Maya knew that the only reason the waitress hadn't booted her out of the diner she was in yet was because, one, the place was half empty, two, it was snowing outside, and three, she probably could tell that she wasn't just here loafing around, she was waiting for someone, for something. And that was the truth. Maya had been in here for the past two or so hours, working her way through the house special that truthfully had nothing on Night Hawk's but she knew she was biased, followed by sipping on a glass of juice for way too long. She didn't have a plan, and she was banking on the chance that Liam would indeed pass this way. She was fairly confident of that fact. After all there was a stretch of alley not too far from here that Liam had introduced her to a few weeks prior. It was one of his hiding from the world spots, the place he went to when he wasn't sad or worried, but instead enraged. And the alley suffered for it. According to Liam, he was responsible for the majority of damage done to the walls, dumpsters and other miscellaneous things in there. Maya had been sceptical of the secureness of the place the first time he had taken her there, because while this place wasn't in too seedy a part of the city, she couldn't help but recall her own brush with the law in the months prior and the file with her name on it that wouldn't disappear for a while still. Liam though had managed to relax her. Besides, he had said then, it wasn't as if he had brought anything with him right now. If anything they were just a pair of stupid teenagers who had chosen a questionable place to hang out.

As more time passed by, Maya sighed, wondering if she were wrong about Liam coming here, Liam leaving his bedroom at all. Maybe it had gone better than expected. Maybe meeting his mother had not sent him into a spiral of rage or despair as she had thought. Maybe...Maya cut off that last thought with an annoyed grunt. Who was she fooling? The fact that Liam still hadn't told her about the meeting was proof enough of just how big a deal this was for him. Liam was free with his thoughts and emotions with the few people he trusted intimately, and she was one of those people. Yet he hadn't breathed a word of this to her, and Alex had only found out from Emily who had thought that it was something he had ought to know. This meeting with his mother was such a complex issue for him that he had not even bothered to share it with her. That spoke of just how bothered he was by all of this.

Finally, and just about when Maya knew she had just about exhausted the waitress' patience, she caught sight of him across the street and even from here she could tell that coming here had been the right decision. That definitely was Liam across the street, stalking angrily along, not caring as he bumped into someone and kept walking even as the person turned to yell at him. She quickly rose after dumping someone onto the table she had occupied, glad that she had enough spare cash on her to leave a large (by a freshman high schooler's standard) tip before exiting the diner, biting at the lingering coldness in the air after so long in the warmth of the diner. Spring really needed to hurry up and get here.

She heard Liam before she saw him. He was kicking at a produce bag and she hoped that there was nothing in there that could do him any real damage. She left him to it, leaning against the cleanest spot on a wall she could find as she watched him work himself to exhaustion. It took a while, how long she didn't know, but eventually the grunts and sometimes all out shouts of frustration faded and finally, shoulders slumped, Liam stood there breathing harshly, the air around him fogging as a result. Sighing Maya now approached him, heavying her footsteps deliberately to catch his attention. Still breathing raggedly his head shot up and towards the sound of her footsteps. He looked at her, almost confused, before he backed up and slumped down on the very bag he had been abusing.

"Why?" he asked, simply, his voice harsh.

Briefly Maya regretted not grabbing a bottle of water or something from the diner before she had left it. It was a multi-faceted question, one that was easy to decode. How had she known? Who had told her? Why was she here? What did she plan to do? "Because you need me," she answered simply. It was the right answer as well, because Liam let out a long, shuddering breath before he blocked his face with his hands.

With his rage now spent, Maya knew it would be fine to approach him, so she did, walking to where he was, and, without question, put a hand on the top of his head, carding her fingers through the strands there. He still hadn't cut it, but she was pretty certain that there was only a month or so left before it stopped looking unkempt and actually became a look. "Should we go burn her house down?" she asked, only half-joking. His head shook slightly beneath her hand.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked next.

"There's nothing to talk about," he said, his voice muffled. After a moment, he reached up and gently batted her hand away from his head before he looked up at her, his brown eyes reflecting the conflicting emotions he was feeling. "She's the same. I don't get how that stupid social worker couldn't see that."

"What did she do?"

"Pretended to love me," he said with a scoff, and Maya resisted the urge to start touching him again as she heard the beginnings of anger start to lace his tone. Liam didn't like to be touched while angry. Indeed, it often increased his ire because he always took the gesture as being patronising in nature. "Tried to hug me. Wanted me to sit by her and just talk. My how much you've grown William. You look so much like your father, but you kept my hair. I won that bet. He always said that you'd stay blonde like him but I told him it'd change. Mine did. I'm bleaching this garbage in the morning," he added angrily, gesturing roughly at his head.

"If it'd help," she answered neutrally. The red he'd slapped in for Christmas had faded to the palest of pinks anyway; she couldn't see him doing too much damage to himself. "Did you talk to her?"

"Had nothing to say," he answered roughly. "I only answered when I had to. I want nothing to do with that woman."

"Did the social worker say anything about that?" she asked, recalling Mr. J's words to her earlier in the week.

"Not to me," he answered. "Heard her telling her that it was a normal reaction and she just needed to give me time. I'm not going to a next fucking meeting with her, no matter what they say. They can't make me."

Maya didn't respond to that, because, honestly, she was pretty certain that they could make him if they really wanted, but that definitely was not something that Liam needed to hear now.

"And you know what is worse?" he continued, "she keeps calling me William. I told her to stop and she just looked at me and said that that was the name she gave me. I'm changing that too as soon as I turn eighteen."

Well that explained why he was so intent upon changing his name ever so often, she noted.

"And she had the nerve to look at me and ask me if there were any girl in my life and if there were I should bring them along next time," he continued. "As if she hadn't fucking slashed my arm open after I told her about Alex."

"Did you answer?"

"I walked out," he said with some smugness, "sat outside the door until the social worker was ready to take me back home."

"Did she say something about that?"

"Some garbage about my mother just needing more time and she telling her that she needed to be considerate of who I am. Maya, I swear, I am not going back to her."

"You won't," she answered immediately. "It won't happen."

"But you don't know that."

"It's not logical," she rebutted. "Once everything is out there no one will be crazy enough to send you there."

"Yeah well I thought that it was madness when this started last year, and yet here we are," he said sharply. "I won't go Maya," he added, almost harshly, getting up.

Maya stepped back to give him room even as she braced herself. Alongside the anger in his voice was an undercurrent, one she could not describe but certainly had felt before. It was that sense of being entrapped, controlled by a situation beyond her control, and, frankly, for her - and she supposed Liam - it led to her acting out, wanting to do something, anything, that would give her a sense of agency in a situation where there was none to be had. It never quite worked to solve whatever situation had gotten her into the mindset in the first place, but at least some fun came out of it, and in the end her emotions and sense of entrapment were often lessened. Except, she had not done that in a long while. Her little rebellion in eighth grade that had landed the entire class in detention had been the end of it, and even then, that had more been about her wanting to have fun and a good time than there actually being something wrong. But, she had taken Matthews' lesson to heart and with time had become...calmer, for a lack of a better word to describe it. Oh it wasn't as if she didn't still have fun, especially with Liam, but it wasn't a crutch she used as much anymore.

She eyed him warily as his mouth twisted back and forth in obvious thought.

"I want to do something," he finally declared.

"And that something is?" she asked cautiously.

"She doesn't own me," he said. "I belong to me. Nothing I am is because of her."

"Okay," she said, leadingly, crossing her arms across her chest as she waited to see where this was going because she honestly couldn't follow his train of thought.

It took a moment, but Liam's countenance changed to one of almost malicious glee and Maya barely restrained the urge to sigh. Whatever this was, it was going to be bad.

"I want a tattoo."


"You're quiet," Shawn noted later on that night, as he sat down besides Maya on the couch with a soft groan. Yeah, one of these days he would actually take Katy's advice and start stretching properly in the mornings to stop these residual aches that tended to settle in later on in the day. Thankfully at least his future wife was out and about with Topanga doing who knows what, but with Cory stuck in some sort of teacher development thing he hadn't really felt like venturing out himself. He had honestly been a bit surprised when Maya had gotten home shortly after nine. After all it wasn't as if the kid had a curfew and it was a Friday night after all, but also because, more often than not, she ended up at Riley's for the night. The thought of that was enough to have him smile lightly. This was his life now, a kid of his own who was the best friend of his best friend's kid. Wasn't it funny how life worked out like this?

"Got a lot on my mind," Maya answered him, as she shifted a bit closer to him so that she could rest her head against his shoulder.

"Starting with how you're going to explain your ears to Katy?" he asked with a hint of mirth in his voice.

Maya huffed and reached over to cuff him lightly. "I will have you know that mom and I had this discussion years ago. I could have done this anytime."

"A random Friday afternoon though?" he asked skeptically.

"Yeah well maybe it was a compromise that got Liam off the tattoo train," she said wryly.

Shawn arched an eyebrow at that, even as he wrapped an arm comfortably around her, pulling her a bit closer into him. "Liam's having a hard time right now, huh?"

"I don't know what to do, Shawn," she admitted. "I talked him down this time...but it's getting harder to."

"Yeah, well what he's going through isn't the easiest thing in the world."

"You had a hard time," Maya said, and when she looked at him, Shawn knew that she wasn't really looking at the him in front of her, but searching for the teenager he had been.

"I had," he said, scratching at his temple as he allowed his mind to wander back in time. "It was a rough time, a bad time," he corrected with grimace. "The things I got into."

"Like?"

"I was in a cult for a bit," he admitted, ashamed. "My family life had gone back to hell in a basket and I was just looking for something, anything that would help me feel like I belonged somewhere. It took nearly losing John to get me out of that. Then there was the period where I hit the bottles pretty hard or when I skipped town."

"But you came back."

"When Josh was born," he confirmed with a sad smile. Josh's birth had been one of the most terrifying days any of them had ever experienced, but thank god, he had been a trooper, even then, and had made it out alive and perfectly healthy in the long wrong.

"Liam is drinking," Maya said, and so quietly he almost missed it.

Shawn frowned at that, but to his credit, refrained from immediately lecturing on the dangers of alcohol and how it was definitely not something the sophomore should be messing with. "How much?" he asked instead.

"I don't know," Maya told him in that same quiet tone. "I threw away a bottle, but some days he comes to school and his breath smells."

"Have you told anyone?"

"You," she admitted ruefully, before looking away from him. "I think Mr. Jackson suspects. He's been asking me if I know what Liam has been doing. I haven't told him."

"Why?" he asked. Maya didn't answer though beyond a half shrug. Shawn sighed. The kid didn't need to say it. He knew the answer. Loyalty. She didn't want to get Liam in trouble, and she probably also thought that she could handle it herself. Oh to be that young again, and to believe that the power of friendship was infallible and could solve the worst of problems with time.

Unfortunately life didn't work that way.

"Did you grow up raised on stories of our glory days like Riley was?"

Maya pulled back to look at him, confused. "I've heard the stories."

"But you don't buy into them as much as she does, huh."

"No," she admitted.

"Good," he said frankly. "Look, Maya, growing up as we did, Cory, Topanga and I, hell even Angela I suppose, we stuck together a lot, through the good and the bad, we always knew that our friends would be there for us. And a lot of the times that was enough. We could help each other through whatever was going on. But sometimes we weren't enough. We couldn't be enough because we just weren't equipped to handle the situation. Those were the times we had to turn to other people for help, for interventions when we were over our heads. And yeah, it sucked, and hell yeah I was pissed and Cory more than once for involving other people in my business, but now that I'm older I get why he did it, why he had not choice but to do it, because he was basically trying to save me from myself and sometimes he wasn't enough to do that. Do you get what I'm saying kiddo?"

"That maybe I should do what I know is good for Liam and not what I think he wants?"

"That works," Shawn accepted after mulling over her words.

"Mr. Jackson said something similar, I think," she admitted.

"Then Mr. Jackson is very wise," Shawn said simply. "Kiddo, I don't know the full situation and you don't have to tell me, but what I do want for you is to think about things really carefully and ask for help okay? If not from me or your mom then from someone, anyone. Liam may be your friend, but he's not your responsibility. Share the burden."

"I will da-" Maya began to answer him before breaking off, suddenly coughing as she scooted back away from him entirely.

Shawn was instantly on alert. In the years he had known Maya the blonde had never been ill. Yet he supposed, even as he stood to go get her a glass of water and some of those pills Katy inevitably had, there was a first for anything and she had been traipsing around out in the cold for a while. Shawn would never know though that the cough had been orchestrated on Maya's part, a sudden move meant to disguise a word, a title that had mostly slipped passed her lips before she even realised exactly what she had nearly said. That was not something that Maya planned to share and so she dutifully drained the glass after downing two tablets and allowed herself to be shooed off to shower and get into bed where Shawn would have a hot cup of cocoa waiting for her which she enjoyed even as she wondered why her mind had conjured that word for Shawn.


"Here we go," Maya muttered tiredly, rubbing at her forehead as they walked into the History classroom to find Matthews rocking himself back and forth on top the desk.

"Oh come on, where's your dignity man?" Liam asked, irritated as he took in the sight. They'd met up with him on the steps leading into the high school, and, since the two of them started the day with Mr. Jackson, had decided to tag along as she dropped Riley off though he didn't particularly care why Riley seemed to have a dark cloud over her head.

"Did she call you?" Riley asked her father, annoyance pronounced in her tone even as she stalked to her seat.

"And that is my cue to leave," Maya declared, looking towards where the rest of their group was. "Good luck with that," she finished gesturing to a glowering Riley.

"You!" Matthews said darkly, preventing her from a smooth exit as he turned his attention toward her. "You let this happen!"

"I didn't let anything happen," Maya said defensively. "This is all Riley."

"I left a happy wife home this morning," the man argued, even as he climbed off the desk, "a happy wife which means a happy life. A safe life. See those dark clouds out there?" he asked, gesturing wildly toward the window. "That is Mother Nature herself reflecting Topanga's rage. Whatever she did is going to get tossed on me, because anytime Riley and Auggie does something she doesn't like it's obviously my genes at work. Why didn't you stop her?" he ended with a whine.

"I didn't know it was going to happen," she said honestly. At first she had thought it amusing, Riley's little attempt at rebelling, and indeed she had been snickering even as she gave Topanga sass as well, because it was a rare chance for that to happen. But then Topanga had laid down the lay which brought an end to the merriment, and far from Riley doing like her and just nodding obediently, Riley had said no, and well, that left them in this current situation.

"Um, anybody want to fill us in?" Lucas asked tentatively, causing her to look at him. "We got here to him like this."

"Riley's gone and lost her goddamn mind and is challenging her mother," she said succinctly. Lucas got it, hell everyone in the class got it from the way they all instinctively pulled a had all heard the stories, and a few of them had even seen her in action once or twice when the situation was warranted.

"She's wrong," Riley said stubbornly, "and I don't see why I need to listen to her. I had my plans in place long before she decided that she had plans for me, so mines takes precedence."

"Riley it's not that big a deal," Maya argued tiredly. She still hadn't managed to decode exactly what was going on with her friend. Riley had steadfastly refused to talk about anything that didn't directly relate to the show they were marathoning, and finally, Maya had just given up and let things be. Seeing the current situation though, she regretted not pushing harder. Riley blowing up on her would have been infinitely better than her trying to take on the Godzilla that was her mother.

"Look," Lucas said, looking toward his girlfriend. "It seems like you're in the wrong here, Riley? So why don't you just apologise to your mom and put this behind you huh?"

"Shut up, Lucas," Riley snapped. "I don't have to do anything."

Maya's brows shot up at that. Since when was Lucas unable to sway Riley on something. She hadn't even glanced at him.

"Okay then," Lucas said, drawing out the words even as he leant back in his seat.

"That wasn't very nice, Riley," Farkle said from beside her. "We're just trying to help you here."

"I don't need any help," she insisted stubbornly, though this time, Maya noted, her tone didn't have that venomous edge and she actually turned to her friend, eyeing him for a long moment before she squirmed, and faced front again, nipping on her lip.

"Do we really have to be here for this?" Liam complained, tugging at her shirt. "And should you even be wearing pants?" he added, his tone growing mischievous.

"They're glorified yoga pants and they're high waisted," she answered, batting at his hand when he moved to start prodding at her side as if to judge for himself. "Stop that."

"It's not going to heal properly if it gets rub against," he sing-songed, and she smacked at his hand, harder this time before turning to glare at him.

"We aren't going to be able to follow your schedule if I get grounded over this," she hissed, lowering her tone.

Far from being upset, Liam only seemed even more amused. She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, focussing instead on the conversation she had missed while dealing with her friend. Her eyes met Lucas and she saw the curious expression on his face as he glanced from her stomach to her ears and then to her face, arching an eyebrow as their eyes met. She shrugged and gave him a falsely innocent smile. Surprisingly save her parents, he was the first to notice what she'd done. Yeah, she hadn't been actively hiding the fact over the weekend, but her hair had been messy enough and the earrings small enough that the Matthews hadn't seemed to notice. And it wasn't as if she'd been shirtless at any point during the weekend so Riley wouldn't have seen her stomach…She couldn't exactly blame the latter on Liam. Oh the earrings had been to match the one he had wanted to get (and a single lobe piercing on a girl had seemed weird in her opinion) but looking at the various pictures on the wall of the place she had been intrigued and somehow that had expanded to her going out on a whim and getting it.

Lucas didn't buy the look on her face if the look he gave her in response was anything to go by, but she was pretty certain that there was at least a brief flicker of interest in his eyes before he was distracted by Riley who was now protesting as her father smashed a walnut, and she did not even want to know where he had gotten that hammer from.

Thankfully, in her opinion the first warning bell rang. "And that is our cue," she said, her second attempt at them leaving. "Riley," she said loudly and firmly enough to get her best friend's attention. "This isn't the end of the world. Just do what your mom says and this will blow over."

"I am not," she insisted. "We're going to do as we originally planned and watch those last three episodes before the new one."

"This is about that stupid show?" Liam asked loudly and with disgust. "Man I cannot deal with you all," he finished. "Blondie, I'll get your things from your locker. Meet you in Art."

"Yeah sure," she agreed offhandedly before focussing on Riley once again. "That couldn't have happened anyway, honey," she pointed out. "I have a club meeting this evening. I'd barely make it in time for the new episode, far less finishing up the marathon. So you see," she continued, her tone cajoling, "it doesn't really matter. Just go help your mom."

"No."

"I give up," Maya said then, exasperated as she finally realised that there was no reasoning with Riley, not in this mood. She sighed, and ran her hand through her hair. "I'll wear purple to your funeral," she said simply, before turning to leave.

"Wait," Sarah said, sounding panicked. "You can't leave us like this."

"What do you mean?" she asked reflexively before looking to where she was pointing.

Matthews was once more curled in on himself, muttering about the world ending and his own offspring being the cause of his demise. God, she loved them, but sometimes she just wanted to tap each and every Matthews upside the head to get them to behave like rational human beings.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked grumpily, even as she stalked to his desk as the second bell rang to write herself a hall pass to get out of detention. And, just because she felt as if she was owed it due to the emotional stress she had endured so far this morning, she wrote out a second but didn't date it to use on a next occasion. Lucas sent her a reproachful look at that, but she pointedly ignored him.

"We can't have class with him catatonic," Sarah pointed out.

"Let one of the nerds teach it," she answered, gesturing towards Farkle and Smackle even as she pocketed the slips.

"That isn't as fun as it used to be," Farkle answered mildly.

"You all are testing me today, aren't cha?" she grumbled, even as she looked at the teacher, wondering how she could best deal with this. She glanced at his hand, getting an idea from the friendship ring his wife had only now given him permission to wear once again.

Smiling, she put on her sweetest tone and said, "Uncle Cory, I need to get to class. Are you going to be okay?"

It took a few seconds for her words to register before the man's head shot up and he stared at her wide eyed. "Uncle Cory?" he repeated, in disbelief. She only offered a smile in response because it was clear that her on the spot plan had already achieved its objective. "Uncle Cory!" he repeated, this time enthusiastically as he hopped off the desk and all but skipped over to her, suddenly merry. "That's right! Shawnie's getting married."

"In a month!" she added.

"In a month," he parroted. "My Shawnie's going to be a married man and you're going to be my niece. Oh this is great, isn't it?" he said grinning broadly even as he hugged her. "You're better than a daughter. You're Shawn's kid. My niece! I can die happy now."

"Hey," Riley protested.

"You don't exist to me," he snapped glaring at Riley before turning back to her with a sappy grin. "What were you saying, oh beloved niece of mine?"

"I was asking if you were okay, Uncle Cory," she replied in that same slightly weedling tone. "I don't want my favourite uncle to be unhappy for even a single moment."

"And that's why I love you."

"Hey!" Riley protested.

"You don't exist!" the man repeated, glaring at her again.

"I have to get to class," Maya pointed out, "so are you going to be okay?"

"The bell already rang," he said, frowning.

"You already wrote me a pass," she answered waving it in his face.

"I did? Of course I did? Off you go then. The faster you go to class the faster the day ends and we're that much closer to Shawn's wedding!"

"Yes sir," she agreed.

Maybe her plan had gone a little too well, she acknowledged, shooting the class an apologetic look, because yeah the man wasn't a broken mess anymore, but maybe she had taken him too far to the other end of the spectrum. She wasn't too sure what sort of class they would have with a teacher who seemed ready to bounce off the roof and his inversely morose daughter who seemed to be radiating an aura of negativity.

But that, Maya decided as she hurried out the room, definitely was not her problem.


"Wow, come here you," Katy bid, reaching out to grab Topanga's hand and tumble her down beside her on the couch when her friend made to leave the apartment in the same whirlwind she had entered.

"I have to get to Riley," Topanga protested, sounding frazzled.

"Yeah and it's that same gung-ho attitude that stopped you from hearing she'd left here already," Katy chided, though good-naturedly. It was honestly amusing (and a bit reassuring) to see her friend like this. Topanga Lawrence-Matthews was the epitome of perfection in everything, so to see her actually struggling with parenthood? Yeah, it was funny to her. Nevertheless, Topanga had had a rough few days with a suddenly willful Riley and it was obviously starting to take its toll on her if her drawn expression was anything to go by. "Relax, Topanga," Katy bid. "Riley's on a sub back home right now, where your husband and son are. So you just stay here for a bit and calm down before you head back out."

"I don't get why she's acting like this," Topanga said tiredly. "I mean I get I'm wrong for not considering her feelings but-"

"There's this modern thing called a remote," Katy interrupted smoothly, "that can be used programmed to record a show. Don't let Riley off on this," she said firmly. "You weren't wrong there. I'm actually proud that Maya didn't aid and abet her there or else she'd be grounded too, which I assume you're going to stick to?"

"I am," Topanga said after a moment's consideration. "She was rude at the very least," she muttered, running her hand through her hair. "And you're right about Maya," she added, glancing back at the hall she had just come out of. "She didn't go along with Riley in this. You know she came to the bakery yesterday after her club meeting? I was shocked when I got back from dealing with Riley. Maya was there working and giving out stuff. I told her she hadn't needed to come. That technically I'm not her ma."

Katy snickered at that. "Yeah well I think it's safe to say that Maya's changed, matured even," she added after a moment. "Things aren't just about supporting Riley and having a good time for her anymore."

"Yeah well it's a maturity I wish my kid had," Topanga said, sighing. "Katy if Riley can't accept that she has to miss an episode of her show, how's she going to react if we decide to go?" she asked, frustrating clear in her tone. "This is the only sign I need to give me my answer."

"No," Katy corrected immediately, "this is you looking for any excuse not to actually have to think deeply about this."

"Don't get fresh," she grumbled, causing Katy to snicker despite the serious situation. She occasionally checked in on Topanga and the whole potential move to London, and truthfully she was nowhere closer to a decision now that she had been at the start. Her pro and con list was pretty much even, but so far, Katy had been refraining from telling her what was painfully obvious. Logic wasn't going to give her the answer she needed. Topanga really just had to put faith in herself and her family and allow that to get her to the decision that she needed to make.

"Let's not dwell on that right now," Katy said gently, when Topanga leant her head against her shoulder. "One crisis at a time. Right now you have a full-blown teenage meltdown to deal with."

"Don't remind me," she said with a groan before reluctantly straightening. "Thank you for dealing with the craziness that is the Matthews' family."

"Seeing that I'm soon to be Mrs. Mr. Cory Matthews it's something I've just come to accept," she joked, causing Topanga to chuckle.

"God I'm so glad I have you," Topanga responded leaning across briefly to hug her. "I'll tell you later how it goes?"

"Please do, I can use the entertainment," Katy said airly, even as she pulled the script she had been highlighting back onto her lap, having set it aside at Topanga's arrival earlier. Getting and discussing this script had been the reason for her absence at the bakery yesterday and today and Katy really hoped that this wasn't a sign of chaos to come when she went away for six weeks for filming.

"Oh," Topanga said, even as she stood up. "Have you heard back from Kermit?" she asked, lowering her tone just in case Maya left her bedroom.

Katy nodded, her good mood fading slightly. "He says he'll be this side soon-ish and he wants to meet up and hash this out once and for all. I don't like the delaying tactic but if he's at least willing to talk I'll take it."

"I'll be there if you need me," Topanga said firmly, "even if it just is to tear him a new one."

"Thanks Panga," she answered with a gentle smile. "But one battle at a time okay? Go deal with Riley."

"Gotcha."


"So I happily accept my title as the social king of our year," Zay said with flourish as he jumped onto the bed with a grin that only broadened when Lucas shot him an annoyed look as the gesture made his pen scratch across the page. Lucas sighed, glad that he had only written two lines thus far and thus it was not too much to have to re-write.

"What do you mean, Zay?" he asked, even as he ripped and crumpled up the page, successfully throwing it into the bin across the room.

"Hey, don't give me that tone," Zay protested. "You're the one who came to my house for a sleepover. The second one in two days I might add."

"We were at Farkle's yesterday."

"Still a sleepover dude. Speaking of which I assume this has something to do with him or Maya since he's not here."

"Couldn't I just want to spend time with my best friend?"

"I'd have bought that if I had told you that mama was baking one of her pies. As is, you're just here for advice." Zay gave him a broad grin even as he puffed out his chest. "Don't worry, Lukey, this was bound to happen eventually. After all, I am now the bonafide love expect. Come now. Ask me whatever you will and I'll answer."

Lucas snorted at that, even as he used a pillow to knock that boastful expression off Zay's face. "Since when are you a love-expert?" he asked, even as he moved his notebook and pens off to the side. That could wait until this was over.

"I'm dating Isadora," he said smugly, "which as everyone has said thus far, is the most stable relationship out of the six of us."

"Who is everyone?" Lucas asked with exasperation.

"Don't question my sources. Question why your own relationship ain't stable."

Lucas paused and ruefully rubbed at the back of his neck, seeing the wisdom in his words. "Can we be serious here?" he grumbled.

"I'm being entirely serious," Zay said, dropping his playful demeanour. "Look Lukey, what do you want to talk about exactly? Your non-relationship with Riley or your un-official one with Maya?"

"You can't phrase it that way," he muttered.

"The hell I can't," Zay scoffed. "We talked about this last year, Lucas, and we ended off with you saying you were in love with Maya but you had to stay with Riley. And if your relationship with that girl was lukewarm back then, it's ice cold now. The girl don't even give that 'you're-the-most-special-person-in-the-world-besides-Maya' smile to you anymore. That's for Farkle these days, and if you even pretend to be surprised by that, I'll hit you good."

Lucas simply looked away at that, not able to deny his friend's words, though, at first, he really had wondered if it had been wishful thinking on his part when he had first noticed it happening, his mind desperately giving him some small amount of hope to cling to that would, eventually, give him the safe out of his relationship with Riley that he had been looking for. After all, him breaking up with Riley would be problematic, him and Riley mutually agreeing that they were better off ending their relationships (albeit to pursue other interests) would work well, and would probably prevent a lot of the fallout that the former option would have caused.

"One of the things I actually wanted to talk to you about was Farkle," Lucas said, his expression thoughtful. "Has he spoken to you about me in any way? He's been acting a bit off with me lately." It wasn't as bad as the Billy situation back in the day when Farkle had questioned their friendship, but he had seen the searching looks Farkle had started off with throwing his way a few weeks ago, something that had now escalated to Farkle being sometimes abrupt with him or else overly interested in whatever casual thing they were talking about, something that ensured that nothing past the impersonal could be broached.

"Oh, I noticed that," Zay said immediately, "but I'm kinda surprised you just didn't talk to him."

"It's not the easiest conversation to start," Lucas admitted. "Yo Farkle, why are you avoiding me?"

"Yeah well that's not the best approach," Zay allowed.

"And I'm pretty certain Smackle's noticed."

"Oh she has," Zay said. "Told me that she was contemplating telling him off again."

"Again?" Lucas parroted, confused.

"Yeah, she knows what's going on. And she didn't even need to tell me why cuz I've been seeing it too. I don't know how I ended up saddled with a bunch of ridiculously oblivious friends, but I guess it's my cross to bear," he finished with a dramatic sigh.

It took Lucas a moment to draw the right conclusion, and when he did he reached up to smack himself on the forehead. Hadn't they also talked about this the last time they had had a sleepover? "Farkle realised he likes Riley," he said, with a groan.

"And Bingo was his name-o," Zay sang sarcastically. "Isadora had to help him get his head out of his rear, but yeah, I think that's what's going on. The boy's in love with his best friend's girlfriend. Once again we have a triangle in our midst."

"We need a new favourite shape," Lucas grumbled, causing Zay to snort.

"You, Maya and Riley. You, Farkle and Riley. I would say me, Isadora and Farkle but I let that whole thing sought itself out first. For a bit I was wondering if a Maya, Liam, Shane thing was happening, ooooh and we can't forget you, Maya and good ole Uncle Josh. Oh and there's you, Maya, and Shane…"

"I get it," Lucas interrupted tersely.

"Once you do. So, how ya going to handle this?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'm not sure things can go as smoothly for us as it did for you and Smackle."

"Why can't it?" he asked, confused. "You don't like Riley and Farkle and Riley like each other. Just remove yourself from the equation and watch the magic happen."

"You really think it's that simple, Zay?"

"It's as simple as 1, 2, 3."

"Then I'll talk to her tomorrow," Lucas decided, even as he acknowledged that he was perhaps feeling too great a feeling of relief at this, "her and Farkle. We'll get this all straightened out."

"Good."

Except, for all Lucas' good intentions, that was a conversation that would take three more weeks to come, because somehow, over the course of that afternoon, Riley had made her situation worse than ever and had gotten herself grounded, putting not only her social life, but personal conversations, on hold.


"Huckleberry?" Maya called out, confused as she heard a distinctive rap against her bedroom door, one she hadn't heard for a few weeks now.

"Yeah, it's me," he replied, easing the door open. "No Liam?" he asked, obviously remembering her saying that the two of them had planned to spend the afternoon together, trying to make a dent into their art projects.

"He wanted tacos," she answered, settling her paint brush into a cup of dirty water, even as she eyed him curiously. "What are you doing here?"

Lucas shrugged, even as he held out the bag he had brought with him to her. Despite her confusion, Maya couldn't help but let out a squeal and cross the distance to him quickly, snatching away and hugging the still warm chimiguna containing bag to her chest.

"Yeah that is so not normal," Lucas noticed with a chuckle, even as he bypassed her to sit on the edge of her bed. "There's one in there for Liam too, although I'm not sure if he likes it."

"More for me if he doesn't," she sing-songed happily. She had been bereft of the delicious treat for far too long, and while she had been more than capable of getting it for herself, the first time she had tried, it had just tasted plain, as if there was something missing from it. The reason had been obvious. It was the person who bought and brought it to her that had caused chimigunas to take on a grader significance for her, and with it, made it seem like the best food in the entire world.

"Why are you here?" she repeated even as she dropped down beside him, opened the bag, took out one of the chimigunas and spilt it, offering it to him.

"I wanted to check up on you," Lucas answered, taking it from her with a small nod of thanks. "You've been awful quiet these past few days."

"I've been busy."

"Quiet beyond that," he answered, though she saw the way his eyes did sweep about her bedroom, taking in the amount of art supplies scattered about the room. Somehow she couldn't really get the required inspiration at school for the exhibition piece and had decided to switch her setting about for a bit. It worked, moderately, but Maya was already well aware that what was slowly forming on her canvas was not the great speaking work her teacher had mentioned before. But, since it was keeping her occupied, and more importantly, gave Liam something to rag on which kept him occupied, she was not going to complain.

"Come on," Lucas cajoled. "I know something's up. You've got that far away look in your eyes when you think that no one's looking, and I know it's not because Riley's in lockdown in her dad's classroom as well. Her mom is being quite thorough," he couldn't help but add with a rueful shake of her head.

"Well Riley was apparently that much of a terror," Maya said with a shake of her head. "But, you're right. It's not really Riley. I-."

"Is it Shane?" he asked gently.

She chuckled and shot him a rueful look. "There are other things beside Shane I deal with you know."

"He's the obvious problem."

She snickered at that, surprised that his words didn't evoke any real sort of emotional reaction from her. But then again, there hadn't been any undercurrent to his statement either. It was said as a matter of fact and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. "I almost called Shawn 'dad' the other day," she said, not really wanting to allow that train of thought to go much further than that.

"And that's a bad thing?" he asked, confused. "That's who he is to you."

"Yeah, except I have an actual dad," she said, twisting her mouth. "Besides, he can't be my dad. Riley told me. Him marrying mom doesn't make me his daughter. I'd be his step-daughter. I will have a dad and a step-dad and I can't really go around calling Shawn 'dad' now can I?"

"I don't see why not," Lucas admitted. "I mean, when it comes to doing actual dad stuff, Mr. Hunter's the one who's been doing it for you."

"Hence the conflict," Maya admitted, even as she licked some chocolate off her fingers, her casual gesture at odds with the serious conversation they were having. "My dad is still my day," she explained. "I know he left. I told him he should of stayed and that that would have been enough. I told him I couldn't forgive him last year, and I still stand by that, but still...he's still my dad, Lucas, and I don't know...as much as I love Shawn, I...he's not my dad dad, you know?"

Maya bit at her lip as she finished talking, wondering if she had done a good enough joy of verbalising the confusion she had been experiencing ever since that attitude on the course. She loved Shawn, and loved having him as a parental figure in her life, but somehow, to actually give him the title, that seemed like an almost betrayal to the man she had had before, albeit only for a few fleeting years, even if a part of her did know that he didn't deserve it.

"I don't know what to say," Lucas answered carefully, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I...that's something that's beyond my league."

"No worries, Huckleberry," she said gently, reaching over to touch his knee. "I know ya ain't a miracle worker."

"I kind of wish I was."

"It's not that bad," she reassured him. "It's not like this is keeping me up at night or something," she joked, "that's Liam's forte these days. I'm sorry if I worried you, but...I kind of don't at the same thing," she couldn't help but admit.

"Why?"

"It got you here," she said softly, almost shyly. "You said you were staying away. And yet here you are again."

"I guess I am," he answered, "but I promised you a next person to talk to and since that's still a work in progress I decided I would have to do."

It was an odd thing to say, but Maya wasn't really in the mood to dig too deeply into any underlying meanings. She was just glad that he was here.

"Thank you," she settled for saying instead, her tone ringing with sincerity. And she meant it too. Lucas had come here to her, breaking his own vow, and all because he had sensed her preoccupation. She doubted that anyone else had noticed, not that she blamed them. Everyone had their own lives, their own issues, their own relationships to deal with. Gone was the time when everyone was one hundred percent involved in each other's every moments, and it both saddened yet relieved her. Yet, it also made it all the more special that Lucas of all people would have noticed something, and have come to her to see if she was okay, his presence a reassurance to her even if there really wasn't anything he could do to help.

Maya didn't even realise how her expression softened, but in a moment, she was leaning closer to him to place a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered again, as she sat back.

"Anytime, princess," Lucas answered gruffly, reaching up to touch the spot she had pressed her lips to.

"You too are absolutely disgusting, you know."

Maya jumped, jolted from the cozy environment that had settled between them at Liam's disgusted tone. And, he meant it. There wasn't an ounce of humour anywhere in his voice, and when she met his eyes, they were cold. "What's got your panties in a bunch?" she asked gruffly, even as she shifted away from Lucas.

"This bullshit is going on for far too long, ya hear?"

"Language," Lucas reprimanded immediately, causing Liam to shoot him an entirely unimpressed look.

"You're cozying up with someone else's girl in her bedroom and I'm the one who needs to check myself? Please dude, give me a break," he said with a scoff.

"Liam-"

"All I'm saying is that this stupid-what the hell do you guys call it? Square? Octagon? Whatever it is it's getting fricking old pretty quick. But hey, that ain't my problem. I'm going to get us drinks to go with the food."

"Is he okay?" Lucas asked as he stomped off back towards the main part of the apartment.

Maya shrugged, actually not completely sure. Liam's temper was growing increasingly volatile the more time passed and she had been taking it in strides. But he actually seemed upset about her and Lucas. The question was, why?


A/N: Haven't gotten around to responding to the last set of reviews and messages as yet :(, but I'll handle them in the next day or so. There'll be at least one more chapter before the year ends.


Next time: Valentine's Day is in the air. It's the perfect time for gifts...and break-ups...and break-ups?