Chapter Ten: Three Weeks and Then You Get Sick of Me?

A/N: Sorry for posting so late, I had so much homework this past week and I had to get everything together so fast. Well, the good news is even though it's late this chapter is a good length and probably the one I've been looking forward to the most. The bad news is that this story is almost over (and on an entirely unrelated note so is glee). Anyway, these last few chapters are very climatic and I think you'll enjoy them. I have been thinking about doing a sequel to this story and you'll see why when we finish up this story. Well, let's not stall any longer. Without further ado, here is chapter ten of "Landscapes".

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Maya wasn't deaf.

She wasn't oblivious to how people acted around her, treating her like she was a bomb that could go off any moment. She certainly wasn't dumb and she did in fact notice how Riley's parents would go absolutely silent when she walked in the room as if they weren't just talking about her. She didn't hear every little argument but she did her some and the ones that she overheard killed her. Topanga didn't want her there, Auggie didn't want her there, and Mr. Matthews was just trying to be nice.

She had tried running away already and they saw how well that turned out. But it had almost been a month and she was going insane. She sat at Farkle's kitchen table that afternoon as the two worked on their hereditary project. Unfortunately, Riley was in first period science while she was in third and she got stuck with Farkle as a lab partner. It wasn't like she was too unhappy, it was almost like the young Minkus did all the work and all she had to do was watch. Well, technically she already did that with Riley but at least they had fun doing it.

"Maya, are you paying attention?" Farkle broke into her thoughtful state and she blinked before focusing on the boy in front of her. He was graphing out what they were going to do on a piece of paper while she gazed off at the floor the ceiling window in the back of his kitchen.

"Sorry." She sighed out a lame apology, glancing down at what Farkle had already gotten done of their project. "What were you saying?" She questioned, shaking her head clear of any other thoughts.

"I was talking about how we could each ask someone in our family about our family's medical history and then meet up again and see how much we have done." He explained as she watched him with a confused expression. What the hell was he even going on about? Medical history?

"Um, I'm sorry. What?" She asked, staring hard at the piece of paper between them, trying to make sense of the whole ordeal.

The boy let out an exasperated breath. "I was talking about-" She cut him off before he could finish repeating his explanation.

"No, I heard you the first time. I just, like, what do you mean?" She asked, just wanting to curl up into a ball and die. Now she remembered why she didn't like working with Farkle. She always felt like an idiot compared to him.

"Maya, it's a genogram." Farkle laughed, staring at her blank expression before sighing. "Oh. Were you just not paying attention?"

"I paid attention. I just, um, I just don't get it." She felt her face go hot and suddenly she wanted to leave. Why couldn't Farkle just do all the work and leave her out of it? Why did she have to be part of a stupid project that she didn't even understand?

"What's your grade in Science anyway?" Farkle shrugged, acting like they were just having a normal conversation. Suddenly, embarrassment melted into anger and she glared at the boy in front of her.

"None of your business." She snapped rudely, crossing her arms over her chest and flipping a lock of blonde hair out of her eyes. "I'm gonna go, I'll see you tomorrow, Farkle." She spat, grabbing her bag next to her seat and standing up.

"Maya, wait." He reached out to stop the girl, grabbing a hold of her arm which she immediately pulled away.

"What? What do you want, Farkle?" She rolled her eyes, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"Are you going to do your part of the project?" He asked nervously, staring at his feet rather than making eye contact. She scoffed, turning away from the boy and started to head out the door as he stopped her again. "I was kidding, kidding. Here, at least let me walk you back to Riley's house." He offered, holding open the door for her as she stepped out.

"Since when did you become the perfect gentleman?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in question. He only grinned as he stepped outside with her, shoving his hands into his coat jacket and Maya followed suit, keeping an awkward distance from her friend next to her.

"I've had practice." He shrugged, turning to look at the blonde who was once again staring off into the distance. "So, Maya, what don't you understand about, y'know, Science?" He inquired suddenly and she glanced over to him, his hands playing with his jacket zipper like he was afraid she would lash out on him. It was time to stop running and lying and thinking that those two things would automatically solve all her problems.

"I was hoping you would ask." She grinned meekly, taking a step closer to her friend.

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It wasn't impossible to find a well-paying job in New York City but it sure as hell seemed that way.

It wasn't like his qualifications exactly set him up for success in the first place. He had barely graduated high school, barely got his Master's degree, and barely even got his first job before living on his brother's couch for a month. But, he knew he could get through a minor setback like this and he wasn't an idiot 22-year-old kid anymore; he knew how to handle himself in the world. He hadn't quit his job writing for 'Hit the Road' just yet but he knew he would have to give up his spot in a few weeks which would break his heart but he knew that sacrificing one job for someone like Maya was worth it.

He hadn't even told Cory his plan yet, which was stupid. He had seen how stressed out Cory was and how Topanga was livid with anger as she dragged him into another room. Maya, however, just looked devoid of any emotion. Her eyes were blank and she tried to joke and brush all her feelings off but Shawn knew what she was going through. The only problem was he didn't know how he was going to reach out to her if she wasn't letting anyone in. Even Riley, which surprised him and worried him at the same time.

He foresaw his best friend's troubles with taking in Maya in the first place. Barely handling his own two kids, his wife, and school already, adding another kid into the mix wasn't going to help. He was more than relieved to see the girl as she walked through the door, her hands stuffed in her jacket and avoiding eye contact with anyone. He remembered being in her exact position and he laughed to himself now, thinking that the girl wouldn't even believe him if he told her the half of it. Yeah, he was a pretty horrible teenager but he had people around him to help him through that part of his life and she just needed to know that she had that.

"You okay?" Riley had questioned with that compassionate look in her eyes as she turned to her friend after getting her little brother out of the room. The blonde looked up at her friend for a moment and gave a small smile to reassure her.

"I'm always okay." She replied before turning to Shawn. "So, Hunter. How long you staying this time?" She asked, leaning back into the couch, trying to relax. Riley took a seat next to her, smoothing out her hair like she always did when she was stressed out about something. It was always the little things Shawn noticed about people that stuck with him forever whenever he saw them again. Like how Cory would always play with his shirt collar when they were younger and he was nervous or how Topanga would clutch her books to her chest when she was worried about something.

"Oh, I don't know. A few days at the most." He shrugged, noticing how her face fell after telling her his plans. It wasn't entirely his fault his job prohibited him from staying in one place and it wasn't like he was planning on becoming an important part of anyone's life when he took the job so it worked out fine until he actually came into contact with people who actually cared about him enough to ask how long he was staying in one place.

"Mr. Hunter, do you think while you're in town can Maya ask you some questions for our Science project?" Farkle spoke up suddenly, obviously getting an idea. Shawn had to laugh at the similarity between Maya and Riley's friend and his father who Shawn had developed a feud with in the sixth or fifth grade. He saw the Minkus in him right away which scared him how vividly he remembered the nerdy kid he and Cory used to tease when they were kids. He shrugged, sitting forward in his seat and turned to Maya who was glaring at Farkle.

"Farkle, we're not even related." Maya snapped, rolling her eyes at the brunette boy.

"I don't know, he's kind of your best option since…" Riley wasn't able to finish her sentence before realizing what she was about to say and quickly stopping herself from continuing which Maya obviously appreciated even though she couldn't hide the fact that her friend was right.

"Are you okay with that, Mr. Hunter?" Farkle asked, pulling out a notepad and a pencil from his heavy looking backpack. Shawn nodded briefly, glancing over to Maya who looked embarrassed beyond belief. "What's your family's medical history? What kind of diseases run in your family?" the boy continued, much to Riley's amusement who was trying to hide her interest.

"Uh," Shawn thought back to the time when he and his brother tried searching up Shawn's real mother through some cheap computer program. For god's sakes he never even knew his own mother and he was supposed to be answering questions about his family history. "Heart attacks and stuff and alcoholism." He improvised, not really knowing what to say. The only unhealthy trait his father ever showed was how unhealthy he ate, which most likely caused his heart attack. The two girls' heads snapped up when he mentioned the last fact under his breath and Maya looked confused.

"Seriously?" Maya questioned, raising in eyebrow in disbelief. "Alcoholism isn't a disease, Hunter." She scoffed and Shawn let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding in. Alcohol was a touchy subject for his family, mainly his brother whose mother left Shawn's father solely because of his drinking. He didn't have the time to explain to Maya how Alcoholism was passed down through generations before Topanga stepped out silently from her bedroom, holding their home phone.

"Maya, phone call." She called to the girl who was off the couch in a second and ran for the phone, thanking Topanga briefly before taking the phone eagerly.

"Mom?" Her voice shook with nervousness and Shawn noticed how Riley's eyes were fixated on her friend's every move. Maybe he wasn't the only one who noticed things. "I'm fine. How are you?" She questioned, her hands shook as she clutched the phone in one hand and grabbed onto the counter with another. "Oh you need to talk to them? Alright, I'll put him on." She sighed, disappointment evident in her tone as she handed off the phone to Cory who looked confused after emerging from the bedroom himself. He took the phone and nodded to Riley to take Maya and Farkle into her own room as he and Topanga went back into their own bedroom, Shawn following not knowing what to do. He shut the door behind them, really not wanting anyone to hear.

If there was one thing Maya didn't need right now it was false hope and that's exactly what her mom was doing by calling her in the first place.

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Riley didn't expect any different from her best friend.

"I'll be right back." She explained to her two friends as she stood from the bed immediately after being ushered into Riley's room along with Farkle. Riley sighed as she stepped in front of her shorter friend, prohibiting her from leaving the room. Maya scowled up at her, trying to push Riley out of the way.

"Maya, I know what you're doing and you don't want to do it. It's a bad idea." She tried to convince her stubborn friend but the blonde only sidestepped Riley and pushed her way out the door and crossed the hall to Riley's parents' room, pressing her ear up against the door. Riley sighed, shooting Farkle a warning look before following her friend out the door and fidgeting behind her nervously, not wanting to listen in on the conversation about to go down.

"Katy, we don't understand. When did you say you were coming back?" She heard her mother question in her serious tone that scared Riley sometimes. She guessed that Shawn must have followed her parents in their room because he wasn't sprawled out on the couch anymore.

"I'll be back in a few weeks. I just need to get some stuff, um, worked through." Riley could barely make out Katy Hart's muffled southern accent and she briefly wondered what 'worked through' could mean and if a few weeks actually meant months. She loved Maya and she would live with her forever, they were practically sisters already, but for some reason her mother had just gotten extremely stressed out with Maya around which Riley didn't want Maya to notice. It wasn't like her mother didn't like Maya. Well, at least she hoped she did. Her mom had always been like a stand-in mom for Maya but the time she needed her most she was backing out.

"Katy, we don't exactly have a lot of options here. Maya is a bit of a handful." Her dad chuckled, trying to soften the blow without saying what he actually thought which obviously upset Maya because her grip on the door handle tightened like she was about to burst in there any second. Riley placed a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, mostly for support but also to hold her back in case she did want to kick down a door. "How are you going to explain this to her anyway?" He questioned, letting out a sigh.

"Mr. Matthews, if I know anything about my girl it's that she's either right there in that room with you or she's hiding right behind the corner listening to us right now." Katy laughed weakly, her assumption obviously spot-on. "Hi, Maya." She said just as Maya threw open the bedroom door, her eyes blazing.

"Fine! I'm too much of a handful for you? I never needed you! I never needed any of you!" She yelled, ripping her shoulder out from under Riley who was trying to pull her back out. She bolted back into Riley's room and immediately began climbing out of the bay window and down the fire escape while Riley stood dumbstruck, facing her parents and Shawn who were still trying to talk to Katy Hart. Shawn stepped out of the room and headed straight for the front door, seeming to know where Maya was going and Riley tried to relax. If anyone knew how to talk sense into Maya Hart it was Shawn Hunter, the guy who was exactly like her.

She just hoped they weren't too late.

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Once again so sorry for the two-day late update. So much homework this weekend and I just decided to update Landscapes and 1994 on Sunday rather than Friday and Saturday. Well, three more chapters and we'll be done with this story. Like I said though, I've been thinking a lot about making a sequel to this story (you'll see what it is when I'm almost done with the story) and keep reading. Have a nice week!