The van pulled up to the Matthew's family home in Philadelphia as the group stepped out Mr. Matthew's smiled at his childhood home. Lucas looked over at his teacher and wondered what he was like growing up in this home. They had made it to Philly in less than two hours and everyone was anxious to get out of the car and walk around.
"What was it like to live here when you were a kid?" Farkle asked. Lucas knew that his friend's family also came from the same area so he was genuinely interested in what his own father had live though.
"Well it was perfect," Cory said but Topanga turned to him.
"Don't lie to them, tell them you were a total terror," she said.
The door to the house opened as Cory's parents walked out of the house, "I thought I heard a familiar voice," his mother said.
"Hi mom, sorry we sprung this surprise on you especially with all these kids."
"No worries it would be nice to have a full house for a few days, Riley and Josh went out for ice cream they should be back soon. I'm guessing you all came down to talk to Riley," she said without a worry in the world.
"Yeah we did," Lucas said while looking down at the floor. He didn't know what to say other than he wanted to see Riley and talk to her.
"Come on in everyone," Cory's father said as he ushered the group into the house. "The boys can bunk up together and the girls could take Morgan's room."
Maya sat down on the couch and looked around the room, it was filled with pictures of the family growing up. She noticed that Shawn was in a lot of the photos. Lucas looked at the photos too but stopped when he saw the Matthews with a little pink bundle in their arms. He knew it was Riley as a baby and it made him smile. They all sat there in silence as the adults went into the kitchen and gathered snacks for everyone. Lucas looked around to his friends who knew about what had happened in Texas but didn't know that Riley had run away to get away from everything that had happened.
"She looks like a little star," he mumbled to the room. Everyone looked up as he pointed to the picture of baby Riley on the wall.
"Without her we wouldn't truly be friends would we," Smackle said. "If it weren't for her I would still be that girl who couldn't wink or express her feelings, now I don't know what to feel. It's confusing sometimes."
"I would probably still be getting into trouble and causing my mother to cry over another person," Maya said as she looked down to her hands.
"I probably wouldn't have been able to get past being Texas Lucas, I would have been kicked out of school again," Lucas said.
"We all need her around," Farkle said as he looked to his friends. "Riley brings out the best in all of us, but I just want to know one thing. What happened that she ran away?"
"How did you know?" Lucas said astonished that they noticed even though they had tried to keep it a secret from them.
"Riley wouldn't leave without saying something," Zay said as he walked over to where Lucas stood. "She's not the type of person to make others worry about her. I'm guessing this has to do with what happened."
Maya looked up at Zay her face in tears, "Yeah, it did and I didn't want to leave it the way it was. I'm so sorry that I didn't realize what had happened. I let her down, how can I call myself her best friend?"
"You're still her best friend Maya, just like we are all friends. Things like this happen we just have to know how to get through them," Zay said to her.
The group stayed quiet, no one knew what to say because they knew that Zay was right friends need to go through rough spots so that they would become stronger. The doorbell rang as the grown-ups walked back into the room. Cory's mother walked over to answer the door.
"Yes we're looking for the family of one Joshua and Riley Matthews," a voice said as the room went silent.
"I'm Joshua's mother, and Riley is my granddaughter," Amy Matthews said as she opened the door revealing two officers in uniform standing at the door. The whole room went still as the officers walked into the house.
"Tonight your son's car was struck by a drunk driver not too far from here, Joshua and Riley Matthews were taken to the hospital not too long ago. We are here to inform you so that you know where they were taken," the officer said.
The officers gave them the information for the hospital before they left and the group gathered themselves before walking out to the van that they had taken from New York to Philly just so that they could repair their relationship with Riley. Lucas felt his heart stop, he was afraid of something happening to Riley. He didn't know what to do except feel the fear in his heart.
Once they reached the hospital the group rushed inside to try and find out where their loved ones were. Josh was sitting in the waiting room, cuts marred his face and a cast covered his arm, but Riley was nowhere in sight. His head hung low as the group walked towards him. When he saw his brother along with his parents he tried to smile to show that everything was alright but he couldn't bring himself to do so.
"Cory, I'm so sorry the guy came out of nowhere. The light changed and Riley said to drive and all of a sudden the other car ran the light and hit the car. I'm sorry… I'm so so sorry," he said as he sat down trying hard not to cry but the tears fell down.
"Where's Riley?" Cory asked his brother.
"The doctors are still looking at her," Josh sat in silence as everyone around him sat down in complete shock.
"What should we do?" Lucas said out loud. When no one answered he felt empty, he came down here to clear the air with Riley to talk to her about how much he loved her… He loved her, did he really love her? The more he thought about it, her smile shining through everything. She could make him smile not matter what, and she was the one person he could talk to all day without getting tired of hearing her voice. Would he be able to tell her?
After sitting in the waiting area for two hours a doctor came out to meet them, she told them that Riley had been moved to a room and will likely be in the hospital for a few days but she wasn't critical and that she had been lucky. The group moved towards the elevator with the doctor who had told them that they could only see her in small groups. The doctor was explaining that on top of the injuries Riley had sustained she was also suffering from exhaustion, so they had given her something so that she could get some rest. "Only two at a time," the doctor said before walking away.
As soon as the doctor turned the corner the all of the Matthews walked into the room leaving Lucas, Maya, Zay, Farkle, and Smackle standing in the hallway. The group of friends decided that Maya should go first but Lucas asked to go last because he wanted to have the chance to stay with her once everyone was done. He wanted to tell Riley everything he was feeling even though she might not know he was there.
Josh was the first one to leave the room, his head was down as though he had failed his niece who he was trying to cheer up. Maya walked up to him and pulled him into a hug. He looked down at her as though this is what he had been missing the entire time he had been in college.
"How is she?" Farkle asked.
Josh looked up from Maya, "Her leg is in a cast, and she has bruises and her wrist is sprained but the airbags from the car kept her head safe, most of the bruises are from the airbags because I have the same marks."
"What do we do?" Smackle asked.
"Just let her rest and get better I guess," Zay said.
When the rest of the Matthews family walked out they all looked deflated, "We're going to have to stay here in shifts," Cory said to the group. "After you guys see her my parents will take you back to the house so you can rest."
"No," Lucas said. "I'm staying."
"Lucas please just do what I'm asking."
"I'm not leaving her, just let me stay the first shift. I'll call and tell you if anything happens but please don't make me leave," Lucas said wanting to make sure that they wouldn't force him out of the hospital.
"Fine, I'll grab your bag and bring it here, but keep your phone on you at all times and we'll call you."
"Can I stay too?" Maya asked as they all sat down.
"Maya as much as I would love to leave you here, I want you to stay with me," Josh said to her. It was the first time he had made a move towards Maya because he feared losing her.
Maya looked at Josh as though he had given her a gift, for the first time she realized that he may have feelings for her, but she was conflicted because her best friend was lying in a hospital bed in the next room.
"We can take the second shift," he said to her. She nodded because it was the only compromise she could accept.
Everyone agreed who would be here at what time, but Lucas had decided that he wouldn't leave until he was sure that Riley was alright because he was afraid of losing his chance to tell her how he felt. He didn't want her to be sad anymore, he wanted that ray of golden sunshine to be herself again.
Maya walked into the room first and sat down in the chair that was next to Riley's bed and stared at her best friend laying there a tube in her hand and a machine telling her that Riley was still alive and well. Maya hadn't realized that Josh had followed her into the room instead she stared crying. She didn't know what to say except for sorry, but the words didn't come out as she sobbed at the thought that she had almost lost one of the most important people in her life.
Josh placed his one good hand on Maya's shoulder reassuring her that it was alright to cry, instead Maya looked up at Riley and said, "I'm so sorry…. I'm sorry for being selfish and making you go through this pain, I'm not even sure why it happened but I know that whatever I felt for Lucas isn't the same as what you feel for him… Lucas and I talked about it after we went on another date and I realized not long after you hung up on me that same night that the person I love is Josh."
Josh looked at Maya completely shocked by her confession, "Yes Josh I love you and you might not think that it's a god idea for us to be together because I'm three years younger but I can't help what I feel. That's what I learned from all of this."
Josh pulled Maya into his arm and hugged her. "When Riley told me that you liked Lucas I thought that I ruined the chance to be with you over something as selfish as a three-year age difference. Maya I probably fell in love with you all those years ago when I went to my brother's house for Christmas but all I thought was the age difference was a big factor for us so I pushed you away. I don't want to push you away anymore," he said as Maya held onto him.
They stood there in each other's arms but it didn't change the fact that Riley was laying there hurt because of something that Maya had caused. When the two of them walked out Zay, Farkle, and Smackle walked into the room. After five minutes they walked out of the room holding onto each other. Maya knew that they were also in shock over what was happening but they knew that they would all have to work together to make sure that their group of friends came back from this stronger than before.
