Author's Note: This chapter is a turning point. Going forward some of the chapters will contain NSFW material. I'm not sure if this warning is entirely necessary since the story is rated M and we've been dealing with STDs and drug addictions, but I still wanted to give my readers a heads up. Thanks for sticking with me so far everyone.
Maya took a step back to admire her work. When Riley had given her free reign over paint choices she had a surge of inspiration, and now her masterpiece was complete. She had bared Riley from stepping foot into the bedroom until the painting was complete. Of course the no closed door rule was still in place from Dr. Lawler's instruction so a thin piece of tarp hung in the doorway to block her girlfriend's curious gaze.
"Riles! I finished!" Maya came running out into the living room to find Riley curled up with decorating magazine. Slightly out of breath with a smile on her face, she reached for the brunette's hand, "I can't wait to show you."
Tossing the magazine aside, Riley rose to her feet and took Maya's outstretched hand, "It's about time."
"Oh shush! Just wait," she placed a quick kiss on her girlfriend's lips. "Now close your eyes."
Once her eyes were closed Maya led Riley into the bedroom. She positioned her so once her eyes opened she'd be looking at the freshly painted wall to the left of their bed.
"Can I open them now?"
Maya moved behind her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her neck in an embrace. "Open them, Honey."
Riley slowly opened her eyes and gasped at what was in front of her. "Peaches, its … you painted our bay window!" The plain white wall had been transformed into a mural of Riley's childhood bedroom. She marveled in amazement at the window seat her and Maya spent so many hours sitting at, various purple decorative pillows painted in such detail she swore she could reach out and touch them, and vine draped balcony beyond the window panes.
"Do you like it?" Maya whispered into her ear.
"I … it's amazing." Riley turned around to kiss her girlfriend to share a brief kiss. "I absolutely love it. It's perfect."
Riley stepped back from Maya, wanting another look at the mural her girlfriend had created. In her typical fashion, Riley did not look where she was going before setting her path in motion. As she was turning around her foot slid directly into a bucket of deep purple paint, causing her to trip. While she fell backwards onto the plastic floor covering bucket dislodged from her foot, flew into the air, and emptied its contents on the brunette's head as it fell back to the ground.
Maya watched the scene act out in slow motion, partially in disbelief at what had just happened. Within seconds she was beside herself in hysterics, laughing at her clumsy girlfriend now covered in more paint that the walls. "You beautiful klutz," she admired, laughter still in her voice, as gazed looked down at Riley.
"Shut up and help me!" Riley responded in jest, barely getting the words out between her laughing.
Instead of helping, Maya reached into her back pocket for her cell phone, "Nope this is too good. I think this calls for a Facebook post."
"Don't you dare," Riley grabbed Maya's ankle and tugged her down into the paint puddle with her.
Maya landed right next to Riley, her hair and back now coated in thick purple paint. "Oh great, now we're both a mess! What did that accomplish?"
The brunette placed her paint covered hand on Maya's cheek to pull her in for a kiss, "Got you out of posting it online, didn't it?"
"You have no idea what you started, Matthews," she said as reached behind her to grab a discarded paintbrush. Rather than a canvas she brushed it right down the side of Riley's face, covering it with a subtle shade of lilac.
"I guess I deserved that," Riley laughed as she found a brush of her own to return the favor. "But I insist on symmetry."
Maya exhaled in frustration. "Touché, but if you are insisting then on symmetry I think your left side is a little lacking," she added before taking another long stroke with the brush.
Rather than continuing the human canvas art project the two had somehow found themselves in the midst of, Riley pulled Maya in to kiss her passionately. The various shades of purple they found themselves covered in mixed together as their mouths danced. It took several minutes before the girls came up for air.
"Best paint fight ever," Maya said between kisses, alternating her words between gentle pecks. "No arguing, but I'm taking a selfie of this. Just for me." She raised her phone into the air to snap the photo just as Riley leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.
Riley admired the photo, holding the phone in her hands, "It's perfect."
"Yeah," Maya responded, her eyes on Riley rather than the phone.
"Post it," Riley said as she handed the phone back to Maya.
"What?" Maya asked after getting pulled out of her daze, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, and caption it something like painting with my girlfriend."
A wide grin broke across the blonde's face, "Really? But you haven't come out to our friends yet."
"Post it," Riley insisted. "and I think it's about time we change our relationship status too."
Maya Hunter is in a relationship with Riley Matthews
"It says it. It really says it!" Maya stared at her phone in disbelief at the public declare of their relationship.
Riley walked out of the bathroom wearing a fresh pair of clothes and towel drying her hair, "It does, Peaches. Sorry it took so long."
"Maya Hunter is in a relationship with Riley Matthews," she repeated, her eyes still stuck on the phone.
The brunette took the seat besides her girlfriend, a huge smile on her face. She didn't say anything. She simply observed in awe at how happy she could make the girl besides her just by existing.
"Riles, comments!"
"Hm?" Riley glanced over at the phone to see what Maya was excited about. "Farkle seems excited we finally made it public."
Maya started giggling, "Everyone is so happy! Lucas, Zay, Smackle, even Josh! Look at everyone telling us how happy they are for us."
"I knew they would be," Riley snuggled close. "I'm pretty sure I'm the happiest though."
"You can have second place," Maya corrected her. "I somehow have everything I ever dreamed of since I was thirteen. Riles, I don't think it's possible to be happier than I am at this moment."
"Not even once we have sex?"
Maya was taken aback at the comment, blinking rapidly in an attempt to regain a sense of composure. "Uh, did you just say what I heard you say?"
Riley began to giggle seductively as she straddled Maya on the couch. "I only meant that I'm sure there will be other moments where you are happier," upon finishing her comment she leaned in to kiss her girlfriend.
Maya's hands began exploring anywhere she could easily reach, eventually settling on top of Riley's chest. This was nothing new for them. Many of their make out sessions included above the waste exploration. What made this time different was upon Maya's hand finding its perch Riley backed away momentarily to pull her shirt over her head and toss it to the floor. Despite seeing the brunette in a bathing suite countless times, Maya was never one to let her eyes wander. She had been determined to respect her believed to be straight friend's privacy. Now she allowed herself full reign to let her eyes take in the sight before her as she used both her hands to cup the thin fabric separating flesh from flesh.
"Can I see them?" She tilted her gaze up to meet Riley's hungry eyes. When her question was met with a simple nod Maya wasted no time before sliding one hand around to her girlfriend's back and unfastening the clasp waiting for her. "So beautiful," she observed in awe as the fabric gently fell away, revealing what Maya had spend too many nights dreaming of to count. She quickly shed her own shirt before pulling Riley back to her until their lips once again found their familiar rhythm.
Riley's hands were as curious as Maya's. They snuck between the couch and the blonde's back to find the clasp to Maya's bra and the only thing separating their skin from touching. "Please?" Riley asked into their kiss.
Maya could only moan in response while giving her best attempt at a nod without breaking contact. She helped Riley remove the garment, tossing it to the floor with their other clothing.
Soon the girls found themselves laying side by side on the oversized couch simply enjoying the new closeness they'd discovered. Riley was about to protest when Maya broke their kiss but soon realized the blonde simply was moving her kisses lower. She gasped out as Maya's warm lips closed around her nipple for the first time.
It was something Maya had been dying to do from the second she saw Riley's exposed chest, but she held back in fear of seeming too eager. This is how it was supposed to be. The two of them learning and exploring together. It was the first day where Maya was able to forget the mistakes she had made and simply be a girl in love. There were no thoughts of drunken sex in bathrooms, no thoughts of hospitals or rehab stays, and no thoughts of drug cravings. In that moment Maya only craved one thing, more of the girl she loved. The girl the miraculously enough loved her back. That was an addiction she was happy to live with until the day she died.