"My love, oh my love, only my love, does it good to me."
Those last few wo's sending off a message of contentment and peace knowing that the message of tender love was given.
Once the song stopped, they stood together for some time, Maya cracking the silence.
"I love you."
Riley immediately answered quietly, "I love you."
"It's like I told your dad before at school,
in any new place, or old place, or any place at all, I stay with you.
I'm always with you."
Every emotion just hung in the air, swirling all around and inside of every molecule of the room. Maya thought of so many songs to play for the moment about to come.
John Elefante's "That's Why God Made the Moon" with it's long and airy orchestral intro into its emotional climax's, it's flashy and boldness
Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" felt like the answer to Maya's sense of urgency, its pining and begging perfectly encapsulated Maya's feelings for Riley and desire to grow what they had created in Riley's room tonight.
Gregory Alan Isakov's "If I Go, I'm Going" sounds like someone who has relented, and the sadness of that choice pushed onto every stroke of the guitar.
Maya settled quickly upon thinking of it, Lord Huron's "The Night We Met".
The decision to climb into bed was unspokenly made, and with one last song to play. Maya and Riley were as much together as could possibly be defined within the definition of "together". Legs wrapped and bodies pressed beautifully into each other, fitting effortlessly like two puzzle pieces never meant to separate.
Soft tears rolled, and nose to nose, the two girls breathed almost in unison.
Riley sadly whispered, lips resting gently touching Maya's,
"Promise me this; Time and distance have no power over us. You and I are together for as long as we live."
She held out her hand prompting Maya to join their hands in their ring power ritual. Without a word, it was acknowledged, and their hands joined and gripped, assuring the other.
Weakly, Maya managed to answer,
"Whatever you want. Always."
And with that, the two cried their hearts out, feeling and replying to every sob and ping of anguish. The line had been crossed, and a new territory of their relationship had been opened. Riley's mind raced in a way, knowing that this would have no time to be nurtured and cared for, and like an unwatered plant, without time and care to explore this, it could be that this stage in their relationship would wither away and fade. Maya on the other hand, put her own worries aside, and was drowning in the ocean of Riley's future, with its ensnaring waves of uncertainty. Who would look out for her at school? Shawn and her mom tried their best to focus her on what was ahead for Maya. Her new art lessons at school, beginning photography class, and working on her newest piece, which she had started way back, and ironically a few days before Topanga mentioned the job opportunity. It was a recreation of the picture Riley had drawn for her and left in her art book which Maya had tried to abandon at the cafe. "Maya's Art goes here. Change the world!". None of it could even surface to Maya's thoughts. Her thoughts were only targeted on Riley- Riley was her extraordinary relationship, and she knew nothing could change what was happening.
Maya woke, first, as sleeping was never her best skill. To her surprise, they had fallen asleep, still with their lips touching. She without even thinking, kissed Riley enough to kiss her, but not wake her up. She waited there, letting this feeling sink in. Maya knew she had to remember everything of this feeling, this long goodbye, and spend the rest of her days getting by with the life that feeling gave her. She could die 'happy' knowing that for a few short stormy hours, Riley was her girl, in the way she hoped and dreamed about. That maybe, it could be enough for her, as the only good thing that seemed to stick was her mom and Shawn being happy together, but that had not changed Maya's 'getting left' problem. It must not have been her turn, but Riley had opened up, and this was a high kite feeling, and Maya so earnestly wished she never had to come down.
After what felt like eternity, and memorizing every inch of what Riley looked like so close to her. Though it pained her so, Maya separated herself out of the tangle of their bodies. She sat at the bay window, putting her boots on. There was no more sense of time, there seemed to be daylight creeping into the room, and yet the foreverness of night still shrouded the room into its own universe. Riley eventually woke, slowly noticing Maya's absence. Pulling herself upright in bed, her eyes have no question of where to look for Maya as she reenters the world from her sleep. The bay window, Maya lovingly, and scared, is watching her. Without pause, Maya fills the room with her emotional words-
"I don't want to say goodbye on the street, or a car, or an airport, or a place that isn't ours. I want-"
Surprisingly, she still has some tears left to cry, and the droplets ascend down her cheek as she chokes on the next three words;
"...to say goodbye, in here, at this window, in this room, with you. In our world, so when I wake up tomorrow, I can pretend you are still here, sleeping soundly, waiting for me. I have to hold on to some kind of hope Riley, or I will just die inside."
Riley, still groggy and coming back to life, does digest most of the sentiment of Maya's request. Before she can even answer, Riley hears Maya huff gently, having decided something as she gets up coming over to the bed. Maya holds one of Riley's hands, and the other hand to her face, placing a kiss just beside Riley's beautiful chestnut eyes. With a tear between their skin, Maya forces out an unwilling,
"Goodbye Riley."
Remaining in that moment enough to let it sink in, Maya lets go of Riley's hand, and leaves out the bay window. Riley gathers herself to follow, but stops as she watches Maya climb down the fire escapes. She calls out to her-
"Maya"
Maya stops and looks up from below. Riley chooses her words carefully, almost asking and mostly saying
"Forever"
With a woe and bittersweetly broken smile, Maya answers
"Always"