things lost in the fire
Summary: They chose to ignite the fire. Don't feel bad because they got burnt.
A/n: because I don't think Riley can be so forgiving in certain circumstances. This is not a Lucaya, Rucas, or a Rilaya story.
Looking at the papers in front of her, Maya sighed for the millionth time. Running her fingers through her hair, she chewed on the end of her pen.
"Mrs. Friar?" Her soon-to-be ex-husband's lawyer questioned. She shook her head.
"She's Ms. Hart. She never took my last name," Lucas replied coldly. She looked up at him and glared. When she married him two years ago, she never expected him to speak to her that way. She pulled the pen out of her mouth and roughly signed the divorce papers. She jabbed the pen so hard into the paper, it nearly ripped.
"We're done here," she spat out. She stood up and walked out the room. She headed towards the elevator. She needed to get out of there.
"Maya wait," Cassidy Hayes, her own lawyer, reached out and stopped the doors from closing.
"Sorry, I just couldn't be in the room any longer with him any longer," she said in disgust letting the tall brunette lawyer into the small space. Maya felt comfortable around Cassidy. Mainly because the older woman reminded of someone of her past.
"I understand," she replied sympathetically. The lawyer gave her a reassuring squeeze. Maya leaned against the back of the elevator and let the tears creep down her face.
How was it at twenty four Maya was already getting divorced?
When she sits down on the plane, Maya figures it's probably her fault. She and Lucas were never really in love after all. They had passion and fire, but there was no real love. Sure they had been a couple since she was twenty and married for two years, but their relationship thrived off conflict and drama.
They started off with a Big Bang after all. Maya scrunched her face at the memory. It started when she was seventeen and Lucas was eighteen. They were juniors in high school, and Lucas had been dating Riley Matthews since the end of eighth grade. After the whole Texas fiasco and the New Years incident, Lucas had chosen Riley.
To say the least, Maya was a little bitter, but she hid it because she loves Riley.
Perfect Riley.
Riley had everything.
And Maya had nothing.
It was the night before their junior prom. She was sitting alone in Topanga's waiting for the closing hours. Her mom was on the road with Shawn, so she was home alone for the weekend. She was annoyed because tomorrow was prom night and she didn't have a date. Granted neither did Farkle and Zay, but they were going with perfect LucasandRiley. She had gone on several dates with potential guys (each set up by each one of her friends), but all of them were a bust. She wished she had at least picked one of them. She blow her hair out of her face when the door chimed open. She glared at no one agitated. It was almost closing time for goodness sake. She finally looked up and smiled. It was just Riley.
"Maya," she said frantically. Maya got up for behind the counter.
"What's up Riles?" She asked concerned.
"My grandpa Jed had an heart attack," tears ran down her face.
"Is he okay?"
"He's dead." Maya blinked processing this.
"Oh my god," the blonde gasped. She pulled the taller girl into a hug letting Riley cry onto her shoulder. No words were said for awhile. Maya sat Riley down in the chairs while she sobbed. The door chimed again. Riley was too distracted to look up, so Maya did it for her. At the door, Lucas Friar was standing there with a teddy bear and a bouquet of roses.
"Riley," he called out. The girl looked up at her boyfriend who sat down in between her and Maya. Maya inwardly glared at his ignorance. He set the gifts he brought for her down on the table.
"Hey baby," he cooed taking her hands into one of his and wiping a tear off her cheek. "It's gonna be alright," he said positively.
"Bubby," she called him by her ridiculous nickname. Maya rolled her eyes and got up to start cleaning. It was past closing, so she might as well get ready to leave even if the perfect couple were going to keep her there forever.
"It's okay baby," he pulled her into a hug and Maya could've gagged on the spot.
"I'm leaving for Pittsburgh on the m-m-m-morning," she hiccuped catching her breath. Lucas pulled back and held her by the shoulders and Maya turned her head at her.
"What?!" They said simultaneously.
"But prom?" Maya interjected. Maya didn't even want to go to the damn thing but Riley made her buy a ticket and a dress. Now she wasn't gonna go? Bullshit.
"I'm so sorry guys, but I have too." Without another word, Riley gets up and leaves. Lucas rubs the back of his head in annoyance.
"She can be so selfish sometimes," he gritted his teeth following out the door. Maya watches as he leaves.
Maybe the perfect couple wasn't so perfect as perfect as she thought.
(She was right.)
There's no rhyme or reason, but the following night at prom, Maya loses her virginity to her best friend's boyfriend.
Their affair lasted years behind the backs of everyone's.
They are sly.
They are manipulative.
They are awful.
Shit hits the fan the winter of their junior year of college. Maya and Riley had been living together since their sophomore year of college at NYU. Farkle was studying at MIT while Lucas and Zay were in school in Texas.
During winter break, Farkle is in the Bahamas with his family, and Zay had decided to stay in Texas for the break. It's Christmas morning, and Riley's spending the night in Philly with her family. She's not suppose to come back until the 28th. Both Lucas and Maya spend Christmas Eve with their own families, but retreat to Maya and Riley's apartment later that evening.
They fuck throughout the night and pass out early in the morning. They're sound asleep in Riley's bed when the front door creaks open. They don't hear Riley shuffling in. Placing her suitcase by the door, Riley drove back early to surprise them. She figured that Lucas would be at his parent's, so she knocks at Maya's door before heading towards her own. When there's no response, she carefully opens the door and notices that her bed is empty. She smiles softly to herself figuring that her best friend probably spent the night at her Mom's. She makes a mental note to text her later.
Riley goes into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. After her hot drink is ready, she hums to herself. She's tired and could use a nap before she heads over to Lucas' family home to surprise her boyfriend. She walks towards her bedroom and cocks her head to the side. She didn't remember shutting the door when she left. She shrugged it off and quietly opened the door. The first thing she noticed was an unusually large lump on her bed. She cautious approached it ready to pour her hot drink over an intruder.
"What the fuck?!" She screamed noticing the familiar blonde hair sprawled out on her bed. She dropped her cup of tea, letting it shatter all over her wood floors. Lucas and Maya immediately jolted awake revealing their naked bodies.
"Lucas?! Maya?!" Rage was evident in her voice. Tears were already streaming down her face, and all Maya could do is cover her body up in shame. Lucas couldn't even look at his girlfriend. "What the hell is going on?"
"Baby..." Lucas tried to reach out to her, but Riley immediately pulled away.
"Don't fucking touch me. Why are you guys naked? In my bed for fuckin' sakes?"
"Babe—"
"Don't 'babe' me. What is going on?" She demanded.
"Look, the truth is we've been sneaking around—"
"No shit. How long?"
"Four years."
"Four—Jesus Christ? Four years?!"
"Riley I'm sorry."
"Save your apologies Lucas. It's over. Please leave."
"Can we talk about it?"
"Talk about what? You cheating on me for four years of our seven year relationship? You not only cheating on me—but with my best friend? On my bed?! No fuck you. Get out of here. I never want to see your face again." Lucas opens his mouth to say something, but Riley shuts it by slapping him across the face.
"Leave. Now." Lucas gets up and starts putting on his clothes to leave. The tension is strong as Lucas makes his exit. After a while, Riley shuts down on the floor and bawls into her hands.
"Why? Why? Why?" She repeats over again. Maya gets up and wraps herself with the sheet. She sits down next to Riley. She reaches out to comfort her, but immediately retracts her hand.
"I'm sorry Riley."
"Do you love him?" Riley ask bluntly.
"I don't know," she said honestly.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Honey—"
"Don't," she said sharply.
"Riley, I'm sorry."
"Are you really?"
"Excuse me?"
"You lied to me for four years. Why?"
"I don't know."
"Do you love him?"
"I don't know."
"Do you love me?"
"Yes."
"Maya I swear I'm giving you a choice right now if you choose me, we could forget about this. I can just forget about Lucas because I would always choose you." Riley sobbed. Maya just sat there, clutching her sheet around her tightly. "It's you and me forever. You are my best friend. You're my sister. I love you. I love you so much. You are the most important person to me outside of my family." Riley wiped her eyes. Her sad eyes harden and Maya felt shivers down her spine. She had never seen this side of Riley Matthews before.
"However," she said icily. "If you choose him, that's it. It's over. I don't want to fucking see your face again, you back stabbing lying ass bitch."
"I'm sorry Riley..."
"Maya..."
"...but I lied. I do love Lucas."
"What?"
"Maybe I don't deserve him, but I love him way more than you do."
"Maya..."
"To be honest, I'm not even sorry."
"Wait, Maya!"
"Bye."
"Ring power..." Maya turned around and without a single word, she took off the ring and dumped it by Riley's knees.
She chases after Lucas.
She chooses him.
He chooses her...
...he didn't really have a choice.
She did.
Zay stops talking to them. Lucas might be his best friend, but he could never forgive him for this.
Farkle destroys them with his words. Maya is one of his first loves, but he doesn't understand how she could do this. Not just to Riley, but to any of them.
Riley moves out that Christmas Day. She sends in her 30 day notice and pays for the month of January. Maya gets screwed like always when there's no one to help with rent in February, but has no one to complain to now.
(She chose him.)
After the heat of the break up dies down, Maya and Lucas are happy.
Sure Katy quits being the manager at Topanga's, moves out of New York, and travels on the road with Shawn. Shawn can't quite look at Maya the same way, but she pretends to not notice. Farkle doesn't answer her calls. Lucas' family openly hates her, and she can't even pretend to not care when they don't even try to be nice to her.
But she chose him.
She's happy.
They elope in Vegas. No one they would have wanted to attend would attend anyways. So they elope.
They're twenty two and twenty three on a trip with Lucas' school friends. She flies in from New York, but finds herself not fitting in with the crowd. She's broody and moody. He's plain annoyed.
They're sitting watching the table while his friends are dancing.
"The fuck is your problem?" He yells over the loud music. She wonders if he ever cursed when he fought with Riley.
"Nothing," she lies. He rolls his eyes and pulls her closer to him.
"Nothing my ass. Come on Maya."
"I'm just feeling a little left out."
"Why?"
"I don't fit in with your friends."
"Who cares? You're my girlfriend."
"Yeah..."
"What?"
"Nothing?"
"Would you rather be my wife?"
"What?!"
"I'm serious."
"You want to marry me?"
"Yeah, sure. I chose you."
She takes it as reassurance.
They both finish school. Lucas gives up his dreams of being a vet after a disastrous junior year. His grades plummeted, so he's out discovering himself. He starts as a bull rider. Maya moves to Texas. There aren't many places for her to sell her artwork, so she teaches yoga.
Texas is cheaper than New York, but they still have bills. Lucas gets thrown off a bull one day and gets taken to the ER. He has a concussion, several broken ribs, and bruised ego. He's sensitive following the accident and no one but Maya is there to comfort him.
The bills are piling up: the house, their beat up car, insurance, hospital bills. Maya's near her breaking point. Lucas lost his job because of the accident so she takes a second job waitressing to help out. She hates it.
Lucas drinks and blows their her money by gambling it away. She watches as he spirals down.
She spends their first wedding anniversary alone. She doesn't know where Lucas is. She doesn't care. She's packing her stuff.
He files for divorce first.
When she gets to New York, there's no one waiting for her. She texted Farkle about her arrival, but honestly didn't even know if he had the same number. It's been too long.
She gets off the plane, and there's no one waiting for her. With nothing else than a purse and large duffel bag, she hops in a cab towards Greenwich village.