Maya's eyes fluttered open around eight in the morning to the sounds of Riley pulling clothes out of her closet.

"Hey," Maya said groggily, sitting up and frowning at her now-wrinkled uniform. "How are you feeling?"

Her friend actually looked sheepish. "Sorry for waking you." Riley discarded her sweatpants and slipped into a casual sundress. "Was I making a lot of noise?"

"It's fine." Maya was still too tired to press Riley for more information or call her out for dodging the question. She yawned and squinted, her eyes adjusting to the early morning sunlight that now flooded the room.

"Go back to sleep." Riley crossed over to the bay window and drew the shades. Then, navigating the space only by the small strips of light that managed to peak in underneath the curtains, she returned to her dresser and threw a long T-shirt and some sleep shorts onto the bed. "Here."

"Thanks," Maya said, ignoring the clothes and shifting further up the mattress so that she could slip underneath the covers.

Riley rolled her eyes but still smiled a little. "I'll be back later. Mom will probably start making breakfast in an hour if you wanna eat."

"'Kay," Maya responded, rolling over so she was stretched out in the middle of the bed and facing away from the window.

Her best friend opened the door and sounds from the Saturday morning cartoons that Auggie was watching briefly travelled into the room. When quiet returned after Riley left, it only took seconds for Maya to doze off again.

The next time Maya awoke, the digital alarm clock on Riley's bedside table indicated that it was already almost one in the afternoon. Suddenly feeling trapped in her stuffy button-up shirt, Maya threw the blankets off and climbed out of bed.

She couldn't step out of her clothes fast enough, and when she finally threw them on the floor Maya silently promised herself that she would never fall asleep in her uniform again. After rifling through her work bag and changing into yesterday's leggings, Maya opted for pulling on one of Riley's T-shirts instead of wearing her own cardigan.

She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and noticed that her tousled hair actually looked kind of cute. Frowning, she grabbed one of the scrunchies that was looped around Riley's doorknob and put her long waves up into a tight bun.

When her gaze landed on the book that was perched on Riley's desk, Maya's anxiety from the night before quickly resurfaced. It was a copy of The Negative by Ansel Adams, the text Riley had borrowed from the NYU campus library that had brought her and James together when she'd forgotten to return it. The well-known Californian had published three separate books on photography in this particular trilogy; The Camera, The Negative, and The Print. James had gifted the hardcover to Riley on their one year anniversary a few months ago.

Thumbing the pages, Maya quickly came across the inscription near the front cover. She already knew what it said, but her eyes still skimmed over the words as she traced the signature with her index finger.

Riley,

This book may be the reason that we first met, but it is also the second in this series. I'm excited to start my second year with you, and I hope that we have so many more. Somehow you manage to teach me something new every day, and I can't wait to keep learning from you forever. I love you.

James

It was so simple, yet so personal and perfect.

Maya realized with a knot in her stomach that Riley must have been looking through the book last night after her fight with James. Instinctively, she reached out to put it back in the empty space on Riley's bookshelf next to The Camera — another gift from James — where it belonged. It was hard to imagine the collection remaining incomplete. Riley had already clearly made room for the third book, as there was a noticeable gap to the right of the other two. How her best friend could be so sure of something, Maya would never know.

When the bedroom door opened, Maya jumped away from the bookshelf as though it had suddenly caught fire.

Riley stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind her, offering Maya a small smile. "Did you just get up?"

From anyone else, the question would have sounded like a snub considering the fact that they were both well aware how late into the day it was. But Riley's tone was even, and there was no hidden accusation in her words.

"Yeah," Maya answered honestly, quickly searching her best friend's face for any clue as to how she was feeling. She knew Riley well enough to know exactly where the brunette had gone this morning; she just didn't know whether or not she should be preparing to spend the next few days handing her best friend tissues and spoon feeding her ice cream.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like I might break into a million pieces any second."

Maya frowned. "I was?"

Riley stepped forward and peered down at her best friend, bringing their faces very close together. "You are."

"I don't know," Maya said, letting out a breath that she hadn't realized that she'd been holding. "I guess I'm just worried about you."

Riley leaned forward again, but this time to wrap her arms around the shorter girl. Maya reached up and clung to her best friend, unable to explain the growing pit in her chest. It was odd, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Riley was comforting her instead of the other way around.

"What's going on?" Maya asked when Riley finally pulled away.

Her best friend only hesitated for a second. "I think we should have a talk."

Central Park was crowded and way out of their way, but it was warm out and Riley had apparently deemed whatever needed to be said too controversial even for the bay window. They managed to find a path with less traffic and set out. At first Riley was quiet, but when she spoke up, Maya was surprised to find that it wasn't to relay all of the details of her fight with James.

"You were talking a lot in your sleep last night," Riley said, removing her sunglasses and propping them up onto her head. "I think you might've had a few nightmares."

Maya didn't remember having any dreams, so she just said, "Did I say anything funny?"

Riley glanced at her sideways before shaking her head and furrowing her brows in thought. "No. No, you were really...frantic. It seemed like you were, um, terrified of a broken heart." Riley paused. "Mine."

Feeling uneasy with where the conversation was headed, Maya simply focused on putting one foot in front of the other. "Well, I saw you upset right before we went to sleep. If it was on my mind, then it makes sense that I'd dream about it."

Riley shook her head again. "This was...different. You kept saying, 'it's over,' and 'she's broken,' and 'I can't fix it.'" She paused. "Or something like that at least."

Maya opened her mouth to protest, but Riley started talking again.

"I saw it on your face last night, Maya — when you were awake. It was like you were prepping for a funeral. You thought — you were sure everything with James was over, weren't you?"

Even though Maya didn't answer, her face must have betrayed what she was thinking because Riley threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Maya! By now you should know that — " Riley stopped before giving the other girl an apologetic look. "You know what? We should have had this talk ages ago. I saw it with Josh and those other guys. You didn't invest anything in those relationships because you thought it was pointless! I'm right, aren't I? You think that love always ends with a broken heart."

"I don't think that," Maya argued softly, but it felt like a lie.

They'd started to attract some attention, so Riley lowered her voice too. "I know you. You think that people change and that love fades and that someone always ends up getting hurt." She shook her head. "Sometimes that's true. Maybe that's even true a lot of the time. But you know what's also true?"

Maya shot her best friend a look that said, 'I'm sure you're going to tell me.'

"People care about each other. People can fight, talk, and then work things out. Relationships can succeed with enough work put into them. And, you know, sometimes even when they don't...it's not the end of the world. Things can end on good terms with mutual love and respect. It doesn't always have to tear you apart."

"So you and James…?"

Riley sighed. "We're alright. We talked this morning. Everything's going to be fine."

Maya exhaled in relief. She had been anxious about everything going on with Riley. She also thought that maybe this meant that the mini-lecture was over.

"I want you to be happy, Maya." Riley said. "I'm not saying that you have to be in a relationship to be happy. And you'll always have me no matter what. I promise, Maya. I promise, but…"

Maya had stopped walking at some point, and when Riley noticed, she came to halt and turned to look back at her friend.

"What are you talking about?" Maya put a hand above her eyes to block out the sun. "If you and James are good then…everything's great. Don't worry about me."

Riley threw her hands up in frustration. "Are you listening to me? I want — I'm trying to tell you that whatever is stopping you from letting people in…if anything's in the way…you should deal with it. I'm — I'm saying that it's OK. Whatever you need…I'll be OK. We'll be fine."

"Riley, I can't. I — "

"Maya," Riley said her name with conviction. "I want to talk about Lucas."

Thanks for the reviews, StarlightSweetie! I might post this fic on the other site, thanks for the suggestion :)

This is officially all that I had written from back in the day. If there are any updates from here on out, they will be fresh! As in, written in 2022 instead of 2017 lol.