COLD TO THE TOUCH || RILAYA

S I X

I woke up the next morning in my clothes, not remembering much of last night. I changed and got ready to head to Riley's apartment until it hit me.

She's not home.

I took a deep breath and walked into my living room, finding Shawn sitting by the counter.

"What are you still doing here?" I ask him.

"Well I wanted to make sure you were okay this morning," he replied, getting up from the stool, "You okay?"

"I don't know," I answer with a small sarcastic laugh afterward.

He walks into the open so I can lean in for a hug. I begin to cry into his plaid shirt, thinking he was going to have a bad reaction like last time. But today, he hugged back tighter than he ever has and made me feel comfortable crying for as long as I wanted to.

"I know, kid. Having a loved one in a hospital is really hard," he said in a half whisper as he buried his head into my shoulder.

I release the hug to see a tear falling from his eye that makes me know we really do have many things in common, but maybe not everything.

"Who, Shawn?" I ask as I wipe the tear from his cheek.

"My father."

We don't say another word. We just hug until he tells me I should check on Topanga. I give him a kiss on his forehead and head out the door.

As I walk by the road to the Matthew's apartment, I watch as the cars honk their horns at each other and how people are arguing and it never seems to end. I've never seemed to of noticed how unhappy people seem. I guess with Riley around, she never let me feel or even see a hint of unhappiness.

BUZZ BUZZ

"Coming, Maya," I hear Auggie say. Man, it feels like I  haven't seen that little goofball in forever.

As he opens the door, I vigorously pick him up and start tickling him. He starts to hysterically laugh and flail his arms and legs everywhere. I smile, knowing I still need a bit of Riley in my life and Auggie would definitely be up to take her role while she's gone.

"Maya... I... Can't..."

"Breathe?" I say, finishing his sentence, "Don't worry, I'll stop." I drop him on the couch and walk over to the breakfast table. He turns to me, sticks his tongue out, and spits. I turn to him and do the same, making his mother smile.

"I'm glad you're in a good mood, Maya. I hope you won't be mopy in school, though," Topanga jokes.

"No promises," I say back, showing a fake smile.

Auggie joins us at the table and we all begin to eat scrambled eggs, the usual. We all sit in silence for a while until Riley's little brother breaks the silence.

"Is Riley going to be okay?" he asks with a face full of food.

"Of course, honey. She's very strong, just like Maya," she answered confidently. He looked at me, smiled, and I smiled back.

"Yeah, I guess that's right. How long is she going to be gone?"

"Not too too long, we hope," she said, whispering the last part.

"Yay! When she comes back, can we play pirates again, Maya?" Auggie perks.

I chuckle and widen my smile. "Of course, and I'll beat you next time!"

"In your dreams!"

I look at the clock to see it was around the time Riley and I head off to school. I walk to the door and swing my bag over my shoulder. I look back to the half of the Matthews family and I wave goodbye, hoping the day would go by fast.