A/N: I recommend you listen to the following songs while reading this chapter.
-Just Can't Get Enough by Depeche Mode
-Absolutely Smitten by dodie
-Someone New by Hozier
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It took five seconds after her exchange with Maya to realize she despised the girl. And Riley despised no one! Not even Jeffrey from sixth grade that threw a wad of gum into her perfectly combed ponytail!
Riley huffed as she stomped over towards her father's apartment—well—hers, too.
Just her and her father.
Only two rooms for each individual.
No one shared.
It was still something hard to process.
"Hey, Riles," her father, Cory, peeked his head towards the entrance from the kitchen with his dopey grin.
Riley smiled softly as she walked into the kitchen, kissing her father's cheek before grabbing a blueberry poptart from a wooden cabinet and unwrapping it—biting a huge chunk of the sweet treat. "Hey dad." She mumbled.
Cory furrowed her eyebrows. "That's a very not-like-Riley greeting you just gave me." He pointed out. "Everything okay?" he asked worriedly.
Riley sighed as she took another bite. "Just had to deal with a very rude stranger." She muffled while she chewed.
Cory hummed as he went back to cooking dinner. "Well good thing it was just a stranger, right? You'll never have to see them again!"
Riley nodded. "Thank goodness for that." she chuckled as her father danced along to "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode playing from the speakers. Her father lacked rhythm and coordination with his dancing, so it just looked like he was having random muscle spasms, but Riley loved his dorky dancing anyway.
Her mother, Topanga, use to love it, too. Topanga would laugh and make fun of Cory before joining in and then convincing Riley to join in on the spontaneous dance session in the kitchen. Those were her favorite moments before dinner.
Things changed, though.
Suddenly the spontaneous dance sessions they once had turned less frequent, and, instead, spontaneous bursts of arguments between Riley's parents became more of a frequent occurrence.
"Every couple fights, Riley, there's nothing to worry about." Cory, the intelligent and wise history professor, assured back then. But as much as her father knew about the history of civilization, there was very little that he knew about the future of his crumbling marriage.
As much as Cory knew about history, he could only hope the future would have a different outcome.
Despite Topanga and Cory's long history of romance and friendship, nothing could prevent the unexpected twist of the two deciding to "figure things out on their own." However, both Riley's parents assured that this situation was only temporary. The two were attending marriage counseling sessions and they would work out whatever issues they had.
Because love always found a way to resolve itself, Riley thought.
There was not anything as strong as love, and there was nothing as strong as Cory and Topanga's love for each other and for Riley. Riley had hope for everything—especially love. And Riley knew that soon she would be going back to only having one room, not two.
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Like the Back of My Hands (Rilaya)
Fanfiction"There are dreamers and there are realists in this world. You'd think the dreamers would find the dreamers, and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not, the opposite is true. See, the dreamers need the realists to keep them fr...
