Hello everyone, and welcome back to Chapter 2 of Find Your Smile! This will be the last chapter of this story, and please keep in mind that there is only a chapter two because all of you wonderful people requested it! I hope this lives up to any potential hype you have, so without further ado, here is chapter two of Find Your Smile!
Chapter Two:
Maya knew Riley was serious when she didn't smile.
If there was one thing that her best friend always did without fail, it would be smiling. No matter what problem was thrown her way, whether big or small, her sunbeam grin and caring eyes would deflect it away from her little bubble of love. That was the Riley Way, something that she wasn't entirely sure she understood, even having known her for so long. It just... was. Whatever was happening, whether good, bad, mediocre, exciting or nerve-racking, there would be very, very few times her mouth wouldn't be twitching upwards.
And it seemed today was one of those.
Maya didn't dare look at her, though. She could just feel the way Riley was staring at her, unsmiling, as she stared vacantly out of the alcove and into Riley's room. The setting sun, alight with orange, cast both of their shadows onto the multi-coloured rug that held so many personal memories. Maya's mouth slipped upwards, thoughts briefly swimming with playful wrestling and misadventures with dolls, shared secrets and warm embraces. It was like her second room, almost, although she downright refused to call it that out-loud. Riley, however, was insistent on the fact that she call it her second home. She spoke with a sternness during those times that strongly reminded Maya of Topanga, and she recalled with clarity the passion that would continually swim in her brown eyes as she tried to dispute it. Riley had always wanted her to feel welcome, always wanted to make her feel safe. But she never pushed on issues, not really. It was surprising that she didn't push her to talk about her mother or father, something that she was positive Riley would've done with anyone else. But there was always a gentleness to Maya's issues that she was thankful for.
But that was then, and this was now. And Riley obviously wanted to talk.
The two of them had just arrived at Riley's house after a long, boring day at John Quincy Adams High School. It was a usual occurrence, especially now that her mother worked two jobs, that she would come over to The Matthews' house for dinner. It was something that Maya would gladly do with unrestrained enthusiasm. Partly because of Topanga's excellent cooking, and partly because it was comforting to be around people that considered her family.
But her enthusiasm had died as soon as they had stepped outside the large doors of the school with her fellow peers. Maya had been in the throes of discussing how horrible her Maths' Teacher was, a subject that came up at least three times during any school day. As her peers had passed her by, and she had walked down the front steps, she had noticed that Riley hadn't been paying attention. With a playful smirk, she had asked what was wrong.
The smirk had died a quick and painful death when Riley turned to her with a look in her with that stern passion in her eyes. Resisting the urge to gulp, Maya had made a small, inconsequential joke. But the fire in her eyes never wavered, and she stated that she needed to know some things. She then downright demanded that they have a chat in the alcove when they got back to her place.
Maya had thought about running; Riley certainly wasn't as fast as her, which was probably due to the amount of practice she had when she had to walk home at night. While she had never been attacked, there was only so many times you could hear a twig snap behind you, or the shuffle of feet before you began to panic.
But Riley's gaze had transfixed her, sent a shot of paralysis to her spine that refused to let her move, despite her minds feeble attempts to get her to do so. 'Save yourself!' her mind had screamed, but it was to no avail. Riley Matthews was not someone you ran away from. Because she would chase you down, run after you as long as it took, and then kill you with kindness when she finally caught up.
It was a gift and a flaw, but one Maya was deeply annoyed she possessed at this point in time.
"Maya," Riley's voice was cool and calm, an air of concern drifting around her lithe frame as she adjusted herself. She clasped her hands together and crossed her legs, a pose Maya recalled her father often used when he was either about to try and psychologically analyse someone, or give a lecture.
"Riley," she returned back, fake boredom rolling off her tongue along with the words. "I'm glad to see we still remember each others names after all these years!"
The sarcasm was biting, and it pained Maya to see Riley flinch a little bit, her doe eyes widening with hurt. But they soon returned to their usual, less saucer-like shape, but her mouth slipped further downwards. "Maya," she repeated, this time with an edge of steel that she had picked up from her mother.
But if Riley Matthews was steel, then Maya Hart was titanium.
The blonde turned to face her best friend, imitating her exact pose and leaning forward ever so slightly. Riley was clever, sure, but also extremely blissful. And she knew exactly how to make her forget all about Maya, and focus on...
"How did you date with Lucas go yesterday?" Maya tilted her head to the side, a smirk crossing over her lips. And just like that, Riley's entire mannerisms changed. Gone was the girl that acted like her mother (something she had gained slowly but surely over the past few years), and she was back to being regular old Riley. Bubbly, bright, sweet, kind, and very easy to make blush.
And blush she did, a rosy tinge heating up her cheeks as her eyes sparkled like stars, mouth morphing into one of the cheesiest grins Maya had ever seen cross her face. Riley's hand darted out and clasped in Maya's, and she gave a soft squeeze as she started to gush. "Oh my gosh Maya, it was incredible!" The squeal in her voice was so cute. "He took me to this fancy restaurant- you know that Italian one I always spoke about wanting to go to? And we went and sat down and had a lovely meal! Oh Maya he was so sweet and so kind and so handsome and it was just so nice! And beforehand he had bought me flowers and at the end of the date we... we... we..."
She was practically shaking from excitement now, biting down on her bottom lip so hard Maya swore she was going to make it bleed. The blonde grinned wildly, although she wasn't sure whether it was the fact Riley had a fantastic time, or that she had forgotten all about Maya that made her smile "You what Riley, you what?"
"WE KISSED!" She screeched, and Maya was sure she had let half of New York know that specific fact. The brunette's face had turned an even deeper shade of red, but her eyes, they just kept getting brighter, and her smile just kept getting wider.
Her friend was happy, and so was she. At least while they were together, anyway. "That's great Riles," Maya beamed at her, pulling her into an embrace. "It's good to hear Bucky McBoing is treating you right! Are you two officially an item now?"
"Oh I hope so! We didn't talk about it afterwards, but I really, really, really hope we become one!"
"It'd be about damn time. You kissed on the train, what, a year and a half ago now?"
Maya knew exactly when it was. It was also the same day she had sat and talked to Josh, the same day she had abandoned Farkle, and the same day the boy with the bowl cut had kissed her hand.
But thoughts of Farkle brought with them thoughts of pain, and she had enough of that in her life. Riley was the sunshine, and everything else was the darkness. And she craved sunshine.
"I think so! Wow," Riley's eyes were distant now, her pools of brown, along with her mind, having been caught in the comforting web of rainbows and unicorns and princesses and handsome princes, "I can't believe it's been that long..."
But then she paused, and focus returned to her. Her head snapped back towards Maya, and with a sharp glare, her eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute, I know what you're trying to do!"
'Oh shit,' Maya thought, resisting the urge to let panic play across her face. Instead, her heart merely hammered in her chest. 'I was so close!'
"I'm not trying to do anything!" She tried to reply as casually as possible, but her voice broke half way through (freaking puberty) and it came across as a defensive screech. This caused Riley's normally carefree pools of brown to narrow even further, and it was at this point Maya Hart realised she was screwed.
"Yes you are! And it's not going to work Maya. We're going to talk about you, why you've been acting so weird, and..." she trailed off for a moment, looking her blonde best-friend up and down. If she was looking for a reaction, she wasn't getting one-
"Farkle."
Maya felt her body stiffen, joints locking up with paralysis. The mere mention of his name caused her to act like a statue, and the fact that her mask had slipped sent a jolt of annoyance straight to her gut. And what was worse, Riley had cottoned on, reaching her hand over and lightly placing it on the blonde's shoulder. "It's alright Maya, really."
But she shrugged it off, letting out a sharp breath of air that sent a strand of her hair flying upwards. "Why do we need to talk about Farkle? He's doing fine, isn't it?"
"You wouldn't know," Riley replied, resuming her 'lecturing' pose. "You've been avoiding him."
"Have not."
"Have to."
"Have not."
"Have to!"
"Have not."
"Maya!" Riley let out a cry of exasperation. "Please, just talk to me about it, I want to help!"
At this Maya paused, eyes becoming deeply interested at her sneakers, and a sad sigh escaped her lips. Before she could stop herself, a careless whisper followed. "You can't help me with this, Riles."
"Oh?" Was the brunette's instant reply, and Maya realised what she had just done. She'd unleashed the monster now. The helpful, kind, caring monster that would not rest until she had fixed every single problem in the world and covered it with sunshine and lollipops. "I've helped you before, so I can help you again. Always." And she replied with such force, such passion in her words, that Maya almost believed her. Almost.
"I know you want to help," reasoning wouldn't work, Maya knew this, but she had to try," but you seriously can't Riley. This is something I need to do alone, something I need to deal with alone. You don't need to fix me."
"I never said you needed to be fixed. But you're hurting, and Farkle's hurting, and I want it to stop. I hate to see you sad Maya, I hate it more than anything in the world. You're my best friend, and I love you. So I'm not letting you deal with this alone. You've got me by your side. We promised we were going to take on this world together, and that damn sure hasn't changed. So, please Maya, tell me what's going on."
And, in that moment, three thoughts went through the blonde's head: the first was that Farkle was hurting, and that made the pain she had been trying to suppress in her heart burst forth; the second was that she loved Riley Matthews more than anything in the world, and really didn't deserve a friend as good as her; and, third, that she was about a second away from crying.
The second passed, and the tears fell, and Riley held onto her and stroked her hair and told her it was going to be alright, even if she didn't know what it was. And so they sat in the alcove as time passed by, holding onto each other for comfort, and Maya felt better than she had in a long time.
She told Riley a couple of hours afterwards.
The two of them were cuddled up on her bed, wrapped in a plethora of duvets and blankets, watching She's The Man for the umpteenth time. Maya watched, head resting on her best friend's shoulder, the soft moonlight touching upon their heads and gifting them with an ethereal glow.
Maya's eyes had long since stopped spilling with tears, but the ache in her heart that caused them remained. But Riley hadn't pressed her about it, much to her relief, instead half dragging her to the bed, putting on one of her favourite movies, and wrapping themselves up in a cocoon of softness to hide from the world.
We promised to take on the world together.
That they had. Maybe it was time they did again.
Her voice was softer than a whisper, barely audible over the audio of the movie and the whipping wind in the outside world. Riley's nose twitched in confusion, ears straining slightly, before she turned her head and was met with ocean blue eyes, swimming with an emotion she couldn't place.
"Hm?" She asked, and hesitation crossed Maya's features, before she replied, almost inaudibly,
"I like Farkle."
There was a long, long pause. Maya closed her eyes, and waited for... something. What, she wasn't sure, but surely the revelation of such a thing would bring about-
"Oh," Riley said, blinking once, before shrugging and turning back to the television, "That's cool Maya."
Oh? That was her response? Oh!?
"Riley, this is not cool!" Maya practically hissed, clamping her teeth together in outrage. A flash of confusion crossed the brunette's face, before she turned the television off with the click of the remote, and turned back to her best friend.
"Why isn't it cool?" Riley asked, giving her best friend a soft, comforting look. "There's nothing wrong with liking someone, Maya. Especially Farkle. We promised to never settle for anything less than him, remember?" Riley smiled at the memory, eyes becoming distant for a moment, before refocusing. "He's one of the sweetest and most caring guys we know, if not the sweetest-besides Lucas, of course-that we know. And it's obvious he feels the same way! I mean, the way he looks at you, it's so romantic..." She let out a sweet sigh.
Maya's brow furrowed, but she found her stomach flipping slightly at the mention of Farkle looking at her in a romantic way. "True," She said, stoniness slipping into her voice, "but he also does the same with you, remember?"
Riley gave a dismissive wave of her hand, still swooning at the romantic elements that she presumed were now present in both of their lives.
But they weren't, as much as she hated to say to Riley. Farkle didn't like her like he did Riley. And she was okay with that.
Honest.
"Riley, he's into you. He's always been more into you, and I'm totally okay with it," she shrugged her shoulders in a way she hoped look casual. "It's just life. I need to build some walls, and-"
"No!" Riley suddenly shouted out, fixing her best friend with a glare of unmatched vigor. "Maya Hart will not be building anymore walls!"
Maya's eyes narrowed. "You can't stop me, Riley!"
"Oh yes I can!" Both girls had raised their voices, but the loudness quickly died as softness returned to the eyes of the brunette. She gave Maya a small smile. "Maya, please don't build up anymore walls. You don't need them."
"I do," Maya insisted, hoping there was steel in her voice, "I need them to survive."
"Even around me?"
"No," Maya admitted, "never around you."
And Riley smiled so very, very wide. "And you don't need to around Farkle, either!"
Maya sighed. This was a mistake, something that she just knew she was going to regret. Riley meant well, as she always did, but she and Farkle just... wouldn't work out. They were too opposite, they shared absolutely nothing in common, and he was just Farkle. And she was just Maya. There was no 'we' between them, there was only 'I'. And it was that simple.
Completely and utterly simple.
She wished it was simple.
"I can't let him in Riley. I just can't. He might cause damage or-"
"Farkle couldn't damage a fly if he was swinging around a sledgehammer," Riley said, still smiling. "He's not the type of guy to do anything to hurt you, Maya. He loves you."
"And he loves you to."
"You keep going back to that. Why?"
Maya paused. Why exactly did she keep bringing it up? It was a recurring theme not only in this conversation, but it swam around in her head late at night as she tossed and turned in bed. It had always been that Farkle had an obsession with both of them, giving them equal parts attention and affection. He never prioritize one over the other, hell, he even made them fight over him because he couldn't choose one to take to The Buggy Awards.
But it was just easier to see that he was more into Riley. I mean they had their first kiss together! And despite Riley's insistence that it didn't count as her first kiss, Maya had constantly teased her enough about it to the point that it might has well have been.
Farkle would always like Riley more than he liked Maya, and she was fine with that. Or she thought she was.
"I don't know why... I just do."
"You wanna know what I think?" Riley asked, her smile slipping slightly into a neutral line. Maya looked at her for a few moments, before giving a slow nod.
"I think you're making excuses."
Maya blinked, before her mouth curled downwards in irritation. "I'm not making excuses, I'm just stating facts-"
"What you think are facts," Riley corrected her, "and for the record, they're not actually facts."
"Yes they are!" Maya let out a sigh of exasperation. "Please Riles, can we just drop this? It's not worth us arguing over."
"Oh, but it is! Because you keep making excuses because you're scared, Maya. You say you're not compatible, but I'm a city-girl through and through and Lucas is a country-boy, and we get on pretty well."
"Yeah, but that's because you're the prince and princess!"
"And you and Farkle are?"
"He's the nobleman and I'm... the urchin."
Riley didn't say anything for a moment, but emotion swirled in her pools of brown. Without another word, she reached forward, and pulled Maya into a hug. Maya didn't struggle to break free, and instead welcomed it, the smell of strawberry shampoo and chocolate from earlier on in the day permeating her nostrils. "No you're not," Riley said quietly into Maya's blonde locks, "You're never the urchin. You're a princess too."
"Who says I want to be a princess?" The blonde's voice was muffled by Riley's pyjamas, but the brunette pulled her closer in.
"You didn't, but that doesn't matter. Because everybody deserves to be a princess."
Maya hated elevators.
She wasn't sure why, if she was honest. The enclosed space, maybe? It was possible. Living in such a cramped apartment, she much preferred to spend time in places that were wider, more open.
But, then again, she hated her apartment in general. Too many bad memories.
She pushed those thoughts away, however, and stepped inside.
Farkle's building was massive. It stretched higher than the eye could see from outside, and it seemed to puncture through the clouds, trying so hard to defy nature with concrete. She had asked the receptionist, fluttering her eyelashes at him and pouting her lips ever so slightly, just like her mother had taught her, if he could give her the room number that Farkle lived on. To her shock, the man had stated that Farkle and his family owned the entire top floor, before adding on, smirking slightly at her shocked expression, that all she need to do is press the button for the top floor, and it would take her straight there.
Part of her thought the receptionist was having her on, that this was a silly prank and she would end up walking in on something she really didn't want to see. But, according to Riley and The Matthews Family (her family, as Riley had reminded her before she had left), this was the right building.
She reached her hand upwards and pressed the button that read 'top floor'. She was slightly annoyed to discover that she was shaking slightly, and not from the cold. Why was she so nervous? She was just going to Farkle's house, and meeting him, and talking about her feelings, and revealing them and-
Yeah, okay, she knew why she was nervous. But this needed to be done. Riley had talked her into it, and she was here now. There was no turning back.
This had to be done, and it would be done.
She rode in almost complete silence, save for her foot anxiously tapping at the pristine flooring. The feeling of moving upwards without anything to latch onto her unnerved her. Another reason she hated elevators, perhaps?
It wasn't too long before it came to a stop, and the blonde bit her lip, eyeing the door with apprehension. Her eyes narrowed in confusion, however, when it didn't open.
Instead, she let out a cry of horror that bounced off the walls when she heard a voice come from somewhere.
"Who is it?" The voice asked, male in origin. Maya took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her pulsing heart rate, before answering,
"Um, it's M-Maya Hart. Who is this?"
She realised how completely stupid that sounded, and the pause on the other end seemed to indicate the voice thought the same. He still replied, though. "Stuart Minkus. You're Farkle's friend, yes? The blonde rebel?"
"I-I... yes sir, that's me."
"You're here to see Farkle?" He sounded amused.
"I am sir, yes."
There was a pause. "For a rebel, Miss Hart," he said, "You're awfully polite."
Maya's mouth morphed into a little smile. "I aim to please. Most of the time."
This earned a small chuckle, before Minkus replied, "Fair enough. I suppose I can let you in. I should warn you, though, that Farkle's not been feeling very well."
Maya frowned deeply, anxiety once more creeping into her heart. Not feeling well? He had been fine just a few hours ago, when she had seen him in History. They hadn't spoken, though. She couldn't bear to meet his gaze, so she didn't. She pretended he didn't exist.
And it hurt her that he seemed to do the same.
But she shoved these thoughts out of her head, and answered his father. "Really? He seemed fine when I saw him a few hours earlier. What exactly is wrong with Farky?"
"'Farky'," Stuart began, and Maya couldn't help but detect a tinge of irritation in the man's voice, "just... isn't feeling well at the moment. That's all he's said, he refuses to go into details. It is odd, but I don't really have time to pry. Nor do I have time to be talking to you, actually."
With a loud ding, the doors of the elevator slowly opened up, and revealed Stuart Minkus. He looked like just as Maya remembered him, tall and lanky, with a wide grin that stretched across his entire face. His dark blue suit reminded her of the various office workers she would see heading to their jobs, but the badge emblazoned on the breast of his jacket indicated that he was no mere office worker. And, peering behind him, she could see why.
Farkle's living room was massive. She couldn't even find words to describe it in her head, it was just... futuristic. A mixture of moonlight silver and ocean blue furniture and decor looked stunning, as did the sunlight filtering though the large window that looked out onto the New York City skyline. Maya had to admit, she was immensely jealous. The Matthews' house was nice, but this took it to a whole other level.
Stuart must've noticed her peering past him, and his grin grew even bigger, although Maya thought that impossible. "You like?" He asked, and she nodded eagerly. "I've been thinking about having some re-decorating done. The TV is far too small," he tutted.
If a TV that covered almost the entire wall was classed as 'small' to Stuart Minkus, Maya really didn't want to see what he classed as big.
"I guess..." She trailed off, unsure of what to say next. Luckily, she didn't have to say anything. Stuart ushered her in with a wave of his hand, and she followed his command, before he turned to her and said,
"Right, I've got to get going," he looked down at the watch he wore on his wrist, "I've got a meeting in half an hour," he looked back up at the blonde girl in front of him, smile never wavering, "feel free to stay for dinner if you wish. The cook will be bringing up something... French I believe? I'm not sure, I'm not usually around for dinner much these days. I would ask that you leave by nine o'clock, though. Farkle needs to be in bed early for school tomorrow."
She nodded slowly. "Not a problem Mr. Minkus. Thanks for letting me visit Farkle."
He waved his hand nonchalantly. "I understand what it was like to be his age." Something flashed in his brown eyes, something dark and brooding, but Maya certainly wasn't going to ask what it was. But then, it was gone, and Stuart continued, "I was chased around by girls a lot when I was fourteen too."
Maya resisted the urge to blush at the thought of chasing Farkle... but that was what she was doing, wasn't it? Chasing him?
"Farewell for now Maya." Stuart said, and without another word, he turned on his heels, walked into the elevator, turned back, pressed the button for the ground floor, and departed with a little nod towards the blonde as the doors slid closed.
And now, all alone with her thoughts, reality struck Maya like a lightning bolt.
It was time. Time to face Farkle. Time to talk about her feelings.
The sheer thought of it made her sick, and she briefly debated throwing herself through the window. But Riley would never forgive her if she did that, and neither would Farkle.
She just couldn't understand how Farkle, the eccentric, bizarre, unorthodox and downright weird boy could not only make her feel so anxious she wanted the ground to swallow her up, but also make butterflies erupt in her chest and make her feel like she was floating by just the touch of his hand.
Maybe she'd never know. But that was alright. What she did know, however, was that she needed to find Farkle. And find him soon.
It didn't take her long to locate his room. It was up a flight of stairs, and clearly labelled as well, bright green letters reading, 'FARKLE' placed across the door. Maya studied it for a few moments, forcing herself to breathe slowly and softly. Freaking out now wouldn't help anyone, least of all her.
She bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes, searching within her mind for what she would say. Her frustration grew as she realised, with some dismay, she had absolutely no idea what the hell she was going to do. The fact she made it this far without throwing up all over the place was a miracle in of itself, so she supposed she couldn't ask for much more without some higher power sending a cataclysmic event to strike her down.
Raising her hand up, she paused as she went to knock. Was this really the right thing to do? Could she really face this?
No, now was not the time for that. She'd been deliberating this for too long, spent enough time laying in bed at night tossing and turning at what she'd done wrong and what she had done right. She'd wasted too many tears, and too much of Riley's time to back out now and run like a coward.
She wouldn't be a coward. She wouldn't be like her father. Not anymore.
And so, with a jolt of confidence coursing through her veins, Maya grabbed the door handle and yanked it downwards, yanking it open with as much force as she could.
But she didn't find Farkle.
Instead, she found a dark room, only slightly illuminated by the lighting in the hall. Three bookshelves stood solemnly in the corner, tomes of all shapes and sizes filling them up. She couldn't make out the titles, but she was sure they were a variety of science-fiction novels, which she knew were Farkle's favourites. The wall was coloured a deep blue, and she couldn't help but feel like the room in general was just... Farkle. Everything, from the globe that sat on a table in the corner, to the rug with various scientific equations on it. It was him through and through.
She wished she had the confidence to be as open as he could be. And the money. But she was happy he could be so expressive.
Realising she had just been standing in an open doorway for the past few seconds, she stepped forward, and peered in.
A single bed was shoved against the wall, which was covered with various posters of bands and scientists Maya didn't recognize. What she did recognise, though, was the large shape buried under the covers
"Farkle?" She called out, squinting her eyes even further. She couldn't see a light-switch from where she was standing, and even the lighting from the hall wasn't helping much in the seeing department.
She was only met with silence. "Farkle," she tried again, but got no reply.
Dammit, looks like I'm going in...
Maya crept forwards, for reasons she was unsure of. The thought of trespassing on someone else's property wasn't knew to her, she had done it many times beforehand. Although never to a friend.
It wasn't like she was even trespassing though... her mind confused her so much. But right now, all that mattered was finding Farkle.
She continued to advance forward, slowly but surely, the wooden floorboards of his bedroom creaking ever so slightly as she walked. Her blue eyes swept the room for any sign of movement, although she didn't expect Farkle to just leap out of the wardrobe she had now just noticed by the side of his bed. Still, weirder things had happened.
"Farkle?" She asked for a third time, and to her chagrin, she still didn't receive a reply. He must've been under the covers, they looked human enough. Was he ignoring her? She wouldn't blame him, honestly, but it was getting on her nerves. She had come all this way to talk, and now he-
"Maya?"
Aforementioned girl nearly jumped out of her skin, twisting around as shock exploded onto her face. A string of curses escaped from her lips as her eyes widened, retreating backwards until she slammed into the nearby wardrobe.
Before she could even think, she became momentarily blinded as the light bulb flickered on, illuminating the room in a golden glow. She quickly rubbed at her eyes, willing the light to go away so that she could at least see her murderers face before she found herself six feet under.
Instead, she found who she had been searching for.
Farkle stood in the doorway of what she could only assume was an on-suite bathroom, brown hair damp with water. His brown eyes were narrowed in confusion, eyebrows lowered and mouth open slightly, revealing freshly cleaned teeth. A bathrobe clung to his wet skin, black in colour, and it looked very, very comfortable. "Maya?" Farkle repeated, shock evident in his voice. "What're you doing in my room?"
"Um, your dad let me in."
Farkle blinked. "My dad?" Happiness lit up in his eyes. "He's back from his trip?"
"Well, he was," Maya gave an awkward shrug, trying to fathom just how awkward this situation was. "But he, uh, left a little while ago. Said he had a business trip to go on."
"Oh." The light fled his eyes, replaced with something cold that Maya, with an ache in her heart, realised she recognised. "Okay, fair enough."
"He did say he'd be back later, though!" She added, but this did nothing to improve Farkle's mood.
"Doesn't matter, he'll probably go into his study and work." The brown-haired boy shook his head, sending droplets of water splattering onto the walls and floor. "Why're you here, Maya?"
"I'm... here to talk to you." She answered, pushing herself off of the wardrobe and taking a step forward. She'd been expecting him to give her a smile, but instead his mouth retained a neutral expression, and she struggled to see any emotion in those brown eyes of his. His face was like a blank slate, cold and almost unwelcoming. It made bile rise up in her throat.
"I thought we talked in the cafe a week ago," Farkle crossed his arms over his chest, "Unless you have more reasons why we can't be friends?"
"Farkle..."
"Don't bother Maya. Seriously, if you don't want to be friends, I get it. I'm too weird for you, we're getting older, and you can't deal with me anymore. But don't drag it out any longer then it needs to go. Let's just leave it as it is and get on with our lives."
"Farkle-"
"Maya, seriously, just-"
"Farkle!" She finally snapped, "Listen to me for one damn minute!"
The brown-haired boy stood in silence for a few moments, looking her up and down. He uncrossed his arms, and leant his back against the wall. "Fine," he stated, "but please make it quick. I don't want to be dealing with getting hurt."
Maya bit her lip. "I'm really, really sorry," she started off, eyes becoming magically interested in the floor. "I really screwed up Farkle. Badly. I didn't mean what I said in the cafe, I didn't want you to go at all. I was just... dealing with some things. I'm still dealing with some things."
"You seemed pretty clear in the cafe," Farkle countered, anger flashing through his eyes, "you told me to leave, I did. You didn't come after me, and we left it at that. Did Riley put you up to this?" He sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Farkle told her not to get involved, and just leave things alone!"
Riley had spoken to Farkle about this? Of course she had... she gets more and more crafty every single day. I don't know whether I'm proud of that or not-
"But it doesn't matter!" Farkle exclaimed, breaking her out of her thoughts, "Please, let's just let it go and-"
"No," Maya shook her head defiantly. "I need to finish. I need to talk to you. Otherwise I'll go insane with worry and anxiety and I can't keep doing it Farkle. I just can't."
She looked into his eyes, really looked into them, and looked for any positive emotion, anything to indicate that he didn't hate her. They had softened, but only slightly.
"Talk," he commanded.
She took a deep, long breath, steadying the nerves that had begun to explode in her body. This was it, the build-up had ended. It was make or break time. She just hoped she'd get it right.
"I'm not very good with emotions, Farkle. I'm horrible at them. My natural instinct is just to bottle them all up inside of me, and let them rage and rage and rage until I need to explode. I can't share with anyone, I'm only just now learning to share my feelings with Riley. I don't hate you, I could never hate you. I'm just struggling being around you because... because... I like you. I like you a lot. So much that it hurts when I see you flirt with Riley, it hurts when I see you smile at her the way I wish you would smile at me, it hurts when I realise that I'm not the only one that you like. It doesn't just hurt, that's an understatement, Farkle it frickin' kills me. I lay in bed at night wishing we were closer than just friends, but I've accepted we can't be because I just can't tell you these things. I'm not honest, I can't be honest. All I do is be sarcastic and draw and sit in cafe and help Riley out. I'm nothing special, I don't deserve you, and I should never have caused you pain of any sort. I'm sorry, Farkle, and I know this doesn't make up for making you feel like I hated you. It's not you I hate, it's myself. I'm so scared," she felt tears prick in the corner of her eyes, "I'm scared that you'll reject me, or that I'll get hurt, and I can't be dealing with that. I can't face being hurt by someone else I'm close to, I can't deal with the fact I might end up hurting you. I'm sorry that I like you, Farkle. You deserve someone better."
The silence was deafening. She didn't dare look up, didn't dare meet his gaze. She had said what had needed to be said, and now, she should just leave. She wiped furiously at her eyes, threatening any tears that were trying to escape.
She went to take a step forward, but found herself unable to. Strong arms were wrapped around her, and she found herself pulled into a tight embrace.
Farkle began to whisper into her ear, softly. "I struggle with my emotions too, you know? It's not easy being so eccentric all the time. But I disagree with a lot of things you said tonight, Maya. You are special. Special to me. And now that you're here, with me, I'm not letting you go again. And I'm not going anywhere. It's alright to be scared, I'm scared too. Scared of growing up, scared of not really knowing my father, scared of being this weird for the rest of my life. But we're going to be scared together, and we're going to get through it together. I promise."
Maya buried her face in Farkle's collarbone, a smile of pure happiness spreading across her face as she hugged him back.
She could deal with being scared together.
They were taking things slow.
Riley watched them from afar, leaning casually against the wall of the cafeteria as students from all different grade groups meandered around with their lunches. Her mouth was morphed into a pleasant smile, eyes alight with happiness as she watched her best friend laugh loudly at something Farkle had said.
There was a new sparkle in her blue eyes, a new skip in her skip, a freshness to her smiles. Maya was back, and better than ever. She seemed genuinely happy for the first time in a long time, and this made Riley's heart swell. As long as she was happy, so was she.
"Hey there."
Riley's smile grew even wider, as she turned to face Lucas, greeting him with a soft peck on his cheek. "Hey," she couldn't keep the delight out of her voice, "look over there."
Lucas, pink blush fading from his cheeks at Riley's greeting, fixed his ocean blue eyes on where his girlfriend had gestured. A soft smile played upon his lips. "I'm glad they're happy," he said, turning back and leaning in to plant a peck on the brunette's lips. "And I'm glad you're happy too."
"I'm always happy," she said, leaning into Lucas' chest and wrapping her arms around his muscled back. He enveloped her as well, and she continued, "especially when I'm with you."
For a few moments the two of them stood, watching, as Farkle playfully ran a hand through Maya's hair, causing her to lash out in mock defence.
"It's like a fairytale," Riley sighed happily.
The blonde-haired teen raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
Riley pushed herself deeper into Lucas' embrace, comfortable and so very, very happy. "Because I've found my prince," She looked up with her big doe brown eyes,"and so has she."
Lucas merely smiled. Sometimes Riley's innocence was highly confusing, but on this occasion, he could understand where she was coming from.
Farkle and Maya didn't think they would ever find their prince/princesses.
Except they did. But, not only that, they found something else.
They found their smiles.
And there we go! A bit of a cheesy end? Perhaps, but I think a healthy dose of cheese is appropriate from time to time. Overall I'm fairly happy with this, and due to the overwhelming support this short two-shot has received, and seeing that there is a healthy following of Faya shippers, I've decided to make a multi-chapter Faya story! It'll take a while to properly plan it out, probably over a week, but I encourage you all to follow my profile for an update on when the story is finally published. I'm also more than willing to take suggestions for it, so please feel free to drop me a PM! I can't promise I'll use any of your ideas, but I will certainly read them and reply, as I do to all of my reviews that I can reply to.
Thank you all so much for making me feel welcome in the GMW fanfiction community. Here's to more one-shots, two-shots, freewrites and continuing to improve as a writer!
Have a great morning/afternoon/evening/night!
Kind regards,
MyEyesAreOpenWide.