(Author's note: I know I suck for taking forever to update this. Thank you to those of you who reached out to me in either PM's or comments or DM's on instagram about this story. It is not done, it's still in progress, I've just been busy, but I really need to make more time for writing, because writing makes me happy. Hmm…that actually sounds like a good New Year's resolution. Thanks for reading! Happy Holidays!)

Maya's POV

It's Sunday. Finally. I mean, know I've only been back to work at my internship for half a week but still. The past few days were kind of intense. Since I needed to catch up on all the tasks that had been neglected because of my absence, I had to come in on Saturday too. At least I have today off. I wouldn't usually bother getting out of bed before noon on a Sunday, but a certain old friend was finally coming home and seeing her is worth existing in the AM hours for.

"Ready for Brunch?" she texted.

"On my way." I replied.

I haven't seen Haley in quite awhile. She wasn't able to come back for my mom's funeral because of school. She went to Cornell University upstate in Ithaca. When she asked me if I wanted to go to Bottomless Brunch with her I had no idea what that was. Then she explained it's all you can drink mimosas and bloody mary's and I was sold.

"Cheers to your fancy Ivy League degree," I congratulated her as we clinked our glasses. I downed my first mimosa in 30 seconds and immediately ordered a second. Haley laughed. "Relax, Maya. Bottomless Brunch lasts until 1:30. It's only 11:00."

"I know, but we have so much to catch up on and I need to be less sober for it," I replied.

"Oh really? Is there a new special someone I don't know about?" she asked.

"You already know her." I said.

Haley's jaw dropped first and then her eyes widened as she realized who I meant. Then she downed the rest of her mimosa too. Luckily the waiter quickly replaced our empty glasses with a second round.

"Explain yourself," she prompted.

"It's complicated," I answered.

"So does this mean what I think it means?" Haley asked, trying to stifle a grin.

"Nope."

"How do you even know what I'm thinking?" she asked.

"Because it's always about Lucas with you," I said.

"Well, it's always about Riley with you."

"Touche"

We guzzled our second round of mimosas. I signaled to the waiter for another round.

"Bloody Mary for me, this time," Haley called out. I glared at her.

"What?" she questioned my judgmental look.

"WHY?" I asked, referring to her change in drink choice.

"Because Bloody Mary's can't be guzzled. They're too spicy."

"Exactly why I'm questioning your decision," I replied.

"Because I need to slow down. I'm not Irish like you," Haley answered.

"You're German. Didn't they invent Octoberfest?"

"You don't guzzle beer at Octoberfest, besides binge drinking is so college, and we are graduating."

"So what? How are we supposed to drink now?" I asked.

"Responsibly," she she said.

"Hah!" I laughed. "I don't do anything responsibly. I'm Maya."

Haley laughed and shook her head.

"I'm going to have to carry you home later, aren't I?" she wondered out loud.

"We'll see how it goes," I responded. I never grew taller than 5 feet so I'm not too hard to carry.

"So what's going on with you and Riley?" Haley asked, intrigued.

I looked at her and waited for to swallow her sip and put her drink back down.

"I…we…um…well…" I fumbled around for the words I needed.

"Maybe you should just draw me a picture?" Haley joked.

"We hooked up. She cheated on Lucas with me."

"SHUT UP! When?" Haley nearly fell off her stool.

"It was when she was in town for the funeral."

Haley's face suddenly became very serious.

"What?" I asked.

"I wish I was here to stop her," she said. Her reply wasn't at all what I expected.

"Why?" I asked her.

"Because you were vulnerable and she had no right-"

"I wanted it to happen," I interrupted.

"Well, of course you did, but that girl has a problem!" Haley alleged.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"She seems to think the way to console people who have lost someone after a funeral is to hook up with them," she scoffed.

And suddenly I knew exactly what Haley meant.

It was the beginning of the end of Riley and I, and of Lucas and Haley.

I low key blame it on my dad. I know, Kermit always gets blamed as the reason my life is awful, but he actually really did mess up my life by taking me away from Riley that summer.

After Shawn and my mom got married, Shawn wanted to adopt me, but Kermit wouldn't sign away his parental rights. Instead he took my mom to court and sued for full custody of me, even though I was already 17. His lawyer dug up some old dirt on Shawn. He told the judge about Shawn's history of blowing up mailboxes and claimed I wouldn't be safe in his care. Luckily, my mom and Shawn had Topanga representing them, and she never loses a case. She pointed out that Kermit never made an effort to be a father to me for the past ten years and speculated that he must only be making an effort now because he was jealous of Shawn's relationship with me.

It was an ugly battle all around. It was really rough on all of us, but Riley was always there for me. I can't even count how many times I cried myself to sleep in her arms during that second semester of tenth grade. She would always let me cry on her and stroke my hair and hold me close and tell me everything would be okay.

The judge decided that it wouldn't be in my best interest to force me to move to a different state and transfer schools because Kermit and his new family live in Pennsylvania. The judge was right. I would be turning 18 during my junior year anyway. At that point I can make up my own mind about where I want to live, and it certainly wouldn't be with Kermit. However, the judge recognized that Kermit was now making an effort to be a parent to me and that his window of opportunity was closing soon. He granted joint custody for the remainder of my time as a minor, specifying that my mother would have custody of me during the school year, but I had to spend that summer between sophomore and junior year in Pennsylvania with my dad.

I was so furious about this. I had no control over my own life. Some stranger with a gavel had just decided it for me, whether I liked it or not. I told my dad I wanted Riley to be able to come visit me at his house but he refused. He said he didn't have a problem with our relationship but his wife would because she's a very conservative Christian and she couldn't allow anything the bible would consider a sin to go on under her roof. I'm rolling my eyes just thinking about it.

It seemed that everyone in our group of friends had plans for that summer, except Riley. Farkle and Smackle were going away to some kind of robotics camp together. Haley was accepted into a prestigious summer program for high school students at Harvard University, so she was going to be in Massachusetts all summer. Lucas and Zay were supposed to both be going to baseball camp, but Lucas decided to go home to Austin for the summer instead because Pappy Joe's health had worsened recently.

I was being forced to spend my summer with Kermit, his holy roller wife Carla, and her son, Braden, in Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania I guess he's technically my stepbrother and she's technically my stepmom but I don't think of them as family to me at all. Braden is a nice kid though.

I got a summer job working at the Value Lodge in New Stanton, PA, which is a borough that's surrounded by Hempfield Township, about 35 miles outside of Pittsburgh. Braden, who is two years younger than me, was nice enough to let me borrow his bike that summer. I said I wanted to go look for a job and Kermit and Carla thought that was very responsible of me. I just wanted a reason to get out of the house and be away from them for several hours at a time. I rode by the hotel and saw the help wanted sign, so I inquired within.

That's when I met Red. She was 22 and her hair was bright red, as if it had been colored in with a crayola crayon. When she had introduced herself, my response was:

"Your name is Red? Like your hair?"

She nodded and smiled.

This Value Lodge happened to have a bar inside of it, and I don't mean like a hotel bar. It looked like a dive bar with a pool table and everything. I'd never quite seen a budget hotel with a whole separate bar just across the hall from the check in counter, but here it was. Red explained that she had been working the check in counter and bartending at the same time and it was getting to be too much, hence the help wanted sign. I interviewed with her manager and was hired to work the check in counter so Red could focus on bartending.

Red was actually pretty cool, certainly the coolest person I met during that summer in Hempfield Township. She would give me alcohol. Red would always markout a six pack of beer as damaged or something and give it to me. She was a pretty good listener, as most bartenders are, and I guess she felt my situation could be remedied with Yuengling. I talked to Riley on the phone everyday, but I never told her I was drinking. But I was drinking. Everyday. I'd hide it from Kermit and Carla with mouthwash. I don't particularly think 17 is too young drink, but I wasn't doing it recreationally. I was abusing it, and I guess I still am. But that's beside the point.

The point it, something happened that summer, a catalyst that started the end of everything. I was sipping on a six pack discreetly behind the hotel when my phone rang. It was Lucas.

"Hey Ranger Rick," I answered, surprised to hear from him.

"Maya?" His voice sounded shaky.

"Yeah..whats's up, Huckleberry?"

"Out of everyone I called, you're the only one who actually answered the phone," he said.

Something was wrong. He didn't sound like his usual huckleberry self.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"No." He answered abruptly.

"Lucas, what's wrong?" I asked, my concern growing.

Silence.

"Lucas…?" I waited.

"He's gone, Maya."

And that's when it hit me, like a train. I dropped my beer and the glass shattered loudly.

"Pappy Joe?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," he said, his voice cracking.

Tears started involuntarily rolling out of my eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Lucas. He was a great man," I said.

Lucas sighed, "He was the best."

"You know, I loved him like he was my own," I said, sincerely.

"I know you did, Maya. He was very fond of you."

That made the sobs impossible to hold back.

After hanging up with Lucas, I called Riley. She said she had missed the call from Lucas because she was in the subway and didn't have service earlier. She hung up with me and called him back after I told her what happened. Then she called me back. She said she wanted to go to Austin for the funeral. I wanted to go too, but Kermit wouldn't let me. Everyone else was away at their summer activity and couldn't go either. Zay was pretty upset about not being able to go because he was at baseball camp. Haley felt especially bad. Even though she had never met Pappy Joe, she wanted to be there for Lucas, but her parents didn't want her to leave Harvard. Riley was the only who could go, and I encouraged her to.

I encouraged her to go.

Because I'm an idiot.