Rescue and Safety
It was 7pm, Maya, Farkle and Lucas' shift had just finished, another employees are going to take over the next shift until 2am. They never understood why Topanga would let the shop stay open very late. The reason was always the same, the woman would say that they would be amazed at the number of people entering the shop late at night, exhausted and sleep deprived. The group of friends would always think that it was another reason, but her words may hold the truth in them.
The three friends left the warm, cozy cafe and as their luck would have it, it was raining. The downpour was incredibly strong, the streets were instantly soaked, passerbys were quickly trying to find coverage from the water. Most people had something to protect them from the rain, whether it's an umbrella, raincoat or even both. There must have been a warning from the weather channel that a harsh rain would fall upon the city, Maya hadn't seen the news for the weather, luckily Lucas and Farkle brought their umbrellas with them.
Maya snatched away Farkle's umbrella ignoring his protests of having his umbrella taken away from him. The blonde responded by turning her head over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out towards the boy, Farkle narrowed his eyes and snatched Lucas' blue umbrella.
"Hey!"
"Oh shut it pretty boy, we're sharing anyways." Farkle retorted, "Plus, I'm pretty sure Maya isn't sharing and you don't want to get soaked." He opened the umbrella and stood under the rain, waiting for Lucas to come in.
The god of war huffed, he had no choice, so he walked under the umbrella that the god of knowledge was holding up and both walked towards Maya, who was now ahead of them.
The blonde slowed down a step or two, wanting her friends to catch up with her. She slowed down enough to appreciate the raindrops a bit, then she stepped on the puddles laying down on the street, Maya could almost see her reflection in the puddle. She sighed as she already heard the bickering between Lucas and Farkle getting louder and she could only guess what they were arguing about this time. Last time was ships and planes, however as they approached Maya, she could hear what they were bickering about.
The faces of the two who were sharing were showered with raindrops as Maya twirled her umbrella to catch the attention of the boys behind her. She spun around to face them.
"Really? Brains or Brawn?" She questioned with a frustrated face, "That's so typical even for you both."
"Well..." Lucas trailed out, "If Farkle here agrees with me that Brawns are better than Brains, then I can let it go." He crossed his arms, clearly not willing to let the debate go without winning.
Farkle let out an exaggerated gasp as he heard the words come out of the 'Texan' boy. "How dare you!" He accused, "Brains will always be better than Brawn!" Then another round of their friendly dispute began.
The two who were quarreling kept following Maya through the rain, Lucas was mocking the shorter one by using his own words against him and Farkle was wildly creating gestures that he almost allowed the umbrella to leave his grasp and blow away with the wind. The blonde girl rolled her eyes at their disagreement, she, Smackle and Zay were quite used to Farkle and Lucas' antics, it was basically their hobby to argue about something, whether it be butterflies or birds, Mars or Venus, even blueberry pies or blackberry pies. It was all friendly banter between them though, so Maya has absolutely nothing to worry about.
"I mean imagine a sword cutting through a book!"
Well...almost nothing.
"Uhh...no. If that book was thicker, then your stupid sword can't even slice through!"
"Nu uh, MY 'stupid' sword is probably sharper than your brain!"
Farkle gasps, taking mock offense at his words. "How dare you again! This brain is sharper than any of your melee weapons at your disposal!"
"Oh, boo hoo, don't use those words with me."
"See! You can't even understand such simple words!"
Lucas takes mock offense, both of them don't take the insults between them seriously because they know that the other was kidding and that this is all just friendly banter. Lucas takes his hand out of the umbrella's cover and allows the rain to fill his hand with rainwater, he then flicks his wrist to launch the water towards Farkle. The latter squeals at the coldness of the water then glared at Lucas who was very smug about what he just did.
Farkle continues to glare at the smug boy and suddenly jerks the umbrella away from him, letting the rain pour onto Lucas' head, getting him soaked. Just as he had pulled it away, he pulled it back in to cover the already soaked boy. The two glared at each other.
"You-!"
"You-!"
"Both of you shush!" Maya fiercely whispered.
Both boys looked at her in confusion, she only let out a 'shh' gesture as a response. She stepped closer to the two and whispered softly, "Do you guys hear that?" She questions.
The three perked up their ears, straining them to hear what Maya had heard. A shroud of silence surrounds them, they only hear the raindrops impacting the concrete floor, they were walking through the park so there were barely any car sounds. Then...
A sound of zipper being closed was heard, the three friends tensed up at the sound. They were now in alert mode just in case the source of the sound was someone who had intentions to hurt them. They wouldn't be able to, but that would mean fighting the hostile and risking themselves by revealing what they were.
Farkle tiptoes ahead of the other two, curious at who or what caused the zipper sound. His soft footsteps crunching the wet grass as he approaches the source of the sound near the very large apple tree.
What Farkle saw was not a hostile, instead it was someone they knew. Lying against the tree trunk of the apple tree was Riley, sleeping. She was wearing a purple raincoat, a red duffle bag was beside her while her purple backpack was being hugged by her arms. Her head which was covered by the hood of the raincoat, was leaning to the side against the trunk.
Farkle stands still in silence and in shock, he stays that way until Lucas and Maya had also come to see what or who it was. They round the tree and same as Farkle, they gape at the slumbering brunette girl, all of them stay in silence and in shock. Farkle breaks the silence.
"Shit...is that?" He asks in disbelief and with a wide mouth.
"Oh fuck, it is." Lucas responds, showing the same facial expression.
Maya shakes her head, then turns towards the boys and whisper yells, "Shut up you two! You idiots are going to wake her up."
The god of knowledge raises his hand before starting to crouch down, "I'll carry her!"
However, before Farkle could even lay a hand on her, Lucas had pulled him backwards by his shirt, making him stumble backwards. He walked past Farkle and approached the sleeping brunette.
"I'm stronger here I'll carry her!" He declared, but he was tugged back by Farkle. After regaining his balance, both of them glared at each other.
Meanwhile Maya threw her hands up in exasperation because of the two. To them, trying to convince the other that they should be the one to carry Riley is important. To her, it is way more important to get her away from the rain and into somewhere safe.
"Fuckin- you know what? I'll carry her since you two are busy fighting." The blonde hisses at the two. Farkle and Lucas stop fighting and stare at Maya who was slipping her arms on Riley's back and under her legs, she grunts as she hoists her up and the bags falls from Riley's arms and into the ground with a thump. The blonde blows a stray hair away from her face as she adjusts her hold on Riley who begins to squirm a bit.
Maya leans down as much as she can from her position, and whispers softly with an edge of protectiveness in her voice, "You're safe with me, no one's going to you hurt you ever again."
Her face flushes red when she feels Riley snuggle closer into her as she says those set of words, her whole body is buzzing with content and she couldn't resist pulling the brunette closer to her.
Farkle picks up the umbrella that Maya has dropped and falls in step with the blonde to shield the two girls from the still ongoing rain, though it was weaker now. He looks back and sees that Lucas was just right behind them carrying the bags that were with Riley.
The three divines walk home in silence.
Riley slowly opens her eyes, she blinks away the sleepiness from her eyes and gazes around the room. Her brain registers that the room she is in is unfamiliar to her. The brunette jolts up, panic etched within her eyes and face. Brown eyes scan the room, looking for something that can give her a hint on where she is.
The blankets that were draped on her were a deep blue shade and so were the pillows. The walls were lined with amazing paintings that she has never seen before in her life, they seem to be original works from the owner of this room. From where Riley was sitting, she could see the hardwood floor. A large wooden cabinet and multiple drawers at her left, a bay window and a few decorative statues sitting on a dresser at her right.
The brunette gazes around in amazement, her eyes land on two huge canvases behind her. Just above the bed, was a gorgeous painting of an apple tree and a beautiful painting of a single peach. She stares at it in awe.
The door creaks open, startling Riley from her thoughts. In panic, she throws over the blanket on herself and lays still on the bed, hoping that the person won't notice. Footsteps slighty echo around the room, disturbing the tense silence. Riley is already finding it hard to breath inside the blanket, the air grows uncomfortably thicker within and she wiggles a bit to at least allow a small amount of air to enter. Unfortunately for Riley, it seems that the person in the room with her notices the movement. Movement in the room seizes for a moment, no one in the room even breathes.
The brunette tenses up as she hears the footsteps coming nearer, she feels a hand grabbing part of the blanket and Riley dreads for the worst. Behind her closed eyes, light shines through, telling Riley that the person can see her. A few seconds ticked by and the brunette decides to open her eyes and just hope for the best.
She's met with oh so familiar blue orbs, her breath hitches as she gazes into those stunning eyes. Those blue eyes filled with concern, relief and she could see a hint of protectiveness. Riley doesn't know why, but she feels so secured and safe, she sighs contently at the sight of Maya in front of her.
"Riley? Are you okay?" Maya asks, unsure if the girl in front of her is comfortable at this.
The brunette nods dumbly, still mesmerized at the beautiful creature in front of her. She swallows thickly and opens her mouth, however she finds that she can't speak due to her throat being dry.
The blonde's eyes widened in realisation, she blinks and pulls away from their eye contact leaving Riley a bit disappointed. Riley stares as Maya reaches to the bedside table, grabbing the glass of water as the brunette sits up from her position.
"Here, It'll help your...uh throat." She offers the glass to Riley and clears her throat.
Riley accepts the glass in gratitude, mumbling a 'thank you' and gulps down the cool liquid, she wasn't even aware she was this thirsty. The brunette finishes drinking the water and places it back on the bedside table, drips of water dribble down Riley's chin and she wipes them off with her sleeve.
Maya and Riley sit in comfortable silence. The latter looks out of the bay window, there was a tree outside, she doesn't know which kind is it but a tree nonetheless. She could also see sunshine going through the window pane.
'Sunshine?!' Brown eyes suddenly widen. Maya is startled as Riley scrambles out of the bed and dashes to the bay window, looking out of it if her eyes were deceiving her.
"Quick! What time is it?" She asks quickly. The blonde looks around the room before pulling out her phone from her pocket and inspects the time.
"Uh... 7:30 AM. Why?" Maya was getting confused, why was Riley asking for the time?
"I have class at eight!"
Maya mentally slaps herself, she forgot that Riley still goes to college. She stands up and points towards the closet on the other side of the room. "I...uh...placed your clothes in there, you should see them right away."
She watches in amusement as Riley sprints to the dresser and grabs some clothes, the blonde's face grew warmer and became red when the brunette started to take off her clothes right there. Maya turns around with a massive blush on her face at the actions of the the girl. She waits for about five minutes before turning back again.
Riley was now sporting a grey NYU sweatshirt and some black leggings with blue sneakers, she would have worn something else if it weren't for recent events that occured. The brunette fixes her hair up into a ponytail and Maya is left stunned once she turns around to face the blonde. The taller girl rushes to snatch her bag near the closet and rushes towards the door.
"Wait!"
Riley looks over her shoulder, seeing Maya fumble with her pockets and waits in confusion. The blonde takes out a set of car keys from her pockets and walks towards the brunette, the latter stands by the doorway in shock.
"Let me drive you there." They make eye contact as she asks for permission to take the brunette to her college. Riley stands there surprise, seconds later she nods and follows after Maya as she heads downstairs and outside the house.
As she walks through the house, she sees framed pictures and she sees one hanging by the wall with all Maya's friend and Maya herself in the photo. She feels as if there was something missing, like someone or something missing that was suppose to go in the photo. Riley shakes her head, scolding herself for thinking that something was missing in a photo that wasn't even hers, she exits out of the house, pulls the door close and heads towards the car that was parked out front.
During the drive to NYU, Maya wanted to ask a few questions regarding on why she was sleeping under an apple tree last night, but she wasn't sure if the brunette was ready to open up yet or answer questions at the moment and Maya doesn't really want to chase her away, she would rather help her and get closer with her so that Riley would open up to her in the future.
The blonde stops the car by the campus, she watches as Riley leaves the car and closes the passenger door gently. She calls out to her before she could get out of hearing range.
"Hey Riley, what time does your class end?" Maya plans on picking Riley up after her class finishes, she hopes that the brunette won't oppose to it.
"Uh...W-why?" Riley stutters, attempting to supress a blush.
"So I can pick you up, duh." The blondes states it as if it was obvious, Maya smirks as she spots a blush creeping on Riley's face.
Riley thinks on this of course, she really doesn't want to bother Maya and her friends, but on the other hand, Charles was probably roaming the area hunting for her. She nods at the decision.
"M-my class ends at around noon," She says to the blonde, "I-I mean if y-you wa-want to of co-course." Riley stammers, she didn't want to burden the blonde.
Instead of taking back her offer, Maya grins at the brunette, "Great! I'll see you at 12." She waves at Riley then she drives off.
Riley stands there, wondering what the hell just happened. She shakes her head and giggles to herself, this just might be a start of a wonderful friendship.