Just A Kiss (Rilaya)

Epilogue

Riley's POV:

Everyone cheers as caps are thrown into the air and hugs are exchanged. I look over at a beautiful blonde girl standing next to me with a huge grin plastered across her face.

I take her hand and pull her to me. I connect my lips to hers as the noise of people cheering and yelling continues. Nobody notices us, but it doesn't matter because the only person I need is her. Is Maya.

We pull apart and smile at each other.

"We did it Riles." Maya says. Her voice makes me swell with emotion. This is her happy voice. This is her hopeful voice. It's my favorite one.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Peaches." I say.

"I can't believe it. I graduated high school. I didn't think I could actually do it."

"I always knew you could." I say, squeezing her hand.

"Well, with you there every step of the way, it did help a lot." She admits.

"Same with me. If I didn't have you in my life, I couldn't have achieved any of this." I say, thinking about the hugely successful charity for saving wildlife and their territory I started in my freshman year.

"Neither could I." Maya says. She got into Cooper Union, an amazing college for arts in New York. It's not too far away from an apartment I've been looking at for the past couple of weeks. I'm thinking about renting it for the first year of college, but who knows what the future will hold.

"Come on, lets go find everyone." I say.

We walk over to where my parents are standing, talking to Mr. and Mrs. Minkus, the rest of our friends crowded together a few feet away.

"Hey guys." Maya says as we approach them.

"Congratulations, to everyone!" I say. "I'm so glad we all got into good colleges, but I'm gonna miss you all so much."

Lucas and I are both going to NYU, Farkle and Smackle are going to-not surprisingly-Yale, and Zay is going to the University of Texas so he can be closer to his family for a few years.

"Well, knowing us, we'll all end up back together in the end." Farkle says. "We're forever."

"Farkle, time to go!" His mom calls to him.

"Is this goodbye?" Maya asks.

"For now." He says.

We all come closer to each other, embracing one another in a tight circle.

"I love you guys all so much." I say.

No one says anything, they don't have to. I can tell that they all feel the exact same way.

Finally we pull apart, everyone waving goodbye and going their separate ways.

I look over at my parents and they motion for us to come over to them. I hold up a finger, mouthing the words one minute.

They nod and I turn to Maya.

"Promise to FaceTime every day?" I ask.

"I promise."

"And we meet up once a week." I say.

"At the very least." She assures me.

I exhale deeply. "Okay." I say.

We hold each other's gazes for what seems like eternity, and I hold up my hand.

"Thunder." I say.

Maya grips my hand with hers.

"Lightning." She says.

Then, we both say together:

"Forever."

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Author's Note:

So, sadly, this is the end of my first fanfiction. Like I said at the end of the last chapter, I will make a Joshaya fanfiction sometime later this year. School is starting soon and I want to have a bit to get adjusted to it so I think I'm going to wait a month or so before starting it. I'll probably write the first few chapters before I release it, so I don't feel pressured to update right after I release it, and I'll add another part to this story letting you guys know when I'm planning on releasing it. Thank you all so much for all of the support you've given me throughout the journey of writing this story, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Once again, thank you all so much. ❤️❤️❤️