The Only Exception // Rilaya

.18. {Maya POV}

"Sweat heart!" Shawn called out as Riley and I entered the apartment. He rushed to us and pulled me into a crushing hug. 

"Hey Shawn." I said trying to breath. 

"Are you okay?" He asked still hugging me. 

"Well I was until you started to squeeze the life out of me." I joked. 

My step dad let go of me and laughed breathy.

"What was that for?" I asked closing the door. 

"Your mom called and told me that your dad came by the cafe today." He admitted. 

"Oh?" I said. "Did she tell you anything that he said. " 

"Uh, no. She said you would  tell me when you came home. She did say that it wasn't good though." Shawn confessed. 

Riley scoffed and laughed. "Not good, is an understatement." 

Shawn smiled at her. 

"Katy said you defended our daughter and took the brunt f his anger. Thank you baby Cory." Shawn hugged Riley's head to his chest and kissed her hair. 

I smiled at my two favorite people. Riley tightened her grip on my hand which she hadn't let go of since we crawled out her window to go to my house. 

"Come in guys. Please tell me what happened." Shawn asked pulling away to make a place for us to all sit in the living room. 

Shawn sat in the arm chair while Riley and I  took a seat on the couch. We had plenty of room on either side of us, yet she was practically sitting on top of me. Shawn kept giving me questioning looks, I think he suspected something was up with us. 

"Well? What happened?" He asked impatiently when neither of us spoke. 

I looked to Riley. I didn't know if I could talk about it to him yet. But the way she looked at me gave me strength to carry on. 

"What happened was, my dad walked in and I was sitting on the chair at the diner and she was sitting in my lap, asleep. Nothing new. Something we do all the time. Anyways, he came in and saw us and I guess he's really homophobic and he didn't like how it looked for his daughter and her best friend to be in that position. We hugged and then he said something rude about Riley and they began to fight. I separated them and then he called Riley a 'Fag' and she started to go off on him. Lucas took her away before anyone got hurt. When they left he told me that he wouldn't have a queer for a daughter...so I told him he'd just have to disown me." I explained. I couldn't look him in the eyes. I didn't want to know his reaction. 

"Wait," Shawn closed his eyes. "Are you trying to tell me something?" Shawn asked. 

"Yes Shawn." Riley spoke up from behind me. She took my hand and rested our entwined fingers in my lap. 

"Are... are you gay?" Shawn asked.

I looked back at Riley who was looking back at me and smiling. I smirked and turned back to Shawn. "I'm bisexual. We both are. I think. We're still trying to figure out these feelings." I confessed finally mustering up the courage to make eye contact with him. 

Relief flooded me when I saw the teary eyed smile on his face. His hand was covering his trembling mouth. 

"What's wrong Shawn?" I asked with a small laugh at seeing the grown man cry. 

He stood up and joined us on the couch. 

"Maya, I have never told anyone this before." He said trying not to cry. "I am too." 

"Yikes!" Riley said jokingly. 

"Really?" I asked, with relief. 

Shawn nodded and reached out for me to hug him. I let go of Riley to wrap my arms around my true father. The one who understood me. Who'd understood me in more ways than I ever thought. 

"Get in here!" Shawn called to Riley as she say awkwardly watching us and wanting in. 

"YAY!" She laughed and hugged me from behind. 

Shawn pulled back after a moment. He took one of my hands and I reached for one of Riley's with the other. There we sat on the couch with tears in our eyes. We had come clean to our families and learned we were not alone and it felt beyond amazing. 

I smiled at Shawn and then looked to Riley. With her free hand she reached up and caressed my cheek. I let go of Shawn and held her hand to my face, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. But she pulled back and swooped in for a real kiss, taking me by surprise. My face burned with embarrassment. Not in front of parents!  I groaned in my thoughts. 

Shawn however laughed and shook his head at us, before he stood up and walked away. 

A/N So if you DIDN'T get it, Shawn is Bi and he used to like Cory. K. Hope you like it so far! Thank you for reading and voting!