DISCLAIMER: I do not own these.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviews, favorites, and follows! They all make me so happy; you have no idea.
So sorry for the delay. College is crazy. Please review; I love reading your thoughts. As always, prompts are welcome!
When she, Smackle, and Riley arrived at the bachelorette party, everything was in full swing. From her spot in the doorway, she could see Finley standing on a chair next to Piper, who was chugging from a glass bottle. She wanted to wince at the sight of it. She, personally, had thought that having bachelor/bachelorette parties the night before the wedding was stupid because then everyone would be ridiculously hung over, but with the ceremony not until early evening, she'd decided to not push it. Piper was having fun, and that was all that mattered.
That and she had probably, hopefully, avoided a confrontation with Piper's possible dads. She had let her friends distract her, help her fix what they could around the place, but she hadn't been able to stop her mind to wandering. They'd all changed, aged. What would things have been like if one of them had stayed?
"Alright, everyone!" she yelled, "Listen up!" As expected, she got everyone's attention, and made her way over to the easel she'd painstakingly set up that afternoon. Riley's mom had made a big speech at her bachelorette party, and Maya wanted to do the same for Piper, but she wasn't good with words. She just hoped her daughter appreciated it. "In honor of Piper and Connor's big day, I thought it would be only fitting if I painted something." With shaking hands, she pulled the cover off and stepped out of the way.
The gasps were audible, quickly followed by applause, and she felt the familiar rush of adrenaline that exhibiting used to give her way back when. Piper ran up to her and hugged her, tightly, which she returned. She hadn't been sure her daughter would like it. She had never been great at portraits, so instead she'd painted where Connor had proposed based on all the times she'd heard Piper tell the story. It hadn't been overly elaborate, having just kind of happened naturally, but it was a beautiful scene that she'd itched to paint the second she heard about it, and she hadn't really painted in a while. Running the hotel took up a lot of time, sadly.
The DJ's music picked up again and attention slowly turned away from her and her painting. Riley and Smackle returned to her side, and the three watched as the girls went wild, dancing and drinking and laughing.
One of Piper's friends from school had been standing near the staircase leading up from the beach, and she moved just then to go towards the bar. Maya felt as her stomach drop as it became visible who was coming up that very path.
"What the fuck are they doing here?" she said, quietly, but loud enough that Riley immediately turned her attention away from Charlie at the bar.
"Is that them?" she asked, her jaw dropping.
"Yes. Josh, Lucas, and-"
"You actually had sex with both Farkle and my uncle!" Riley hissed. "I was hoping there'd been guys I didn't know about!"
"Technically, you didn't know about it, did you?" Maya retorted, shutting Riley up. "Yes, yes, that's them, and yes, you knew all of them, and yes, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, alright? Can we all just get out of here before they see us?"
It was too late on that front; Josh was pointing at the three of them and Lucas was already leading the charge. She practically pushed Smackle back towards the hotel until all three of them were firmly inside, door shut.
"Someone up there has got it out for me," Maya said in more of a hiss than anything else. "I bet it's my mom. She always said that I was hurting Piper by keeping her dad away for no good reason."
"She may have been right," Riley said. "Peaches, you hated not knowing your dad."
"I hated that my dad walked out on us. That's a very different thing, Riles," she said, rubbing a hand to her forehead. "What am I supposed to do? I can't hide in here forever!"
"True, I would give the three of us about 4.6 weeks to survive on what is in that kitchen, factoring in Riley's above average cooking skills," Smackle said. Maya kind of wanted to hit her.
"Then, do what you do best," Riley said, "Tell the world who's boss. They don't have any power over you anymore."
"Except for the fact that one of them is Piper's father."
"So? You did a great job without him. Piper's awesome," Riley said.
"You're right. If they really cared about me, they would have called. For God's sake, Josh is like your honorary brother, he could've heard about it. I did do a great job. Piper's going to rule the world better than Farkle could ever dream of!"
And with that, she threw the door open and walked back out to her daughter's party, which had taken a definite turn while she was inside.
Her mom had disappeared, which was good. She couldn't tell if her mom had seen her possible dads or not before disappearing which was…
Less good.
Josh and Lucas had been over at the bar, but it seemed like some of her friends were more interested in drooling over them. Josh seemed to be eating up the attention, while Lucas looked decidedly uncomfortable. Her friend Sammy dragged Josh out of his seat and onto the dance floor, so she ran in to distract Lucas.
"Hi," she said. "Sorry about… all of that."
"It's quite alright," Lucas replied. "I've been told I have a rocking dad bod, whatever that means. I don't think she meant to say it out loud, but my son found it hilarious that she did." Piper smiled, unsure of what to say. "That song you played today, over lunch. Was that an original?"
"Oh, yeah," she said, rubbing her neck awkwardly. Josh had gotten wind that her mother had taught her guitar, and he'd all but forced her to play. She had, and sang, too, not daring to look any of them in the eye and immediately redirecting conversation after she was done.
"It was very good. You should consider pursuing that," he said.
"I can't," she replied.
"If you're worried about your parents, Piper, your mother is a grown woman who can take care of herself, and I'm sure your father is the same. You have a real talent. You shouldn't throw it away that quickly," he said. She could have sworn he stumbled when he mentioned her father, but she could hear her mother's voice from behind the door closest to them and, afraid she was going to come out, bolted away, unable to ask the question she'd been dreaming of asking all day. She found Farkle over in a corner, quietly drinking from a beer. He smiled when he saw her, and she sat down on the bench next to him.
"Not the center of attention?" she teased, and he laughed.
"Even with the 'glow-up,' as Josh put it, no," he replied. "He seems to be enjoying himself, though."
That much, at least, was true. Sammy was practically grinding on him, which was just amusing to watch. He looked less comfortable than he had before, but still very much at ease with his predicament. She smiled, then turned towards Farkle.
"Are you married?" she asked. He shook his head.
"I'm open to it, I've just always been more attached to my research," he said. "I'm afraid I'm not the best place to go to for marriage advice."
"Right," she said.
"Where's your dad? I'd love to meet the man who settled down with Maya Hart," Farkle said. "That's probably the best place you could go for marriage advice."
This was it.
"I don't know," she replied, finally, searching his face. "I don't know who my father is."
The wheels started to turn immediately. She could see it as it crossed his face. Her heart started hammering in her chest.
"Wait, how old are you?" he said.
"I'm twenty," she replied.
"Oh my God," he said.
"Farkle," she said, watching as every muscle in his body tensed. He started scanning every line of her face, every piece of her.
Then he bolted.
"Farkle!" she yelled, racing after him as he went down to one of the outcroppings. "Farkle, stop! Farkle!" Once they were a decent distance away, he finally did, glancing at her with a mixture of guilt and sadness and possibly even fear on his face.
"Piper, I can't-"
"Farkle! Please, all my life I've had this huge unanswered question hanging over me like a cloud! Just-" She stopped, taking a deep breath. "Are you my father?"
"I think so," he whispered, the words barely reaching her ears as he breathed them out. "The timing… and you have Maya's hair and eyes, you have to be related to someone with those phenotypes in their family, and my mom's blonde and my dad's blue eyed…" He trailed off, taking her in again. "I'm your father."
"Do you know what comes next?" she said. He paled.
"Don't tell me you have a twin sister."
"No," she laughed, stepping closer. "Will you give me away tomorrow?"
"You want me to?" he asked, and she nodded. "Alright," he said, and then, with no warning, he pulled her in for a hug. He let go as excited shouts were heard from up above, and she glanced in surprise as men started swinging from ropes onto the outcropping. With a last glance at Farkle, she raced back up to her party, and wasn't overly surprised to find Jax grinning at her from behind a mask, and she kept walking until she found Connor.
"Aphrodite's Necklace," he said, holding it in his hands. "Why didn't you tell me I'd be diving for this?"
"I didn't think Jax and Henry knew the tradition!" she said, and she let him put it on her. She caught Farkle's eye as he did and her father- her father!- sent her another smile.
Her mother and her aunts appeared in the doorway they'd disappeared through, surveying the scene before them, and she knew that if she wasn't careful, her mom was going to find out she knew her exes were there.
"Go dance with Mom!" she said to Connor, pushing him towards her and she raced away. Someone pushed her and she fell into Josh, who laughed and started dancing with her.
"How did your mom get the money for this place?" Josh asked over the din.
"She and my grandmother bought the property before I was born, actually. From the woman my mom looked after when I was little. The Maria that I'm named after. She left them the rest of her money when she died."
"My great aunt Maria?" he asked in surprise.
"I thought you said you had no Greek blood?"
"Oh, Aunt Maria wasn't Greek. I'm not entirely sure how she herself wound up over here. Maybe she was the relation who concocted the whole Greek family reunion in the first place," Josh said, frowning.
"I guess she was, yeah," she said.
"But I thought her money was left to family."
He looked over at her, a questioning look in his eye, and her breath caught. If Farkle was her father, then why…
"I'm your father!"
"Josh-"
"That's why you invited me, you wanted your dad to give you away! I won't let you down!" He pulled her into a quick hug and then spun her away as he raced back out into the crowd with the spirit of a much younger man. She heard him whoop and felt her head spin.
The party was in full swing. Riley was dancing with Charlie the bartender, while Smackle and Farkle were awkwardly dancing in that same corner. Lucas seemed to be eyeing her, which was worrying her.
Suddenly, Connor was in front of her, running his hands up her face.
"Baby?" he said, and she shook her head, pulling him away.
"I can't breathe!" she said, the words coming out as more of a shout than anything else. It seemed to have gotten her mother's attention, as she could tell her mom was trying to push towards her.
"Piper," Lucas said, appearing at her side, "Come here."
Her mother seemed distracted, which was good, so she let Lucas lead her into the doorway. He seemed to be buzzing with nerves, or excitement, or maybe it was just alcohol.
"I can't believe Maya didn't tell me. Piper, how long have you known I'm your father?" he said.
"Not long at all!" she said, her head spinning even faster.
"Who's giving you away tomorrow?" he said. Hope was bubbling in his face, so she bit her lip.
"Nobody," she said, hating it as it happened, and he grinned.
"No. I am. We'll keep it our secret," he said, and then he returned to the party, trying to make his way towards her mother. She took slow, shaky steps behind him. Her heart was pounding in time to the beat of a song she couldn't even make out anymore. Everyone seemed to be circling around her, and she could hear all of them in her head, everything swirling around until it was just too much, and she collapsed onto the ground of the courtyard.