Hey fam, long time no see!

It's been a wild ride since we last saw each other, it always surprises me how much can change in a few weeks. This is a bit of a long author's note, but there are a few things you may want to know, so stay tuned if you're interested :)

Girl Meets World is cancelled, and my heart broke when I found out. This has been an incredible show, as I'm sure you all know. The topics it has covered have brought me to tears more times than I can count (my personal tear-jerker being Girl Meets the Great Lady of New York) and I'm devastated that such a relevant show has been cancelled in its prime.

That being said, don't stop writing your piece about this show. We need writers and creators now more than ever! It's easy to become discouraged, but do not give up. Fill your lives with art, literature, and knowledge- through these I can tell you personally that you will find beauty and serenity despite how chaotic the world may seem at the moment. Remember, we are still meeting it.

Thank you so much for your lovely reviews! I always wish I can reply to the guest reviewers as well, but unfortunately FanFiction doesn't allow me to. You guys have brought this story up past 170 reviews and I cannot thank you enough for all your wonderful support. It truly is mind-boggling. This group is like a family. I love you all.

IMPORTANT: For those of you wishing to know how my story updates work, I update my Profile Progress section every few days so you can always see when the new chapter will be coming out!

And lastly, (because my goodness this has been long), as always please feel free to PM me, I love being able to talk with you guys- this is meant to be a conversation after all! I love hearing from all of you so don't be shy :)

Okay… we done here! Happy Reading!

-SleepingStarlight

"You should really consider eating breakfast on time," Riley chirped from her seat on the counter. She had an hour break before her next class and came to pick up her biology textbook. She hadn't originally been too enthusiastic about the subject, but decided to keep her options open for when she declared her degree.

Maya had already sat through two classes that morning, and if you asked her, they were far too early for comfort. "They put my psych class at basically one in the morning Riles, what'dya expect?"

"Your class starts at 8:30, Maya." Riley rolled her eyes. "Maybe calm down a bit with the dramatics. If you set your alarm at 7:30 like a normal person, you would actually have enough time to eat breakfast rather than waiting till your classes were finished."

"Butcome'onnRiles," Maya spoke through a mouthful of oatmeal (Topanga had rubbed off on her), "It's 11:30! Perfect time for breakfast. This- THIS was when man was intended to eat!"

Riley giggled slightly before hopping off the counter, grabbing a granola bar, and heading over to grab her floral backpack. "It's up to you Peaches, but I think it might help. Oh, and don't stuff yourself, Farkle's coming down to meet us for lunch."

Maya groaned, slamming her oatmeal back on the counter, "Kid has the worst timing! I have a history essay due tomorrow, can we reschedule?"

"No, can't do. You know the biotech program he's in, he's got like no free time. We gotta take what we can get. Besides you showed me half of your essay yesterday and you've got a few hours to wrap it up."

"But Riles…" Maya began dolefully.

"Hush," Riley reached forwards, cupping her palm over Maya's mouth. "Just make it happen," and she walked out the door, a flurry of navy and floral.

Maya placed her head on the counter and closed her eyes. Early classes weren't just detrimental to breakfast schedules, she was exhausted. So after taking a few moments, she dragged herself off the stool and grabbed the packet of instant coffee. It wasn't as good as the pressed stuff, but it was dorm life, so she had to make do.

"Fuck!" Maya cursed for what was likely the twentieth time within the hour. She had to leave in ten minutes to meet Riley and Farkle at the small diner near Topanga's and still had two major points to prove and a conclusion. Damn Cory for making her take the class. She wasn't even in an honours arts program, it was entirely unnecessary. But her mental rant was interrupted when her phone began to buzz violently on her nightstand. She sighed and reached over to grab it, ridiculously surprised when she read the contact.

Call from: Hucklebitch

"What the hell?" she murmured, utterly confused. It had been almost a month since they'd heard from him, aside from the occasional social media post. So she slid her thumb across the screen and lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she asked, too off-guard to quip at him sarcastically.

"Hey Maya," she heard his voice from the other side, slightly hesitant.

"Whad'ya want Lucas?" she asked testily, he didn't really deserve her nicknames at the moment.

"Nothing really, kinda just wanted to catch up."

"Um, it's been, what? A month? What's got you so concerned about our well-being now?"

"I don't know," he hesitated briefly, "I guess I missed you guys."

"You guess?" Maya echoed hollowly, Riley had been missing him like crazy those past few weeks. Sometimes she would wake up in the night and see the brunette pouring over their photo album from high school- and he had the nerve to avoid her for a month.

"Come'on Maya," he begged, "can't we at least be cordial? You know Riles and I tried to figure things out, but it just wouldn't work. We had different paths we needed to take."

"It's Riley to you," Maya growled. "And you know what's not cordial, Huckleberry? Avoiding your friends for an entire month! You don't get to just waltz back into our lives as though that never happened."

"Trust me Maya, I'm not trying to waltz… I'm in Texas, if anything I would square dance," he joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

Maya tightened her lips together, "That's not funny," she tried, restraining the laugh threatening to spill from her rib cage.

"Well, at least I tried," he paused, "How are you guys?"

"We're all alive," Maya said wryly, her bitter mood returning. He really did not deserve any of this information.

"I suppose that's good."

"I'm struggling through a history report (which you're distracting me from by the way), Farkle's struggling through biotech engineering, Smackle's embracing the struggle in theoretical physics, and Zay's partying in California."

"Yeah, he seems to be having quite the time," Lucas chuckled.

"Oh, so you keep in touch with him, do you?" Maya questioned, remembering why she was pissed off in the first place.

"Well... you- you know, it's Zay," Lucas tripped up a bit, she could almost hear his blush from the other end of the phone. "Um, you mentioned everyone but Riles- uh I mean Riley. What has she been up to?"

"Well why do you care?" Maya asked him testily.

"Really Maya?" Lucas asked, some exasperation leaking into his tone. "We didn't break up because we wanted to! Can you please stop attacking me? I just want to know how our friends are doing, I know it's been a month, but it's not like I forgot about our six years together. I just want to know how she's doing."

"If you want to know, you'll have to ask her yourself. You chose to leave, Huckleberry, and now you've got to live with that. Don't expect me to make that decision any easier, I thought it was a bad idea from the start."

"Maya you know I couldn't turn away that scholarship, they offered me a full-ride! Did you honestly expect me to throw that away?"

"No," she replied carefully, "but I also didn't expect you to throw her away."

"Maya," he began urgently, "that wasn't how it worked-"

"Well, that's how it happened." Maya said with finality. "Besides, you could have gotten a few scholarships locally and your family definitely could have paid the rest. So don't try and pull any bullshit with me, Friar."

"Never have, Hart," he muttered.

"I could probably argue against that."

"You know what," he sighed, "just take care of Riley for me-"

"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST-" Maya began angrily, not caring whatsoever for the residents across the hall. But before she could finish, the line went dead.

"Fucking Huckleberry," she cursed, thoroughly fed up as she turned off her phone and turned to check the time. "You have got to be kidding me." She was late. It looked as though her paper would have to go with her, and for not the first time that morning, she found herself cursing a certain cowboy a few states away. He never really made things easier, did he?

"What makes you think that Hitler was responsible for the French Revolution?" Farkle asked incredulously, reading over Maya's paragraph outline derived within the past half hour. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Well, he needed the Guillotine to make sure nobody ever bothered him. How else was he supposed to keep Brazil?" Maya stated with an over-confident air.

"Maya," Riley turned in her seat to take a look at the essay, glancing over it with wide eyes. "This is so wrong! They're two completely different time periods and countries. The rest of your essay is fine, I don't know what's got you so shook."

"It's nothing Riles," Maya said quickly while reaching for her laptop, she wasn't quite ready to disclose her previous conversation with Lucas as the reason for her distraction. "Blame it on your mean ol' dad. This history course has nothing to do with my life!"

Farkle rolled his eyes, pausing carefully as he noticed Maya's fingers tapping nervously on the table. "You're tapping. That's a nervous tendency. Why are you tapping?"

"Jeez Farkle," Maya flushed, drawing her hand beneath the table hastily, "I'm just tapping it's no big deal."

"Tendencies like that are derived from nerves or guilt. What's up with you?" Farkle pressed.

"Farkle!" Riley chastised, gesturing with rapid head movements towards the blonde sitting by her side in an attempt to say let it go.

"It's a catch-up session guys, it's a bit hard to catch up if you guys are hiding things from me," Farkle insisted.

Maya could feel her heart race guiltily. Lucas had been their friends too, it was her obligation to explain what happened. It didn't mean she wanted to… but she probably should. "Well I -"

"MAYA AND UNCLE JOSH BROKE UP!" Riley burst out suddenly.

"WHAT?!" Farkle asked, confused with the frenzy. "I didn't even know you guys were dating! A lot changes in three weeks."

Maya rolled her eyes, "We weren't dating."

"Then how did you-"

"We didn't," Maya interrupted moodily. "He's just dating someone else… apparently has been for a year and a half."

"A yeah and a half?!" Farkle echoed, suddenly understanding why it was relevant.

"Apparently he's in love," Riley added, watching Maya's face for the signature wince that appeared every time they broached the topic and slightly surprised with its absence.

"Wow," Farkle managed, trying to discern the emotions on Maya's face, though it seemed to be rather blank.

"She's been handling it real well," Maya said, gesturing with a smile to the brunette sitting by her side. "Apparently she shoved him when he told her, she's a lot less violent now."

"It's true," Riley nodded solemnly. "My progress has been extraordinary."

Farkle looked between them confusedly. Maya had already closed herself on the subject, if her mannerisms and posture were any indication, but that wouldn't do. He had entirely expected Riley to be upset, but that was relatively unimportant in comparison with the torrent of emotions he knew the blonde would have experienced at the revelation.

"What about Maya?" he directed the question towards Riley, knowing that he would be getting very little to no information from her counterpart.

"She's doing beautifully," Riley smiled, patting the blonde's shoulder. "I'm very impressed."

Maya looked up at him and laughed slightly at his surprised expression, "It was a rough few days, but I'm good."

"I wonder why he did it," Farkle mused, stirring his coffee absent-mindedly. "It's so unlike him."

"Well…" Maya paused, it had taken her a long time to come to terms with what she was about to say, "we didn't really know him that well to be honest."

"Come'on Maya," Farkle protested, knowing how painful that idea was for her. Being in love with a mirage was terrifying, he couldn't even imagine. "You knew him."

"Obviously not," Maya muttered. "Ugh, you know, I'm done with this. I don't need to analyze what went down, Farkle. It was already clear enough and I don't need you to dissect it for me, because I know that's what you were going to do." It came out a bit more bitterly than she had wished, but nevertheless had its intended effect. She liked to think that she had figured it all out by that point, but she couldn't help but fear that small part of herself that remained untapped. She couldn't take another Pandora's box at that moment so she tucked it away- there was plenty of time to deal with it after all.

"Why don't we talk about something else?" Riley suggested looking between the two with concern.

Farkle cleared his throat in an attempt to diffuse the tension and turned back to the coffee he had been nursing for well over an hour. "Uh, I got a call from Lucas this afternoon." So much for diffusing tension.

Maya's head snapped back up from her paper to look at the brunette sitting by her side, and she was pleasantly surprised to not see a hurt expression. They had both healed so well those past few weeks. There was nothing that they couldn't do if they were together- an idea Maya had realized more and more as the years passed on.

"How is he?" Riley asked quietly, her demeanour still slightly subdued.

"He doesn't seem to be very happy," Farkle admitted slowly. The call hadn't been extraordinarily difficult on his end, but he could almost feel the pain in Lucas's voice when he asked how she had been doing. But of course, he wouldn't mention that to the brunette sitting across from him.

"Well, it's his fault," Maya bit back. "He's not our problem anymore, so he can figure out his own shit."

"Maya," Riley protested, she had never intended for her breakup to result in the entire friend group's estrangement with the Texan.

"No Riles, we're done with this topic too. Excuse me!" Maya called a waiter nearby, plastering an excited smile on her face with a reasoning Riley could not discern. "Can we please have a slice of birthday cake for this girl right here? It's her eighteenth!"

"Oh that's so nice!' the waiter gushed, smiling at the pair. "It's on the house for birthdays by the way, would you like chocolate or vanilla?"

"Chocolate please," Maya answered in lieu of the confused brunette by her side. "Thank you!"

As the waiter walked away, Riley turned to face her, a bewildered expression on her face. "I know you're bad with dates Maya, but it's not my birthday."

"Trust me Honey, it's the one day of the year I do remember. You just seemed like you needed some cheering up."

"But we lied," Riley whispered, scandalized.

"I lied," Maya corrected quietly, "so you're in the clear. Enjoy your cake!"

"Awww, Peaches!" Riley cooed happily, knowing that she would still slip the waiter a five before they left.

"What else am I good for," Maya joked before turning and realizing Farkle had taken her laptop throughout the exchange. "What are you doing Farkle?" she asked with a resigned air.

"Proofreading," he responded absently while scrolling. "I get the feeling you don't like having your work proofread."

"It's already perfect, why would it need to be checked?!"

"Well," Farkle mused, grinning as he turned back up to look at her. "Last I recalled, there was no 'y' in 'summarization'."

"You suck," Maya kicked his foot under the table.

"I'm bringing this paper up to a B+, maybe even an A with these edits Maya, I think you can deal with a little humiliation. Besides, it's not my fault you never listened in English class after Harper left."

"She had mat-leave, Farkle," Riley said through a mouthful of the cake that had just been brought to her. "She hardly left!"

"Well, either way," Maya leaned back with her phone, "I'm taking a Maya moment. All this work is draining me."

"Sweetie, you only did actual work for like a half hour," Riley reprimanded by her side.

"And it was a half hour too long," Maya muttered, reaching for an elastic band and haphazardly pulling her hair into a knot near the base of her neck.

She unlocked her phone and began to scroll through her Instagram feed absently. She had never been entirely sure why she got the app, the idea of sharing her life with the world had never been particularly appealing. However, ironically enough, when Josh had suggested she use it to post her artwork she had jumped on the idea. In her later years of high school it had progressed beyond school projects, and included hand-painted originals and photography that she had picked up from Shawn.

She had just been looking through Yoby's joint account when a notification appeared at the top of the screen.

Your Facebook friend Josh Matthews has posted a new photo. Would you like to follow him?

"What the fuck?" Maya muttered under her breath. Facebook hadn't caught the hint yet, had it? But because she had so little self restraint, she clicked on his name to view his profile and nearly laughed when it appeared on her screen. In the small circular cutout was a literal profile shot of the Matthews boy himself in a beanie, cast in some sort of grayscale. She would have teased him ruthlessly about his bio if she had the nerves to actually text him.

Joshua Matthews

Not your local history teacher.

The rest of his feed was subpar, the majority being comprised of photos with his friends and the occasional photo with Alina. She looked at the two of them, both clearly avoiding the camera, and couldn't help but feel that if it were anybody but him, she would find the photo absolutely adorable. But as of the moment, she had to close her eyes for a moment before scrolling onwards.

As time passed, she scrolled, taking in each of his photographs with care. It hurt less the further she went, similar to how blows dulled over time, each less impactful than the last. She had to get used to the idea of the pair, even if she knew it would never be entirely possible. The nature of the photos lightened the further she went, even coming across a Christmas photo from the previous year at the Matthews in Philly. She could just make out her own figure behind an exhausted Riley who had been sprawled over her lap- there had been far too many shortbread cookies that year when she thought about it in retrospect.

Maya looked back to the follow button, attempting to appear nonchalant though her heart was racing. Moving on means accepting, she thought, trying to make sense of her mad desire to click. It wasn't logical by any means, why would she willingly cause herself more pain- unnecessary pain even. Yet her thumb moved to tap it, seemingly of its own accord, and she nearly sighed when it was done and she shut off her phone. It felt like progress. And she had had a ton of that those past few weeks.

"What happened to happy Maya?" Riley asked dejectedly, noticing the troubled look on the blonde's face. Maya moments did not typically end on a rough note.

"Nothing," Maya said quietly before plastering a smile on her face. She could tell Riley wasn't buying it, but she wasn't quite ready to confide, she was still processing after all. "Are you done yet, Farkle?"

"Just about," he muttered, his eyes ruthlessly scanning the computer screen for any last errors. "Just finish your tea, I'll be done by then."

"It's coffee."

"The reasoning behind your choices evades me, do you know how late it is?"

"Yes," Maya said testily.

"Just finish your coffee," he conceded, rolling his eyes as Maya grabbed her mug and chugged back the remainder in a matter of seconds before slamming it back down onto the table.

"They're not shots Maya!" Riley scolded, scandalized with the blonde's antics. It was as though she went from zero to ten in the span of a few minutes.

"Ya done now, Farkle?" Maya asked impatiently.

"What is with you and having people edit your stuff?" Riley asked incredulously. The entire thing seemed a bit ridiculous as she was still trying to dissect what happened earlier.

"I don't need your guys' help," Maya groaned, placing her head in her hands. "I'm perfectly capable of doing this on my own."

"Well," Farkle sighed, turning the laptop back to face her, "good thing my edits were placed directly in. Your paper is ready to print and I think it may even be an A. So… you're welcome."

Maya grabbed her laptop and shoved it in her bag, grumbling along the way. "You two are impossible, ya know that?"

"Guilty as charged," Riley smiled sweetly.

"Well, anywho," Maya slung her bag over her shoulder, "I gotta go print this sucker in the library so I should probably head out, it's getting kinda late anyways… I've got an early class."

Riley cocked her head, "Maya, tomorrow's a Friday. You don't have classes until eleven."

"I said early, didn't I?" Maya deadpanned. "Farkle, next time drag Smackle here with you, this whole not-seeing-her-for-a-month-thing isn't working for me. Make it happen."

"Yes ma'am," Farkle saluted before straightening up and folding the blonde into a hug. "You've got this, Maya. We're all here for you." It had been hard for him those past few weeks. Having spent the entirety of his life preparing for university and the academic opportunities it offered him, he had glossed over the social aspects and struggled as a result. University was challenging- less because of the content and more regarding how difficult it was to find people who he connected with. Ideally, he would have had shared interests with those in his program- but his classmates were socially awkward (to say the least) and he had never excelled in those areas himself. Not to mention it had been over a week since he last saw Smackle- the other genius was crammed with a new and incredibly difficult workload. So this lunch-turned-dinner date was the highlight of his week and he was not ridiculously excited to return to his dorm that night.

Maya rested her head on his shoulder and held him close. She wasn't usually one for physical affection, but as she held him, she could feel how fragile he felt and remembered, not for the first time, that she hadn't been the only one with a tough past few weeks. So she allowed herself a moment of weakness and clutched the thin, angular boy in her arms and whispered, "I know. Love you Farkley."

"Love you too," he said softly before beginning to draw away. "Good luck with your paper and… the other stuff I guess."

"Thanks," Maya grinned. "I guess I'll see you in a bit, Riles." She turned back to Farkle as she reached the door of the cafe, "Until next time, kid," before whipping around the corner into the cool night air.

Maya bopped her head lightly as the music swelled in her ears. She knew very well that it was a bad decision to wear headphones while walking back that late at night, but the silence had been so deafening that she had rushed to plug in her earphones and crank up the volume. There was too much on her mind for anything else.

The library had been absolutely packed- a fact that she had yet to get used to. It wasn't as though the concept of late nights was unknown to her, (she had pulled a few herself and she lived in New York City for god's sake), but the idea of spending one in a library was utterly unappealing. It was strange what university did to people.

She maneuvered deftly through the small garden in the middle of her campus and smiled when the trees became suddenly illuminated as the moon peaked out from behind the clouds. If Riley had been there with her, they would have already concocted a plot for the shiny beacon's story. A tale of two sisters, one fiery and the other pale in her visage. Both dominating the sky yet both in isolation. There was a world of potential and so much of it was visible when her counterpart was present. Maya had spent all of her life meeting the world with its fiery, orbiting sisters… and now she walked on it alone under the cool light of one.

But she wasn't walking honestly. She had spent the entire afternoon and evening next to her best friend, yet hadn't been able to find it in herself to mention the conversation she had earlier with Lucas. She should have, that much was clear, but she hadn't, and that's what caused her heart to race- blood flowing rapidly inside her veins as guilt surged through her.

The fiery sisters were in opposite orbits, each missing the other and unable to find but a few moments together.

Maya had all the time in the world. So that being true, why couldn't she bring herself to mention that conversation?

How would their orbits change if she didn't?