A Girl Like You [Rilaya]

Apart/Together

Maya's POV

Her words continued to ring in my ears as I walked through my front door, the door Riley and I kissed each other against so many times. 

I went into the bathroom, gripping the sink, and looked in the mirror. I saw the cuts and the bruises forming on my face. 

"We need to break up" and "I guess I thought you were different" replayed in my mind, interrupting memories of dinner dates filled with laughter, kisses that made us feel like the only two people on the planet, and hours spent cuddling together with hot chocolate while snowflakes fell outside.

I let out a scream before throwing my hairbrush into the mirror, cracking and shattering the image of the girl that was once staring back at me. I fell to the floor and started sobbing.

At some point over the next few hours, I stopped crying and made my way into my bed, trying to bury myself in it and disappear.

My door opened and the light was turned on.

"The school left a message that you were sent home and suspended," my mom said.

"I needed you to pick me up, they almost didn't let me go home by myself," I muttered.

"I'm sorry, but you know I've gotta work a lot."

"I know," I sighed, still under the covers.

"What happened at school today?" She asked.

I poked my head out over the blanket to look at her. 

"Oh my gosh!" she yelled in shock as she saw the cuts and bruises on my face.

"I got into a fight," I told her. "It's not that bad."

She moved closer to examine them.

"Have you been crying?" she asked taking notice of my reddened eyes.

"A little, yeah," I said quietly.

"It's okay that you got suspended. I'm not happy about it, but you just can't let it happen again," she said.

"That's not what I'm upset over," I told her. "I got into a fight with Riley."

"Do you want me to get you some water?" she asked already heading out of my room, followed by a loud shriek as she entered the bathroom.

"Maya Penelope Hart! What the hell!" she yelled. 

She came back in with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"I'm sorry, I was really upset," I said to my mother whose face was red, steam practically coming out of her ears.

"That does not give you the right to break the mirror that I worked hard to pay for!" she yelled. "I don't care if it's because you got into a stupid fight with your friend!"

"It wasn't just a stupid fight, Mom! We broke up!" I screamed angrily, my face a dark shade of red.

My mom stood frozen and blinked a few times. "What?" she asked calmly.

"I said we broke up! We were dating and then I messed everything up by beating up another student and we broke up!"

I felt a strange wave of dread coming over me when I realized what I had just said.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was worried you wouldn't accept it and kick me out or something," I said quietly. "I thought you might leave me like dad."

"I would never," my mom said pulling me into a hug. 

"I love her, mom, and I ruined it."

"Go to her."

"What?" I asked confused.

"Go to Riley, tell her how you feel," she said with a smile on her face.

I slowly got up and grabbed my phone and jacket before heading to Riley's apartment in Greenwich Village. I climbed up her fire escape and knocked on her locked window.

Riley's POV

I was doing my homework when I heard a knock on my window. My eyebrows furrowed as I walked over and unlocked it, letting Maya in, giving me the familiar feeling of butterflies in my stomach that I only get around her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked flustered but not anywhere near annoyed by her unexpected arrival.

"I came to apologize," she told me.

"For what?" I asked.

"For disappointing you, for being stupid," she said not breaking eye contact with me. "I'm sorry for fighting Missy and for lying about you to my mom, but I told her," she said a smile forming. 

"I told her about us and she was okay with it," she said without the smile leaving her face. I couldn't help but smile back.

"But my biggest mistake was letting you break up with me," she said.

"Why's that?" I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Because I love you," she breathed. 

"I love you too," I immediately whispered back, our faces mere inches apart.

It only felt natural when our lips pressed onto each others'.

"I am so in love with you, Maya Hart."

Maya smiled. "I'm so in love with you, Riley Matthews, and I don't care who knows it."

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