oo

Riley gripped the edge of the table and innocently scowled straight at Maya, who was carelessly looking away from her, and talking with her Uncle Shawn and her brother.

As Maya allowed them to, her "uncle" and her brother sat down at the table across from them, causing Riley to tensely sink down in her large, cushioned seat. She wanted to have some alone time with Maya to talk...Maya was the only person her age that she could trust with her pensive feelings.

Everyone was silent for a few minutes after that. Auggie leaned back in his chair with his head pressed to his chest, tiredly anticipating for his meal to come. He had no clue that something so natural was bothering the senses out of his sister; he lacked any idea of how lucky he was at the moment.

Riley nervously bit the insides of her bottom lip, repetitively pondering over how extremely surprised Maya had reacted over the news of her parents fighting. Usually, Riley would be excited over the fact that Shawn and Maya have gotten closer and were almost acting like father and daughter at this point; that was what she had hoped to happen. Though even the happiness of Maya wasn't enough to dust away her repetitive nerves and memories.

As Shawn's name was called by an employee of the restaurant in order to alert him that their food was complete, Riley bolted upwards in her seat and cupped her hands on top of the table, wishing to rant to Maya again.

xxx

Maya jerked her head towards Riley when she blasted upwards, catching her loose attention. She caught on to Riley's lost expression and felt a burning feeling deep in her stomach.
Riley really was upset; extremely upset to be specific.

Riley needed experienced advice from Maya, but Maya couldn't come up with what to tell her. She had always been used to feeling depressed and loosing hope, but didn't know the proper advice to fix Riley's ways. Probably because nothing had gotten better for Maya, herself...yet.

Maya's train of thought was broken by Shawn's voice again, repeating the same question he had asked before, "Riley, do you want to know something about your parents?"

Maya narrowed her eyes at Shawn with confusion, then glanced over at Riley to catch her response. Riley nodded her head slowly, which Shawn didn't seem to catch, causing Maya to speak up, "Yes, Riley does want to know something about her parents."

As Riley listened to Maya speak her words for her, she sighed heavily and shot Shawn a nod again, but this time quicker and more attentive.

Shawn folded his hands together and looked around the restaurant for a second, stalling blankly, much to Maya's annoyance. She squinted at him and shook her head, waiting for an answer to Riley's response.

Finally, Shawn began to talk, while Riley tensed up with nervousness, "Well...let's just say that I heard what they were fighting about from your-"

"From my dad of course!" Riley interrupted him, chiming the words that he was obviously about to speak.

Maya laughed under her breath, as Shawn furrowed his eyes and nodded briefly, then took a deep breath and continued to explain, "And it's nothing too serious, just something that can change somebody's life," he slowly told them all, slightly glancing over at Maya.

Maya giggled louder and shook her head playfully, then mocked his words, bellowing, "Nothing too serious, just something that can change somebody's life!"

Shawn laughed a little, but seemed to have a more anxious tone, than humored. Riley simply stared at him with a blank expression, biting her lip and trying to sort out what the problem was.

Auggie, not appearing to apprehensive over the bickering, nodded his head in a "mature" way, then spoke out, "I understand, Uncle Shawn. You may continue," in a witty tone of voice, tapping his fingers against his knees.

Shawn glanced over at Auggie and smiled widely, surprised that he finally spoke out in topic of his parent's argument. Maya's smile faded as she realized that he was finished with their conversation. Her blue eyes widened in a disappointed way, "What, that's the end? Come on, Hunter! You can't just leave us hanging!"

Shawn stopped grinning as well and he pursed his lips into a frown. Maya glared him down with pressure until he spoke up, "Maya, there's nothing else to say," he responded in a noticeably doubtful tone, not making eye-contact with Maya as he replied.

Maya lifted her eyebrows stressfully and inhaled deeply, glancing over at Riley in need for support. Riley accidentally caught her eye, cringing reluctantly. "Uncle Shawn...why won't you tell us why my mommy and daddy are fighting?" she questioned him squeakily, closing her eyes for a second, partly regretting the question.

Shawn was also disturbed by the question, due to how serious and personal the reply was to him. He wasn't angry with Riley for worriedly wondering. "Riley, Maya...the reason they're fighting has something to do with somebody at this table, and not only could it effect your parents if I tell you, but it could also hurt a lot of other people," he muttered, only slightly skimming her previous question. As he replied, he briefly peeked over at Maya again, unintentionally catching her attention.

A dropping feeling arose in the pit of Riley's stomach, caused by the information Shawn had told her. It was nothing specific, but just enough to plant the dread in her mind of her being the reason Cory and Topanga were arguing. She was so worked up with her imagination, that she unfortunately hadn't noticed him nervously glancing over at Maya while he talked.

Maya realized his expression towards her though, again widening her eyes and clenching her fists with negative wonder. Why was he staring at her like that; did she have something to do with this apparently major problem? Maya couldn't sort her thoughts, anxiously wondering what she could have possibly done to interfere with her best-friend's parent's marriage.