Alternate Ending No. 1

Riley dances to the music playing on her IPhone as she waits for the dinner she is preparing to finish cooking. Her head bobs to the beat as her feet, which were only in socks, slide across the tiled surface of her apartment. The music from the radio is interrupted by her phone telling her that she was getting a phone call. Riley grabs her phone out of her pocket and looks at the contact. A beautiful blonde girl smiling at the camera shows up. The brunette grins and picks up the phone.

"Maya?" Riley asks into her phone.

A pause, "Riles?"

Riley giggles, "It's me, Maya."

"Hey, I might be a little late to dinner... Don't wait up for me," Maya says.

Riley rolls her eyes, "I can wait, Maya. I always do so what makes this time different?"

Maya lets a sob out before quickly stopping herself, "P-Please, Riles... Don't wait for me. I'm not worth it."

Riley frowns in concern, "Maya, where are you? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is... It's fine, Riley," Maya says shakily, making Riley know that everything was not okay.

"That's it, Maya! I am coming to get you. Either you tell me where you are, or I will turn over every rock, every building, every tree to find you!"

Maya laughs weakly, "That's my girl..."

Riley crinkles her forehead worriedly and turns off the stove. She grabs her jacket and ties it around her waist. The brunette grabs her keys and races out of the apartment. She runs to her car and starts the ignition, hooking the phone up to bluetooth. She puts the phone down, the call going through the speakers of the car instead.

"Alright, Maya where are you?" Riley says seriously.

Maya groans, "Interstate 90... Riles, please, stay at the apartment."

The brunette pushes the location into her GPS and pulls out of the parking lot. The girl grips the steering wheel tightly, apprehension filling her. She looks at the road, dodging traffic as much as possible.

"No way, Maya. Something is wrong, and nothing is going to happen to my best friend. Not if I can stop it," Riley says seriously.

Maya moans in pain. Riley takes a large turn, other drivers honking at her in anger. Riley doesn't care. All she can think of is her driving and Maya's quiet groans of pain and her pleas for Riley to go back to the apartment.

"Stay with me, Maya. Don't you dare hang up that phone," Riley says, her throat feeling like a large ball of cotton had lodged itself there and refused to leave.

Maya begins to talk, "Remember in high school when Tyson called you a bitch who couldn't walk straight after you bumped into him? I do. I remember walking up to him and showing him not to mess with you... Riles, I love to protect you. It makes me feel like a good person. Like I am doing something right for once. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you, my little plant. Never change, please."

Riley wipes a tear from her eye as she turns a corner. Up ahead she sees an ambulance and police tape stopping the road. Riley quickly parks her car and runs out into the scene. She sees a man sitting on a truck with a dent in it, his eyes red and puffy from crying and a paramedic sitting next to him. A policeman was climbing back onto the road from the cliff the road was built on. Riley now noticed that there were skid marks leading to the railing and that it had been broken.

She gasps, knowing what happened. Maya had been hit by the truck and was plummeted down off the cliff below, most likely her car had rolled over and over. Riley could only hope Maya wore her seatbelt. She lifts her phone up to her ear.

"Maya?" she whispers softly.

She hears a grunt, "Riles, I'm still here. Did you find the interstate? I can tell from your voice..."

Riley blinks away tears and shakily replies, "Yes, where are you? Tell me so I can get you to the ambulance, please."

"No, Riley... I can't let you see me like this. I can't. I'm supposed to be strong for you, but now, I can't be strong. Not if I see your face."

"I don't care about you being strong! I want you to be alive so you can laugh with me! I want my best friend to protect me! Who is going to protect me if you are gone, Maya... Who? Who..." Riley yells into the phone.

The phone grows quiet except for the breathing of Maya. Riley waits anxiously for a response.

"Don't you dare be silent, damn it! I need my best friend, Maya! Please!" Riley sobs.

"I am at those two trees we climbed on as kids."

Riley smiles shakily, "Thank you, Maya."

She puts the phone in her other hand and yells at the paramedics and police, "Follow me! That car that fell is my best friend! Grab a gurney, I know where she is! Please, hurry!"

The policemen and paramedics nod, grabbing the gurney and following Riley down the cliff and into the wooded area below. Riley weaves through the trees, knowing the exact location of Maya. The paramedics and police officer walks behind her, serious looks on their faces. Finally, Riley steps into the clearing.

Maya's car was next to the two trees. It was scratched and dented everywhere, windows broken and shards of glass scattered everywhere. Riley gasped and raced to the car. Maya was in the car. Her left arm, her dominant one, was trapped between a broken branch and the seat. It was twisted awkwardly with cuts littered across the arm.

On her head, Maya had a large scratch from the front of her forehead to her cheek. She had a pained look in her eyes, but the blonde looked at Riley and smiled weakly, the tear tracks clear across her pale, dirty face. Riley sees that her phone was still on, holding it against her ear.

"Riley..." she groans out.

The paramedics push past Riley and begin to work on getting Maya out of the car. Riley feels her heartbeat in her throat as Maya's injured form is laid on the gurney. She moans in pain from being moved, but the paramedics quickly start running back towards the ambulance.

"M-Maya! Maya! MAYA!" Riley screams in panic.

She races after the paramedics quickly, the police officer right behind her. He looks at Riley in pity. The scared brunette gasps as they finally reach the ambulance. Maya is quickly loaded into the car. The paramedics allow Riley to sit in the back with Maya. The police officer gets in his car and begins to report what happened.

The ambulance quickly starts up, and they begin heading towards the hospital. Maya weakly grabs Riley's hand. The blonde turns towards Riley, an expression on her face that Riley had never seen.

"Riley, I'm scared. I don't want to die," Maya says, her voice trembling.

Riley takes her hand in both her hands, "You won't. Not while I'm here. For now, you are my little plant, and no one, I mean no one, is going to hurt my plant."

Maya lets a tear fall, "I won't give up, Riley. If you are here, I can do anything. You are my strength, Riles... Thank you."

"You're my best friend, Maya. I couldn't imagine life without you, ever."

"Isn't that what you said, Riley?" Maya says, holding the girl's hand in her bandaged one.

Riley puts a strand of hair behind Maya's ear, "Yes."

They smile at each other, and Riley knew that Maya was going to be okay. And so was she.

"You saved my life, Riles. If you hadn't come, I don't think I would have survived. Thank you," Maya says.

Riley grins, "You would have survived, I am sure of it. You're strong, Maya."

"Yeah, but not as strong as you," Maya says.

"We are each other's strengths, and nothing will tear us apart," they say together.

"I love you, Maya," Riley says.

"I love you, too, Riles," Maya says.

A/N: I have more endings I plan to add/ more on what happened after the original ending. Leave your support! Reviews are appreciated and make sure to follow/favorite!

~rsbaird