Home is wherever I'm with You

exile (Maya)

Maya heard the front door of their apartment close and she finally broke down. The tears she fought so hard to keep from falling finally escaped her eyes, running down her cheeks leaving got trails behind.

The blonde hid her face between her hands as the heaviness of the conversation she and Carina just had sank into the pit of her stomach, leaving her feeling like someone had hit her in the gut so hard that it winded her.

The thought of being the one causing pain to Carina was killing Maya and she didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to do with that feeling, she didn't know how to make it stop, she didn't know how to fix it.

She needed to talk to someone.

The firefighter leaned back slightly so she could pull her phone out of her front pocket, finding her best friend's name as soon as she opened her contacts list. She hit the call button and pressed her phone to her ear, inhaling through he nose and letting the air out through her mouth to regulate her breathing.

However, Andy didn't answer. Maya frowned at the device and hit the call button again. She got the same result.

Maya grunted in frustration and threw herself back on the bed, leaving her phone on her stomach and covering her face between her hands once more.

It took her a minute to compose herself, wiping the tears away from her cheeks and sitting up, scrolling through her phone, looking for another contact.

She only waited for the line to ring twice before the other person picked up the call, greeting the firefighter warmly.

"Hello, honey, good morning." The woman on the other side of the line said.

Maya's bottom lip quivered at that voice, wanting to smile but not being able to bring herself to do so. "Hi, mom. Uh... are you busy right now?" She did her best to keep her voice from trembling but she was not sure she succeeded.

"Maya, what's wrong?" Katherine asked, immediately noticing her daughter was not okay.

The younger woman didn't answer immediately. She looked up to the ceiling, trying to stop herself from crying again. "I need to talk to you." She sniffled. "Can I go to your place?"

"Of course you can, honey, it's my day off." The older blonde quickly replied.

Maya nodded and licked her lips as she pushed her hair back with her free hand. "I'll be there in 20."

"I love you, darling." Katherine said before Maya could hang up.

"I love you, too, mom." Maya said it back and then ended the call.

She took another minute to breath. Quickly putting on her left shoe and tying the laces, she got up from bed and grabbed her car keys as she exited the apartment.

As Maya sat in her car, turned on the engine and drove off, she started thinking of how going to her mom for something like this would have been impossible a year ago when she was still blinded by her dad's lies. But after her wedding –and the drama that came with it–, she and Carina had helped Katherine finally get out of Lane's house, file for divorce and get a job as a librarian to pay for her bills. The mother- daughter relationship had improved a lot over the last 11 months and Maya was truly grateful.

As estimated, 20 minutes later Maya was stepping out of her car and walking into the apartment building her mother lived in. She knocked on the door and only waited a few seconds before Katherine answered and immediately wrapped her in a motherly hug.

"Hi, honey." The older woman said, still holding her daughter.

Maya, in return, tightened her grip around her mother. "Hi, mom." Her voice was muffled as her mouth was pressed against her mother's shoulder.