Deeper • Rilaya

10: Face This

Maya's POV: Standing here in front of two people I thought I'd never see again brings a weird feeling to me. I feel scared and nervous, but happy and safe at the same time. I'm worried that they'll yell at me for what I've done, but I'm happy that they know I'm ok. I like this feeling.

"Maya.......you're alive?" Said the beautiful women with long blondish hair. Topanga still looked as amazing as I remembered and still had that comforting aura about her. I missed her great pep talks and yelling at Cory whenever he went on his little mindless shenanigans. I missed her always assuring me that I can stay in her household for as long as I want and anytime I want. I missed my second mom.

"Yeah I'm alive." I breath out and then I'm in her arms, holding me tightly as if she didn't hold me tight enough I might slip away. I felt her hands shake against the back of my head as she cradled it. After a couple minutes Cory walks up to me with just as much tears in his eyes. "I thought I would never see you again." He muttered and I gave him a smile. "Matthews you're still a big baby." I say as he engulfs me in a hug, tears making there way into my eyes as well.

I look up and see Zay looking right back at me, smiling. He mouths 'I'm proud of you'. I nod and eventually pull away from the hug.

Cory is the first to speak up. "Where have you been? How are you? Is something bad happening to you?" He starts to ramble but I quickly cut him off. "I'm fine. I promise you I'm fine."

I look over at Zay and a proud look graces his features. He's not gonna leave me alone about this.

"I can't believe you're here." Topanga says tears still rushing down her face. My heart warms looking at the both of them. They played big roles in my life, especially when I didn't have my mom around most of the time. My second parents.

"Me either."

"We have to tell your mom." Cory says.

Shit.

"NO!" I exclaim as I reach out and stop Cory's hand from picking up the house phone. Both parents look at me with confusion on their faces. I'm pretty sure Zay is banging his head into a wall right now.

Topanga looks at me with confusion. "Maya you've been gone for a long time. I'm guarenteed that your mother needs to know." She said and I knew she was right. They need to know I'm ok, but I'm so unsure of this.

"She can't."

"Maya-"

"No! She can't know. Nobody can know." I yell desperately. My hands are shaking and I'm breathing unevenly. I'm not ready to face anyone else let alone my mom. Mr and Mrs. Matthews were always the easiest people to talk to after Riley. They were just as open and considerate and understanding and I've always confided in them. They would help me with everything whether I asked for advice or they noticed my mood switching and made me talk. It was great though. To have someone that understands my problems and gives me amazing advice. Again, my second parents.

I scrunch up my face with frustration for a second. "Not yet." I say desperately.

"You're out of your mind if you think we're not gonna tell your mother. She's been so lost and hurt without you Maya. Everybody has." Topanga says.

"I know I sound crazy but just please don't do this." I saw desperately, trying to change their mind.

"Why?"

"I'll have to answer a lot of questions." I saw as sit in the bay window of the living room, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees as I stare at the ground.

"Of course you do Maya. We have to know what happened. We all care." Topanga says and she's so right. They have a right to know where I've been all this time, what I'm doing, how I'm living. I owe them that.