Maya doesn’t drink. She’ll indulge in a fruity cocktail from time to time, but mostly she survives the night on water and iced coffee.

She’s seen first-hand what alcohol can to do a family, and would honestly rather just stay away from the mess of it all.

That doesn’t mean she cares when the people around her drink. As far as she’s concerned, they can do what they want.

Except, tonight, she really wishes someone had kept Riley away from the bar, not for any reason other than the fact that her best friend gets really boneless when she’s tipsy, and it’s looking like getting her into the back of her cab is going to be an impossible task.

“Come on, honey. It’ll take ten minutes to get home, and then you can go to bed.”

Riley doesn’t respond, but she does a sort of flop onto the seat, and Maya thinks that’s as much of a victory as she’s going to get tonight.

She shoves the rest of Riley’s legs into the cab before bundling in next to her, giving the driver the address to the Matthews’ apartment. Somehow, she doesn’t think Riley is going to be able to walk herself up to her room.

The drive back is silent, at least for the first two minutes, and then Riley turns and sprawls into Maya’s lap.

“Peaches?”

“I’m right here, Riley.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Maya smooths some of Riley’s hair off her face, can’t help but smile at the pink that’s dusting her cheeks. “You’re not usually like this.”

She thinks, after everything they’ve been through, one drunken night rates pretty low on the scale of things to get upset about.

“No, I mean, I’m- I mean-“

“Why don’t you just close your eyes? We’ll be home soon.”

Riley sits up suddenly, back ramrod straight, though her eyes are still cloudy and unfocused.

“I’m sorry,” she says again. “I’m really sorry.”

“I know. It’s okay.”

“No, I’m- it’s not- I’m really sorry, Maya.”

And it hits Maya, then, that perhaps Riley isn’t apologising for tonight.

It’s been a while since high school, but they’ve never really spoken about everything that happened. Maya’s forgiven Riley for it all, of course she has, it happened a long time ago, and they were just kids who didn’t know any better.

Sure, it had hurt at the time, more than she thought was possible, but Maya thinks she knows her own heart better now.

Falling in love isn’t supposed to ache, it never has.

“I’m sorry, too.”

In the snatches of light, as they pass hotels and streetlights and other cars, Maya catches glimpses of Riley’s expression. Her best friend is just a little drunk, but the guilt in her eyes can’t be masked.

“I think, maybe, we’re the sort of people who have to fall apart before we can fall back together again.”

Riley doesn’t hear her, already back to lying across Maya’s lap, eyes closed as she mumbles incoherently.

“Okay.” Maya settles a hand gently on Riley’s head, making sure she isn’t jostled too much as they weave through traffic. “We can talk in the morning.”

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