A/N:Seventh chapter.

Never Give In

Chapter 7

Josh

"Josh come here," his mom said. The toddler quickly moved to where his momma was. They were at the hospital. There were people who wore clothes like his mom and dad and then there were people who wore white coats or those matching green or blue t-shirt and pants. Dad had told him they were called scrubs and that those people were either doctors or nurses. And that doctors and nurses were good people.

All he remembered was his mom waking him up saying that they needed to go to the hospital. When they arrived, he saw his brothers and sister all huddled in a group. He paid attention to his mom whispering softly giving all of his siblings, Shawn included, a hug. The only ones missing from the family was his brother Cory and and sister Topanga.

That was hours ago. Now he was with his mom at this big window area and his mom decided to carry him to see what was beyond the window. Inside to his surprise were all these little babies sleeping.

"You see that one over there," his mom said softly pointing to the one directly in front of him. The baby was covered in a pink blanket and its face was all pink but what stood out the most was that her mouth was curved upwards unconsciously. It was not something different, there were other babies that were smiling in their sleep too but the toddler couldn't help but think that the smile on that one could change the world.

"That's 's our new family"

Josh looked at baby Riley. He couldn't wait to meet her.

Josh had seen many unusual things come in and out of his apartment. He credited it to his eccentric roommate. He thought he had seen it all, pregnant goats, temperamental fashion designers and on a story he will never talk about; a confused rabbi.

Majority of them were humorous and if he gave himself some time he would look back at them fondly and maybe with a chuckle. Others he knew he will always flinch if the memory starts replying in his head; the time his roommate's girlfriend almost overdosed, or following that seeing his roommate breakdown in front of him or receiving that call from Cory pleading for him to to say that Riley was with him. Those moments will be etched in his memory but for an entirely different reason. That made him feel anxious and a little helpless.

Josh was at his apartment alone thinking about all of it (the good and bad) when he heard a knock followed by a series of urgent knocking. He looked over to the watch that his mom insisted he get. The entire apartment itself was actually a compromise between him, his roommate and their was a small kitchen area with counter tops and a fridge that held mostly takeout and frozen meals.

There was no dining room just an area between the two bedrooms that he and his roommate decided that if they could get some couches, a table and tv stuff it could pass of as a living room area. The moms decided to help with decoration, there was this fake plant that they (the moms) insisted would brightened the room as well as a cactus somewhere.

It was half past two at night. Josh frowned. His roommate had already told him he was not coming back today (he was taking care of his girlfriend) and Josh knew most of his friends would probably be at their apartments or dorms about to call it a night after studying.

Nevertheless the knocking persisted, and he cautiously made his way to the front door. Too much has happened these past few months that he was a little more cautious and a little less easy going. He really didn't expect what he saw in front of him. It has been a while and things have not been good as of late. The person was frozen mid-knock and Josh frowned she looked exhausted.

"Maya," He said softly. Her blue eyes met his brown ones. She was crying before hand Josh noted before noticing that her eyes were pooling rather quickly. He made the first move and held her as she started letting the tears fall freely. He let her cry while he whispered soothing words into her ear. Josh didn't know how but he manage to close the door and move Maya towards the couches.

"Uncle Josh?" Josh turned to the six year old. There in front of him was the reason why he was here today. It was Riley's six birthday and Josh couldn't be ny more happier. There were kids around her age and some around his scattered all around the apartment. Some playing with one another, others with their parents.

"Yes Riley?" Josh said before noticing the small blonde little girl beside her. Riley was holding her hands.

"This is Maya, She's my best friend," Riley introduced rather proudly. Josh beamed it was cute.

"Hi" Josh greeted to which Maya smiled back.

"Do you wanna play with us?" Maya asked.

"Sure," Josh replied.

"I don't know where else to go," Maya said a while later when she finally had a grasp on her emotions. Josh was holding her hand and they were looking at the blank wall infront of them. He wanted to help ease her mind and tell her she was always welcomed here but he knew he had to be an adult about this.

"Does your mom know you are here?" Josh asked. Maya shook her head, "You should tell her, don't make her worry so much."

Maya looked at him and he watched her take out her phone before passing it to him. Josh sent out a quick text to Katy before putting the phone down on the table in front of them. He then waited.

"I'm a mess," Maya began, "It's my fault Riley is gone, Farkle won't even look at me. Everyone keeps looking at me like I'm about to burst at the seams I ruined your family…"

"No, you didn't,"Josh cut her off right there. , "Stop blaming yourself."

"But she went to the party to find me," Maya whispered. Josh knew that the guilt was consuming her.

"She went to find you and that was her choice," Josh tried to reason, he was trying to vocalize his thoughts without hurting her, "You heard the police, the people that took her might have been watching her for months prior.

"Why don't you hate me," Maya whispered, "The Matthews obviously do."

"Well first of all I am a Matthews," that earned him a roll of the eyes. He was glad for gave him some hope that the wild, free Maya was still in there somewhere. Maya watched his face became serious again, "I could never hate you."

"Really even when I'm a mess?"

Josh looked at her tear stained cheeks, puffy eyes and slightly frizzled hair. He had seen her looking better, more livelier but in the early morning only one thing slipped from his lips.

"You look beautiful"

"Is it someday yet?" Maya said trying to humor the situation. Josh didn't know what to say. There were a lot of things he wanted to say. He was an observer and there were so many details that he wanted to share but sometimes silence can speak for itself. Instead he wrapped his arms around her. He can't promise her anything but his presence tonight.

OKay so my computer crashed and I have lost some of the progress I made in this story. And I'm writting all of this through my phone so sorry if there is any mistakes. So here is your dose of Joshaya. The next chapters will be Riley's POV again before we move on to Smackle and Lucas maybe? Thank you for following the story and all you reviews. It really does make a difference. Quick question which POV do you think would be more interested in reading; Smackle or Ava?