A/N: Thank you Angel for inspiration and some ideas for this story. Love you, gurl!

Thank you for the reviews! You guys are awesome :3

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW, but Lucaya is bae.

"So… you're pregnant." Riley stated, staring at the test with a concentrated frown.

"Seems so." Maya replied in monotone, tracing the jagged lines on Riley's ceiling with her eyes.

"How do you know it's correct? We did buy a pretty cheap brand. Don't these things sometimes mess up?"

"99% accuracy, Riles." Maya drawled, "Let's face it. I'm knocked up."

Riley sighed and climbed up onto her bed, lying next to Maya, "So clearly we've gotten to that bridge now. What are you planning to do?"

"Honestly… I don't know Riley." Maya said, groaning, "Can you believe it? Pregnant in high school. Mom would kill me if she found out."

"You haven't told your mother yet?"

"No. I came here as soon as I found out." Maya lifted a finger when Riley opened her mouth, "And no. I'm not planning on telling my mom anytime soon."

"But don't you think you should?" Riley asked slowly.

Maya stayed silent, chewing on her bottom lip. Riley glanced at her friend in worry. She knew Maya was feigning nonchalance and peace, but inside, must have been experiencing turmoil of epic proportions. It was only a matter of time before Maya lost her cool and blew up. Riley had only seen Maya blow up once in her life before: when she sent her father a letter once, and she never received a response. It hadn't been pretty. Keeping stuff bottled up wouldn't be good for Maya in the long run.

Riley rolled onto her side, resting her head on her fisted hand, "Maya, talk to me. It's not good for you to be keeping things bottled up."

"My mom had me at seventeen and dropped out of high school…" Maya said after a long moment, eyes trained on the light on the ceiling, "Do you know what she's always had me promise her? She's always told me to wait to have sex. To resist temptation. She didn't want me to make the same mistakes she had in her youth."

"Maya…"

"And I just made the same damn mistake. I broke our promise..." Maya forced down the growing lump in her throat, "She'd kill me if she found out, Riley. I can't let her know."

"You will have to eventually, Maya. What are you going to do when you look like you've swallowed a watermelon?"

Maya chuckled halfheartedly in a weak response to Riley's light humor. At least she could count on Riley to keep the situation from turning dark. But even with Riley's calming presence, a heavy weight continued to grow on Maya's back, pushing her down, and she felt like her lung were constricting with each breath she took. As if water was slowly rising, and she was on the verge of being drowned.

"I can't tell her right now." Maya reiterated, her hands loosely resting on her abdomen. It still hadn't quite hit her that there was something growing inside of her. Like a damn tumor.

Riley sighed and closed her eyes, "So that brings us back to square one."

"What I should do."

"Right."

Neither said anything for a while, both laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in their own thoughts.

"I get to be the godmother, right?" Riley finally said when the silence had been stretched to its limit.

Maya snorted and rolled her eyes, "You're the only one in contention, Riles."

"Good to know." She looked at Maya seriously, "But all joking aside, when did this happen? Was there someone else after him?"

Maya shook her head, running her hand through her tangled mess of waves and blowing out an exasperated breath. "I couldn't. He was the last."

"So he's the father."

Maya nodded.

"Does he know he's the father?"

Maya shook her head.

"Will he know he's the father eventually?"

Maya took a deep breath, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Riley, I still haven't come to terms with the fact that I'm pregnant. I don't even think I've accepted it altogether. I don't think I'm ready to tell someone else until we figure this out."

"Maya. He's the father of your child. Don't you think he deserves to know…" Riley frowned, "Especially since it's his fault you got pregnant in the first place."

Maya rolled her eyes, giving Riley a fond look, "Riley, you know sex requires two people, right?"

"I know…" she pouted, "But I need someone to blame, and you're too precious so I blame him."

"Riley, you're ridiculous…" Maya said, smiling softly, "But thank you…"

"So what now?" Riley asked.

Both were impeded from answering the loaded question when Riley's room door suddenly burst open and Topanga walked in, a frown on her face.

"Maya? Riley? Why are you still in your room?" Topanga asked in concern, "You two should have been at school forty-five minutes ago."

She stared at the girls laying side by side on the bed and could immediately tell from Riley's apprehensive expression, and the wan and worn look on Maya's face that something was wrong.

She crossed her arms across her chest, "Alright. Which one of you is in trouble this time? And what happened?"

Riley glanced at Maya anxiously, and Maya sighed in defeat, sitting up slowly with a groan.

"…I'm pregnant." She reluctantly said, after picking at her nail polish for a good moment. "I took a test this morning."

Topanga's eyes widened significantly, and she blinked rapidly for a moment, still trying to grasp the information Maya had just relayed.

Licking her lips tensely, Topanga finally rectified her expression and sat on the edge of Riley's bed, "Oh Maya..."

"I know, I know…" Maya said, her eyes watering and tears collecting on her bottom eyelid, "You're disappointed in me, right? I failed you."

Topanga shook her head and simply took Maya's arms, pulling her gently into a warm hug. Maya went willingly, wrapping her arms around her and fighting the urge to break down and start crying.

"Maya. You will never be a disappointment or a failure to me, do you understand?"

"I ruined everything in my life because I'm so stupid." Maya sniffled, cuddled up against Topanga's side.

"People make mistakes. It's part of human nature and everyday life. Don't beat yourself up over this, please." Topanga tucked a strand of loose hair behind Maya's ear. "It's how you take this mistake and what you do with it in the future that counts, okay?"

"That's the thing… I have no idea what to do."

"First things first, I'll try to get you an appointment with my OB as soon as possible, alright?" Maya nodded, wiping her nose with her shirt's sleeve, "And then, all three of us are going to have a talk. Stay here for a second."

Topanga released Maya and left the room to make that phone call.

Riley breathed out in relief, wiping away a stray tear lingering on Maya's cheek. "I am so glad another adult knows…"

"Yeah. Me too…" Maya said quietly, though that feeling in the pit of her stomach was only growing. Involving another adult had only served to make the reality of the situation even more daunting and bleak. This was getting serious now.

Maya was grateful that Topanga was so understanding, but she knew that deep down Topanga couldn't be more disappointed. Maya had let her down. Maya had proven all those naysayers right. No one expected some poor girl whose mother was barely home to make it in life. And she had done nothing but show them that they were correct this whole time. Like mother, like daughter. The apple never fell far from the tree.

They sat in silence waiting for Topanga to return, Maya loosely braiding Riley's locks in order to keep her mind distracted. A few minutes later, Topanga returned with a smile on her face to reassure the girls.

"Alright Maya. You're all set. You have an appointment for Friday afternoon after school. She'll be free until five, so show up any time before then."

"Wait." Riley said in concern, "But I have to babysit Auggie's playdate on Friday. I won't be able to go with Maya."

"I'm sorry Riley. There's no way I can reschedule." Topanga said with a sigh, sitting back down in her earlier spot. "Maya, you'll have to go to the appointment on your own. Unless there's someone else you can think of bringing with you? Cory, perhaps? Or maybe your mother?"

Maya vehemently shook her head, her wild coils bouncing around her face with reckless abandon.

"No. Neither of them can know. I can go by myself. It's fine." She asserted, quickly and forcefully.

Topanga and Riley glanced at each other, identical looks of unease on their features.

"Maya… are you sure you don't want to at least tell Cory?"

She shook her head again, staring a hole into the frayed edge of Riley's bed cover. She was already ashamed enough as it was telling Topanga. Telling Cory and having to see his disappointed expression and downcast eyes would kill her. He was as close as she had ever gotten to having a real father figure, and there was no way she wanted to ruin their relationship because of a stupid mistake. He had always believed she could rise above what people expected of her. She didn't want him to lose his faith in her because she had failed him.

"Please don't tell either of them…"

Topanga sighed and gently squeezed Maya's shoulder, "Okay Maya. I understand if that's what you want. What about the father of the child, then? Can he go with you?"

Maya's cheeks flushed slight pink, and she shot a 'help me' glance at Riley who returned her a sheepish look.

"Let me guess: the father doesn't know either?" Topanga said, raising a brow when she noticed the look the girls had passed to each other.

"I just found out this morning." Maya said quietly.

"But even so, you don't intend to tell him, do you?"

"I…" Maya sighed deeply, her shoulders slumping, "I'm not even sure what I'm going to do with the baby… I don't want to tell him until I at least have that figured out."

Topanga watched her carefully, "Are you thinking of aborting your child?"

Maya shook her head slowly, "I wouldn't be able to go through with that. Mom could have had an abortion, but she decided to keep me. She gave me a chance at life."

"Maya, that's a very mature decision to make."

"But I don't know if I could raise it myself." Maya continued, "Honestly, I might send it for adoption. And if I do that… then I can't tell him. Because what if he wants to keep it?"

Oh God… What the hell would I do?

Riley rubbed her back soothingly when Maya's pulse began to quicken and her breathing started coming out in choppy little pants. She was starting to hyperventilate.

"Maya. I know you're scared. And I know you want to figure all of this out on your own. I applaud your want to do this on your own." Topanga took her hands and gently squeezed, to calm her down, "But you need to tell the father of your child. He has a right to know. And he has a right to be part of whatever decision you want to make."

"I'm scared…" Maya said, her lip quivering minutely, "Because I know what kind of person he is. He'll want to stick around and take care of the baby. He'll want to raise it."

"How is that so bad, Maya?" Topanga said, rubbing her thumbs along the back of Maya's hand. "Having the support of the father is something to be happy about."

Because he'll end up wanting to leave me…

"Maya, who's the father?" Topanga asked softly when it became clear Maya was struggling to respond.

She hesitated and licked her lips nervously, her hand shaking slightly.

"Maya, it's okay..." Riley said, still tenderly rubbing her back, "My mom's going to help us get through this."

Maya sighed deeply, "It's Lucas."

"Lucas Friar?" Topanga asked, a bit shocked at the revelation.

"I know right?!" Riley exclaimed, "I was so surprised when she told me they had–"

They both shot Riley disparaging looks, and she snapped her mouth shut, chuckling nervously.

"Nevermind…"

Topanga shook her head, "Okay. You better not tell Cory. He'll probably kill him."

"He will kill him…" Riley declared, "After I kill him for getting you in this mess."

"Again Riley. We're both responsible." Maya sighed, turning to Topanga. "I'll tell Lucas; I promise. But I can't do it now. I'm not ready. I still need to figure things out myself."

Topanga nodded in understanding, "Alright Maya. I trust you to make that jurisdiction when it's time."

"Thank you. And thank you for being so supportive."

"Anytime, sweetie. If you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know, okay?" Then she frowned sternly at them both, "As for school, I want you both to get on the soonest subway and go right away. You are already late enough as it is. I know this has been a rough morning, but that is no excuse to skip school. You should have come to me first. Now get."

Sensing Topanga had reached the end of her patience, the two girls scrambled off the bed and hurried out the door and through the streets to get to school.

On the subway, Maya got sick once when a momentary stop at a station resulted in a plethora of aromas coming from an assortment of bodies (and unfortunately, BO), but Riley, thankfully, had a brown baggy that she let Maya use to hold the puke. The kind old lady nearby them gave Maya some peppermint gum and that helped quell her nausea temporarily. When they got off at their station, Riley purchased a mini toothbrush and toothpaste at the little kiosk so that Maya could clean herself up if she should happen to experience it again.

"Riley… I changed my mind. You can kill Lucas if you want to…" Maya groaned as they walked through the halls to get to second period.

The effect and flavor of the peppermint had worn off long ago, and Maya's nausea had returned. Though if she were to be perfectly honest, she wasn't certain if she could attribute it to actual nausea from the pregnancy or from her fears of seeing Lucas. Thankfully, the only class period they shared together was AP Bio after lunch, and she could easily skip and pretend she needed to go to the nurse's office because lunch upset her stomach.

"It's that bad?" Riley crooned sympathetically.

Maya nodded, decreasing the pace of their speed walking to a slow walk. Her body was not healthy enough to keep up with Riley's perkiness, "Feels like a really bad hangover…"

"Hmmm… Alright, stay right here for a second! Let me run to the nurse's really quickly and grab some of her peppermints."

Riley took off, clacking in her heels down the hall and around the corner. Maya sighed and leaned her head against the lockers tiredly. If this was what school would be like for the rest of the year with this… thing in her, she wasn't sure she even wanted to come anymore. It wouldn't make a difference anyway. She wasn't planning on applying to any colleges. So ultimately, the purpose of high school was moot for her.

Begrudgingly, Maya realized this must have been exactly what her mother thought when she had gotten pregnant. That she should leave high school before graduating because it didn't make a difference since her future had been lost. She didn't want to follow directly in the footsteps of her mother. Besides, Maya knew she would eventually start to feel guilty if she left school for good.

Sighing, Maya rummaged through her bag, digging around to make sure she had remembered to grab her art notebook for class. She'd grabbed the first things she could see on her desk without paying attention to what was necessary for her classes for the day, so she wasn't even sure she was prepared for her lectures. There were some crumpled balls of paper left at the bottom of the messenger bag—failed assignments, she suspected—and Maya plucked them out and dumped them in the garbage bin at the end of the row of lockers.

A pungent odor drifted lazily up and smacked Maya directly in the face. Her insides immediately lurched in protest and all the colour drained from her face. Maya lost her footing and stumbled forward unsteadily, completely sucker punched by the stench. She was on a crash course to the ground, until two hands caught her shoulders, and she came to a graceful stop against someone's chest.

"Maya, are you okay?"

A familiar someone's chest.

Shit…

She looked up in alarm into the concerned face of one Lucas Friar, in the flesh. She couldn't help the little gasp that escaped her throat before she could control it. Never mind that his scent was calming her ailing stomach down, her heart was racing, she was nervous, and she couldn't help but feel like the thing in her was calling out to Lucas to let him know it was his. Any second now, Lucas would look down and just know she was carrying his child.

Her flight or fight response kicked in, and Maya knew she had to get as far away from him as possible. So what if she chose flight? Preservation came first and foremost.

"I'm fine." She replied sharply, a little too snappily, and pulled away from him quickly.

His eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch in confusion from the belligerence of her response, but other than that, he hid his reaction well.

"…It's just, you're kind of pale." Lucas scratched the back of his head, "You look a little sick."

"It's nothing." Maya said again, trying to recover her neutral expression. She was absolutely positive she was failing. "I'm just tired. Anyway, why are you out and about in the halls? Shouldn't you be in Gov right now?"

She knew it was a poor deflection of the topic and one Lucas clearly picked up on, judging by his furrowed brows, but at that point, she didn't care. Maya just needed to find a way to wedge herself out of the conversation and head to class. She really didn't want to speak to him right now.

"I got back from Texas late this morning. Just arrived at school."

Maya nodded in disinterest, silently begging Riley to hurry up and come back so she could save her from this conversation. She was in no condition to be talking to him right now.

"Hey Maya, can we talk?" he said after an extended period of her silence.

Her breathing sharpened, and she swallowed thickly, debating whether it was a good idea to make a run for it. From the way her stomach wouldn't listen to her, any efforts could result in her puking her guts out onto the floor, but it sure beat talking to Lucas at the moment. What the hell did he even want to talk about?

"What about, Ranger Rick?" she said breezily, feigning indifference, though she knew her expression was a little too fierce and guarded to appear aloof. And she knew Lucas could tell, judging by the fact that he was watching her very cautiously.

"I feel like… things have been weird between us for weeks." He started tentatively, gauging her reaction to his words.

Great… This is the last thing I want to be talking about right now.

Maya smiled widely and laughed, trying to adopt her usual nonchalance, "What are you talking about? We're fine."

"Maya, you look like you're about to hack into me with a machete." Lucas said in exasperation, "And you know we've been a little off since that night."

Oh my God…

This was literally the worst thing to talk about of all topics. She had to get the hell out of this conversation, and fast. Like an angel sent from heaven, Riley's loud clicking could be heard once again before she bounded around the corner, excitedly waving her handful of peppermints in the air.

"Maya! I got the peppermints from– Oh, hey Lucas." Riley's eyes widened, and she gasped dramatically, "Lucas!"

And that was Maya's cue, before things got even more awkward and fucked up than they already were.

"Well, I've gotta run. Riley needs me."

Lucas looked hurt by her blatant dismissal, but said nothing, watching her silently with a look of defeat. Maya knew it was a bitch thing to do, especially since they were supposed to be friends, but she ignored her guilt, and walked around him quickly to get to Riley. When the going got tough, Maya ran. That was her most successful and fullproof defense mechanism. It hadn't failed her yet.

Maya caught up to Riley and tugged on her sleeve to turn around and walk with her.

"What was that all about?"

"I'll tell you later," Maya moaned gratefully when she popped a peppermint in her mouth and the effect was almost instantaneous. "You're a lifesaver Riley."

Maya glanced over her shoulder as they walked briskly down the hall and cast Lucas' retreating figure an apologetic look.

I'm sorry Lucas.