After Iowa, he ends up covering a festival in Missouri, camping in Arkansas, then hiking part of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia and Tennessee. Spring was ideal for travel and his editor had a never-ending list of assignments.
By the time Maya and Riley's graduation comes up at the start of June, Shawn is excited to get back to New York. He was able to take the time off since he'd just traveled non-stop for a few months. It was starting to feel different. He could feel how he was getting lonelier than he'd ever felt before on the road. Now that he had something someone worth missing, it was getting harder to stay away. He loved traveling but he could feel the desire to share his experiences, not just go it alone anymore. He sent more pictures to Katy and Maya and even Cory everywhere he went. It was harder when he was off the grid at some campsites, but whenever he got service, he was happy to tell them more about his travels.
He arrived back the day before graduation and felt relaxed. He felt at home with Katy and Maya in a way that was comfortable but noticeably different for him. He hoped it would always feel this way. He didn't want things to get screwed up. He felt a sense of pride as he watches the kids grow up right before his eyes. He was proud of them for growing up so well and proud of himself for making his way back to them. He remembers how messed up his life was when he was starting high school. He hoped Maya and Riley would have a better and easier time in high school than he did.
Shawn booked his hotel for 2 weeks. He wanted to make the most of his time off. He would take Katy out a few times, he'd visit Jon, take some photos for Topanga's bakery, and spend time with Maya, maybe take her to an art show or a concert.
And so, he does. The kids graduate and he's there for their party. He laughs as he realizes Cory is really going full Feeny, moving along with the kids through school.
Maya spends the night at Riley's, so Katy spends the night at Shawn's hotel. They go out on another date the next day. He visits Jon the day after that. He spends another day with Cory. And by the end of his first week, things are going really well.
So of course, something had to crash.
Riley and Maya were enjoying their newfound summer freedom from school. They were going to go to the park for a bit, but they decided to grab a snack from the bakery. Topanga had closed the bakery for the day, but they knew Shawn would be there taking some photos for the new website.
Maya went over to the bookshelf when they walked in. She needed to return a book she had borrowed weeks ago and forgot about. Now that it was summer, she wasn't gonna read again until school told her she had to.
Riley smiled as she walked in, ready to surprise Shawn. He was adjusting some pastries and taking photos. He looked comfortable but completely wrapped up in what he was doing. It reminded her of how Maya looks when she's painting.
Her smile faded as she walked towards him and noticed something very different about Shawn. He's wearing a t-shirt. She's never seen him wear a t-shirt. She realized she had never seen his arms. She would have remembered seeing so many scars. She blinks a few times, trying to think back to every time she'd ever been around him and what he was wearing. She couldn't remember every detail, but when she thought of Shawn he was always in long sleeves. It never seemed weird to her and she never thought anything of it, but now, it seemed so obvious. The sweaters in the winter made sense, but who doesn't wear a t-shirt in the heat of the summer?
"Uncle Shawn, what are those?" Riley couldn't take her eyes off the scars.
"Pastries… Duh," he replies, not looking up from behind his camera. It wasn't mean, it was teasing, in a way he didn't know anything was wrong yet. "I'm just doing some photos for the website."
"No, no. I know that…" Riley doesn't think she's ever talked this slow. "I mean… on your arms.
Maya left the bookshelf and walked over next to Riley to see what she was asking about. She stopped dead in her tracks. She knew what those were. She had met a girl in detention once who had fresh cuts on her arms. Even with as tough as Maya was, it had kind of scared her to see someone who was in so much pain. Even when she was at her lowest, she was grateful that the thought to hurt herself had never crossed her mind.
Now, to see it on Shawn, she wasn't sure what to do. She could tell the scars were old, but there were so many of them, some were pretty big.
Shawn finally looked at Riley and Maya. Riley looked confused and worried. Maya seemed to be in a trance as they both stared at his arms.
He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. He hadn't expected to see them today. He had known this was going to happen sometime, but that didn't make the moment any easier. Putting his camera down on the counter he then rubbed his hand over his arm, wishing he'd had sleeves he could pull down. He wasn't ashamed of his scars, he just felt too exposed at this very moment.
This was the conversation he'd been dreading. He had talked to his therapist about it, gotten advice from Cory and Topanga, he had even looked up articles about how to talk to kids about self-harm scars, but all the information he had couldn't help him for the emotional reality of what it took to explain his past. He was comfortable with his scars most of the time. When he was out traveling, it didn't matter. Strangers didn't really bother him. He didn't care what anyone thought. Anyone except these girls.
He motioned for them to sit down on their usual seat, and they seemed to be able to pull themselves together enough to sit. Riley grabbed Maya's hand and they watched as Shawn sat in the chair across from them.
Shawn took a breath and started with the script he had in his head. He had gone over it with his therapist and he had his opening lines.
"For a long time, when I was younger, I didn't know how to handle all the bad things going on in my life. I didn't know how to cope. So, I took it out on myself. I used to hurt myself because I didn't know what else to do."
Shawn rubbed slow circles into his left palm with his opposite thumb, trying to stay present. "Therapists finally diagnosed me with PTSD several years ago and I've been working through things ever since."
He took another deep breath, coming out as a sigh.
"I want you to know that I haven't hurt myself in years. I spent a long time learning how to be okay, learning how to be stable. I wouldn't have come back to the family if I wasn't... The family has been through enough of my drama, I wasn't going to be the terrifying, unstable uncle in your life, Riley. I didn't want to be here if I couldn't actually be here, ya know?"
He was kind of going off script. They didn't know. How could they know. He wished he could just hand them a textbook about self-harm and not have to dive into this, but he knew it was important, and Cory and Topanga had said the girls would be able to handle it. He looked the girls over, hoping they were okay with how heavy things were.
Riley nodded. She knew she was sweet and innocent and naive, but she also knew that bad things happened to good people. She wasn't completely clueless about the world. This was just the last thing she had expected for Shawn.
"When was the last time?" Maya asked, direct as usual.
"Nearly six years ago," Shawn swallowed, looking from the floor directly to Maya. She deserved honesty. "I had a panic attack on a bad anniversary, and I fell into the old habit. I regretted how I dealt with it and I got more help."
"So, what, your better now? You never have to do that again?" Maya seemed oddly aggressive but still so small.
"For the most part, yeah. Mental health is strange Maya. My PTSD isn't as severe as it used to be. I've learned a lot about how to manage it. I spent over 15 years hurting myself. I still have intrusive thoughts sometimes, anxieties that tell me to do things I know I shouldn't do, but unlike before, I don't have to act on them. I have had so much therapy and spent so much time being comfortable with living, that I don't feel like dying anymore."
"Wait, so you spent most of your life trying to kill yourself?" Riley asked.
Shawn ran his palm over his beard. He hadn't meant to bring up the suicidal ideation that used to plague his every waking moment. The self-harm was one heavy thing to talk about. The suicide attempts and hospital stays were another. He second guessed how he was handling this. He knew it would be so much easier to just explain from the beginning like he does when would get a new therapist or doctor. But this was different. He couldn't dump his trauma on these wide-eyed, caring girls. He couldn't scare them with the life he's had to live.
"No," he sighed. "The self-harm wasn't about trying to die. It was about finding anyway to survive."
"Made you feel alive," Maya said softly.
Shawn's eyes went wide as fear ran through him. Why did Maya know that?
"How do you know that? You don't-" He started to ask, trying not to panic.
"No, no." Maya reassured him, seeing he was jumping to the wrong conclusion. She wiped a few tears from her eyes. "I met a girl once who did it. I looked it up later and it was kind of terrifying, but it helped to know I wasn't hurting as much as some other people do."
Shawn felt relief rush through him knowing Maya didn't know from personal experience.
"I'll be honest, it is terrifying. I couldn't trust myself. I wasn't safe. I lied to everyone about how I was doing, and I lived on the edge of a place I still can't fully explain. I somehow needed something to make me feel but also take all my feelings away. I tricked myself into believing there was no other way to deal with all the pain I was feeling. The more I took myself apart, the less I had to hold myself together.
And now, I didn't mean to, but I realized I've been keeping my scars covered when I come back here, because even though I've grown up and worked out better ways to deal with my problems, it's not something I want people to see all the time. I don't like to remind everyone of how painful things used to be."
"So, does dad know about everything?" Riley asked.
"Yeah, Cory knows everything... He kept me alive. Your dad literally saved my life. We were about your age when he first found out."
"Oh…" Riley wanted to run away from all of this, but if her dad could handle it, so could she. It was so weird to think of Cory and Shawn being their age and dealing with something so much more serious than she's ever even had to think about.
"How did he find out? Did he see your scars too?"
Shawn wished he could have called Cory down to have this conversation. As much as Cory believed in Shawn and had given him some advice, Shawn knew Cory would be doing a better job at this. He was the teacher after all.
"Um. I don't really know if I can tell you that story. It was much bigger than just him seeing some old scars. It's not something Cory and I like to talk about."
Maya watched Shawn rub his hand over his scars again. Her brain began going through everything she'd learned about Shawn since they'd met, the hints here and there that he had struggles bigger than he was going to talk about on the phone. This wasn't the first time he said someone 'saved his life.' She wiped away another tear.
"You tried to kill yourself, didn't you?"
God, why were these girls so fucking smart. Shawn really didn't want to go back into the memory of that bus station bathroom.
"Girls, I know this is important to talk about, but I just can't share that memory with you right now." Shawn took a breath. His therapist had given him that line and he was actually kind of glad he had it.
"I'm sorry," Maya squeezed Riley's hand and looked away from Shawn.
"Hey, it's okay. This is a hard conversation for everyone," he reassured her. "I can't tell you everything I've been through in life. It wouldn't be fair to any of us, but I want you both to know that I'm not going anywhere, okay? I have never taken care of myself more than I do now, and I have people and plans to keep me safe no matter what. Please don't be scared or worried about me. You're the kids and I'm the adult, and we're all okay, okay?"
Riley nodded again but Maya still didn't look back at Shawn. She didn't know why but she was starting to feel angry with Shawn. Ever since he came into their lives, he was such a mystery. She had enjoyed starting to figure out some of the mystery. She was happy when they would talk on the phone and he'd share parts of his life with her. She knew they were heavy. She knew he was complicated. But this seemed bigger than anything else. This seemed like something he should have told them sooner… before she started to trust him… before she started to rely on him.
To think about him not existing in her life now, was too much for her to face. It was one thing to hear him talk about his life from thousands of miles away. But to see it now, to see the proof of his pain carved into his skin, made it impossible to forget that life was unfair. There was no pretending that there wasn't endless pain in this world. It made Maya hurt in a way she didn't know she could.
Before she really knew what she was doing, she got up and walked out of Topanga's. She didn't like that all the pieces had matched up to this.
It was bright outside, and kind of noisy. The city streets were busy today and it stopped her in her tracks. This wasn't the escape she was looking for. She didn't know where she was trying to go but she needed to get out of the room. Riley was quick to follow. Shawn was slower. He stood up and went towards the door but didn't go outside. He wanted to give them space, but he didn't want to end the conversation with Maya upset.
Riley hugged Maya, realizing she had started quietly crying.
"It's okay, Maya. Are you okay?"
"I don't know… I think I'm scared? Angry? I don't know Riley."
"We have to listen to him, okay? I know it's a lot. I don't know how to feel either, but he can help us understand." Riley ran her hand over Maya's hair and hugged a little tighter for a moment.
Maya took a deep breath and finally released Riley of their hug. "Okay."
She dried her tears and took Riley's hand as they walked back into the bakery. She looked at Shawn but then went back to her seat.
"I'm sorry girls. I don't really know the best way to talk about this. I haven't really had to explain it to kids." He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked back to his seat.
"Are you, okay… with me? I understand this is a lot to take in."
Maya picked at the end of her skirt and didn't want to look at him.
"I don't know. I mean, it's fine. It's just. I think I'm angry. I just… wish you'd told us sooner. It seems so weird that I've gotten to know so much about you, but this was still such a huge thing that we never even realized was part of you. How many more secrets do you have? Did you do drugs? Do you have some secret life out on the road? Do you have some criminal back story or a secret spy job we don't know about?"
She knew her mind was running wild, but she couldn't live with only knowing pieces of Shawn's life. She didn't like this game anymore.
"I guess I just don't like not knowing who you are when I'm supposed to trust you."
Now it was Shawn's turn to look away from the girls. What Maya said seemed fair. He knew she couldn't understand why he'd kept this a secret, but he needed to find a way to explain. He sighed and looked at the table between them for a moment, gathering his thoughts before looking back to them.
"I have done drugs. I was also an alcoholic. I did some petty crime when I was a teenager, but nothing serious, nothing that makes me a bad person... You know my parents weren't good to me. But it was more than that. I grew up in hell and I barely stood a chance at escaping. Luckily, I had some people looking out for me, helping me when everything really fell apart. But the kind of damage I'd already collected, it doesn't go away just because Jon takes me in, or Cory stays by my side. I survived in a way that should have killed me, and a few times, it almost did. I am lucky… very lucky, to be sitting here with you and realizing why life kept me around. In the grand scheme of life, girls, we haven't known each other all that long. I couldn't just show up and tell you everything. It's too much and it's too soon. The longer we're together, the older you get, and the better I get, I might be able to tell you more things, but you have to understand that some stories you may never get to hear. Some things I don't really even talk about with Cory.
It's not fair that I asked you to trust me when it looks like I didn't trust you with my past. But that's not what happened. Just like you're learning to trust, so am I… I've never done this before. I've never let someone in like this, not since I've gotten sober. Next month, I'll be sober six years and I've never cared about anyone enough to let them in this way. But I care about you. And I want to be honest for you.
Maya, I never would have agreed to be here for you if I didn't believe I could. Like I said before, I only came back to New York when I knew I was ready to rejoin the family. Meeting you, being out there for you, only verified that I made the right choice."
Riley squeezed Maya's hand gently. While Riley couldn't fully understand the depths of pain Shawn felt in life that would make him need to hurt himself, she knew that this didn't change who he was for her. She wanted Maya to be able to feel that too.
"I get it…" Maya finally looks at him.
"It makes sense… I guess I had kind of wondered, after everything you told me, how you made it out okay. You always point out how, as much as we've got in common, there's still a lot that's different. And I understand now. I'm lucky I have my mom… and the Matthews… I don't know how I'd be if I didn't have that. But, I'm glad you're better. I'm glad you're here. I think I'm just sad that you had to fight yourself that way."
Shawn could feel tears threatening to form in his eyes, but he's grateful they didn't come up. He gave a sad smile.
"I'm glad I'm better too. I promise the worst of my fight is behind me. Life is long and hard, but it's all been worth it to get to be here now and to be here for the future."
They sat quietly for a moment, no one quite sure what to say anymore.
Riley was the one to break the silence. "Uncle Shawn, if it's okay, I think we're going to go to the bay window for a bit."
"Yeah, of course. Just know that if you guys have more questions, I'll try my best to answer."
They all stood up and Maya walked over and hugged him. Shawn hugged back with all the love he could give her. He wanted to absorb the pain of the conversation from her and leave them to have a happy, fun afternoon. But he knew that part of the day was long gone. They were off to feel whatever they needed to feel. He could only hope they wouldn't dwell on it too much.
After Maya, Riley gave him a hug too and the girls left him alone in the bakery.
Shawn watched them leave and then fell back into the chair behind him. He felt exhausted. He felt that it went well, but he also felt anxious. He didn't know what the girls would be saying at the bay window. He didn't know how they would process everything he told them. He just really hoped they wouldn't treat him differently. He really hoped things weren't going to be weird.
He sighed and pulled out his phone. He texted Cory and Topanga to tell them that the conversation happened. Then he texted Katy too. She was at an audition, but he knew she would get the text when she was done and she would want to know.
He sat for a few more minutes. He was starting to feel relieved. At first, he really hadn't consciously been hiding the scars. But after a while, he noticed he was wearing more long sleeves when he was in New York than when he was anywhere else. He was happy that the secrets were finally out. The big bad things that he thought were too much for the girls to handle about him, were now over with. He felt a little more comfortable. He knew there were still some nerves keeping him on edge. He wouldn't feel truly settled until he saw the girls again, until they had time to process. But he would deal with things no matter how they turned out.
Shawn finally got up to put away his camera. He decided he should go for a walk and probably go journal his thoughts.
"Shawn, I got your text. How ya doin?" Cory asked as he walked into the bakery, catching Shawn off guard.
"Oh, hey. Yeah. I think I'm okay. Did you see the girls go upstairs?" Shawn put his camera bag down as Cory came over to give him a hug.
"Yeah, they just went to their bay window. I figured I'd give them a little bit of time and then go check in." Cory sat on one of the bar stools and looked at Shawn. He really did look okay. He seemed tired, but not panicky. Cory had come down to make sure Shawn wasn't a mess after the conversation he had been so nervous about.
"That's good… that's good… I hope they're okay with everything. I think it went well, but I have no idea how they're really going to feel about it. Part of me thinks you'd have explained things better than I did." Shawn sat down on a bar stool too. He figured he should fill Cory in before he takes off by himself for the evening.
"I didn't go into details, ya know. I didn't tell them about the hospital stays or the suicide attempts… Maya guessed that anyway though. She just put some things together. But I couldn't talk about it. It was after Riley asked how you found out… I couldn't tell them."
Cory nodded and sighed. That was a hard story to tell. He was glad Shawn didn't tell the girls all about it, but he knew Riley would ask him eventually. She always wanted to know the emotional stuff. He knew he might have to tell her parts of it someday.
"No, yeah. That's a big one… But I'm proud of you man. This couldn't have been easy. A lot of things haven't been easy for you… And I couldn't have had that conversation even if you begged me to do it for you. It's your story Shawn. It's your life and only you can explain how you made it through. Now here you are, getting through the toughest parts of life and handling it better than I've ever seen you before."
Shawn chuckled. "Right? Who'd have thought I'd have been able to do that? I was certainly terrified for it ever since Riley was born. But now that it's done, it does feel better. It feels like I'm not a secret anymore."
"Good. I'm glad." Cory smiled. "You've come a long way and I'm glad you're still here for it."
"Thanks, me too… Look, I think I gotta take some time to myself for a bit. But if the girls need to talk more or something, I can come back for dinner or whatever." Shawn stood up and grabbed his camera bag.
"Yeah. I'll let you know. I'll go check in on them and let you know how they're doing. Take whatever time you need but know that we're here for you too. If you need to talk more or something." Cory gave Shawn another hug and they both left the bakery. Cory locked up before he headed upstairs.
He watched Shawn cross the street and head in the direction of the park. He really was proud of his best friend. Cory sat at the living room bay window and watched until he couldn't see Shawn's path anymore. The entire time that he had been away, Cory had always hoped and prayed that Shawn would come back and be okay. Cory didn't really tell Shawn how badly he missed him all those years. Sure, he was busy with his family and his career, but he did feel a little piece of himself was missing. He'd had to adjust. He knew it was for the better, but he couldn't help but wonder if it would have taken Shawn so long to get his life together if he hadn't left for so long, if he had just leaned on his family for more support.
Cory shook his head a little bit to clear his thoughts. Overall, he was just grateful to have Shawn back and have him healthy. They had been through so many incredibly difficult times together and Cory was just happy Shawn was still alive after all of it.
He also never told Shawn, but every time the dates came around on the calendar, Cory couldn't help but remember the days Shawn almost died. The days Cory came in to see Shawn bleeding out. They were etched into his memory no matter how many years passed. It didn't consume him, and he didn't dwell on it the whole day, but he always had a moment in the day where he gave a small prayer for Shawn.
He hoped that one day he would forget. That someday they would have so many new, better memories, that one of those anniversaries would pass unnoticed. Only time would tell.
And now, he had two teenage girls to check in on. Cory knew they were resilient. But he also knew this was a lot for them to take in. He knew what it was like to have immense love for someone and watch them be in pain while not being able to do anything about it. He knew the helplessness that came with not being able to change the past or predict the future.
He finally got up and walked to Riley's room. He hesitated for a moment outside the door and actually knocked. It wasn't something he did often, but he felt it was appropriate. He didn't hear an answer, but he slowly opened the door anyway.
Riley and Maya were sitting at the bay window as usual, they looked over at him and Riley gave a small smile. "Hey dad."
Maya looked away from him and wiped a tear away. She hadn't been crying a lot, but there were a few stray tears every so often.
"Hey girls. How ya holding up? Shawn let me know you all talked earlier."
Maya moved closer to Riley, making room for Cory at the end of the seat. She looked out the window and Riley knew Maya wasn't going to talk first.
Riley put her hand on Maya's knee and looked at her dad. "We're okay. I think it's just surprising. Uncle Shawn has seemed so cool and put together, we didn't really think about a time when he wasn't."
Cory didn't have a chance to say anything as Maya spoke up, not looking away from the window.
"What was it really like? Being friends with him when things were bad…How did you trust that he would be okay?"
Cory thought for a moment. He could sense Maya was gaging how to really believe that Shawn wasn't going to fall back into the nightmare that was written on his skin.
"Well… for a long time, I couldn't. He wasn't okay. No one was sure he would be. We just had to hope. We just had to be there for him. We had to believe that he would trust us to help him. It was really hard for a long time. It was hard to see him struggle. It was hard to see him make progress and then watch him fall back. But it was also difficult because he was still going through the traumas that broke him. His parents were still alive, they were still hurting him, he was still figuring himself out. That wasn't his fault and he was just trying to find a way through.
But he was always Shawn. He was always my best friend.
Then he went away. And I didn't really know how he was doing anymore. That was hard too. I worried about him all the time. But I knew he had to find his own way to recover. And I trust him now. I see the difference in him and believe me girls, he's okay. He's going to stay okay. Comparing the Shawn that left to the one that came back is like night and day. I'm not scared for him anymore, I'm proud of him. And you should be too."
Maya finally looked to Cory. She seemed to believe what he said but she couldn't shake the feeling in the back of her mind and the bottom of her heart that said everything was going to go wrong someday.
"But what if something happens? He said it himself that life is long and hard and what if, in a few years, things get bad again?"
"Then we help him again. That's what family does… You'd always help Riley, right? No matter what?"
Maya nodded and reached to hold Riley's hand.
Cory looks at Riley. "And Riley, you'll always help Maya, no matter what?"
Riley nods too.
"I will always help Shawn whenever he needs it. He's my brother and best friend and I can tell that this time is different for him. You can trust me when I say I truly, 100 percent believe that he is better than he's ever been before. He won't let you down."
He waited to see if the girls had more questions, but they all just sat for a moment. He got up to leave but Riley quietly asked the question he had known she'd eventually ask.
"Dad… Shawn wouldn't tell us, but… we just keep thinking about it. How did you find out about what he was doing? Did he really… try to kill himself?"
Cory walked over to Riley's dresser for a moment. He picked up one of her bracelets and put it hook where it belonged, almost trying to distract himself as he gathered his thoughts. He looked back to them and he saw how patient but desperate they were for information, for clarity on how this could all make sense. How the adults in their lives could have such big stories they hadn't told before.
"Yeah… um… I'm not going to be able to tell you everything either, okay?"
He sat back down at the bay window and rubbed the back of his neck.
"But, we were 15… God, we were your age… Mr. Turner was in a coma because he had been in a motorcycle accident and Shawn couldn't handle it. We had just stopped him from joining a cult and he really wasn't doing well, but we didn't really know that yet. So, he did what he always used to do and ran away. I found him at the bus station but he uh… he just hurt himself too much. If I hadn't found him…"
Cory trailed off as he remembered tacky yellow-orange tiles covered in sticky deep red blood. He hoped the girls could just live with the bare amount of information. He really didn't think they needed to know every detail.
"When he woke up at the hospital, that's when we found out he had started hurting himself when we were 13, when his parents left. That's also when we found out that his dad had been hurting him his whole life. Ever since then, we just kept doing what we could to help him."
Maya and Riley didn't know what to say. The things they worried about everyday seemed so trivial in this moment as they imagined what it must have been like for Shawn and Cory at their age. As they put themselves in Cory and Shawn's younger shoes, they were overwhelmed.
Riley had heard so many stories about her parents when they were young, but Cory didn't share a lot about Shawn. He'd shared some goofy stories, or tales of high-jinks and shenanigans, but there was always something missing. She noticed it a few years ago that sometimes when Cory would say something about Shawn, his eyes would get this far away look. Riley always assumed it was just because her dad missed his best friend.
Things were starting to make more sense now. She could see that as painful as this one story was, there were probably dozens more just like it.
Cory continued. He didn't want to leave them dwelling on one of the most painful memories from his teen life.
"But that's how I know, girls. That's how I know he's okay now. I've seen him at his very worst and now I get to see him working towards his best. And you two are part of that best. You two are so important to him and he has so much more to live for than he ever dreamed he would have. I don't want you to focus on the things he can't tell you about himself. I want you to try and remember that he's here now and he's doing all he can to make up for the time he lost when he was struggling. Everyone comes with their own struggles and stories. We have to allow them to tell those stories at their own pace."
"Thank you…" Riley got up and hugged her dad. "For telling us. For being there for Shawn. For teaching us."
"Of course. There are a lot of painful things in life, but I will always be here to help you through, okay?" Cory smiled as he and Riley finished hugging.
He put his hand on Maya's shoulder briefly and she got up to hug him too.
"Alright, well, I'm going to go start dinner. Are you both going to be okay?"
"Yeah… we'll be alright." Maya gave a sad smile and looked back out the window.
Cory left the room and sighed as he reached the kitchen. He wished Topanga were home from work. He was feeling drained and just wanted to hug his wife. He settled on starting dinner and hoping that everything would feel less heavy tomorrow.