"Drive." Maya muttered the minute she got in Ethan's black Saab, slamming the door a bit more than necessary given the age of the vehicle. She shook him from whatever app he'd been playing on and he started in confusion at the ice in her voice.
"Mai? Are you ok?" He asked in concern, eyeing his girlfriend's tear stricken face and shaking form.
"I said drive." She repeated, the frustration in her tone making it clear she was not up for a conversation. He inspected her for a moment before nodding, shifting his stick into first gear and speeding away from the school. They cruised around the city for a bit before they came to a stop outside a park, the calm and quiet a welcome escape.
"Come on, let's take a stroll." Ethan said, unbuckling his seat belt and holding his hand out to Maya. She glanced at it for a moment before repeating his actions, placing her hand in his. His lips quirked into a small grin and he kissed the back of her hand. Once they had gotten out of the car they began to long walk around the pond in front of them. They were quiet for the first leg of the journey, wandering around the pathway, hand in hand. It was nice to be there together; basking in the sun as children ran around, exploding in laughter as they passed a bench with an elderly couple feeding ducks, watching as they bickered constantly, yet still looked at each other with so much love in their eyes.
"Do you think we'll ever be like that?" She ventured after a while, and Ethan looked over at her with a soft smile.
"No babe, I'll never look that old. Black don't crack. You on the other hand?" She giggled and shoved him lightly. He grinned at her face, the smile reserved for him, that set her eyes ablaze.
"So... you ever going to tell me what happened?" She sighed and relayed the story of the fight to him. He kept a straight face, yet squeezed her hand at just the right times, and nodded his head even when she went off on tangents. That was what she needed, all had ever really needed. Just, someone to actually listen. Not offer any advice, not to tell her what she needed to do. Just let her get everything off her chest, let her finally unload. When she finished her story he led her to an empty bench and mulled over his response. She watched him carefully, biting her lip as he seemed to brace himself. He turned to her and grasped her chin, so they could make complete eye contact. When she held his gaze he allowed his hand to move, to stroke her cheek gently, before falling to her folded hands.
"Mai... I think you need to talk to your mom." She looked at him stunned, and prepared to reiterate just how much that was not a good plan; but he held up a palm to stop her sentence before it could begin.
"Listen, Maya, ok? I love you, and all I want is for you to be happy. Right now, despite what you'd like to believe, you're not happy. The weed and the alcohol is great fun, and that's always going to be there... but family ain't. You only get one of those, and you shouldn't waste it." She looked at him, trying to think of anything she could say to stop him from convincing her, because god damn he was doing a good job.
"But, you're my family." He chuckled at that and brought his hand up to stroke her cheek.
"I am that Mai. You're mine too, nothing will ever change that. That doesn't change the fact you have a mother that loves you Maya, cares about you. That's a gift, you've got to embrace that."
"She doesn't ca-"
"Babe, she does. She wouldn't be riding you so hard if she didn't. Mai, she's made mistakes, I'm not denying that. At the end of the day, she's a human being. I could write a book on absent parents, people who never wanted to be parents. I know enough about it to know when someone cares. There will come a day when she's gone Mai, think about that. Don't you want her to know that she was loved? Don't you want to know that she loved you?" Maya listened to his speech and surprised herself to feel tears running down her face. She slowly nodded before he sighed and pulled her into a tight embrace. She hiccuped and felt a sob wrack her body as he held her closer.
She dug her face into the crook of his neck and let herself experience the emotions she'd held back for so long. He rubbed her back in a soothing motion, allowing her to fall apart. After all, sometimes something needs to be torn down before something beautiful can be built back up.
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"Katy, are you sure you're ok? Maybe I can bring some cookies or brownies or-"
"Topanga, really. There's nothing you can do. My daughter hates me. Nothing you say will change that, and no baked good will either." She replied, voice as distant as her spirit. Shawn had allowed her to push him away, knowing she needed to be alone. She just wished Topanga could do the same. They'd had terse words when she'd returned, after a particularly cruel tangent about controlling teenager's attitude. Katie had set her straight pretty quickly. While she'd appreciated that Topanga was only trying to help, she didn't need a speech about how to parent. Topanga had wilted a bit but had nodded, promising to be a bit more respectful of Katie's parenting techniques.
"Katy I-"
"Please, just... I just need some alone time. Please." The last word was barely above a whisper as the woman sat there, almost catatonic on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her. Topanga sighed, heartbroken for the woman. She couldn't imagine how it must feel, to have your flesh and blood treat you in such a careless way. She knew Katy had made mistakes in her past, but she was a good person at heart. Topanga shook herself slightly, knowing she was being judgemental again, and god she needed to work on that.
"I'll close the door then, alright? I'll check on you later." There was no response from the woman and Topanga sighed softly before closing the door and heading back to her own apartment. Around five minutes later Katy heard a soft rap on her door. She ignored it, expecting it was Topanga with some baked good . Then the knocking louder and louder until someone was literally banging on the door. Finally, she stood and shuffled to the door, opening it after a deep breath.
"Topanga, I told you, I'm-" she stopped dead in her sentence, because it was not Topanga standing in her doorway. It was not Cory, or Shawn, or even Riley. It was the last person she expected to see. It was her daughter. Maya had come home.
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"Let's make something clear. I'm not moving back in just yet. I'm also not apologising for telling you the truth. What I'm here to do is... talk."
"Talk? Yeah, we can talk all you want." Katy said hurriedly, terrified that her daughter would walk away and never come back. She opened the door wider and allowed Maya walk in at her own pace. When the girl entered, she shut the door gently and followed Maya to the couch where she had previously been crying on.
"Mom," Katy felt herself tear up at the word. It felt so good to hear daughter say mom again, like all the troubles in the world had melted away. Like everything would forever be alright, "Mom, I have spent my whole life pretending I'm ok. Living for everyone else, but me. I'm tired of that. Tired of the constant charade, I- I'm just tired." She began, her voice catching on the last sentence, and she furiously wiped at her eyes and their betraying tears. Katie's hand shot out a clasped Maya's hand, squeezing in comfortingly.
"It's ok baby, just let it out." Maya exhaled softly, sniffling as more tears fell from her lashes.
"Whew. Ok, um... you've made mistakes. I blamed you for them for a long, long time. But I realised today, well with a little help, that uh- that you are a human being. That doesn't excuse what happened but I- uh I love you so much. You're my mother. Despite all your flaws and issues, you are my mother and that is what matters." She finished, her voice wobbly and eyes swollen with tears. Katy felt her heart stop as she watched her daughter. Her beautiful, strong daughter. Her broken, and flawed daughter. Her flesh and blood, and the person that meant more to her than anything in the entire universe.
"Well, are you going to say anything?" Maya asked with a watery laugh. Katy let out a light chuckle, before enveloping her daughter in a tight embrace, not wanting to ever let go. She choked on her own tears as Maya wrapped her arms around her just as firmly. They rocked slightly, a soothing unconscious rhythm. Finally, after what felt like an hour they pulled apart, each wiping at their eyes and trying their best to get themselves under control. Katy cleared her throat and clutched her daughters shaking hand in hers, putting as much emotion into her gaze as possible.
"Maya. I've made a lot of my problems your problems. I wasn't always there for you. I should have been there for you. You were lucky enough to find a family downstairs that could be for you when I couldn't. I'll never forgive myself, but I hope one day, you'll find it in your heart to forgive me. Shawn's a great guy, and yes I fell for him, but I'm your mom first and foremost. I want to be a better person for you. That's all I've ever wanted." Maya nodded jerkily and quirked a smile at her mother.
"It's going to take a little time. A little time to think things over, but I'll be back. I've got to find myself a little bit. It'll uh- It'll take a little while, but I'll come back home." Her mother grinned and stroked her daughter's hair, as she pulled her back into a big hug.
Riley sighed as she stared into the distance from the comfort of her bed. She was throwing a tennis ball at the ceiling, just like she used to do to annoy Maya when they were little kids. Back when things were simple, when everything made sense in the world. She was so lost in her thoughts she barely heard the tentative knock on her bay window. She turned to see a flash of blonde hair and was immediately up and running. She swung the window up to see Maya, a crooked smile on her face.
"Hey Lightning." Maya said gently as she entered into the room, crossing the bay window boundary slowly. Riley stared at her, eyes brimming with tears, before she broke out in a watery smile.
"Hey Thunder." Maya chuckled, and then Riley enveloped Maya in a bone crushing hug, neither side wanting to ever let go.
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"So what made you decide to come back?" Maya let the thought marinated, not quite sure how to answer it.
"I never really left Riley. Not really. I thought about all of you everyday, but I was so caught up in everything else, I couldn't really face you."
"What, you mean getting involved with the bad boy?" Maya sighed and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. Their relationship was still Bambi level shaky, and Riley wasn't exactly helping.
"Ethan isn't the 'bad boy' Riley. He's a good guy who genuinely cares about me. Sure, he's not a sweet cowboy, but I dare say he's ten times better for me than Huckleberry could've ever been." Riley crossed her arms, her black and white view of the world taking control once more.
"But he smokes, and drink, and-" Maya rolled her eyes in exasperation, leaning back against the bay window with a groan.
"Riley. This is New York. Half of the population smokes and drinks. It's not such a bad evil thing. I mean in moderation, there's nothing wrong with it."
"You mean apart from the yellow teeth, ruined lungs, dead liver-" Maya groaned even more loudly breaking off Riley's rant about the health ramifications.
"Ok fine. It's kinda bad for you." Riley let out a chuckle at her friend's agreement, before sobering up.
"So... what are you going to do now?" Maya ran a hand through her wavy blonde locks and let out a sigh.
"I don't know yet. Ethan and I are looking at options once we leave school. I'm going to try and repair my relationship with my mother. I'll figure out my living situation soon. You and I, we've got things to work out ourselves. But uh, Riley, you and Matthew's were right. I can't keep bottling everything up. I've got to have my walls pushed down. I can't do that alone. I'm going to need your guy's help. It might take a village." Riley let out a watery smile at her friend's answer, engulfing her once more in a hug.
"Maya, we're all here for you. We'll always be here. Forever and always." Maya smiled brightly, snuggling more into the warmth of the hug. She had been lost, and with a little help, she'd been found. She was home once more.
Ethan watched the clock ticking away on the wall with some apprehension. Maya hadn't texted him yet, and he had no idea how her reunion was going. What if he'd made the wrong call? What if she was in an even worse state before? What if he'd made a mess of everything? He was shaken from his thoughts as the front door swung open, and he stood to see a blotchy Maya in his doorway.
"Mai." He breather her name more than saying it, a soft prayer of relief. She let her bag fall from her shoulder with a soft thud, and crossed the room before he could as any questions. Then her lips were on his, gentle and undemanding. He moved on instinct, clutching his arms around her waist as her thumbs stroked his cheekbones. He eventually pulled back to breathe, but pressed his forehead against hers. They breathed in each other, their own slice of peace, her hands on his cheeks, his clutching her to his form.
"I love you Ethan Granes." She murmured, and his heart stuttered with the amount of emotion in her voice. Ethan Granes was the kid his parents didn't want, the one they thought would save an already dissolving marriage. He'd been shoved into his aunt's life, the one of a career woman who was hardly ever home, too busy saving lives. Ethan of three months ago couldn't have told you the last time he'd felt truly loved, if he'd ever felt that way. Maya heart, with five little words, had changed his entire world.
"And I love you, Maya Hart." Her lips quirked into a grin at that, finding place on his once more. Maya Hart had been wrong about one thing though, one very important thing. Maya Hart was not broken, she was bent. Little did she know, that ever so slowly, she was finding her shape again. One step at a time.
A/N: Happy ending!