“Maya- Maya! Maya would you stop- Maya!”
“Don’t follow me, Riley.”
“What- why? What happened? Would you just-”
She reaches out and just manages to catch the hood of the jacket Maya’s wearing, stumbling forward a little but holding tight. Riley’s a little out of breath because she’s just had to chase her sort-of-girlfriend-maybe-not-anymore halfway across Central Park, but she’s not letting Maya leave without getting at least one conversation out of her.
“Let go of me, Riley.”
“No! No, I’m not going to let go! Not until we talk!”
Maya’s gaze snaps upwards, and for a moment it almost looks like she’s hesitating, but then she takes a step back, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “I have nothing to say to you, Riley.”
“Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Stop saying my name like that.” Riley, now that she’s sure Maya isn’t going to make a break for it, lets her arms fall to her side.
“Like what?”
“Like I mean nothing to you!”
Maya visibly flinches, and Riley shrinks back, because this is not going at all like how she thought it would. She takes a small step forward, reaching to take Maya’s hand and exhaling in relief when the other girl doesn’t immediately pull away.
“Maya, what happened? We were … we were doing so good! And then you just- you just stopped. You stopped talking to me, and replying to my texts. You stopped showing up at my window.”
A silence falls between them, and Riley suddenly feels trapped, as if she’s stuck in a glass cage with no way of getting out. She’s hurt, and confused, and upset, and Maya isn’t saying anything at all.
“Why did you go?”
For a second, it seems as if Maya isn’t intending on contributing to the conversation at all, if you could even call it that, but then she glances up sharply, mouth twisted in a grimace. “Why did you follow?”
And, there are a thousand different reasons why Riley followed. There are so many things she could say right now, but she has a feeling none of them are going to cut it, so she decides to just be as honest as possible.
“I followed because I love you, Maya.”
“You shouldn’t.” The reply is swift, almost instantaneous, and the complete opposite of what Riley was expecting to hear.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you shouldn’t!” Maya wrenches her hand out of Riley’s grip, taking a step back and throwing both arms into the air.
“Why?”
“Because! Because I’m the bad influence! I’m the girl who skips class! The girl who never does her homework, and makes a living out of talking back at teachers! And you! You have always been the good kid, with your straight A’s and perfect attendance and everything else! I’m not-” Maya pauses to take a breath, and when she next speaks her voice is the softest that Riley has ever heard. “I’m not good for you.”
The silence that falls, now, feels a lot like the weight of a broken heart.
“Who told you that?”
“What?”
“Who said you aren’t good for me?“
Maya mumbles something that Riley can’t hear, scuffing the toes of her boots against the ground.
“What was that?”
“Lucas said someone needed to protect you from me.”
“What?”
“He said that I was dangerous and if I kept hanging out with you then someone needed to protect you from me, and he’s right!” Maya’s getting louder now, her tone more confident. “He’s right! I’m … not a good person, and you should stay as far away from me as possible.”
“Well, I disagree.” Riley crosses her arms, lifting her chin in a show of defiance. “You’re not a bad person, Maya. You’re not a bad person, and you’re definitely not bad for me. Even if you are, and you’re not! But even if you are, I don’t think it’d matter much, because you make me happy, and I don’t think anyone who’s bad for me could possibly make me this happy.”
“I’m-”
“No, listen to me. I don’t care what other people think, least of all Lucas, so you listen to me, Maya Penelope Hart, you make me the happiest I have ever been, and I love you, so please, can we stop fighting?”
“We’re not fighting,” Maya mutters under her breath, and Riley huffs out a laugh of relief.
“Will you come back, now? Will you come home?”
Maya answers with a question of her own. “Do you mean it?”
Riley doesn’t need clarification on what she’s talking about. “Yeah,” she says, “I love you, so I’m willing to forgive you for this weird, unnecessary spell of self-loathing as long as you bring me to Topanga’s and buy me a hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles.”
“You get free drinks there! Your mother owns the place!”
“It’s the thought that counts!”
Maya sighs, but she takes Riley’s hand and tugs them both in the direction of the cafe, so Riley knows she’s won.
“Hey, Riles?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
And Riley knows this is a conversation they have to revisit someday, but she also knows that someday is not today, and for now she’s just happy that Maya’s with her again. “It’s okay.”
“One more thing.”
“Hm?”
“I love you, too.”