Fire Escape Visits

Past Revisited and Revised

Riley's POV

"Are you okay, Maya?" I asked.

It had been almost an hour since we got back to my apartment and she was still crying. Her parents' fight must have really upset her.

"No, I'm not alright!" Maya yelled while crying. "I just lost Shawn!"

"Maya, I know he and your mom were fighting but that doesn't mean they're gonna break up," I said rubbing her arm to try and comfort her. "He was just going for a walk to clear his head, he wants to work things out."

"That's exactly what happened with my father, Riley. He said he was going for a walk but he never came back," she cried.

"Shawn's not like that," Lucas assured her. "He wouldn't just leave you like that."

"How do you know that?" Maya asked.

"Do you remember the day he and your mom got married?"

"Of course," she answered.

"He told you that he never wanted to let you down. When you told me that story, your eyes were shimmering with happiness," Lucas recalled. "You know as well as I do that Shawn would never leave you."

"You're right," she nodded, finally calming down. "I need to go."

"What, why?" I asked, confused because she had just calmed down and now she wanted to leave.

"I need to go home. I want to be there when he comes back," she said. "Thank you, I don't know what I'd do without you guys," she hugged us before crawling out my window.

"Call me later?" I asked.

"Yeah, if they don't take my phone when they ground me," she smiled.

Maya's POV

I walked through my front door to find my mom sitting on the couch, by herself, making my heart race.

"Where's Shawn?" I immediately asked.

"He's not back yet," my mom answered.

I was still a little worried but my mom's calm expression and her use of "yet" seemed to keep me sane as I watched the clock on the wall.

"I'm sorry, mom," I blurted out as we sat on the couch still waiting for Shawn.

"I know, baby girl," she said kissing the top of my head. "We'll talk about it with Shawn."

"Why did you blame Shawn?" I asked.

"What do you mean, Sweetie?"

"You blamed my drinking on Shawn," I told her.

"I guess I was worried and in shock, I blamed it on him and I shouldn't have," she said.

The lock of the front door clicked and was followed by the creaking of the door as it was opened. Shawn walked in and put his keys down.

"Dad," I ran and threw my arms around him before he could even get his coat off. "I'm so glad you're back."

"Hey, Maya."

Mom and Shawn made eye contact, I'm guessing it was mom telling Shawn that I was worried.

Shawn pulled back. "You know you and your mother are my family, and I'll always come back to you, right?"

"Yeah, I do," I responded.

Mom got up from the couch and she and Shawn hugged and kissed.

"We were waiting so we could talk together, as a family," mom said to Shawn,