That night, Riley and Maya were up late talking, already in bed. 'So it's official now?' Maya asked curiously. 'I mean, official official. No more confusion, you two are together again?' Riley nodded excitedly. 'Yes, we are. Lucas is... my boyfriend', she said happily, and then sighed like she hadn't realized it until she'd said it out loud. 'Wow', was all Maya said. Riley looked at her nervously. 'You don't think it's too soon, do you?' Maya shook her head vigorously. 'No, that's not it. Of course it's not too early. You two are practically made for each other!' She just couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous about the fact that Riley and Lucas had admitted their love for each other only a few hours ago, but somehow were already together, while Josh still had not asked her to be his girlfriend. And they had been dating for a whole year! How much longer would he wait to ask the question Maya had been dying to answer 'yes' to?
'I'm so sorry', Riley then said. It snapped Maya out of her thoughts. 'Wha- what are you sorry about?' Had she known Maya was thinking about her insecurities towards Josh? 'I'm making this all about me, but what about you?' 'What about me?' She was kind of hoping Riley wouldn't bring up what she'd been thinking about. She honestly didn't feel like talking about it and- 'Well, this is your last day as Maya Hart! Starting from tomorrow you'll be Maya Hunter', Riley explained, smiling. Maya felt relieved that this was what Riley had been referring to. 'Right. Yeah, it's amazing. Their marriage, I mean. I've decided to not change my last name to Hunter.' Riley frowned. 'I thought that was the plan. Why did you decide to keep the name 'Hart'?' Maya took a deep breath. 'I love the fact that my Mom's getting married. Especially because she'll be walking down the aisle towards Shawn. I love that he's gonna be my stepfather. But I'm Maya Hart. I've always been that, and I'll always be. And whether my name is Maya Hart or Maya Hunter, that does not change me, you know? I don't feel like a last name should define who I am. Only I can do that. I love being Maya Hart. When I hear that name, I don't think of my biological father, the man who let me down and down again. I think of a girl that can be rebellious and spontaneous, who often makes mistakes but can also learn from them, and the girl who can consider herself one of the luckiest people in the world, because she has so much lovely people that care about her and that mean the world to her too. On paper, my father is Kermit Hart. But I know that, in my heart, Shawn Hunter is my dad. And I don't need a new name to tell me that.'
Riley let out a deep breath and smiled. 'That's... amazing, Peaches. It truly is', she said, genuinely meaning it. 'Thanks, Riles. That means a lot coming from you. I love you so much', Maya said, returning her best friend's smile. 'I love you too, Peaches.'
'You know', Riley suddenly said. 'If your mom and uncle Shawn get married, you'll be Shawn's daughter.' Maya chuckled. 'Yeah, Riles, I know that.' 'Yeah, but have you also thought about the fact that it will make us cousins? Oh my God!' Riley then exclaimed. 'That would make you and Josh family, because we'd be related and he and I are also related... so wouldn't dating him be like incest?' Riley asked, shocked by this sudden thought. 'Riles', Maya then said, 'you do know Shawn isn't really your uncle, right? At least not a biological one.' 'Oh', Riley replied. 'Yeah, that's true. Well, then you and Josh can legally date.' Maya laughed.
'Wait, no! You can't. You're still underage', Riley pointed out. Maya rolled her eyes. 'It's not like he's that much older.' Riley laughed. 'It's still illegal. You sure were right when you called yourself ''rebellious'' earlier. Fighting against the law!' Maya smiled. 'Sure, Riles, sure', she said. 'I'm really excited for tomorrow', Riley told her. Maya nodded, even though Riley couldn't see that in the dark. 'Me too.' 'You scared?' Riley asked her. She turned on her side so she could face the blonde. 'A little', Maya admitted. 'Is that stupid of me?' she asked, unsure of how she should be feeling with the wedding so close. 'Of course not', Riley assured her. 'It's normal to feel scared. It's life-changing. You just have to remember that this change is a good one. A really good one', Riley told her best friend. 'A good one it is', Maya said, and for what seemed like the millionth time this evening she found herself smiling.
'I'm sad that we didn't spend as much time together this holiday as we could've', Maya said. 'Me too', Riley agreed. 'But we still have a lot of time here in which we can do fun stuff together.' 'That's true', Maya answered. 'Although you would probably like to spend a lot of time with Lucas now that you've got a lot of catching up to do', Maya said, feeling a little sad at the thought that maybe she and Riley did not get to do anything together. 'Maya', Riley began, 'I love Lucas. But you're way more important to me. You're my best friend! You're like my sister. And of course Lucas and I are gonna make up for the time we lost the past year, but that doesn't mean I'll be spending any less time with you. Maybe we can even try that whole double-date thing again with Josh and Lucas.' Maya laughed. 'We should definitely do that!'
'What we should definitely do is go to sleep', Riley said half-jokingly. 'It's almost eleven and we have to get up early tomorrow.' 'Do we have to?' Maya said in a complaining tone. 'I was having so much fun talking to you.' Riley giggled. 'I'm having fun too. But we can still talk tomorrow. I don't want you to sleep during the wedding and miss everything', she explained. Maya chuckled. 'Yeah, okay, as a maid of honor that would kind of be a huge problem', she replied.
'Thanks for being so caring, Riles', Maya said. 'And I don't mean just now. It used to be just me and my Mom, but thanks to you I've got a whole new family. And if it wasn't for you, my Mom would never in a million years have met Shawn. I'm incredibly thankful for everything you've done for me, Riles.' Riley tried her best to not cry when she heard these words. 'Aw, Peaches', she said, 'I love you so much.' 'I love you too, my little ray of sunshine', Maya replied. 'Who are you calling little?!' Riley said, laughing. Maya started laughing too.
'Thunder', she said. 'Lightning', Riley immediately added. 'I'm a little scared for tomorrow. But I'm a very happy and excited as well', Maya admitted. 'You should be. Now, go to sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day. The beginning of the rest of your life.' 'Isn't every second of every minute of every hour of every day the beginning of the rest of my life?' Maya asked. 'Don't get all smart on me now', Riley told her.
'Goodnight, Riles', Maya then said softly. 'Goodnight, Peaches', Riley replied. 'Ring power', the blonde said. 'Ring power', Riley repeated. With those words, the two girls fell asleep immediately.
Hi everyone :) I hope you liked this Riley/Maya chapter. I may love the ships, but I feel like this relationship is the most important one on GMW. Oh and by the way, something major will be happening soon.... Thank you all so much for reading. And a special thanks to those who voted on previous chapters, I appreciate it a lot! I wish you all a great day :)
Love,
♥