3rd Person POV

That day at Topanga's wasn't ever spoken of again, but everyone was fine with that. Farkle just knows that Maya is gone. 

Riley was beaten and worn out after the fight. Lucas called her parents and took her to the hospital for some tests. As far as everyone but Lucas knew, she was hit by a car, but the driver had fled. They all believed it and helped Riley heal. 

The news about the subway incident slowly died down, but not enough. Finally Riley had gone to the news station and told them what had happened, just not entirely truthful. 

"Yes, someone did attack me," she explained, "but I'm not sure if those people just edited those videos and pictures, because there was not a spark or a light or anything unusual. People probably just wanted to hear some interesting news." 

They all had bought it. Who knew how gullible people can be? 

Riley's mom, Bethany, was caught and thrown back in jail, with some extra years added on for escaping. No one was going to see her in a very long time. 

Riley's injuries healed, but still left scars. There was one on her arm, another on her leg, and one on top of her head, which you could barely see. 

Like a good story, everyone got their happy ending. 

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Now Riley Matthews Friar has her head resting on her husband, Lucas' shoulder. She softly smiled while watching her two kids play tag with each other. 

Her and Lucas had a little girl named Rowan Grace. She almost exactly resembled her mom. She had a medium shade brown hair, whose curls bounced every time she walked. Her eyes were a beautiful brown, which always make you smile. 

They also had a little boy named Peyton Avery. He extremely resembled his dad. His dirty blonde hair need a haircut, though. But his eyes were just as green and mesmerizing as his father's. 

Rowan ran up to her parents, out of breath. Riley and Lucas both smiled. Then Rowan looked at her mom's arm, pointed to a long scar, and asked, "Mommy? What's that?" 

Riley at first tensed up, but then relaxed. "That is a scar." she responded. 

"How'd you get it?" Rowan tilted her head with curiosity. 

Riley looked at Lucas, smiled slightly, then looked down. "That is a story that I will tell you when you're older." she said. 

"Oh, okay!" Rowan smiled. She then turned around and skipped towards Peyton to continue their game of tag that she was obviously winning. 

"You know what, Princess?" Lucas asked, looking down at his wife. She turned her head to where her eyes met his. 

"What is it?" she asked, concerned. 

Lucas' smile grew. "We did it." he whispered as he squeezed her. 

Riley smiled and looked down again. "Yeah." she breathed. She lifted her head and met her husband's eyes. "We made it." 

There was a long, comfortable silence between the two. 

"You know," Riley started, laying her head back on Lucas' shoulder, "I really miss her." she said. 

Lucas squeezed her closer to him reassuringly. "I know you do, Princess. Even if she did turn out evil and betrayed you, she was still your best friend. Everyone needs a best friend to lean on. It's really hard, and I know that it hurts, to know that she had betrayed you, but I know that no matter what, she still loved you. She was just hiding that from everyone, including herself." 

"Do you think that she's watching over us?" Riley asked softly. 

"Yeah," he replied, "I think she is." he nodded. 

"I really don't care if she wanted me dead or alive or whatever," she says, "I still love her, and I will always consider her my best friend." 

There was a brief pause when Lucas looked at her. 

"To some people, she might be an evil and heartless murderer," she shook her head, "But to me, she'll always be Maya Penelope Hart; my best friend." 

"And that's okay. But, for now, could I be your best friend?" Lucas playfully asked, causing Riley to laugh. 

"Of course you can, my Prince." she smiled. He quickly pecked her on the lips before jumping up and joining their two children. 

Riley laid her head against a wooden pillar and sighed. 

Even if life had pushed her off the edge, she had taught herself how to fly; with the help of some very important people. At first she was scared, bracing herself for the bottom of the cliff that she had fallen off of. But it never came. She was scared of what was lurking down there. She did not want to ever meet the ground, yet she did. And when she did, there was nothing there but her pain. 

She then had fallen again, but this time was different. 

She was much ready for her landing, and she was itching to see what was down at the bottom awaiting her arrival. She wanted to fall faster and faster, but all she did was fall slowly. She learned to be patient, and she taught herself how to fly.

She could've flown away from that hole, but she didn't. There was this force that was pulling her towards the bottom like a magnet. She flew faster and faster, but nothing seemed to happen. She really didn't like falling faster and faster because she didn't understand it. 

Finally, she saw a light. It was far, but not that far. 

Actually, it was quite far. 

She felt as if the closer she got, the farther she became. 

She is still falling. 

She hasn't found the ground just yet. 

But she will soon, trust me. 

Riley smiled as she watched her two kids tackle her husband as he fell over purposely. This is her family. These are the people that she is going to lean on for the rest of her life. 

She knew that she didn't have everything figured out, but she knew that that was okay. All she needed was the people she loves, and she could do anything she wanted. 

She lightly grazed her fingers over the scar on her arm. 

She had fought many battles, and lost a good share. But, it didn't matter how many battles she had won or lost; because all that mattered was that she had won the war. 

She would keep falling slowly and keep learning. She would keep the people she loved close to her. She would fight more battles, and win more wars. It's just life. 

Life just wouldn't let her fall any faster. 

But that's okay. 

She really didn't like falling faster. 

All she wanted to do was to continue 

falling slowly. 

A/N 

So, there you go! 

Thank you all for supporting me with these two books, and thank you for reading from chapter one. Y'all are awesome! 

I am going to start on a new book asap - hopefully I'll have a couple parts up tomorrow - and it's going to be called "Model." The main character is going to be Rowan Blanchard, and I can't wait to see what you guys think of it! So just make sure to keep an eye out for that book. 

So, this is the end of the Falling Slowly and Falling Faster duet. I hope you guys liked it as much as I loved writing it! Love you guys! 

Oh, and always remember, "It's okay to be falling slowly because that's when we learn the most." 

XOXO <3