A/N: It's now been over a year since I posted the first chapter of this story. Dang, time goes by so fast! Thank you to all who have been with me from the beginning and those who helped encourage me to keep working on this fic. Never did I think I'd be working on a story for over a year.

I don't know why, but this is among my favorite chapters in this story that doesn't revolve around Riley and Lucas. I really hope you guys enjoy it.

Maya was awoken from her slumber thanks to a loud pounding on her door. She let out an agonized groan as she rolled over to look at her clock on her nightstand. Two in the morning… who the heck is pounding on my door at two in the morning?! Whoever it is must have a death wish. She wasn't expecting anyone, let alone at this hour. Maya was very tempted to ignore whoever was at the door in hopes that they would go away, but the pounding came more frequent and a lot harder. If they kept this up there would be complaints from her neighbors.

"I'm coming!" she shouted as she pushed back the covers and slipped out of bed. She grabbed her lavender robe off of the edge of her chair as she walked by and wrapped it around herself as she made her way to the door. Maya placed her hand on the lock and looked through the peep hole to see who it was. Once she saw who it was, she took a step back away from the door, and she was not sure if she could believe what she just saw. After all, she had just woken up not two minutes ago. Biting her lip, Maya unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door. Sure enough, her eyes hadn't deceived her, and the person she had saw through the peep hole was now standing right in front of her.

"You never call, you never write," she said in a half joking, half serious tone. Maya wasn't sure if she meant it as a joke or not, heck she didn't even mean to say anything, but once her eyes set upon him, the pain came welling back up to the surface.

Farkle looked up and bit his lip. Whether or not he knew better than to address Maya's attempted joke she didn't know, but he ignored it and addressed her. "I came to give you an explanation as to why I ended things between us."

Maya crossed her arms as her blue eyes shot an icy look at him. "You couldn't have done that a year ago?" she asked in a harsh tone, probably a bit harsher than she intended, but what had happened was apparently still very painful to discuss. Even after all of this time.

She watched his shoulders droop slightly as he shifted his gaze downward. "…I deserved that," he admitted after a moment of silence between the two. "Can I come in?"

At first, Maya was very tempted to shut the door in his face, but nothing would be accomplished in doing so. The only way to get rid of this hurt was to address it head on, and Maya was known for not backing down from a difficult challenge. She finally stepped aside, allowing enough space for Farkle to enter, and she shut the door behind him.

As the two of them made their way over to the small living area, Maya asked, "Can I get you anything?"

Farkle shook his head as he sat down on the couch. "No, no thank you… I just wanted to come and explain things, and then I will be leaving if you desire it. I know how much you don't like things to be kept hidden."

Maya nodded as she sat down in the large plush armchair near the couch and pulled her robe a bit tighter. "I'm listening… but first, can you please tell me why you decided to come banging on my door at this hour in the morning? My sleep is very important to me."

"My plane just landed a half hour ago, and I needed to get this off my chest before I decide if I'm going to stay in New York again."

If you're going to stay in New York again? Maya repeated in her mind. Why if? But instead of asking directly, she allowed for him to continue. "I'm listening."

Farkle pinched the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb as he tried to gather his words and figure out where he wanted to start. "A couple of months before I ended our relationship, I had finally come to admit the fact that I needed to sort out what was going on in my life. I wasn't as happy working for my father as I thought I would be, and it was affecting my personal life big time. The kicker of it was I knew that a couple months after we graduated college."

"You worked for your father for around, what, two years even though you hated it?" Maya asked. To be honest, he didn't look like he was unsatisfied with his career path.

"I liked what I was doing, just not for my father; however, I didn't discover that until recently. And it took me that long to face up to the facts and tell him outright. Believe me; he was not happy with me at all. He had plans for me to inherit the company once he retired, even though that's decades away. However, I wanted to do my own thing, away from his shadow. And in order to do that, I had to quit my job and get away from him for a while. I had to get away from everything and break all ties from my father in order to focus –"

"And that included ending our relationship," Maya interrupted. She knew what Farkle's father was like. If he didn't get what he wanted in the business world, and sometimes in his own personal life, he could become very displeased. That much was evident whenever he was around Riley's mother.

Farkle finally nodded. "Unfortunately," he replied; his answer causing Maya to shift uneasily in her chair. "Believe me, Maya. I didn't want to end it between us, but I had to if I was going to figure things out, along with keeping my father away from you as well. I was just in a huge rut that I couldn't get out of if I stayed here. I know I came back every once in a while 'on business,' but those were visits to my father's establishment to assure him that what I was doing was the right thing. He was the one who wanted them. Despite these visits, he wasn't really reassured. He just thought what I was doing was a huge mistake and that I should stay. Who knows, the reason why he wanted them could have been to discourage me from doing what I wanted."

Maya shook her head. "Farkle, why didn't you tell me this? I could have helped! Remember who the screw up was for most of our time at John Quincy? Me."

"I know, I know…" he trailed, "but I was in a different type of rut, Maya. I needed to get away and find out who I was. It wasn't until a few months into my journey that I realized I left a huge part of me behind. Breaking up with you was originally to protect you and so I could focus more, but it was a huge mistake. That part I left behind was you. I wanted to come back sooner, but I knew how much I hurt you, and I wasn't sure how you would take my coming back while the pain was still rather fresh. That and I still had a lot to sort through on my own part."

As Maya soaked in everything that Farkle had said, she said, "To be honest, all I ever wanted was why. So, did you figure out what you want to do?"

He nodded. "Yeah, actually. I've started a cyber security firm. There's still a lot that needs to be done, but it's coming along. I mean, if I can't take over the world, might as well help protect it," he joked.

This joke made Maya chuckle softly. "I'm glad you have everything sorted out."

"As well am I," he replied. "Now that I've given you my reasoning, I should be going."

Farkle started to stand up to leave, but Maya quickly caught his arm to prevent him from moving any further. "Where are you staying for the night?" she asked.

He merely shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I came out here on a whim, so I didn't really make any plans."

Maya released his arm. "You can stay here on the couch. I'll go get you a pillow and some blankets," she replied as she started to walk over to the little closet that was next to her bedroom door.

"Are you sure?" Farkle asked.

"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't," she replied as she grabbed the bedding and shut the closet door. "You're staying here and I don't want to hear another word about it."

A smirk spread over Farkle's lips. "Yes, ma'am."

Maya rolled her eyes as she set the bedding down on the arm of the couch. "Ugh, you sound like Ranger Rick!"

Farkle raised an eyebrow at the name. "Who?"

Maya waved her hand to dismiss the thought. "Never mind. I'll tell you about that in the morning… or should I say in a few hours."

"Thanks, Maya… for this."

She shook her head slightly. "Don't worry about it. One more thing, if you don't mind my asking… what did you mean if you decided to stay in New York?"

Farkle sighed as he sat down on the couch again, and this time Maya sat beside him. "I'm not sure if coming back and staying in the city will be the best for me in the long run. My father is here, and while I can stand up for myself, facing him is a different story."

Maya pressed her lips into a thin line before she reached over and grabbed Farkle's hand and squeezed it gently. "What if I wanted you to stay?"

He returned the gesture and looked into her eyes. "Do you really mean that?" he asked; his voice filled with hope.

She nodded. "Yeah… even though you had ended things between us, I never stopped caring for you. There were times I thought that our break up was just a dream, only to wake up and realize that what I had thought of was the dream. I never got over you. I love you…" Maya confessed before she realized what she was saying. The sudden confession caused both of their eyes to widen, but Maya knew that she couldn't take back what she was feeling. "I'm in love with you. I have been and I think I always will be."

Farkle took ahold of her other hand as tears began to fill his eyes. Never did he think he would hear those words come from Maya's mouth; not even when they had been dating. "So… what does that make us now?"

"I'm not really sure," Maya responded. "Now that I know the reason behind why, it doesn't hurt as much – but it still hurts."

"I don't blame you, there," Farkle said.

A small smile crept over Maya's lips. "In time I think the pain will go away, so how about taking things slowly?"

Farkle nodded in agreement. "That sounds good with me."

"Okay… well, I better let you get some sleep then. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Goodnight, Maya," he replied as she started to get up from the couch and headed back into her room.

Once Maya had closed the door behind her, Farkle kicked off his shoes, spread out the blankets, and laid down. Despite the blankets, it was still a bit chilly in the apartment, making Farkle wonder how Maya was able to sleep at night. After releasing a calming breath, a small click reached his ears along with something soft, either a blanket or a piece of clothing, landed on his face. He lifted it up and found that it was a hoodie – one of his that he had given to Maya when they were dating, actually – and it had a post it note pinned to it.

So you don't freeze. P.S. – I want it back!

Farkle smiled as he took of the small piece of paper and put the sweater on, which now smelled like Maya, and fell into the best night's sleep he had in a long time.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Please don't flame me if you don't like the pairing – I had this chapter written out long before Farkle and Smackle got together on the show. I like both pairings but this one fit with what I originally planned for this fic and I wasn't going to rewrite it. See you soon!