whisper | rilaya

the end

Riley POV

"Riley!" My mom yelled with tears forming in her eyes as she runs towards me, engulfing me in a tight hug before I could even take a step into the house.

For the first time in a while, I felt safe again. The way it should feel when I'm at home. "Hey mom" I smiled warmly, rubbing my hand up and down her back trying to comfort her.

Auggie and my dad watched affectionately from behind her. "Does this mean we can watch mr googly eyes on TV again every Friday?" Auggie asked innocently, with wide eyes. His small arms wrapped around my legs, squeezing them for a hug.

"Of course we can buddy, I'm not going anywhere." I promised and ruffled his hair with my free hand before gesturing Dad and Farkle over to join the group hug.

~

6 months later

After hearing the same song in Farkle's car as I did the night of the party, it triggered my memory and suddenly I remembered everything. The vivid memory of him turning the car around roughly and speeding to the police station was still fresh in my mind.

The biggest problem with this whole case was that I was the "only" witness. That was, until we found out that Danielle was there too and was lying through her teeth. After telling the police everything that happened that night, from Danielle drugging me so I would lose my memory to where she hid the weapon and Mason's body, they had enough evidence to arrest her and her dad for good.

I haven't heard anything recently, but apparently the jury found her guilty of murder, and her father for collusion. What really matters is that they're both in jail now, away from any other people that they can do harm to.

"Hey honey!" A familiar voice knocked me out of my thoughts as they ran up from behind me and wrapped their arms around my waist.

I shut my locker door close just in time to be spun around by Maya. "Hi." I giggled, once I was facing her before nuzzling my head into her neck as we hugged.

She pressed a kiss to my forehead and smiled warmly. "Someone's in a good mood today."

Pulling away from the hug, I ran both my hands down either side of her forearms and elbow until our palms were touching. A red blush lingered my checks as I intertwined our fingers together. "I'm just happy, you know? With everything that happened this year, and now it's all over but we're still together. Thank you."

A serious look appeared on Maya's face. We never talk what happened with Mason and Danielle because she knows how upset it made me. But I was ready to move on now. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you when you needed me most. I know we never talked about it and we just acted like nothing ever happened but I still have trouble sleeping at night because of how I reacted when Danielle framed you, and you got arrested." She said sympathetically.

"Maya, I-"

She shook her head, cutting me off. "No, Riley, you don't get it. Out of everybody, I was the only person who believed you when the whole city of New York thought you were guilty. It was me and you against the world. Then I heard that there was new evidence showing that you did it and you'd been taken away. And I don't know what washed over me, but I just gave up on you."

Silence.

I didn't know what to say.

Maya ran a hand through her hair before continuing. "I was at the police station the night you were released, you know."

"What?" I replied, my eyes widening. It was just Farkle there that night when he drove me home.

"Yeah. But when I heard that you were being released, I couldn't bring myself to face you. I felt so guilty about the fact that I didn't fight for you to be released until everyone else thought you were innocent. That's not what you do when you truly love someone."

I gulped, nodding slowly and tried to process everything that she just said to me. Her dark blue eyes stared straight into mine, they were filled with sadness and regret.

After I came home, Maya and I didn't talk for a couple weeks. But then as my life started to become normal again, we fell back into a familiar rhythm and it was like we never left each others' sides.

"I forgive you." My voice came out in cracks and my eyes were beginning to water again, but we both understood what had just happened.

We're in this together. No matter what happens. None of us said it aloud but we knew. My forgiveness was a promise. A promise between the two of us that we would never leave each others' sides again. Maya and I have already been through too much to leave it all behind at this point.

The corners of her pink lips turned up into a faint smile. "Thank you." She whispered before throwing her arms around my neck in a tight embrace. Her short legs moved upwards as she went on her tippy toes to hug me.

If what I went through this past year was what it took for me to find someone like Maya, someone who loved me unconditionally despite my flaws, then maybe it was worth it.

"Come on, let's go to class." She mumbled into the crook of my neck before pressing a soft kiss there. Pulling away, she intertwined our hands together and flashed me her signature smile before tugging me down the halls and towards homeroom.

I'm so in love with this girl.

~

That's a wrap! Thanks so much for reading this book and I really hope you guys liked it. Sorry if the ending seemed rushed. If I'm being honest, I did lose a lot of motivation for this book, but didn't want to leave it without an ending. You guys could probably tell I lost interest in writing it especially as my updates became less and less frequent. I think it was because this book ended up being way to dark than I intended it on being and rilaya kind of ended up in the background. If you've ever read any of my other works (my one shot book or typical) you would know my writing is typically really lighthearted and fluffy. Anyways this was really out of my comfort zone but I'm glad I tried it.

Moving on, I think I'm going to break for a bit and write some one shots, then maybe write another rilaya book but maybe they're in college and it'll be super cute and funny but idk if anyone will read it so if you want to comment and lmk what you would like to see in this new book that'll be super helpful!