Sorry for leaving you all hanging for so long! Here's the chapter that I'm sure you've all been waiting for.

IDK why I decided to do this, but I got a haircut about the exact same as the one I described Riley got in the last chapter. Guess the author must follow what the reader does, huh? (Ignore this.)

WARNING: SWEARING. LOTS OF IT. BECAUSE RILEY GETS MAD.


EIGHT: GIRL MEETS THE VOLCANO EXPLODES

Even though she was back at home, Riley was still messaging Chase, Andrew, Charlotte, and Jasmine non-stop. Josh had been kind enough to drive her back to the apartment and hang out with her, although the first thing they did was lock the bay windows, all three of them, and put the curtains over them.

"Are you sure about this?" Josh asked his niece. "The windows bring so much light into your room."

Riley gestured to her ceiling light. "This will have to do. I don't want any distractions." She looked at herself in the mirror on the wall. "Do you think they'll like my hair?" she asked.

Josh raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you didn't care what they thought anymore."

"I meant my parents," Riley said, rolling her eyes.

"Riley, your mom already told you it looked really good, and I have to agree," Josh said. He took a seat on the bed next to her. "Look, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"About Chase," Riley guessed.

Josh hesitated. "About Maya. About, well, the two of us."

"What's there to talk about? You're dating Charlotte, and it's not your 'someday' yet," Riley said. "Maya can't begrudge you for dating Charlotte when she's dating Lucas."

"It just seems like she's changed a lot since the last time I saw her," Josh admitted. "The way she's treated you lately has led me to believe that she's not the same girl I developed feelings for three years ago."

"Well, a lot has changed since the ski lodge," Riley mused. "But you'll have to see for yourself. Is she still the same person to you, or are you not interested? I can't really help you with that, and my feelings towards her shouldn't change your feelings. You have to figure out whether or not you still want to keep the long game going on your own."

Josh fell back on the bed. "I almost wish I didn't know what happened between the two of you. I really wish I didn't know Maya had been treating you like this."

"It's not just Maya, although she's a big part of it." Riley joined him in lying down. "Farkle's always been in love with me, since the first grade. But he started voicing his feelings a couple of years ago, and I'd tell him I wasn't interested, and he was adamant that I give him a chance."

"Did you?" Josh inquired.

Riley laughed. "No. I knew he was just trying to take his mind off of Izzy, because she ended things and got together with Zay. I didn't want to be his sloppy seconds. I also didn't really like him in that way."

"Maybe you're not his sloppy seconds though, Riley," Josh said finally. "Maybe he genuinely likes you, not because he needs a rebound, but because he does. It's been years, Riles, why would he still think of you as a rebound?"

Riley hadn't really considered that. "I don't know," she admitted. "But I wasn't really in the right headspace. Around that time, Maya started dating Lucas and figured I'd be fine with Farkle. There was one point where we didn't say anything more than 'hello' and 'goodbye' for a month."

A week ago, Riley would've been in tears saying this, but now, her voice was steady and calm. Her tone matter-of-fact. There was no emotion, it was the straight truth, and Josh was impressed with just how much a week away from the toxicity of her friendships had helped his niece. "I'm sure Maya knows she's messed up," Josh said. "Let her apologize to you, and then really decide whether or not you still want her in your life."

"I don't, though," Riley said immediately. "She's been my friends since we were five, but at the same time, her presence has always convinced me that I didn't need to branch out and meet other people, that she'd always be there. When she pulled away, I learned that I needed to find new ones, and I did. And now that I have," Riley shifted to look at Josh, "I don't need her anymore."

Josh didn't know what to say after that. Thankfully, they heard the front door open and voices. Riley sat up quickly. "Do you think Maya's with them?" she whispered.

Josh held out his hand and she took it. "Let's find out."


It had been a grueling four hour drive back to Greenwich Village. So exhausting, in fact, that Cory had almost fallen asleep at the wheel and crashed the car. Topanga dragged her sleeping husband into the house, left him on the floor, and went back outside for the bags. "Auggie, come on and help," she pleaded with the thirteen-year old.

Riley and Josh appeared in the doorway to the stairs. "Hi mom!" she called.

Topanga turned to see her daughter. "Riley!" Forgetting about the open car, she crossed the room and gave her a hug. "How have you been?"

"Good, Mom, great, even," Riley admitted. "Did you say you needed help?"

"That would be great, because your father is currently incapacitated," Topanga sighed, gesturing to a sleeping Cory.

Riley and Josh helped her mother carry all of the bags into the house while she parked the car. Auggie carried in his own bag and proceeded to lock himself in his room to record his podcast, although he did compliment Riley's haircut.

"So," Topanga began once they were all settled in. She sat down on the couch and put her feet up on her husband's back. "Tell me what you did?"

"We locked the bay window," Josh said immediately.

Riley groaned, "Josh!"

"She was going to find out eventually, Riley," Josh reminded her.

Topanga nodded like she'd been expecting it. "How was NYU?"

"Amazing, incredible, I even went to a couple of psych classes, and it all but assured me that I should go into this field," Riley gushed. She almost wanted to talk to her mother about Chase, but with her father on the floor (even though he was sleeping), she figured she'd wait until later. "Did you drop everyone else off?"

"Well we dropped Farkle and Isadora off, Shawn and Katy took the others," Topanga said, "since we also had Auggie." She reached out to touch Riley's hair. "I love it, sweetie. You look so mature now."

"Thanks," Riley said bashfully.

Josh stood up. "I should get going," he admitted.

Riley raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were going to wait to talk to Maya."

"Well, she isn't here, and I've got a class starting in twenty minutes," Josh said.

Riley gave him a hug. "I can't tell you how grateful I am for the week. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for everything."

Josh kissed her on the cheek. "Anytime. And you can come crash anytime, too, provided your parents are fine with it. And you have to promise to keep one of us updated."

"Of course," Riley said, grinning.

Topanga gave Josh a hug and thanked him as well, before he left the apartment. Then she bent down and grabbed Cory's arms. "You need to get his feet," she sighed. Riley groaned and took her father's legs, and she and her mother slowly brought him into the bedroom, where they threw him onto the bed without a care in the world. "Are you hungry?" Topanga asked Riley.

"A little," Riley admitted.

"I'll make dinner," Topanga said, heading for the door.

"Mom, go take a nap, I know you've got to be exhausted too," Riley said. "I'll make something for myself in a little while."

"Are you sure?" her mother asked.

Riley nodded. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

Topanga smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."


Riley, where are you? I thought we were gonna meet at Topanga's at five. Maya stared at her phone. She was with everyone else at the bakery. "Farkle, I thought you said she was coming," Maya said, irritated. They'd gotten back from the Cape about an hour ago, so she wasn't sure why Riley wasn't there.

"She told me she'd think about it," Farkle said. "You must have heard me wrong."

Maya opened her mouth to deliver an angry response when her phone beeped. I told Farkle I'd think about it, I never said I'd come. Frustrated, Maya threw her phone, and thankfully, Lucas caught it. "Careful," Lucas cautioned. "You can't afford a new one."

"Let's just go see her at the house," Farkle suggested.

"What if she's not even there?" Zay asked.

"Then we don't see her today," Lucas said diplomatically. "But she can't avoid us forever, and school starts back up again tomorrow. We'll see her then."

So the gang left Topanga's and headed for Riley's bay window. But to their dismay, they found it locked and blocked by a curtain. Lucas tugged on the handle. "It's not going to open," Zay deadpanned.

Farkle knocked on the glass. "Riley?" There was no response. If Riley was in her room, she wasn't answering.

"The doorbell," Izzy suggested, and so they climbed down the fire escape and around to the front door.

Maya rang the doorbell and knocked, and after about a minute, Cory opened the door. "Hello," he said. "How can I help you?"

"We want to talk to Riley," Lucas said. "Sir," he added after.

Cory shook her head. "Not today, kids."

"Dad, it's fine," Riley said from the couch. "Let them in."

Cory glanced at her. "Are you sure?"

"It's going to happen sooner or later, and I'd rather it not happen at school," Riley said, standing up. Immediately, even though her father was blocking most of the doorway, Maya could see changes. The biggest one was her hair.

Cory reluctantly stepped aside. "I'm keeping watch just in case it gets violent."

Riley laughed. "Please, this can't possibly get violent."

"You've seen Shawn and I go at it," her father warned her.

Riley shrugged. Fair enough. She watched carefully, with her arms crossed, as her friends filed slowly into the room. She stood up. Normally, she'd feel outnumbered, seeing as it was five to one. But she was outnumbered and didn't give a rat's ass. "Why are you here?" she asked coolly.

"We came to talk to you," Lucas said, with a quick glance at the others. "About why you didn't come to Cape Cod."

Riley laughed. "Josh needed my help with a project."

"That's not the only reason," Farkle said.

"Right, and I'm sure you know exactly why I didn't come with you guys, right?" Riley challenged him. "You're not an idiot, and you've known for a while now. So why haven't you told anyone? Afraid it'll end everyone's friendships?"

"I'm afraid of what it might do to everyone, yeah," Farkle admitted. "But I also hope that I'm wrong."

"What did you think?" Maya asked.

Farkle's eyes didn't leave Riley's. She was practically willing him to say it, because that way she didn't have to. Which meant that it was true. He shook his head. "Riley, I think you should tell us."

"You're right, I probably should," Riley said, standing up from the couch. "For years, now," she said, her smug attitude replaced with a hard, angry one. She began pacing. "I had to deal with the two of you," she spat, gesturing to Lucas and Maya, "ignoring me, being together, and hurting me. Now, I normally wouldn't have been upset that you two were an item, but it was little things. You spent more time with Lucas so you gave Farkle to me. Abandon me with the guy who's in love with me but I don't reciprocate those feelings. Really great of you, Maya," she said tightly. "Then, I'll say things that don't fit my personality. And instead of taking the time to understand where I'm coming from, my point of view is dismissed, thrown away, diverted, or ignored entirely. I'm not the same person I was in middle school. Why are you all allowed to grow and change, develop new ideas and personalities, and I'm not?" Her voice had risen to a shout now. "Lucas changed, Farkle changed, Maya decided to fucking hope for once in her life, and that's all okay? It is! But when I decide that I don't want to be the innocent, naive, stupid girl I was, I'm told that it's who I am, that I can't change that, and to fucking lie in my own fucking bed because I fucking made it when I was five years old." She was furious now. "That is fucking bullshit."

Her friends, none of whom had seen Riley swear so violently before, were speechless. No one said anything.

Riley sat back down on the couch. "I thought I'd had better friends. I'd never been so wrong."

"We are your friends, Riley," Lucas tried. "We just made some mistakes."

"Right, because telling a person they aren't allowed to change is a mistake," Riley scoffed. "Stop trying to deny that you did anything wrong, because there are a whole lot of people who aren't me who would beg to differ." At this point, Riley's phone rang, and seeing as no one had spoken, she picked it up. "Hello?"

"How's it going?" Josh asked carefully.

"About as bad as I thought it'd be," Riley said, glancing at her friends' embarrassed faces. "Wanna come over? Maya's here." She noticed Maya's eyes widen at the mention of her name.

Josh sighed. "Don't drag me into this, Riley."

"I'd love some backup, because none of them seem to know what the fuck to say to me," Riley said calmly. Farkle flinched at her profanity and she grinned, amused by the entire situation.

"I have another class," Josh lied.

"Come on, Josh, don't pull that on me, I know you don't," Riley said, realizing she'd just given his identity away but shrugged it off. "Please?"

"Fine, I'll be there as soon as I can. Try not to torch the place," Josh said, hanging up.

Riley tossed her phone onto the couch and looked back at her friends. "Well?"

"Riley, we're really, really sorry," Maya admitted.

"Good. You should be," Riley said, standing up and walking to the kitchen for a glass of water. "But that isn't going to change anything. I was left hurt for two and a half years. Every time I would try and bring it up, I'd be shut down. By my parents, by all of you."

"Then how come you forgave them but not us?" Zay asked.

"Because they're my parents, and they want me to be happy, and they let me not go and suffer with you guys," Riley said, filling a glass with tap water. "I'm not even sure we can be friends anymore," she added, turning around.

Cory watched everything from the front door. He observed facial expressions and body language. He didn't want to jump in unless Riley asked him to, so he stayed quiet.

"Of course we can still be friends," Maya said, her voice shaking. She was starting to realize just how much damage she'd caused.

"Really? Because why would I want to be friends with people who would treat me like you did?" Riley asked calmly, taking a sip.

"We want to make things right," Farkle admitted.

"So do I," Riley said, setting the glass down. "I want to start over. Without you."

"You can't possibly mean that," Cory interrupted, without meaning to. "Riley, honey, think this through."

"I have, dad," Riley said. "I've been thinking about it for days. My relationship with each and every one of them is toxic."

Maya flinched just as the door opened and Josh stepped in. "What did I miss?" he asked, closing the door. "Brotha," he said to Cory.

"Brotha," Cory replied.

"Riley doesn't want to be friends with us anymore," Isadora told him.

"And what do you think?" Josh asked, taking a seat on the couch.

"Well, we want to fix things and still be friends," Lucas admitted.

"Right. But the thing is, the only way to fix this is to give each other some space," Josh said, leaning back. "Riley took a week off from all of her problems and she's a better person for it."

"But we aren't," Farkle said.

"Which goes to show you how much value she has to your life, and how little you have to hers," Josh explained. "She didn't miss you at all in the last week. Did you guys miss her?"

None of them spoke, because they didn't have to. Every one of them at some point on the trip had mentioned her.

"Right," Riley said wryly from the kitchen. "We are beyond fixing now," she said, walking back to the couch.

"So you're ending things," Zay said incredulously.

"Actually, you guys ended things months ago when you stopped giving a shit about me," Riley said. "You made your beds, now go lie in them. This isn't my fault. I decided to grow up, without you. I'm not the one who almost destroyed another person's entire life."

"Josh," Maya pleaded.

He looked at her. The girl he'd known was still there. But family came first, and she'd hurt Riley badly. "Maya, I'm not the one making this decision. She came to it on her own."

"What about us?" she managed. Lucas's eyes shot open and Josh's eyebrows went up.

"That's exactly what I mean," Riley said, smirking. "All you care about is yourself. I end our friendship, and all you're worried about is how your little long game is going to play out. Let me break it to you honey, nothing's going to happen if you're both seeing other people."

"Why are you doing this?" Maya whispered, tears filling in her eyes. She wasn't looking at Josh now.

"Because you have to understand how much you made me hurt. You have to understand why I don't need you anymore. There are better things for me out there that don't include friends who don't give a flying fuck about what I want. I heard that you didn't know I wanted to go into psychology," Riley said coolly. "How many times did I mention that to you, about a hundred? If you don't care about me, then why should I care about you?"

"You're a better person?" Lucas tried.

"No, it's a rhetorical question, you moron," Riley spat. "I don't have to."

"What if we don't want this?" It was Farkle who spoke now. He'd been the only one she'd opened up to, even though not entirely. He hoped he could get through to her. "What if we still want you in our lives?"

Riley studied him. Despite everything, she did still see value to him remaining in her life. The others, she'd have to see about. He'd been the one to figure out everything that was going on and confront her about it. Everyone else did have the opportunity to but chose to do it once they'd returned. But to answer him, she shrugged. "You'll have to figure that out on your own."

She watched as they all walked out, one by one. She hoped they'd finally listened. Josh put an arm around her once Cory had shut the door. "It'll be all right," he told her.

A smile appeared on Riley's face as she leaned on his shoulder. "It already is, Josh."


Okay so in GMW they talk about the volcano exploding well Riley's the volcano in this story (I know in the real GMW it'll probably be Farkle) so that's where I got the name for this chapter

Let me know what you think! What's going to happen now?

Lauren.