11. Riley Matthews

"You don't just get to disappear for two years and come back expecting everything to be the way it was. So tell me, Maya, where were you?"

There wasn't much sleeping that night after the truth about Maya came out. Topanga, who was staying with the blonde sat awake for an hour, not able to sleep just in case Maya needed her.

Finally, at three, she managed to drift off into a weak sleep but was ripped out of that not too long after by the fidgeting girl next to her, no doubt that she was stuck in one of her twisted dreams once more.

Before Topanga could even wake her, Maya was upright and glancing around the room, eyes wide in fear of two things, one being the dream, no nightmare, she had just endured and two, the fact that she didn't know where she was.

Topanga gently rested her hand on the blonde's arm, trying not to frighten her but Maya still jumped at the unexpected touch. She whirled around to face Topanga, fully expecting it to be Wyatt but instead came face to face with the woman she thought of as a second mother.

Her shoulders slumped in relief and exhaustion, and Maya let her body fall to the side, onto Topanga's, who caught the girl and held her close to her, trying to let her know that she was safe through actions only.

After sitting there for somewhere between half an hour to an hour, the blonde finally managed to fall back asleep, but once Topanga tried to place her back down onto the bed to be more comfortable, her grip on her increased ten-fold and so the older woman was forced to lay down with her.

Shawn and Cory were still out in the main room, both passed out across the sofa, limbs strewn everywhere. Once Topanga had disappeared down the hallway to stay with Maya, they had stayed up for a while, talking about what they were going to do now they had Maya and the truth.

They had let Katy know that they had Maya at the Matthews' place safe and sound and the plans on what they were going to do and she had told them that she would give evidence for them if they needed it, leading the pair to realise that maybe Katy was involved in it all somehow.

When six-thirty am rolled around, Topanga's alarm clock rang. She was always up a half-hour before the others so she could make sure everything was done and ready for the day ahead.

To her surprise, it wasn't the alarm clock that woke Maya up, it was instead her rising out of bed – carefully might I add – that woke the girl.

She blinked sleepily and looked up at Topanga, eyes glazed over with sleep. Once she realised that the older woman seemed to be leaving her, Maya rose and grabbed her wrist to stop her in her tracks, "Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to go and start to get ready," Topanga sat back down on the bed and brushed a blonde curl from Maya's face. "You can go back to sleep if you want."

Maya just shook her head stubbornly, "I'm coming with you."

Narrowing her eyebrows in concern, Topanga just nodded and made her way out of the room, Maya trailing behind her like a lost puppy.

"Hey, how did I get into bed?" Riley asked as she entered the kitchen that morning, fully dressed for the day. "I fell asleep on the-" She stopped mid-sentence, seeing the back of the familiar blonde curls sitting at the dining room table. "Maya?"

Wincing a little, Maya turned to look at the girl she thought of as a sister, "Hi, Riles."

"How – how are you here?" The brunette asked, not moving from her spot. She watched as Maya opened and closed her mouth, trying to think of something to say. Topanga had told her what the day's plan was and she knew that everything would be out by the time it got to dinner that night. Would it be better to tell Riley now or later on? "Well?" She snapped.

Gone was the girl who last night spent half the night up awake, waiting for news from her parents of the missing teen, now she was replaced with someone who was losing her patients easily.

Riley herself didn't know why her tone had changed so quickly. She couldn't help it, maybe it was the anger she had built up over the years because she hadn't seen her best friend, Riley honestly didn't have an answer.

"You know what, I don't have time this morning," Riley announced, grabbing her bag and making for the door. "Mom, I'll be at Topanga's after school with Lucas and Farkle."

"But what about –" Topanga called after her daughter but was cut off by the door slamming shut. She sighed and glanced at Maya, who was looking down at her plate and pushing the food around with her fork.

Placing down the spoon she had in hand, Topanga made her way around the table and sat next to Maya, "It'll all be okay. Once we explain to her the situation, she'll understand. I promise you, she'll come around."

She had done it.

She had actually done it.

The cops had believed her, they had seen the evidence and they had believed her story. And currently, they were on their way over to her apartment to arrest Wyatt.

The once thing that she was surprised about, however, was the fact that her mother had turned up and backed up her statements, revealing to not only the police but also Topanga that Wyatt had been abusive for the last two years.

Living arrangements were to be made because there was no way in hell that Katy and Maya were going back to the place they had been put through hell. Currently, they were on their way to Topanga's to talk to about everything.

As they stepped into the building, the trio caught the attention of Riley. Standing, she hesitantly made her way over to the table that held her parents, Maya's mom and Shawn. She stopped at the end of the table and looked directly at Maya, shuffling from foot to foot, "Can I talk to Maya please?"

"S-sure," Maya replied and stood, ignoring the looks the adults were shooting her, following Riley out the door.

As they sat on the metal chairs outside, Maya pulled her sleeves down to cover her wrists.

They sat in silence for who knows how long before Riley broke it, "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," Maya replied sincerely, although she refused to look up at the taller girl.

"Where were you, Maya?" It was so quiet, almost inaudible, yet Maya heard it as if it had been shouted from the rooftops.

She had to tell her. She knew she had to. But something inside of her told her not to do it, that it would lead to bad things if she did. Instead of the truth, she muttered, "Please drop it, Riley, I'll tell you when I'm ready. Can't we just try and be friends again. I need you."

Reaching across the table, Riley gently squeezed her hand, "You're my best friend, Peaches. You can tell me anything."

Hearing the old nickname, Maya broke. The tears poured again and somewhere in her mind, she had to question whether or not she would ever run out of tears. Pushing her chair back, she stood and shook her head, "I'm sorry, Riley."

Maya tried to make a break for it, running up the concrete stairs and onto the main road. It wasn't a busy road but it did see its fair share of traffic from time to time.

Riley, on the other hand, could feel herself becoming angry again. When she got to the top of the stairs, she saw that Maya was halfway across the street and yelled after her, "You don't just get to disappear for two years and come back expecting everything to be the way it was! So tell me, Maya, where were you?"

Any reply was cut off by the sound of a car getting closer and closer.

One of them was going to be hit, and she sure as hell wasn't about to let her get hurt. Running forward, she shoved the other girl out of the way mere seconds before her body collided with the car front, sending her through the air before landing lifelessly on the tarmac road.

Hello, this is girlmeetswords sister filling in for her to let you know that she's currently gone into hiding in anticipation of your more than likely 'kind' words you're about to leave her. Nah, it's just me. I don't have a sister but I have a feeling I'm going to be killed for this chapter so I'm gonna go before I die. Although one thing I wanna say is, could we maybe get 100 reviews on this chapter? That's only fourteen of you that I need to review for me, thankyou :)