to be friends. You're not so bad yourself," She smirked.
A moment of silence passed.
Riley had her mouth hanging open, eyes wide at Maya, who was looking a bit more nervous by the second. "Um, Riley - ?"
"Yeah," Riley said. "Yeah, that would be great - I mean, you know, the going out thing, and the friends thing, and it's so awesome that you think I'm pretty cool since wow, you're Maya Hart and all and - "
Maya suddenly leaned in and kissed her, which effectively shut her up. "I've been wanting to do that for awhile now, too," She smirked.
"Ahh…" Riley hoped she wasn't blushing as hard as she felt, because God, her face was burning and she was sure that if her heart continued to beat at a hundred miles per hour she'd have a convulsion there and now.
Finally, she gulped and said, "Well, I was thinking too…"
"Yeah?"
"There are better things to do than going to the prom."
Maya frowned. "What do you mean? Don't you want to go to the prom?"
"It's alright," Riley said. "But let's get to know each other first. You know, before the dates and stuff…"
Maya grinned. "Alright-y then," she said. "So, what do you wanna do?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe some TV? We can do a Game of Thrones marathon tonight, or maybe some MTV given your," Riley gestured to Maya. "Well, preferences. You can never go wrong with those."
"Cool, let's go then," She tugged Riley's arm. "But, there's this thing that you might like to do and we also get to know each other there too …" She trailed off, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she gestured to Riley's room.
"Dude, no, my parents will be home by 11."
Maya sighed. "That's like 3 hours away, but okay then," She walked to Riley's room, hips swaying, then lied on her bed and turned on her side to face her, a mischievously seductive look on her face. "Well, what are you waiting for? C'mere," She smirked.
Riley should have known better than to let that pose influence her inappropriate thoughts into getting the best of her, but in that moment, she didn't really care.
That girl would be the death of me.
She also discovered that, as they got to know each other Maya's way later that night, they also didn't need MTV to provide a sort of background noise. Maya's iPod provided plenty of that.
Riley wakes with the feeling of a slightly dry mouth and a couple of blankets draped over her. She's disoriented for a moment, twisting her head to look at the wall before registering the familiar white colour of it and suddenly the memories of last night come flooding back. She gets out of bed, putting on a pair of running shorts and a loose shirt before turning off the TV.
If it was up to Riley to judge whatever happened last night, she'd say they sort of did a compromise. They got to know each other Riley's way (which is to say, the typical getting-to-know-you way; Who knew Maya was a sucker for nail polish? That just made Riley fall harder for her, if possible) and then after that, Maya's way (which is to say, the intimate way). She had no regrets for last night, but there was still a twinge of sadness in her when she saw that Maya wasn't there anymore that morning.
Very slowly and quietly, she made her way downstairs so as to not wake up her parents. Looking at the clock, she groaned, remembering that she had to pick up Auggie in an hour. As much as she wanted to avoid Ava and stay at home for the rest of the day, she had no choice but to get ready soon. She didn't notice the figure silently coming out of the bathroom, though, until the figure wrapped it's hands around Riley's eyes. She yelped and the cereal bowl she was holding fell to the sink with a loud clatter.
"Shh," the figure whispered behind her ear, sending a shiver down Riley's spine. "Don't want to wake up the parents now, do we?"
"Maya?" She said, melting into her embrace. "But, I thought you left this morning."
"I'm not that insensitive, you know," Maya leaned back against the counter, arms folded. Weirdly enough, Riley instantly missed the warm feeling of her arms around her. "Especially considering the awesome night we had yesterday, I don't think I'd be going anywhere anytime soon," She smirked at the mad blush that crept up Riley's face. "Thank God your parents are really deep sleepers."
"Ah, so, um, that's really great to know," Riley said. Then she took notice of what Maya was wearing. "Is that my sweater you're wearing? It's not even that cold."
"I know, but it feels great wearing this," She gestured to the grey piece of clothing. "And I look great in it, too."
"Oh, I agree," Riley nodded, grinning. But soon afterwards the grin dropped, and the two fell into a comfortable silence as Maya watched Riley prepare breakfast.
"Hey, about last night," Riley said as she poured a cup of coffee for each of the two of them.
"Yeah?"
"What did last night mean for us?"
Maya turns to look at her, putting her hands against the marble countertop and giving Riley a steady, level look. "I'm not the biggest fan of labels," she sighs eventually, nose wrinkling a little, "But let's face it, we were basically girlfriends already."
"Already?"
"Well, I'm not gonna deny it, but there is something special about the two of us," Maya said. "I just felt it, y'know? It's a different feeling, being with you the way I did last night. And we may be rushing things a bit, but as long as it feels right, then I don't think there's nothing wrong with the way we're going. Whatever comes our way, we'll figure it out," She said. "Together."
She delivers it in a way so typical of her - there's no hesitation, no trace of a question there. It's
matter-of-fact and easy and Riley just grins at her in response because, yeah, they basically were girlfriends already. "Together."
Maya nodded, smiling.
"But what happened last night, that wasn't just a hook up."
"God, no. I'd really like to think of that as…" Maya thought for a brief moment. "I'd like to think of that as 'The time I spent the night getting to know each other and having amazing sex with the one and only person I know I'll love for my whole life, forever and ever."
Riley feels her whole face light up and the warm implication of their new situation spreads all the way down her toes.
"I enjoyed last night, too," She says, nearing the counter where Maya was leaning on and putting her arms around her neck. "And I absolutely have no regrets about the whole thing." She finished in a whisper.
Riley has Maya pushed up against the counter, leaning into her and holding her with gentle hands. They're kissing, lazily, exploratory. Maya has her hand in Riley's hair and is easing her head back to deepen the kiss when Riley pulls away, grinning slyly.
"Not here, babe," She whispers to Maya, who groans.
"Okay, but let's not wait a whole year to have sex again," She says.
"Oh, definitely not. But we can do it later, though."
Maya's gaze is predatory in an instant. She eases herself off the counter and settles her hands on
Riley's hips instead, looking down appreciatively at the swell of her chest in the generously loose
shirt. "Do we really need that coffee?" She murmurs, tipping her face upward to Meet Riley's. "Because I can think of some more creative ways to wake ourselves up."
Riley hums pleasantly. "I'm sure you will," She smiles. "But there's one thing you'll have to do to prove yourself first before - ah, earning your reward."
"What's that?"
"How good are you at fetching little brothers?"
A/N: Well, this turned out longer and a lot more different than I intended it to be.