Chapter Seven: Safety.
It was about nine at night when Cory and Riley arrived home. They were the last to leave the hospital, after Lucas who went home with Isaiah. Auggie was in bed asleep; Topanga was sitting at the dinner table when Cory and Riley walked through the door, closing it behind themselves and resting the three bags they had with them down on the floor next to the door. Topanga hurried over to them, hugging them both tightly.
"I think I'm just going to go to bed" Riley insisted emotionlessly as Topanga stood back,
"Okay, sweetheart, goodnight." Topanga said,
"Goodnight Riley," Cory followed, Riley walked off to her room. "Josh gone?" Cory asked,
"Yeah, he said that he would come over tomorrow to check in on us," Topanga answered, Cory nodded before looking down at his hands that trembled, noticing that there was still bits of dried blood on them. Tears welling up in his eyes blurred his vision, as he could feel the cold, dry blood that stained his clothing. Seeing this Topanga quickly hugged him again, Cory put his arms around her and quietly cried on her shoulder. Topanga gently rubbed his back, "it's okay Cory, I'm here, it's okay" She comforted him now on the verge of crying herself. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up" Topanga insisted, walking him to the bathroom. An hour later Cory was seated in his chair at the dinner table staring down vaguely at the turkey sandwich on a plate in front of him. His mobile phone started ringing, he pulled it out of his pocket, checked to see who was calling and read 'Shawn'. Cory cleared his throat and answered,
"Hey Shawn, what's up?" Cory began, happily.
"Hey Cory, well I'm calling for two reasons, firstly, how are you?" Shawn inquired
"Yeah, I'm doing fine"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah I'm sure Shawn"
"You wouldn't be lying to me would you Cory?"
"No, I'm fine"
"Do you need me to come over?"
"No, I don't need you to come over, just stay there and take care of Katie and Maya."
"Katie,"
"Huh?"
"Its just Katie, that was the second reason I was calling. Maya just left and she's heading your way." Shawn explained Cory sat in silence for a moment.
"I know,"
"You know, how? She left like five minutes ago."
"No, I knew she'd come over eventually; I'm surprised it wasn't sooner."
"Do you want me to come get her?"
"No, it's fine, she'll be the first, she always is,"
"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow Cory, remember if you need me, call me"
"I will Shawn, don't worry, goodnight"
"Goodnight" Shawn concluded and the pair of them hung up at the same time.
Riley sat up in her bed looking out into the darkness of her room; a touch of light came in through the bay window but for the most part, there was darkness. It reminded her of the feeling she had inside of her for so long, it was as if it had consumed her and was now blackening her world. A gentle knock on the window caught her attention, when she looked over she saw Maya outside signalling her to open the window. Riley got out of her and walked over to the window, she wasn't in her pjs as she couldn't be bothered to change, and it was Maya so she wouldn't have cared anyway. Riley opened the window and let Maya in, the pair sat in the bay window and smiled at one another, already the room seemed brighter.
"Couldn't sleep?" Riley inquired,
"Couldn't be alone" Maya replied,
"I know the feeling," Riley stated,
"I know, I thought we could both use the company" Maya insisted, she put her arm around Riley and the two sat shoulder to shoulder next to one another.
"Peaches"
"Yeah Riles?"
"Do you think he was afraid?"
"I'm not sure Riles, he jumped in front of us so quickly, how could someone do that if they're afraid?'
"I don't know,"
"Was your father afraid when he ran out of the classroom?"
"I don't…" Riley began but was interrupted as she noticed Isaiah and Lucas coming towards her window, Maya meanwhile looked behind Riley to see Farkle and Isadora approaching from the other direction. They both got up and opened the windows before walking into the middle of Riley's bedroom. Their friends climbed in through the windows,
"What are you all doing here?" Riley whispered once they were all inside,
"Farkle called me and explained that Isadora and he were unable to sleep, just as Zay and I, then we both agreed that Maya's probably here already" Lucas explained,
"I thought it was probably best if we were all together, I don't really know why it just felt like the right idea." Farkle continued right before the door handle turned and the door slowly opened,
"Because you feel safe together." Cory insisted as he walked into the room with a pile of pillows and blankets. "I thought these might come in handy if you're able to get some sleep." Cory continued placing the pile down next to the door, the Kids stood in silence just listening and watching him. "Goodnight" Cory concluded,
"Do you have anything for us Matthews?" Maya asked just as he was about to walk out of the room. Cory turned around and looked at them all,
"Well," he began before taking a short moment to finalise his thoughts. "Today you've all learnt a lesson, experienced something that every parent dreads, and hopes their child never experiences. The most important thing to remember after what's happened and whatever will happen; is that there are people out there for you. Your parents, me, but more importantly each other; you all share this experience and so you will all be there for one another. That's, why Farkle it felt like the right idea; to be here, with these people in this room now, with your closet friends, this is where you felt safest." Cory expressed,
"Dad, were you afraid when you ran out of the room?" Riley asked Cory looked at her,
"Goodnight, all of you," Cory concluded before walking out of the room and closing the door behind himself. Riley and Maya sat in the bay window; Farkle and Isadora were sitting on the edge of Riley's bed while Isaiah sat on a chair and Lucas on the ground up against the wall. There was nothing but silence and it bothered no one, not even Isaiah; everyone simply sat and enjoyed each other's company.
"This reminds me of our first session with Murray" Lucas stated,
"It's scary to think how different things were back then" Maya insisted,
"To think how different we were," Farkle added,
"You know, I think that we're pretty lucky" Isaiah said,
"Why's that Zay?" Riley asked,
"Because we got people like your Dad and Murray in our lives, teaching us how they teach us, helping us how they help us." Isaiah answered,
"I disagree" Isadora stated,
"Why's that?" Isaiah inquired,
"I don't think that we are pretty lucky, I think we're incredibly lucky to have people like them," Isadora continued,
"I wish someone had recorded everything they've taught us, everything they're going to teach us so that when we grow up and have children of our own, we can make sure their taught by the best." Riley said, and their conversation continued, they reminisced about memories from Middle School, while all trying to forgot about the passed day's events, hoping to help each other get some sleep. Slowly though, they were able to fall asleep, Maya and Isadora shared Riley's bed as they were the first to fall asleep, Farkle fell asleep next to the bed below Isadora, Isaiah and Lucas drifted off to sleep on the floor, while Riley laid down in the bay window, resting her weary head on a pillow and looking around the room at her friends. She turned her gaze upon Lucas, she smiled at him warmly, he moved around where he laid and Riley quickly readjusted herself so she was lying on her back looking at up at the roof. Moments later Lucas crawled up and squeezed himself into the small space in front of the bay window, putting the pillow up against the opposite side from where Riley's head was to rest up against and wrapping himself in the blanket.
"Hey" Lucas whispered with a smile,
"Hi" Riley replied smiling at him as well
"Can't sleep?" Lucas asked,
"Nope"
"Me neither"
"I want to, but I'm just not tired enough…"
"To go straight to sleep?"
"Yeah"
"Same, it's like I lay down and my mind just won't stop and let me sleep."
"I feel like Mr. Arlen is going to burst through the door at any moment" Riley said, the fear evident in her voice. Lucas looked her in the eyes and gently interlocked their fingers, he held her hand tightly and she his'.
"Don't worry Riley, I'm here" Lucas assured her. The pair of them had been distant for so long that they had forgotten this feeling, the comfort the other brought them, the feeling of safety they felt around one another. They had missed this feeling more than they realised, but they didn't need words to express that, just their smiles that spoke louder than any words could in this moment. And in the darkest hour of the night, Riley and Lucas finally felt safe enough to peacefully drift off to sleep, their hands still tightly holding onto one another.
That morning, Lucas woke up to find that everyone else was still asleep and that he and Riley were still holding hands, he looked at her and smiled. Lucas heard someone turn the door handle and quickly let go of Riley's hand fearing that Cory was about to walk in. To his relief Farkle poked his head around the door looking around the room, when he saw that Lucas was awake he smiled
"Morning" Farkle mouthed,
"Morning" Lucas mouthed back
"Cory sent me in to see if anyone was awake, breakfast is ready"
"What?"
"Come out here" Farkle mouthed and gesturing for Lucas to come. Lucas ever so quietly stood up and walked out of the room. After closing the door behind him he followed Farkle out to the kitchen where Cory and Topanga were having just finished making breakfast for everyone.
"Good morning Lucas" Topanga said
"Good morning" Lucas replied, "sorry for sneaking into Riley's room last night and stuff" Lucas apologised,
"It's okay Lucas, you don't have to apologise we understand" Topanga assured him,
"Are you sure we're okay with it?" Cory asked as he walked up to Lucas and stared him directly in the eyes. "It's him!" Cory hissed squinting,
"It's me!" Lucas hissed back also squinting,
"Of course we are Cory" Topanga answered smiling at them as she drank her coffee. Cory and Lucas smiled at each other,
"Okay then, you better get some breakfast before I change my mind Lucas" Cory insisted,
"We won't be changing out mind Cory!" Topanga insisted,
"You better get some breakfast Lucas because I won't be changing my mind" Cory repeated.
"Yes Sir!" Lucas replied, Cory walked over to Topanga and grabbed his coffee while Lucas picked up a plate and put some scrambled eggs and bacon on it. He sat down next to Farkle and poured himself a cup of juice. Auggie came walking out of the wall way all dressed and ready for school.
"Okay I'm ready now" he stated,
"Good, Cory you ready to go?" Topanga inquired,
"Yeah!" Cory replied finishing his coffee.
"Boys we have to drop Auggie off at school, then Cory and I have some things to do. Could you please pass that onto Riley for us?" Topanga requested,
"Of course Mrs. Matthews!" Farkle acknowledged. Auggie by this point was already waiting for them at the front door,
"Come on I'm going to be late!" He claimed,
"Okay, okay, jeez when did you become so pushy?" Topanga mumbled as she grabbed her bag, once they left Lucas and Farkle continued to eat their breakfast.
"You and Riley seemed close this morning" Farkle pointed out, Lucas was drinking his juice and coughed before quickly putting the glass on the table, coughing some more before wiping his mouth.
"Huh?" Lucas responded,
"Did I stutter? I said that you and Riley seemed close this morning," Farkle repeated
"I don't know what you're talking about" Lucas claimed,
"Really…" Farkle insisted,
"Okay so what, we were holding hands" Lucas insisted, Farkle went to say something but the front door opened and Josh walked in, Farkle and Lucas turned around in their chairs,
"Good morning fam…" he paused looking at Farkle and Lucas, "you aren't my family" Josh stated,
"No, well Lucas might be one day" Farkle insisted,
"What?" Josh asked screwing up his face, Lucas pushed Farkle off of his chair and onto the floor.
"Ignore him, Cory and Topanga took Auggie to school and then had to go do some stuff." Lucas explained, Josh closed the front door and placed his bag on the ground next to the lounge.
"Fair enough, I heard they closed the school for a couple of days, how are you guys doing?" Josh asked,
"Well now I'm in a little bit of pain, but besides that could be better I guess" Farkle replied getting back up onto his chair.
"Yeah, we're alright, none of us could really be alone so we ended up crashing here" Lucas explained,
"Uh" Josh said walking over to the kitchen, he picked up a piece of bacon and started eating it. "Also Lucas, I'm sorry to hear you and Maya broke up, I hope I'm not to blame" Josh insisted leaning against the bench, Lucas and Farkle had just turned around and looked at him.
"Thanks, Don't worry about it, Maya and I both agreed we were better friends." Lucas replied,
"That's good to hear, so you asked out my niece yet?" Josh asked and Lucas was stunned into silence.
"No but they were holding while they slept last night!" Farkle quickly said before Lucas could stop him by pushing him off the seat. Despite that Lucas still went through with it pushing Farkle off his seat and onto the ground.
"Farkle!" Lucas grunted,
"What?" Farkle replied,
"So you were holding hands" Josh insisted, Lucas fearful turned his attention back to Josh who was now seated across from him.
"Maybe" Lucas whispered,
"Well good on you two, taking it slow and steady I like it, too often people our age rush into relationships and screw them up" Josh said and surprisingly Lucas was comforted by his words. Farkle got back onto his seat. "But since she is my niece and I her Uncle, I would say if you hurt her, I'll hurt you, but thinking about it I wouldn't get to you before Maya, and she'll probably kill you. So I'll just remind you of that fact" Josh explained, Lucas nodded in agreement,
"Yeah, that sounds just about right" Lucas agreed and the three of them laughed.
"Uncle Josh!" Riley called out as she walked into the kitchen,
"Riley!" Josh replied getting up and the pair hugged, Isaiah, Isadora and Maya all walked in after Riley, Farkle got up and immediately walked over to Isadora to greet her. "Breakfast has been cook, I slaved away all morning" Josh joked as he and Riley pulled away from one another.
"Really funny Josh, where are my parents?" Riley inquired,
"Taken Auggie to school and then to go do some stuff" Farkle answered, Riley and Isaiah grabbed a plate each, got themselves some food and sat down at the table. By which point Lucas had picked up his and Farkle's empty plates and put them in the sink, Josh and Maya saw one another and immediately hugged. Riley sitting in her usual spot watched the hug and slightly tilted her head to the side,
"Since when do you two hug, and since when do hugs go for so long?" Riley openly wondered, Josh immediately backed off from Maya patting her shoulders
"You better get some breakfast before it goes cold" Josh nervously insisted before walking out of the kitchen and to the lounge. Maya grabbed a plate and followed Isadora in getting food and sitting down at the dinner table in her usual spot next to Riley who had turned to face her.
"Did I miss something?" Riley asked suspiciously, Maya nervously poured herself a glass of juice and sat quietly eating her food. Riley turned around and looked at Josh,
"Uncle Josh?" Riley asked slowly and still suspiciously,
"I hear you held hands with Lucas last night" Josh nervously stated, everyone looked at Riley excitedly except for Lucas and Farkle who were caught off guard by Josh's statement. Riley spun back around in her seat and looked at Lucas,
"You told him?" she shouted in shock,
"It was Farkle!" Lucas cried out, Farkle turned to Josh.
"Look at what you've done!" Farkle insisted,
"I'm sorry, she was too focused on me and I panicked!" Josh explained apologetically,
"How does Farkle know?" Riley asked,
"I woke up first and saw you two holding hands" Farkle answered,
"Okay that's fair" Riley shrugged returning to her breakfast, while Maya still sat next to her in shock holding a piece of bacon about to put it in her mouth. Maya started eating her food realising if she didn't press the holding hands with Lucas thing Riley wouldn't ask about her and Josh.
When breakfast was done, Lucas and the others headed home to shower and get changed. Meanwhile Josh and Riley were cleaning the kitchen,
"So what's going on between you and Maya?" Riley asked while she washed the dishes,
"Why don't you ask her? She's your best friend" Josh insisted as he dried and put the dishes away.
"Oh I will ask her, I just want to hear your answer and compare the two"
"Well okay, tell me about holding hands with Lucas"
"No,"
"Then I'm not talking to you about Maya"
"Ha, so there is something going on?"
"I didn't say that"
"You didn't deny it either"
"I'm not saying anything else"
"Well then we seemed to have reached an impasse."
"I agree, so I'll change the topic, how are you?"
"Things aren't great right now, how are you?"
"I'm good thanks," Josh answered but paused for a moment as Riley washed the last pan, placed it in the rack and pulled the plug in the sink to drain it. She proceeded to pick up a tea towel and help Josh dry the dishes. "How are you Riley? And I don't just mean with everything that happened yesterday, I mean with you know, with you" Josh continued clearly concerned for her.
"I'm going good I guess," Riley answered after giving herself some time to think it over. "All things considered, I'm doing better then what I was before. Murray and I have made progress" She continued, Josh slightly nodded.
"So you're getting through it?"
"Yeah"
"I don't want to sound selfish but, I feel guilty that I wasn't around more to help you, that I'm not around more to help you"
"No, Josh, please don't be!"
"But I am Riley, I know that I'm your Uncle and all, but our difference in age isn't all that big. It feels like yesterday my friends and I were going through this, I feel guilty because I haven't been here to help you through it" Josh insisted as they put the last of the dishes away and put the tea towels on the bench after drying their hands. Riley could see just how bad Josh felt about this and hugged him,
"But you're here now Josh and that's what is important" Riley assured him, Josh hugged her back.
"So now tell me, what's going on with you and Lucas?" Josh asked pulling away from the hug and sitting down at the dinner table. Riley walked around the table and sat in her spot opposite Josh.
"No" Riley firmly said,
"I'll tell your Father" Josh threatened,
"You know I don't know what's going on really," Riley began immediately after hearing the threat.
"Go on" Josh insisted smiling cheekily at her in his moment of victory.
"I don't know; we've been distant for a while now. Yesterday we comforted each other in the hospital, but last night was different" Riley explained, Josh raised an eyebrow and looked questionably at her.
"What do you mean it was different, different how, you just held hands with him right?" Josh questioned,
"Yeah we just held hands, but it was the first time in a long time we actually connected, he made me feel safe again"
"That's good to hear, and the pair of you sound like you both have strong feelings for one another, true feelings which is important. And I don't have a bad word to say about him, hell I like him, he seems like a good guy"
"I'm sure you like him even more now that he and Maya broke up"
"Don't you get cheeky now!"
"Oh come on, I shared with you, now it's your turn!"
"Okay, what do you want me to say Riley?"
"The truth"
"Well we started talking after I was brought up to date about what was going on with you. When I heard what you had done, I was concerned about Maya, about the both of you. So her and I started talking, I got to see another side of her and I got to actually know her."
"So you like her?"
"I don't know" Josh said sitting back in his chair,
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"It's a difficult situation Riley; I know she likes me a lot. I don't want to take advantage of that, I don't want to say I like her in the moment and it turns out I don't. So I don't know if I like her, but when I do know, I'll tell you and more importantly I will tell her. I just don't want to hurt her, not after all she's been through especially after recent events, and also I know if I did hurt her I'd probably kill me, well actually you might not kill me because I'm your Uncle but you'd leave me on the verge of death. That would be an ass kicking I would never live down."
"You aren't wrong, but it's okay I know you won't hurt her and I know that you'll do what's right." Riley kindly insisted,
"Yeah," Josh agreed smiling at her, "So niece do you need a hand packing up those pillows and blankets and putting them back in the closet?" Josh continued,
"What do you mean, do I need a hand? I thought you were going to do it"
"No, I only helped with the kitchen because I was trying to be nice. I'm not a slave"
"Well then yes, I'd appreciate some help if you wouldn't mind?"
"Well I'd be happy to help"
"Thank you!" Riley insisted, they dramatically stand up, push their chairs in and walk to Riley's room. While there Josh proceeds to tease Riley about her and Lucas' moment, jumping between both of their places attempting to mimic them and over dramatising it. He even improvises it to where he acts out them both confessing their love for one another, Riley struggles not to laugh the entire time at how badly acted and over the top Josh was making the situation. Riley attempted to act out Josh and Maya talking but didn't have a lot of information to go off. Thus she kept jumping between the two simply repeating "Blah, blah blah, blah" in her best impressions of them both, Josh looked at her plainly and clearly not entertained by her performance. Josh stepped forward and started giving her tips on her acting, talking about improvising and going off script while accidentally giving away more information about his and Maya's conversation while re-enacting it. Riley was overjoyed by his mistake and pounced into action. Josh was no longer able to keep himself from laughter as Riley followed in his footsteps and overacted his and Maya's conversations. They carried the blankets and pillows to the closet and stored them away, they walked out into the lounge joking around and pretending to be Cory finding out that Riley and Lucas held hands. They both collapsed onto the lounge laughing, smiling and filled with joy, neither of them could remember the last time they spent together like this but neither of them admitted it.
"So I'm just curious, how would you feel if I liked Maya, and if we possibly dated?" Josh nervously asked,
"I'd be happy for you both, I know you'd both be with great people and were happy. I'd approve of it!" Riley assured him.
"Thanks Riley, and I approve of Lucas"
"But I don't need your approval"
"Yes you do, I'm your Uncle and you will need all the approval you can get to back you up when you tell your Dad."
"Oh, so I need to go get Uncle Eric's approval?"
"No, no he approves of it, I'm sure so let's just leave him to his Senator…ing" Josh insisted and they both started laughing happily again.
Comment from the Author:
"Hey guys, thanks so much for all the kind reviews and messages. I'm so touched by your love and support for this story. I have to apologise though for not updating at my usual rate and for any decrease in my editing standards. I have been working on a novel for the last 4 years and recently got a call back from an agent. She has greatly increased my work load in relation to that project as I'm required to cut at least a third of the book to be taken seriously by the industry as a new comer. So sadly I've had to push writing this fan-fiction to late night hours. I will try my best to keep up the quality and updates. Please feel free to continue reviewing and giving me feedback I love hearing what you all have too say, and the same goes for PMs. Thanks again for the support you all have for this story and myself.
Kind regards
Brayden L."