Hello everyone! I know that Girl Meets World ended a few years ago, but thanks to my Disney Plus subscription and the surplus amount of time I now have (thanks a lot quarantine), thought maybe it would be interesting to revisit one of my favorite movies in the context of the television show.
As some background information, if you don't know, Life As We Know It centers around two people who are left to raise their goddaughter in the wake of their friends' untimely deaths. This is something important to keep in mind. Also, as somewhat of a disclaimer, I do not own Girl Meets World or Life As We Know It, dialogue is my strong suit, and this chapter is mainly to set up different ideas for the rest of the story. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this!
"I can't believe they are friends after all of this time," Riley Matthews mumbled as she made her way towards her blonde best friend, taking a seat on the white leather sectional in the living room as Charlie Gardener and Lucas Friar hung up various pink decorations all around the small New York apartment. Taking a moment to look around, Riley noted that not much had changed since she was a student at Columbia, living in the apartment with Maya: other than the newly added photos of the young family and the toys that were scattered across the floor, it was as if they were nineteen again, ready to take on the world.
"I think that every time I catch them Facetiming, which happens way more than you think it would," Maya Hart-Hunter (now Gardener) replied softly, smiling as she sees her husband's blue eyes over the heads of their friends. Back when she and Riley had moved into the apartment, they had both been lacking overall direction; she had known that she loved art and Riley had known she loved the idea of living together, but they didn't really have anything else figured out. It was during their junior year, when Maya opened her first gallery and Riley realized her passion for photojournalism, that things finally started to take shape: a year later, Maya had been dating Charlie Gardener steadily for five months and Riley had been studying abroad in London for a year.
Charlie, who had been at NYU alongside Maya, had formed a friendship with Lucas during their senior year, much to everyone's surprise: after the semi-formal issue, people had thought they would never be able to be anything more than slightly less than strangers. However, apparently Charlie had helped Lucas with something about baseball and Lucas had returned the favor by helping him during their freshman year (Maya only half-listens every time Charlie explains it, so Riley receives even fewer details). Either way, Lucas had served as Charlie's best man at the wedding three years ago and was Fallon Gardner's godfather.
"As long as they aren't better friends than us," Riley said with a hair flip, raising her voice slightly to inform the men about what they were discussing and interrupting any other conversation they might have been having. Maya scoffed at her response, rubbing her finger lightly against the emerald eternity ring that sat on her right hand, an upgrade from their junior high friendship rings. Charlie rolled his eyes, looking at the blonde with a fond look on his face, before returning to the ladder to continue hanging streamers. Lucas shook his head slightly, unable to even comprehend a friendship that could possibly be stronger than the one shared between the childhood best friends: he could count on one hand the number of times he had encountered only one of them (as opposed to both of them) in the past five years.
"Honey, they can hardly compare," Maya reassured her, before holding up a stuffed Elmo toy in front of her daughter, who was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, eyes trained to the television.
Riley wished she brought her camera as she watched the mother and daughter interact with one another: though Fallon was hardly a year old, she and Maya seemed to be able to communicate with one another in a way she had never experienced before. Maya claimed it was due to the fact that she and Fallon had been part of the same person for nine months, paired with the fact that Maya had spent the last year staying home with the bay and doing her art on the side, while Charlie worked as a surgeon at Mount Sinai.
"Thank God for that, sometimes I think you two have a friendship that is a little… unhealthy," Lucas quipped easily, handing Charlie another helium balloon from his station at the base of the ladder. The blonde veterinarian had been friends with the girls since junior high, having gone through the triangle with them, and he had observed that they had a friendship that was almost too much for him: they had somehow taken the meaning of the word 'friendship' to the next level.
When Charlie had called him during their senior year of college to inform him that he was taking Maya Hart on a date, Lucas had thought that his friend had misspoken, before inquiring about the blonde and her tall brunette best friend. Though they had been close in junior high and high school, the group had separated after graduation (though he suspected that most of their old friends kept in contact with Riley): while no one directly said it, things became somewhat awkward after the triangle ordeal and the fact that he didn't really choose one of them.
"Oh please Huckleberry, you wish you had a friendship as strong as Riles and I do," Maya rolled her eyes, setting her daughter on her lap as she bounced her knees slightly, causing Fallon to smile brightly. Beside her, Riley started making faces at the small brunette, not caring about how ridiculous she might have looked, much to Lucas' amusement.
"Just because Charlie and I don't meet up in bay windows and wear matching friendship rings, that doesn't mean you and Riley are better friends than we are, it just means that Charlie and I like to have a degree of separation between us," Lucas stated, glancing at the amethyst ring on Riley's hand before looking at the matching emerald one on Maya's.
"No, instead you guys resort to two-hour-long Facetime calls, during which you go through various sporting event highlights and complain about which players should be traded to what teams," Maya's tone indicated how seemingly annoyed she was, though Riley and Lucas both knew that she found it sweet that Charlie was so willing to indulge Lucas and his love of sports (the girls both knew that Farkle and Zay both refused to discuss sports with the Texan after there was a slight disagreement between them during their junior year).
"Whoa whoa, don't pretend you and Riley don't have a long-standing Monday Bachelor date," Charlie added, causing his wife to shoot him a slight glare, clearly teasing. "Lucas, sometimes, they even patch Farkle into it, and that's when things get particularly interesting."
"You said you weren't eavesdropping," Maya retorted with a slight grin on her face, clearly having caught her husband in a lie, while a faint blush covered Riley's cheeks, the brunette embarrassed by her strange devotion to the reality show.
"I wasn't trying to, but I couldn't believe what Farkle had to say about all those poor guys," Charlie replied with a shrug, his eyes widening for dramatic effect as both girls broke out in giggles, clearly remembering Farkle's harsh judgments about each limo entrance.
Farkle Minkus, child genius, had gone to Yale for both his undergraduate and law school degrees, practicing international law in Washington D.C. He had been in the middle of a call with Riley, in which they had been discussing his romantic future with Isadora Smackle, when Maya called, interrupting their serious conversation and insisting that Farkle tune into ABC so that they could all indulge in The Bachelorette together.
"What can I say, I guess Farkle has a type," Maya muttered as Charlie and Lucas continued the task at hand. "Anyway, Riles, did you remember the cake?"
"Maya, it's Fallon's first birthday: cake is essential. Of course, I remembered it, I practiced five times last night to get this one perfect," Riley scoffed in mock offense, as if being accused of forgetting to make her goddaughter's cake was somewhat of a crime.
"I can't believe she's one already," Lucas said with a smile, looking at the brunette girl who was giggling happily with the grown women.
"Don't even get him started, Huckleberry. Someone was getting a little emotional last night," Maya teased as she shot her husband a knowing look, to which the brunette rose his hands in defeat. Lucas watched with amusement as his friends playfully bickered, before quickly glancing at Riley, wondering (not for the first time) how different things would be if he had made a choice in the triangle situation.
"It's not my fault, she's growing so fast," Charlie mumbled, pink tainting his cheeks as he playfully glared at his wife. "At least I handled it better when Lucas moved to Texas; when Riley moved, Maya wouldn't let anyone into the apartment for three days."
"Hey, that was an emotional few days-"
"I haven't seen you around in a while," Shawn Hunter noted as he made his way towards the refreshment table, where Riley had placed various pitchers of juice and soda, all labeled in some sort of loopy font that he was sure she had spent hours perfecting for this specific occasion.
"Yeah, I don't make it up here as much as I'd like," Lucas mumbled, surveying his drink options before settling on a can of ginger ale, trying to keep from squirming in front of Maya's step-father. When he had been involved with the triangle, he had grown a slight fear of Shawn: the older man had made it clear that he disapproved of what Lucas had been doing back then and was constantly making him doubt himself.
"Right, Riles mentioned that you're doing the whole veterinarian thing in Texas, yeah?" Shawn mentioned casually, trying to gauge the man's reaction to hearing his quasi-niece being brought up in casual conversation. Admittedly, it had been Maya who had mentioned Lucas's permanent residence, laughing with Katy about the lengthened phone calls he shared with her husband (Katy reminded her that nothing could ever be worse than the love Shawn and Cory shared, though he pretended not to hear her, everyone knowing she was joking).
"She said that?" Lucas inquired, clearly surprised to hear that Riley had thought to mention him in any sort of conversation she had with Shawn, while also wondering what sort of conversation had warranted information about him. From what Charlie had told him, it seemed as if Riley hadn't been spending a lot of time in New York, herself, so it must have been an important conversation in which he was mentioned. Maybe they were discussing her love life and Shawn decided they should take a stroll down memory lane? Maybe Cory had been discussing where all of their old friends had ended up and he was brought up out of nostalgia? Maybe-
"Don't worry Cowboy, it's not as if she's stalking you through your bedroom window at night; she was just offering everyone a status update about your little junior high friend group." Shawn joked, watching as the blonde found himself lost in thought. "Can you believe Fallon is already a year old?"
Lucas could remember as clear as day when Charlie had called to tell him that Maya was pregnant with their first child: the brunette was anxious and seemingly nervous to share the news, but at the same time, happier than Lucas had ever seen him. He had been there when Fallon was born, though Riley had been allowed in the delivery room (Charlie had gotten kicked out for a period of time because Maya blamed him for 'doing this to her'). He had been the fourth person to hold the newborn baby and had admittedly cried a little when Charlie announced that he had been selected to be Fallon's godfather. It all felt as if it had only been mere days ago, rather than months ago.
"No, she's gotten so big," Lucas muttered as his eyes drifted towards the baby, who was giggling as Riley whispered words into her small ears. Admittedly, he has only been able to be around for the small girl a few times: he had visited New York for Christmas (his parents were still residing in the city) and had babysat the small girl for a week when Charlie surprised his wife with a week-long cruise (Riley had been tasked with checking in on the duo every once and a while, but she, herself, hadn't been in town all seven days due to other commitments).
"Just think, if you had made a decision about the triangle, this could've been your child's first birthday party," Shawn commented jokingly, watching as a slight blush covers the taller man's cheeks. Admittedly, he and Katy had discussed the triangle in great detail: his wife had thought that Maya was potentially his choice, but Shawn had been certain that he would've chosen his goddaughter. He could never clearly articulate his feelings, besides the fact that Lucas always seemed a little different when talking with or about Riley; there was a specific look that seemed to cover his face and, though Shawn would never confess this to anyone, Lucas's eyes seemed to sparkle around the brunette (he and Cory were always closely watching him with their daughters, trying to find signs that would indicate the teenager's feelings).
"Honestly, I doubt that," Lucas muttered, eyes still glued on Riley and Fallon, who had gravitated towards Farkle, the genius looking absolutely thrilled to be conversing with two of his favorite people.