It's been four days since the Matthews came to see Maya and she's wondering where Riley and Josh are. Why haven't they come to see her? She understands why they haven't come to see her before now; they wanted her to see her parents first and then the Matthews. Well, they've all been to see her plus Amy and Allen, so now she's expecting to see her two best friends because she's had visits from all the "Maya Committee" members and had the opportunity to reconcile with them. And now she wants to do the same with Riley and Josh, so she's anxious to see them. She knows they're both busy with their jobs and need to get back to their lives since they've taken care of her by bringing her here, but she though they would come to see her as soon as they could. And that may be true, but she's a little disappointed they haven't been here yet.
She's sitting in her room at the treatment center reading some material she was given at her last therapy session. She absorbs everything that she's told and given to read because she believes it will help in her recovery; and she encourages everyone else at the center to do the same, even though some complain they don't like to read. Her reading is interrupted though when there's a knock on her door. She turns to see who it is because she keeps the door to her room open most of the time during the day. To her great delight, she sees the smiling faces of the two she's been missing the most. "Riley! Josh!" she exclaims as she leaps from her chair and runs to them.
"Peaches!" Riley yells back as she runs to the open arms of her best friend. Josh just stays out of the way. He knows there's no force in the universe that can keep them apart at this moment. After the two almost squeeze the life out of one another, Riley says: "You look so much better than when I saw you last. You've gained weight, your color and complexion are back to normal, and your hair looks beautiful. With that, Riley begins to run her hands through Maya's hair, teasing it and fluffing it up. Normally this would annoy Maya a little but just as with her constrictor-like hugs, she doesn't mind now and actually enjoys it. In fact, she decides to do the same to Riley and begins to run her fingers through Riley's hair as well.
"Your hair is beautiful too Riles," Maya says. "I see why you always like to play with mine, this is fun!" Josh watches as the two old friends play with each other's hair and giggle like little school girls. He's always amazed at the contrast the two can have in how they act. They can be as responsible and reliable as any two people you could ever meet and the next moment act like two little kids; like they are now. After a few more minutes of playing, the two finally stop; almost out of breath from laughing so much. Maya looks at Riley more seriously and says: "It's so good to see you Riley; it's been so long." Riley looks at her questioningly and starts to say something, but Maya interrupts her, knowing what she was about to ask her. "What I mean Riles, is that it's been so long since I've seen you when my head wasn't in some kind of alcohol-induced fog and I didn't hate the world because of it. I've missed you. I've missed this," she says meaning how they were just acting: spontaneously, and not caring who saw them.
"I've missed this too Maya; I've missed YOU," Riley says. The two share another hug; this one much warmer and longer than the first. They each want to savor the feeling of being with one another again like they have for most of their lives. As they finally release their hug, they hold their eye contact and time freezes. They're both about to cry now, and neither would care, but then Maya notices Josh behind Riley, waiting patiently for the two lifelong friends to finish their reunion before getting his opportunity to greet Maya.
Maya kisses Riley lovingly on the cheek, then turns her attention to Josh. "It's good to see you too Josh," she says. She wants to run into his arms at this moment, but hesitates. She wonders: "Does he want to hug me like I do him right now? Does he still have the same affection for me as he seemed to have when I called him for help in the middle of the night? Or does he want to go back to the life he had before I made that call or before I ran into him at O'Malley's Pub? Does her still want me in his life or, now that I'm in rehab, does he want to move on?"
Josh sees the confusion on Maya's face and her hesitation. "It's good to see you too Maya," he begins. Then puts out his arms and tells her: "come her."
Maya's smile lights up the room now as she runs to Josh and lets him wrap his arms around her. As his arms envelope her, she can feel the love in them. It may just be the love of a close friend and not more as she hopes it will be someday, but for now, this works just fine. She wraps her arms around him as well and hugs him back. She's not being clingy like she was the last time he held her. That wasn't her and she hopes Josh knows that and believes he does. "Thank you for coming to see me Josh," she finally says while they still hold each other, "this means a lot to me."
"Where else would I be?" He asks her with a smile. With her head laying on his chest just below his chin, she feels his smile and returns it with a smile of her own. "I couldn't wait to see you," he continues, "and like Riley says: 'you look so much better than the than when I saw you last.'"
As the two continue to hold each other, neither forcing their hugs on one another or wanting to let go, Riley can't help but smile at what she's seeing in front of her. "I know Maya still has a lot of recovering to do before she's back to normal," she thinks to herself, "and romance is way down on the priority list of things that need to happen, but I hope and pray now that 'someday' these two will eventually figure out they belong together; that being together makes them both better and happier. But right now, loving each other as friends is good enough, especially for Maya."
After Maya and Josh finally release each other, they still hold each other lightly at arm's length and Maya looks into Josh's eyes and smiles. But soon she releases him completely and becomes serious. "I've been wanting to talk to you two since I've been in here," she says, "and now is a good time."
Josh suddenly looks at Riley and then back to Maya and asks: "can it wait for a few minutes Maya? Riley and I have a surprise for you."
She's a little disappointed, but goes along with it. "After all," she reasons with a grin, "it is a surprise." She gives Josh a little smile and says: "Alright, but let's not take too long. It's important that we talk."
"Not a problem," Josh says, "come with us." With that, Josh takes Maya's hand in his and leads her out of her room and out of her dormitory with Riley right behind them. From there they head to the main building and walk toward the lobby. Mayas beginning to wonder what her two friends are up to, but soon forgets about that because she's loving holding hands with Josh.
When they reach the doors that leads into the lobby of the main building, Riley stops Maya and says: "Maya, you might be a little upset with me when we go into the lobby, but please just wait until you hear what they have to say, okay?"
"Okay," Maya answers. Then with a bewildered look asks: "They, they who?"
Riley just says: "let's go," and walks through the doors into the lobby with Maya and Josh in tow.
Upon entering the lobby, Maya sees who "they" are, and freezes. She can't believe who's there to see her and she's not sure how to react. There, looking back at her, all with smiles, are her closest friends; all of "the gang" and she's sometimes referred to them: Farkle & Isadora; Lucas & Amanda, and Zay & Vanessa. "Riley?" She asks with a frightened look, "you told them?" When she sees Riley's head nod slightly, she goes on. "Why did you tell them Riley? I was hoping no one else would ever find out. How can I face them after what I've done?"
"It's okay Maya," Riley implores, "just listen to them." When Maya gives her a slight "I can't believe you did this" look, she continues: "Look Maya," she begins, "what if it was one of them in here instead of you? Wouldn't you want to know?" After a short moment, Maya gives in to Riley's reasoning, nods her head slightly in agreement, and gives a big sigh. "Let's get this over with," she says reluctantly to no one in particular.
"Maya," Josh says, "it'll be okay. I was with Riley when she told them, so if you're gonna be mad at her then you'll have to be mad at me." When Maya gives him a surprised look, he says reassuringly: "They all love you Maya and just want to know that. You have nothing to be worried about or ashamed of with them."
Maya swallows hard, summons up her courage, and goes to greet her friends. As she approaches, she gives them a small smile and says: "Hey guys; I can't believe you all came to see me. I've made such a mess of my life."
Farkle immediately runs to her, takes his life-long friend in his arms to comfort her, and lets her know how much he still cares for her. Maya is surprised at his jester of affection for her, and tears up slightly. She was almost expecting to be shunned by her friends. Still holding her, Farkle says: "We're all so happy you're alive Maya and doing better. We all love you." As he lets her go, he continues: "Riley told us everything Maya." Maya shoots Riley a scared look, believing she's told them everything she did while drinking. Riley returns her look with a knowing one. And as they've always been able to do, she reads Riley's thoughts and is reminded of what Riley promised her while they were at Josh's the day she entered rehab: "no one else but Uncle Josh and I know about what you've been doing. And it'll stay that way unless you decide to tell someone else." Maya smiles at her best friend, then turns back to Farkle. "And none of us care about what you did Maya; about your past," Farkle continues, "we've all made mistakes; we're all human. But mistakes can be overcome Maya. And we all want you to know that we're here for you whenever and however you need us."
"But my mistake was a doozie Farkle," Maya says. "I hurt everyone who cared for me and it almost killed me. Can that ever be forgiven and forgotten?"
"Of course it can be forgiven Maya," Lucas says as he approaches Maya. "But it shouldn't be forgotten." When Lucas sees the confusion on Maya's face he continues: "You all forgave me for what I did in Texas all those years ago. And you stayed my friends. But I never forgot what I did and still haven't to this day."
"Why haven't you forgotten Lucas?" Josh asks the Texan; knowing where Lucas is going with this.
"Because it's a reminder that I can make the same mistake again if I get complacent," Lucas says, giving Josh an appreciative grin. "And just like you all forgave me for what I did, even though you weren't there when I did it, we can forgive you Maya, even though we didn't know about your drinking."
Maya let's her eyes drop to the floor as she takes in what Lucas has just told her. Finally she raises her head to look at her friends and sees them looking at her with hopeful looks on their faces. She smiles at them and says: "Thanks guys. This really means a lot to me. The hardest part of my recovery so far has been dealing with what my family and friends think of me now. I thought I'd lost everything: family; friends; self-respect; respect of others, my heath,….everything. But everyone who's come to see me since I've been in hear has shown me I was wrong. I haven't lost anyone's respect or love. And that in turn is helping me regain my health. I can't thank you all enough…really."
As everyone looks around in kind of an awkward silence, not knowing what to say next, Amanda finally says: "Lucas is right Maya. And forgiveness is one of our finest qualities. Mr. Matthews taught you that….remember?" Maya looks at her in disbelief. "Lucas told me about that lesson, and all the others he taught you. Wish I'd had him as a teacher." Everyone smiles at that. "The point is Maya," Amanda continues, "it's in our nature to forgive. Especially when we know that the one we're forgiving is a wonderful person like you."
"What she said," Zay adds. And the others agree.
"Okay," Maya says as her voice breaks. The she looks at Lucas and smiles. "Maybe you should become a teacher Lucas," Maya says, "you got your point across pretty clearly to me."
"Yeah, old Huckleberry can be a real good talker when he wants too," Amanda says with a smile as she slaps Lucas on the back going into full Texas cowgirl mode and almost knocking him over, causing everyone to laugh.
"Huckleberry!" Josh exclaims. "You called him that once before Amanda, I thought Maya only called him that."
"When I heard her call him 'Huckleberry' after the first time we met, I thought it sounded adorable coming from her, so I gave her exclusive rights to it," Maya said with a laugh.
"Yeah," Lucas began, "I couldn't stop it; even though I tried. But Maya still has plenty of other nicknames for me." Then his brow furrows as he realizes something that disturbs him slightly. "I just realized that May has called me Lucas all the time since we've been here. Are you sure you're getting back to you old self back Maya?" Lucas asked half serious and half jokingly.
"Weeeellll, Ranger Rick, Bucky McBoingBoing, Hop-A-long, Sundance, Ranger Roy," Maya begins with a sly smile on her face, "do I seem to be getting back to my old self now?"
"And there she is," Lucas states with a big grin; for once not minding Maya using her nicknames on him; even when she just used several at the same time.
After a few moments of comfortable silence between the two old friends, Maya says to Lucas with a serious tone in her voice: "Thank you Lucas. Thank you for reminding me of who I am."
"Anytime Maya," Lucas responds with genuine appreciation in his voice.
Suddenly, Isadora Smackle wraps her arms around Maya in a big hug while at the same time nearly knocking her over. Although Isadora has improved greatly in overcoming her social awkwardness due to Asperger's Syndrome, this display of affection is extreme for her and isn't lost on Maya. "Issy," Maya asks, "what's wrong?"
"Oh Maya," Isadora implores, "when Riley told us about your condition, I was afraid I'd,…we'd all lose you. And I couldn't stand to lose you too. I'm so glad you're here getting better; putting yourself back together."
Maya looks around in bewilderment, genuinely surprised at Isadora's display of affection. Farkle puts his hand on his girlfriend's back for comfort and tells the confused Maya: "She had a cousin she was very close to die of alcoholism. She's terrified of losing you too."
Maya nods her head in understanding and gratitude to her old friend and sets about easing Isadora's fears. "Issy," she says quietly, "I'm going to be alright."
Isadora finally releases Maya and replies: "Promise?" She looks at Maya with watery and hopeful eyes.
Maya gives her a big smile and says: "Promise. You are one of my best friends Issy. You've always been so encouraging to me. So, because of you and all my amazing friends, I promise I'll fix myself so I can be with everyone again just like we used to. I love you Issy."
"I love you too Maya," Isadora says to her, "and I'm glad you're going to be okay."
"Okay, anyone hungry?" Zay asks after a few moments.
"Starving," Maya answers. "If you guys would like to eat dinner with me, the food in the cafeteria is okay or we could order pizza in if you'd like."
"Already taken care of," comes a reply from Zay as he holds up a familiar bag for Maya to see.
"Paco's Tacos!" Maya exclaims in surprise and delight. "I love you guys."
"There's a table in the corner we can use," Josh tells the group. "We can all eat there and have plenty of room."
"Great idea uncle Josh," Riley says as the group heads that way. The rest of their evening together is spend devouring the tacos and catching up on what's going on in each of their lives. Maya is especially interested is hearing what her friends are doing now since she's hasn't seen them is a while. As she sits there listening to her friends, both old and new, talking constantly and naturally about what's going on in their lives, Maya is reminded of the joy of friendship and how she almost threw it all away. "Almost," she reminds herself. Then, almost subconsciously, she tells herself how much she'd like to have a drink right now, which reminds her she still has a way to go to recovery. And, looking at her friends, she reminds herself that it's all worth it.
A little while later Chrissy, Maya's counselor and guide while she's in rehab, approaches the group to let them know that visiting hours are over and they have to leave. Maya starts to protest but is interrupted by Farkle. "Don't worry Maya; we'll be back to see you again. And once you're out of rehab, we'll all get together more. We've let that wane in the past couple of years and if anything, this has reminded us that it's good for all of us to keep in touch."
Maya reluctantly gives in and says goodbye to all of her friends except for Riley and Josh. She wants to talk to them alone if she can. After the others have left, she asks, almost pleading with Chrissy, if they can stay a little longer. "It's important Chrissy." She says. "It's part of my recovery and I need to talk to them alone."
Chrissy thinks she knows what Maya wants to talk with them about and knows it's important. "Okay, but not too long. Everyone's almost gone from the lobby. You should be able to talk in private here." With that, she leaves the three alone.
Maya, Riley, and Josh head to a corner of the room for some privacy. Maya drags over three chairs for them to sit in. As they sit in the chairs, facing each other, Riley and Josh are smiling brightly. It's been a good evening. In the end Maya had been overjoyed to see her old friends and had laughed a lot the whole time. But as uncle and niece look at Maya when they all sit down, their smiles leave their faces. Maya isn't smiling. She has a concerned or maybe even sad look on the face. "Maya?" Riley asks with concern. Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
She'd been staring at the floor, but now raises her head and gives them a small smile. "I'm fine," she returns, "I just have something serious I need to tell you both."
Riley and Josh look at each other for answers, but each are equally taken by surprise at the way Maya's acting.
"What is it Maya," Josh asks. "You know you can tell us anything and we'll listen."
Maya takes in a big breath and lets it out to settle her nerves, then begins: "I want to apologize to both of you for what I did, for worrying you both so much while I was drinking."
"You don't have to apologize to us Maya," Riley interrupts. "We know you didn't mean to hurt us?"
"No Riley, I do need to apologize," Maya answers back as she faces her best friend. "One of the things I've been taught here, as part of my recovery, is that I need to atone for what I did while I was drinking. And to ask for forgiveness from the ones I've hurt. And that starts with you Riley. You were the first one I took out my anger and frustration on. You were the first one I hurt." She looks into Riley's eyes and with tears forming in hers, she says: "I'm sorry for what I said and did to you Riley, and I hope that someday you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
Riley is genuinely stunned by what Maya has just told her. In her mind, there was nothing that Maya needed to apologize to her about. Or, at least for her, it was implied that's she'd already forgiven Maya. But she sees this is important to Maya, and says: "I forgive you Maya, and that is from my heart. I'm finally getting my best friend back and I'm ready to continue our friendship. I thought it was gone, never to return, but now I know that's not true. And I can't wait till we can start hanging out together again. That apartment is lonely with you not in it."
Maya let's tears of happiness run down her checks as she hears Riley's words. She hugs Riley's neck and says: "Thank you Riley. I love you and I can't wait to start hanging out with you again too."
The two life-long friends spend the next several minutes in a hug that neither wanted to end, but finally it does. Then Maya turns Josh. He believes, like Riley, that Maya doesn't owe him an apology, but also like Riley, he understands that she needs to do this, so he waits patiently for her to talk to him. It takes all of Maya's will power to not breakdown as she faces him, because of all the bad things she'd done while drinking, she believes she treated him the worst. "I want to apologize to you too Josh. I'm sorry for what I said and did to you."
"It's okay Maya," he begins, "I know you didn't mean it."
"No, it's not okay Josh," Maya says suddenly as her voice cracks. "Even though Riley and everyone else that new I had a problem were around me more and I was mean to them all, when I did see you, I was worst to you. And all you wanted to do was help me."
"You weren't that bad to me Maya," Josh tells her, trying to ease the pain her sees in her eyes.
"Not that bad!" Maya exclaims in disbelief. "My God Josh, I accused you of being a pedophile." She starts openly weeping now as all the memories of what she said to Josh during their two meetings comes back to her. She hers Riley gasp when she says this and sees a surprised look on her face. She turns back to Josh and asks: "You didn't tell her what I said to you?"
"No," he answers, "I didn't see any reason too."
Maya is surprised to hear this. She assumed that Josh had told her everything she had said to him. As she continues to look at Josh in surprise, she realizes what he'd done, or rather not done, by keeping this from her. He wanted to spare Riley more pain, and her even more embarrassment once she was sober. She looks into Josh's eyes deeply and with more love that she's ever given him as she realizes what he's done for her. She leans in and gives him a kiss on his cheek before hugging him tightly. "Thank you Josh," she says. "Thank you for always looking out for me."
When she finally releases him, he simply says: "of course." That's all he needed to say as a look of understanding passes between them. Josh gives her a small smile but keeps the serious look on his face and says what he knows she needs to hear: "I forgive you Maya. I'm ready to put all the bad feelings that came between us, behind us, and begin again. I want to be your friend again and I don't want to take the time we've spent together for granted ever again, because I've seen how fast that can be taken away from us."
"Thank you Josh," Maya begins, "that means so much to me. I was afraid I'd pushed you and Riley out of my life forever." She hesitates a few seconds, then says: "And I want us to be friends again too, close friends like we were for a time when I was in high school and college." She hesitates, deciding if she wants to go on with what she's thinking; not wanting what she's about to say misunderstood by Josh or Riley. She continues to hold Josh's gaze with hers and says: "I love you Josh, as a friend."
She tries to read his face to see how he's taking what she's just said. As his eyes meet hers again, another silent message passes between them, and Maya relaxes, knowing that Josh understands what she means just like he did when she first told him she loved him when he and Riley brought her to the rehab center. "I love you too, Maya," he answers, knowing she understands exactly what he means by that and knows it will make her happy. The two embrace for a few minutes like her and Riley did earlier. When they separate, Riley hands Maya a tissue to dry her eyes; she already has one for herself. Seeing Maya and Josh reconcile has made Riley as happy as her and Maya reconciling.
After Maya has time to compose herself, she says: "You've both taken a huge weight off my shoulders. And that gives me the strength to move on from this disaster I put myself in and get well."
"Good," Riley says with a big smile, "let's put this behind us and move forward. All we want is the old Maya back."
"Whatever you want," Maya says gently, bringing back memories of the two growing up together and Maya willing to do anything to make her best friend happy. After a few more moments, Maya looks up at the clock on the wall and sighs. "Guys," she begins, "I wish you could spend the night here, but you can't. So you should probably leave now."
Both Riley and Josh understand; and after saying their final goodbyes for the day, leave with the best feeling about Maya they've had since they reconnected with her. Maya heads back to her room and is surprised to find Chrissy there waiting for her.
"Chrissy, what are doing here?" Maya asks. "You should have already gone home."
"I thought I'd spend the night in your room tonight like I did for a while after you first got here, she begins. "I thought you might like to talk." Maya nods her head and sits down on her bed. "So how did it go today with all your friends visiting and especially with Riley and Josh?"
Maya looks at her with a small but happy smile and says: "It couldn't have gone better. I didn't know what to expect from them, especially from all my old friends from high school and college, who were a big surprise for me to see. But they were all nothing but supportive and just want me to get better."
"And what about Riley and Josh?" Chrissy continues. "I suspected that you wanted to ask them to forgive you. That's why is was okay for them to stay a little longer." Maya gives Chrissy an appreciative look as she realizes she knew what Maya needed to do. "And did they forgive you?" Chrissy asks.
Maya's eyes as misty but she has a big smile on her face as she answers. "Yes, they both forgave me emphatically. They didn't hesitate at all. They just said they wanted the old Maya back. They made me so happy."
"That's wonderful Maya," Chrissy says. "But I'm not surprised. You've chosen your friends well."
"Yeah, I guess I did at that," Maya says with a smile. After a moment of reflection, Maya looks at Chrissy, who has become her partner and friend, and says: "One of the best things that I learned from Riley since I've known her is to be eternally optimistic. That's a big part of Riley. So I can actually find something good about this mess I got myself into, though I wouldn't recommend becoming an alcoholic to find it." One of Chrissy's eyelids raise in a questioning and surprised manner after she says that, so Maya continues. "I've learned, or relearned actually, the power of unconditional love. After everything I said and did to them, not just Riley and Josh, but all my family and friends, they all told me they never stopped loving me and just wanted me back." Maya's eyes fill up with tears again as she speaks. "How lucky I am to have them in my life."
"Very," Chrissy answers with a smile. "And did Josh tell you he loved you too?" Chrissy asks without really thinking about it and immediately regrets it. "I'm sorry Maya. That was an awfully personal question and I shouldn't have asked it."
"It's okay," Maya says. "Josh and I are just friends. I'd like for us to be more, but I don't know if that will ever happen. But I know he'll always be my friend and be in my life forever, and I guess I can live with that. We can talk about that some other time, but not tonight. Okay?"
"Sure Maya," Chrissy responds with a smile. "How 'bout we head to the rec room and watch a movie or something before lights out?"
"Sounds like a plan," Maya replies with a smile as the two head out of the room.
As they walk to the rec room, Chrissy can't help but smile as she thinks of a quote she read once: "The best lovers start out as friends."