Notes: Just one more chapter after this I think. Things are starting to wrap up.

"You know, you don't have to go back to the city with your mom tomorrow." Cory says from the doorway of Morgan's bedroom, watching Riley organize all of her things that had ended up in every which place over the long weekend.

"I have school."

"You don't have to go. I'm not." He answers with a shrug.

It might not be very responsible teacher of him to encourage his daughter to miss more school so close to the end of the year (and especially when she's been struggling lately) but the father in him is going to win out on this argument every time. Riley's been becoming a smaller shadow of her usual self over the past few weeks—exhausted, lonely, and quiet—and as a parent it's been so hard for him to watch, unable to do anything and only half understanding what the problem even is while she insists on dealing with it all on her own. Harder still was to get the phone call from Jonathan saying that she had crumbled under the pressure, while he was still a state away and could do nothing to help. And then to listen to the whole story…

Piecing it together from gossip, observations, and semi-coded conversations with Farkle and the other boys had been one thing, but hearing every last detail and harsh interaction from Riley's mouth was another.

It's enough to make him feel like an utter failure as a father. A feeling that only gets worse when Riley barely accepts any comfort from either him or Topanga and he has to divide his time between trying to help her and making sure that everything is getting taken care of with his parents and Josh. His number one job the very second Riley born became guiding her through the world, keeping her safe and happy; it feels like he's achieved absolutely none of his goals and the biggest punch to his gut of all is that she didn't feel like she could come to him.

Cory desperately needs to change that and a real conversation, just the two of them, seems like the best way to do it.

"I think that's the direct opposite of what you're supposed to tell me." Riley says, tucking her science textbook back into her backpack.

"Only as your teacher." Cory steps further into the room. He surveys the area, taking in the mess on the bed where Riley is packing her things and the disaster that is the oversized chair where Morgan's bag appears to have exploded, and opts to take a place in the window seat.

"I'm pretty sure parents aren't supposed to encourage their kids to skip school either."

"I'm just saying that between me and your Uncle Jon, we have enough pull to let you do the rest of the year home-school style. Give yourself a little time to focus on getting back to where you want to be, let all the drama die down...take a break and get a fresh start in the fall."

Riley spins around, another book in her hand. Her eyes narrow ever so slightly at him, and it becomes so clear to him in that moment that she's inherited more than just her mother's hair; just like Topanga, she may be tired or upset or any other number of things but she will not be handled. "I'm not worried about going back to school, Dad."

"You're not?"

She shakes her head. "Lucas says that once they got the cheerleaders and Dave to start explaining that what happened was kind of serious everyone kind of calmed down about it. I don't think it'll be that bad."

Lucas. Of course that's who she's been talking with. A part of Cory's heart clenches a little at the thought of the looming romantic entanglement for his daughter (the only two outcomes he can see for them are mutual miserable pining while they try to respect everyone else's feelings or actually dating in some fashion and either way means Riley is growing up and headed for a lot more of those dreaded feelings), but in his opinion he manages to push that back and school his reaction well, keeping his tone light. "Lucas says, huh?"

"I trust him a lot, Dad." Riley tosses her book down and crosses over to the window seat, sitting down next to him. "I think all of this would have been a lot worse if he hadn't been there for me."

Then thank God for Lucas. Cory doesn't even want to think about what worse would look like. Things are hard enough now. He loops his arm around Riley's shoulder and she leans her head against his chest. "He's a good kid."

"I know." A long pause passes. "I can't give him up."

"What?" It's not exactly what Cory expects to hear. Why would Riley think anyone wants her to?

"I know everyone thinks I should fix things with Maya and go back to the way things were, but...I don't know if that's what I want."

The confession is flooring. Riley and Maya were the next him and Shawn. That sort of friendship doesn't just end. And if Riley seriously has that many doubts about the relationship, how is she so devastated by what had happened on Thursday? Cory knows the girls have been having their problems. Long before Lucas had become an issue their relationship had started having growing pains; there were new boundaries to learn as they got older and both girls seemed to be having trouble adjusting to personality changes and how to support each other in new ventures that didn't involve the others. He and Topanga and to some extent Katy have been preparing for a fight that they would have to deal with. But he never thought it would actually lead to anything ending.

Riley quietly continues to talk. "I've been thinking about it a lot. I love Maya, but she hasn't been a good friend lately. Friends don't act like it's a hardship to deal with someone because of their personality. Not as anything more than an obvious joke. And I don't think friends refuse to listen to each other, or expect one another to give up something that's important to them."

"You've been as close as sisters ever since you met."

"It really hurts that she wouldn't even talk to me, Dad. I've tried to apologize, I've tried to do what she seems to want and put some distance between me and Lucas...Nothing's been good enough...And then with what happened on Thursday..." Riley's voice breaks and it takes everything Cory has to not follow suit. He settles for squeezing her close and rubbing his hand gently on her arm. "If she wants to apologize and really make an effort then I don't think I have it in me to turn her away but...I can't be the only one trying anymore. And I'm not going to give up someone who's really important to me and has been more steady and supportive than anyone else just to keep her."

It takes a moment for Cory to wrap his head around it all. He and Shawn had their share of fights, but never like this. It was never about a girl; neither ever expected the other to be someone other than who they were, or anything else that Riley has been describing. He doesn't know what he would have done if anything similar had happened and the choice came down to Topanga or Shawn. He didn't even realize it was a decision that his daughter was considering.

A part of him is terrified. She's growing up. She's choosing the boy over her best friend.

A bigger part of him is proud. She's growing up. She's choosing herself over any of them.

Lucas walks into school on Monday morning unsure of what to expect.

Farkle and Zay accepted his declaration that Riley was going to come first for him and that he would only participate in plans that aligned with her interests and wants, but their idea of respecting that appears to be keeping him out of whatever their strategy might be. He knows they still want to get the girls talking again and hopefully repair the dynamic for the whole group and that they've been trying to figure out how to do that all weekend but he has no idea what they have planned or if they've been talking to Maya or Riley or anyone else. The only thing Lucas is certain of is that they had no intention of giving up.

There's no way to know if Maya feels the same as last week or if she's realized how irrational and cruel she's being. He can't predict how she'll react when she sees him or Riley or even more so him and Riley. (He's not even sure what's going to happen when he sees Riley thanks to their more recent talks and declarations so how can he begin to anticipate what everyone else is going to think or do?)

What worries him most is that he can't predict how Riley will react when she sees Maya. Lucas knows she's nervous about it, has spent hours wondering what to do and what will happen over the weekend. At their last conversation late the night before, she seemed confident that she had found a good compromise and was ready to deal with it all, but he can't help but feel unsettled about the whole thing. He's been there, having a plan to deal with a potential confrontation that you're certain will work until you're actually face to face with it. Then the plan flies out the window and with it, your control.

If they need anything right now it's a little control and order.

Everything's weighing on his mind as he walks to his locker to the point where Lucas is completely startled when Zay slings an arm across his shoulder. "Lucas, my man. You know for someone whose only homework this weekend was to 'study' and get ready for exams you sure look like a guy who spent the whole time writing lab reports for Mr. Norton. Everything OK?"

Lucas blinks. Has Zay completely forgotten the ongoing mess? "Yeah, man, I've just been taking the end of American Voice Talent Star Search really hard." When Zay completely misses his sarcasm, Lucas rolls his eyes.

"Dude, I know. That was rough." Zay nods sagely. "They picked the completely wrong winner. It was the last season ever and they pick a girl who can't even get through a song without messing up the words or completely missing the power note. It's an insult to the legacy of the show. Not gonna lie though, when all the past winners came out to sing the final tribute song...things got a little misty in the Babineaux household."

"And when the judges talked about how they—are you crazy Zay I don't care about that stupid show!" Lucas pushes away from his friend. "I'm worried about what's gonna happen with Riley and Maya."

"Luke, I know you were totally against the whole, interfering with the their relationship thing, but Farkle and I figured it all out. We have a grade A, guaranteed to work plan—that we didn't even take from a TV show—and Farkle is putting things into motion as we speak. By the end of the day Riley and Maya are going to be best friends again and you'll be back to being the ambiguously older and unrealistically attractive friend that has a poorly defined relationship with the both of them."

Lucas is going to interrogate Zay about this supposedly excellent plan, or at least protest that his relationship with either girl has always been entirely defined in it's own way, but they reach their bank of lockers before he completely forms the thought and Riley is leaning against them. There's color in her cheeks and a spark of life in her eyes that hasn't been there for weeks and Lucas can't help but be thrilled. She's still clearly exhausted (it's kind of a dead giveaway that she's tired and fairly done with things if she wears her hair up in a simple ponytail) but that she's there at all and genuinely smiling for him is enough that the rest of it flies out the window in irrelevance.

"Hi." She waves briefly, rocking on her heels and glancing at the floor when she notices the interest Zay is watching the exchange with.

Lucas scratches behind his ear, unable to hold his own smile back. "Hey. I'm really glad your grandparents are gonna be OK."

"Thanks." Riley nods, brushing a non-existent strand of hair behind her ear. "And thanks for spending so much time on the phone with me."

"Or maybe you're headed towards a completely different outcome." Zay's eyes dart between the pair during the extended, blissfully awkward silence. "And a totally defined relationship with Riley. I thought you guys were staying friends to respect Maya's feelings."

"We were. It wasn't working."

"And now neither will the plan!"

Riley's eyes widen and her breath catches. "Plan? What plan?"

Zay already has his phone out, thumbs rapidly flying. He gets a message sent off before he answers Riley. "Doesn't matter, Sugar. I just told Farkle to abort the mission. Nothing's gonna happen."

"But something was going to happen?"

"Just a little plan to get you and Maya talking again." Zay shrugs. "But with this new development in play I think that-"

An announcement over the school's intercom interrupts. "Riley Matthews and Maya Hart, please join the rest of the school ambassadors in the main office. You'll be departing in five minutes. Riley Matthews and Maya Hart, please join the school ambassadors in the main office."

Lucas and Riley, who most definitely had not signed up to be a school ambassador and go talk to rising sixth graders about what things are like at John Quincy Adams, both turn to stare at Zay. Riley's eyes are just as wide as he's ever seen, but Lucas knows that his own gaze must feature more incredulity and anger than shock because Zay swallows and holds up a hand before he says anything.

"I think that my message did not get to Farkle in time. And knowing your feelings on the subject, I think I will get going to my homeroom." He flees quickly.

Lucas is considering if it's worth following him to get the details of what's supposed to happen next when Riley's hand slips into his, her palm slightly clammy. He forgets going after Zay and turns back to face her, taking in her returned pallor and slightly shallow breathing. Wary of her having another panic attack (he has absolutely no idea if that was a one time thing or something more) he rushes to think of something that will reassure her. "Riley, whatever they did, you won't have to deal with it. You didn't sign up to be a school ambassador, the school's not just gonna send you to talk to elementary school kids when you weren't planning on it. This'll straighten out in two minutes tops." He manages a few more soothing words before Riley shakes her head.

The shock seems to slip off her face, replaced by a flat, pressed lip. "No. It's OK. It'll be fine."

"You don't have to-,"

"Lucas, the longer I put it off the scarier it's going to seem." She shakes her head, the resignation in her voice betraying the exhaustion that had earlier appeared so hidden. "And it's...kind of terrifying now so I don't really want to see it get worse. Besides… we might not even be partnered up to go to the same school."

He's pretty sure that whatever Farkle did was thorough enough to ensure that that's not the case, but he can't bring himself to extinguish any hope that she's found. "Are you sure?"

"No."

"Then we'll go and tell them-,"

"But I have to do it anyway." Riley interrupts. "Walk me to the office?"

If he can't talk her out of it, the only thing he can do is support her. Lucas squeezes her hand and musters up a smile. "Of course."

"Farkle and Zay sure are dedicated." Riley says quietly as Maya sits next to her in the back of the school van, the last available seat among the other student ambassadors. She had indeed been partnered with Maya to go visit all of the rising sixth graders at their alma mater, Benjamin Franklin Elementary, but when they weren't dealing with the students every moment had been silent and awkward, even lunch. She's fairly certain that she caught Maya watching her once or twice with her mouth open to say something but despite the time spent worrying over what that something might be, nothing ever came of it. Riley's spent just as much of her day wondering what was going to come of the scheme as she has teaching kids what to expect as they get to middle school and now that they're on their way back to JQA, she just wants the wondering to be over and done with.

It's like she told Lucas: the longer the wait goes on, the worse the anticipation gets.

"Getting us added to the list of ambassadors, making sure we got partnered together, forging our parents' signatures on the travel permission slips..." Riley lists off. "They must really want us to talk."

Maya buckles her seat belt. "They only did all that for you." She admits as the van driver eases out into the heavy mid-afternoon traffic. "I asked to do this last minute on Friday. I want to work at this camp over the summer and I figure every little thing to stick on my application would help. And when I told Farkle about it he got excited saying it was the perfect opportunity…He really believes in our friendship."

That's what I thought about you. Riley bites back the reply. She didn't decide to write Maya off or be angry, she decided to hear her out and go from there. A moment later the rest of Maya's words hit her. "You're going away this summer?"

"Hopefully...I'll get to work on my art if I get accepted and...I think I really need the time away from everything to get my head on straight again."

Wait, what? Why would Maya need to get her head on straight? Hasn't she known exactly what she's wanted this whole time? That's what caused all this trouble to start with.

"Riley, I owe you an explanation."

Riley's heart sinks. An explanation. Not an apology.

She knows what she's said to her dad and Lucas. That she's not going to keep putting Maya first or letting her dictate the terms of their friendship if Maya keeps leaving everything feeling so unbalanced. Which was all well and good in theory but now that she's here, talking to Maya and it's starting to sound like Maya still doesn't get it, Riley is realizing that she was still so hopeful that things would work out and Maya would come around. A hope that had only gotten bigger when their conversation had started so civilly just now. And the hope turns into a heavy rock, crashing onto her chest that makes it almost impossible to focus on what Maya is saying now.

"I never should have fallen for Lucas." Maya won't even look at her. "Part of the reason I like Josh so much is because it's never gonna happen. I mean, there's a whole bunch of other things, but I let myself get attached to the idea because of that. I don't have any hopes to get crushed when he says no because I know it'll never be a yes. What eighteen-year-old would actually give his niece's friend the time of day? They wouldn't. So I get to fall in love and never get my heart broken."

Riley's still figuring out love herself, but she's fairly certain that's not how it works. To her it still sounds like Maya was just torturing herself. Why would you purposefully fall for someone that you know you can't have?

"But then you come along and do your fix-it thing on me. It wasn't good enough for you that I had figured out a way to deal with my life." Maya looks up, her lips twisted into a bittersweet smirk. "You wanted me to hope for things and want more. You gave me more to make me need more."

"I gave you more…?"

"You...were my friend and sister and were always so good to me. You shared everything you had with me, right down to your family. You introduced me to Shawn and you helped me save art class and you made me realize I was settling for everything and suddenly things weren't good enough anymore. I started wanting things again...really wanting them, and thinking that maybe, just maybe I could get them.

"Like, I saw you and Lucas and the way he treated you and I didn't want to sit around dreaming about a guy I was never gonna get anymore. I wanted to find what you had."

Riley's mouth just won't work. She wants to ask why Maya would have fallen for Lucas when she was noticing him because of how he was treating her, her supposed best friend and sister. She wants to ask how any of this makes it her fault that Lucas didn't want to go out with her or makes her deserving of these past few weeks. But nothing comes out.

"I couldn't handle what happened in Texas because...thanks to you I had forgotten how much it hurts when you lose something that you're hoping for." Maya continues. Riley realizes she might get one of her questions answered even if she can't ask it."There was a part of me that honestly thought it could all work out and when he said it had always been you...it was like that part of me was getting ripped out of my chest. It hurt so much and all I could think was that I wouldn't be in that pain if you hadn't made me want and hope for things again. I was fine the way things were but you convinced me to start dreaming again and—and you stacked the deck to give me all these things and make me think that things could work out. I forgot how to be hard and heartless and I was...so unprepared for the 'no' and I...I hated you for all of it."

I hated you for all of it.

The words spin around in her mind, echoing deeply. She made her best friend hate her. Just by trying to be a good friend. It's only the biting pinch of her fingernails digging into her thighs that brings Riley back into the present with a small voice in the back of her head whispering that that's crap.

It's not her fault that Maya didn't get what she wanted. Yes, Riley tried hard to make her friend want more for herself, because she couldn't fathom a life without any sort of hope and she knew how much potential there was in Maya, but after one or two mistakes when she was younger she never told Maya what to hope for. And yes, she worked to try and help Maya make her dreams come true but she had never intended to give Maya any sort of false impressions.

You can hope for things all you want. You can't control what you get and what you don't. It just so happened that some of the first things Maya tried hoping for were things that worked out.

Riley's suddenly thankful that her emotions still feel strangely unbalanced and they aren't consistently forthcoming yet, because if they were she knows her response would be too loud and catch the attention of the rest of the occupants of the bus, who, let's face it, were probably listening in anyways.

"Maya, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy."

"Yeah. And for a while there you did way too good a job of it." Maya reaches up and thumbs at the tears near her eyes. "I know it's wrong and doesn't make any sense, but it was so much easier to be mad at you for teaching me to dream for things again than it was to be mad at myself for dreaming of the wrong things."

"So…" Riley's still not sure if she understands what's being said or if this is supposed to be the part where she says everything's OK. She knows it's not OK (for all the words Maya's said she hasn't heard a single apology, just a bunch of explanations) but if this is the moment where she's supposed to say it is, the part of her that started to panic at the beginning of the conversation really wants her to. She talked a big game with her dad but she's not ready for this to be the end of Peaches and Honey. The other part of her that's still got some anger of her own, stops her from doing it. "You just...get to hate me for trying to let you be happy and give you what you wanted? Because as far as I can tell, the only thing I actually did that was wrong was telling Lucas about your feelings without talking to you, and I've apologized for that. But you..."

Maya leans her head back against the car seat, screwing her eyes shut and pressing her lips together. "I know." She sighs. When she opens her eyes again she doesn't bother to hide the tears welling in them. "I said a lot of horrible things and I did things that I shouldn't have to—to try and make myself feel better about the whole thing. And I've been thinking about it a lot because it really doesn't make sense. You've always been the person to make me feel better when I'm upset, so why would I push you away now?"

It's a good question.

"But, I realized that you're an amazing person. You're so much better than me and you always have been. That's why Lucas picked you. I just thought...with Lucas pointing it all out you were gonna come to your senses and realize you could have a better best friend than me. And I thought it would hurt less if I did the leaving. So I made myself stay angry and pushed you away.

"And you didn't deserve that. You didn't deserve any of it." Maya breaks off, and turns away, drawing her hand to her face.

Riley knows that Maya is doing everything she can to keep herself from crying; the last thing Maya would want to do is show weakness-especially in front of so many other people. Riley feels herself softening. She still doesn't understand half of Maya's choices, but she's known for a long time that Maya's ultimate goal is protecting herself. So of course when she was feeling hurt and threatened by Lucas' rejection she would do everything she could to rebuild her walls as quickly as possible.

And Riley does at least understand the fear of losing someone who you've grown so close to. After a moment's hesitation, Riley reaches over and rests her hand on Maya's knee. "Maya-,"

"Please don't." Maya jerks her knee away. "I feel crappy enough without you being perfect and understanding about how horrible I was."

The annoyance that swells in Riley is almost surprising. She had come to the talk prepared for things to be over, not resigned to it. How dare Maya act like this is a break up. And furthermore how dare she act like she can simultaneously be the person causing the break up and the wounded party. "Yeah. You were a jerk." She bites off. "You were cruel and mean when you had no reason to be. I never did anything with the intention of hurting you and that you couldn't even bring yourself to remember that and trust me sucks. But you just explained that you didn't just do it on a whim. You were hurt and trying to protect yourself. You did it the wrong way. That doesn't mean you deserve for people to stop caring about you now."

Maya's wiping at her tears again but she freezes at Riley's words and drops her hand, turning slowly. "How can you possibly still care about me after all this?"

"Because," Riley says, "we've been best friends for nearly six years. I don't know how to just stop caring about someone who's been in my life for that long."

"Does that mean we can still be friends?"

"I don't know." Admitting it leads to the first small bit of weight edging back from Riley's being. After everything Maya said, she finally feels like she doesn't have to hold back her feelings. Like honesty is a thing that they can actually do now and whatever happens because of it, it will be the right thing. It's the lightest she's felt in an incredibly long time. "Maya, you know that for a long time I thought our friendship had an expiration date. You're cool and tough and I'm a gentle goof and it didn't make sense that we could work. But it did, and you promised me you'd stay and that we were sisters and that nothing was ever going to change that and I believed you. So when you did all that...when you stopped trusting me and talking to me...when you took your ring off it was like you were telling me that all of those years didn't matter and you never meant any of it.

"I love you but I can't go through that again. And I can't expect you to put yourself through something that's going to hurt you either."

"What do you mean?"

Riley knows that this is the part that could turn the conversation on his head. Maya could go right back to being angry, and for that reason she hesitates before she answers."My feelings for Lucas and his feelings for me haven't gone away."

She can see the moment the realization dawns on Maya. Maya looks down at her lap soon after. "You're gonna start dating."

"Yeah."

"Fair enough." She sighs. "I never should have gotten in the way. You're just...putting everything back the way it's supposed to be."

"We're not doing it to hurt you." Riley tries to put her hand on Maya's knee again. This time Maya doesn't pull away. "We just don't want to hurt ourselves anymore. But if it's gonna be too hard for you..."

Maya shakes her head. There's a spark in her eyes that Riley hasn't seen in a long time; the kind of determined fire that means her friend has decided on making something happen. "No. My feelings aren't gonna be your problem anymore. I'm gonna go away for the summer and get my head on straight and hopefully when I come back Lucas won't be anything to me but some Huckleberry dating the best girl in the city."

It's the first time Riley's really felt like she's talking to her friend again instead of a familiar-looking stranger. Her mouth ticks up into a smile before she can stop it. "Maybe this summer can be a fresh start for all of us. We all take a step back, let things get a little clearer again and when school starts again we'll all know exactly what we want."

"I'd like that." Maya holds up a pinkie finger. "To fresh starts with old friends?"

Riley locks her pinkie around Maya's. "To fresh starts with old friends."