Chapter Text

Chapter one: He broke her heart.

And there he was, breaking the heart of a little blonde girl who just wanted to be with him, no matter what. This girl he has known for so long yet he didn't know her too well. 

Still, he liked her. 

Always has, always will. He was pretty sure about that but would she still like him after everything?

What did she expect him to say? He was a sixteen year old boy who still didn't know how to talk to girls properly, especially not to her.

She was just a thirteen year old girl who had a huge crush and didn't even try to hide it. She was really confident, even back then. Something he has been admiring since he got to know her.

This is the reason why it was so hard to break her heart.

He liked her back.

"Maya, you know we can't be together."

Her happy face faded into an expression she had almost everyday. The hurt in her eyes, the corner of her mouth dropping. Feeling like she's never enough for anyone or anything, no matter what she does or doesn't do. Everyone leaves and she's the only one who stays.

Why couldn't she be enough for at least one time?

Couldn't be enough for him?

"I'm sorry, Josh."

"Why are you sorry, Maya?"

"Because I'm not enough for you..."

She ran away, crying. That day was definitely one of the worst days in his life. He broke two hearts at once, not just hers but his too. This hurt look on her face will haunt him forever, knowing he was the one who caused it. He would have loved to be with her but how is he supposed to be in a relationship with a girl who's three years younger than him at this state?

Since this day he has seen her only a couple times a year. Never really spoke to her, they only said "Hello" really arkward to each other and after that, tried to avoid the other. 

He still likes her, that's for sure.

But does she still like him?

After all this time, how can it be that this beautiful blonde girl still runs through his mind everyday at anytime? Whenever a girl liked Josh and tried to be sweet to him, he always thought of Maya and said he "already has someone waiting for him." 

He still does it. 

Now that he's been in college for almost a year a lot has changed. He sees Maya way more often now that he's in New York too and since she's a lot with Riley, she's there almost every time when he comes to visit his older brother and family.

She doesn't  ignore him anymore, it's more like she doesn't even see him. Like he doesn't exist to her which hurts him really bad. Although he can't blame her. First, he broke her heart, then he ignores her even though she's important to him. 

Has she done the same to him? She just tries to protect herself from another heartbreak 'cause she had to live through these way too often. He was just another heartbreak in her already miserable life. She knows, why he did that but it still hurt. Certainly she wouldn't blame him for hurting her. He was just doing what's right, she knows. 

Mainly because she still likes him.

However, he ignored her so she ignored him. They both still do that but they also know that this isn't the right way.

They need to talk.

There are so many things Josh would like to say to Maya and Maya has a lot of things she wants to tell Josh. First, they need to talk properly to each other - no avoiding, no ignoring, no changing the subject.

Will they be ready?

Probably never but the universe has already planned something for them. If they like it or not - They will meet again, they just don't know it yet.

Chapter Text

Chapter two: Stupid love

"Damn it!"

It is 7 AM as Maya wakes up and realizes that she has slept in. Qickly she's on her feet, on the way into the bathroom and quickly back in her bedroom. She tries to find something that she can wear to school but gets interrupted by a knock on her door. 

"Ugh, yes?!" Her door opens and as soon as Katy enters her daughters bedroom, she starts grumbling.

"Can you be nicer next time?"

"I'm sorry, mum. It's just that I slept in and I need to get ready real quick for school."

"Alright. It's already pretty warm outside so make sure to wear something properly, honey."

Summer. A wonderful time where it is warm outside and you don't need to wear a jacket. Maya hates the summer though. Too much sun and way too many people outside.

"I will, thanks," Before her mother leaves, she turnes around confused.

"Since when do you care about being on time for school?" Katy smiles widely because she isn't sure, if this girl standing in front of her, really is her daughter Maya anymore.

"Funny, I can read your thoughts, mum. For the record, I am still Maya and I want to be on time because I want to have at least a minute to talk to Riley before her oh so wonderful Boyfriend Rangerrick shows up just so she can ignore me for the rest of the day."

Since Riley Matthews started dating Lucas Friar, she only had eyes for him. Whenever Maya gets a chance to talk to Riley, she can listen about all the great things Lucas does for Riley and what a wonderful boyfriend he is. Then Riley wants to know why Maya still has no boyfriend or at least a love interest but before Maya can answer, Riley is already gone in her thoughts about Lucas and his story about how he once helped a bird, who was hurt and couldn't fly properly. Every single time he tells this story and Maya gets bored a little more, everytime she has to hear it.

Even though Maya said this in a funny way, Katy knows how hurt her daughter is about the way her best friend acts. Sure, it hurts. Katy knows that feeling all too well.

"You know, maybe you should talk to her about the way you feel. Of course, Riley is happy. It's her first relationship after all and her and Lucas have been through some majorly trouble before they could be officially together."

Maya sighed, remembering all the bad things happening to the both of them just because they wanted to go out. Cory kind of flipped and interrogated Lucas for whole two hours just because he wanted to take Riley to the movies. Farkle was pretty hurt after hearing that Riley likes Lucas because Farkle always had a thing for Riley and then he knew for sure, that he would never have a chance with her. Zay talked hours and hours with Lucas about dating and if he'd be ready for this with Riley because of his past in Texas, where relationships weren't his thing at all. And on top of all of that, Maya thought, she has feelings for Lucas too. 

Then the real storm happened.

Lucas felt insecure about his feelings towards Riley after hearing that Maya might like him. 

At the beginning it seemed like Lucas was attracted to Maya. He always wanted to make her laugh, see her happy, spend a lot of time with her... Then, Riley was already hurt, knowing that she can't compete with Maya when it comes to boys. Usually she didn't care that much but this... This was different.

It was about Lucas. 

A guy, she met by accident. Or was it fate?

Riley made her decision. She didn't want to care that much about fate anymore. Normally, she thought that nothing happens randomly. Everything has a reason.

Everything.

So this has to have a reason too. But was it a good one? She didn't know nor did she care. Maya deserves happiness in her life. So, if Lucas is the happiness for Mayas life, then so be it. Not, that Riley could change anything about it. Even though it hurt her, she wanted Maya to be happy. Maya always does everything just so Riley can be happy. Now it was time for her to return this favor.

Riley backed off.

Maya and Lucas  went on a date.

Both had a good time with talking and all but knew that this wasn't what they want. They're better as friends, Riley is the one for him. At first, Riley couldn't believe this huge mess they've created all by themselves. Lucas blew her off just because he thought that he might have a chance with Maya and then, after he realized that this wouldn't work out, he comes crawling back to her. 

Was he for real?!

Riley was beyond mad. Furious. Angry. But mostly dissappointed. She felt like a back up plan that Lucas wants to use just because his real plan didn't work out the way he wanted to. 

It never does, does it?

"You and Riley are inseparably. There's nothing that could divide you two because you function like one person. Don't let this break you two apart, okay? Not because of some stupid boy."

Both, mother and daughter, laugh after realizing how ridiculous this sounds. Katy walks over to Maya and plants a soft kiss on top of her head.

"Thanks, mumsy."

"Maya!"

"Hey, Riles. Still remember me?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I remember my best friend?"

"Uh, look, can we talk later?"

"About what?"

"Well, you see, I kind of feel like you-"

"Lucas! Hey, over here!"

"-have forgotten me..." Maya knows that she has no chance to talk to her now. It takes her everything she owns on self-control to not snatch Riley away from her boyfriend just so they could talk this out. At the beginning, Maya thought that she wants to be with Lucas. Now she wants to puke whenever she thinks about that.

Lucas and Riley kiss each other, which makes Maya feeling kinda uncomfortable so she just walks into the huge school building, not bothering to tell them that she already goes inside. They wouldn't hear her anyways nor would they care.

Mr. Matthews is already there, waiting for the bell to ring so the rest of his students would enter the classroom. Maya greets him kindly which leads to him lifting up his head.

"Hey, Maya. Where's Riley?" She sits down in her usual seat and then replies to Mr. Matthews.

"She's outside."

She pauses.

"With Lucas." That's it. Cory stands up quickly and leaves the classroom, making his way to the front of the school where he can already see his sixteen year old daughter, kissing her boyfriend. Maya starts laughing because she already knew this would happen. 

It happens every single time.

The classroom she's currently in isn't that far away from the entrance of the school, which is why she could listen so easily to Mr. Matthews screaming at the two teenagers, who just broke the "No PDA at school" rule.

Like always, class proceeds slowly and boring. Maya doesn't even try to listen to the things, Mr. Matthews says about some policital thing that has happened like fifty years ago. She doesn't care anyways and she definitely won't need it for her future life. After what seems like forever, the bell finally rings. Everyone packs away his stuff quickly before leaving the classroom. Maya and her friends are the last to leave. Cory looks after Riley and Lucas, giving them a look they just know too well.

If you hurt my daughter, I'm gonna come for you - look.

Both walk faster and head towards the cafeteria for lunch. Maya stays behind, walking next to Farkle who listens to his Isadora, talking about some science stuff. 

Farkle Minkus and Isadora Smackle are dating. Shocking for most people but then not so shocking after all. It was obvious. 

These two went from being rivals to being lovers.

Sure, Maya is happy for them. Especially for Farkle because he has finally moved on from Riley and couldn't be happier with Isadora. Both are total science - freaks, so they always have something to talk about, like the latest documentation about chemistry they watched together.

It's the same as with Lucas and Riley.

Maya feels left behind.

"Maya!" She turns around, meeting Zay.

"What's up, Zay?"

"Look, I don't mean to be rude but I wanted to ask you if it would be okay, if Vanessa takes your seat in the cafeteria?"

Seriously?!

Since three whole weeks Zay Babineaux is dating the girl of his dreams - Vanessa. 

She's from Texas too, where they already had a relationship with each other for two whole years. Unfortunately, after Zay announced that he moves to New York, she ended their relationship and cut him out of her life. Now, a year later, she texted him and they texted for a few months. Then she told Zay, that she will be attending high school with him because she's moving to New York too.  Since three weeks she's here and since three weeks they've been dating. Altough his friends are convinced that they've started dating again a lot sooner than they've told them.

Today's Vanessas' first day at school, even though it was supposed to be yesterday but for some reason she couldn't make it, so they moved it to a day after the original date.

Maya was about to lose it.

Just like in class, they all have their usual seat for lunch and now Zay's asking her to give away her usual seat, like she's getting replaced.

Maybe it isn't a big deal in Zays eyes but it is in hers.

Maya already feels like she's been replaced.

And now this.

She just stares at him in disbelief, holding her breath. He waits for an answer but Maya can't seem to form a reasonable thought through all the anger that's rising through her body, making her blood boil.

"So I'll just take that as a 'yes'. Thanks, blondie," with a big smile plastered to his face, he runs into the cafeteria where the others are already sitting at their usual table in their usual order:

Isadora, next to her sits Farkle, then Zay. Across from them are sitting Riley and Lucas. Maya always sits at the head of the table.

Now this seat is empty. 

She just stands their, deciding whether she should just go into the cafeteria, sitting down at her usual place before Vanessa appears, or if she should go inside and take the empty place next to Lucas. 

No one ever sits there.  Zay just wants his girlfriend sitting next to him. 

Maya decides to stay out of the cafeteria. They probably won't even notice that she isn't there. She watches as Vanessa enters the huge room, crowded with hungry students, walking into it like she owns this place. They all greet her and she just sits down on Mayas' place. She doesn't even ask, if it's taken.

She just sits down like she's been here since forever.

Maya curls up her fists, trying to calm herself down before she does something she knows she'll regret later.  It takes two minutes, lots of deep breaths and more curling up her fists 'til she's at least a little more in control of her feelings than before.

One last look at her so called friends, then she walks off. She has enough so she walks to her locker, opening it and looking at some pictures of her and her 'friends' she hung up there some time ago.  Anger rises inside of her again so she quickly grabs her sketchbook along with a pencil and slams the door of her locker shut, not caring if a teacher comes along who would only scream at her for doing that. Even if someone screams at her.

It wouldn't be the first time.

She sinks down until she sits on the ground, her back leaning against the lockers along with her head. Thinking about the pictures she saw some seconds ago, she flips some pages in her sketchbook until she finds a blank page and starts drawing.

A little bird, flying through the universe.

"It doesn't matter which size you are. This world will always be too big for you." She writes down underneath her little sketch.

The bell echoes through the empty halls and snatches Maya out of her thoughts. The next class will start soon so she stands up and puts away her stuff. Soon a lot of students fill the hall, which was empty just seconds ago. It gets loud and as fast as these students filled the hall with their voices, as fast it is all gone and the hall is now empty again.

Silence.

Maya enters the classroom for her next class:

Art.

Her favourite subject at school.  Generally her favourite thing in the world.

Maya chooses to finally have a talk with Riley. Just as she decides to do so, Riley enters the classroom but she's tied into a conversation with Vanessa.

Of course it's Vanessa. Who else would it be?

They both walk to an still empty table and sit down next to each other, acting like Maya doesn't even exist.

Now she definitely feels left behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Coffee again? How many did you have today, man?" Josh takes a deep breath, already annoyed by his roommate Andrew, his long life best friend back in Philly.

"Don't know, don't care," Josh continues fixing up his cup with fresh, hot coffee, then returns to his table where some single papers lay around. Every single one has to do with some unfinished college stuff he still needs to finish 'til the end of the week. 

Coffee. Something, Josh started drinking a lot since he started NYU. Almost every night he stays awake to finish his work. It's just never perfect, never reaches his expectations, not even a little. 

A perfectionist. 

That's what everybody calls him here.

Josh rubs his eyes, yawning a little which catches Andrews attention again.

"When have you slept the last time?"

"Last night," Josh replies casually, like it's an obvious answer.

"I mean real sleep."

"I don't know. Probably last year, as I wasn't a freshman at NYU," he replies with a grin but Andrew doesn't seem to find this funny in any way.

"Dude, that's not healthy. You need to sleep, right now!"

"I'm sorry?! You're not my father, you can't tell me anything."

"Josh..."

"No, seriously. Stop it, dude. I can take care of my own, okay?" Andrew doesn't say anything. He senses how tense Josh reacts. Probably because of his lack of sleep. 

"I'm gonna go now. I have a date with Jasmine so 'til later," after Andrew leaves and closes the door behind him, Josh sighs in frustration. He feels so bad for snarking at his friend who's just worried. He hates causing these sorrows for his friend. Of course Josh knows how unhealthy this is. It's just that he can't change how things are right now. He wants his essays to be perfect, even better than that.

He needs a break.

Luckily, when this week ends, summer break starts which means six long weeks without any essays, school books or closing deadline. 
Just chilling around, sleeping in, spending time with his family.

Family.

At the weekend he had visited his brother Cory and Topanga (Corys' Wife), even played with Auggie again. Sadly, he didn't see Riley. She was busy shopping with...

Maya.

It was her birthday.

The blonde girl who's always stuck in his mind. Maybe that's why he's working so much on all of his essays. He wants to distract himself from all of these thoughts about this wonderful girl he'll never have.

Or will he?

No, not after he hurt her so bad. 

Josh gets up, clearly in the need of a walk outside on campus. Some fresh air will help to clear his thoughts. Hopefully.

She's really amazing. Like really, really amazing. It is okay for him that she chose to ignore him. 

All these years... Whenever they saw each other, she would look away quickly. He thought that it was kind of adorable how she tried to avoid his gaze. He pretended to ignore her too. 

He never did ignore her for real.

How could he ignore this beautiful, little angel? The real question is how he could ever hurt this angel... his angel.

Finally, he allows himself to let his thoughts run. He allows himself to think about Maya Hart, a girl he still really likes. Maybe even loves? Everyday, Josh tries to convince himself that Maya Hart hates him but does he only do this because he hopes that in that way, his feelings towards her fade away? He tries but he failes.

Every. Single. Time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Hello? Mum?"

No answer. 

Maya enters the apartment her and her mother live in.

No one's at home. 

She enters the kitchen to get something to drink. On the counter, Maya sees a note.

"Hey, little Butterfly. Today's my shift longer than usual. 

I'll be at home around 12 p.m. Made some food for you. It's in the fridge.

love you,

Mum" 

"Great," Maya whispers to herself, annoyed. She drinks some orange juice, then grabs her bag and makes her way into her room. She throws her bag away, it lands on her chair which causes a jacket to fall onto the ground. Maya sighs in frustration and picks up her black leather jacket. Katy bought Maya this leather jacket as a present for her 17th Birthday. 

Maya takes out her phone and throws herself onto bed. She scrolls through different apps. No new messages.

She lays down her phone beside her and turns around, her back facing the door. She looks outside her window, seeing some birds flying through the world outside. Then she closes her eyes, trying to forget these horrible things that happened today. Slowly she drifts off into a peaceful sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

This walk hasn't changed a damn thing.

At least now he knows that he can't change the way he feels about Maya Hart.

He enters his dorm room, Andrew's nowhere to be seen. Josh looks around, seeing these still unfinished papers lying around. He sighs, then decides to just lay in his bed. His thoughts are still running, mostly it's about Maya.

Who is he trying to fool? It's always about Maya.

Some time later the door opens and Andrew enters the room, surprised seeing Josh laying in bed instead of sitting at his table, working on some essays.

"Hey, man." Josh sits up quickly, ready to apologize for his behaviour earlier.

"Hey. Look, I wanted to apologize, I know you're just trying to help but I am not that great at receiving advice from other people," Andrew starts grinning and breathes out a laugh.

"Yeah, you're really bad at this," both boys start laughing, knowing that everything's fine between them.

"So, you're up for a party, Matthews?" Josh looks up with a confused face, trying to see, if Andrew really meant what he just asked.

"Since when am I in the mood for college partys?" Andrew starts laughing again, clapping Josh on his back.

"Oh man. You're still so boring."

"What?! I am NOT boring!" Josh exclaims while standing up pretty fast, looking shocked at his best friend. He just shakes his head while smiling widely. 

"Then come with me to this party," he suggests while standing up too. Before Josh can answer, Andrew walks to his closet, already picking an outfit for later. Josh fights with his inner self, which screams at him not to go but right now, Josh doesn't care about being sensible. He just wants to avoid his feelings for at least one night. 

"Sure, okay. I'll go but no alcohol!" he points at Andrew, who turns around, raising one of his eyebrows.

"You aren't serious, are you? You can't go to a college party and don't drink."

"Well, I can."

"We'll see." he turns back around, picking clothes up while Josh just looks kind of unsure, if it was a good idea to say yes after all. "We'll go at eight o'clock."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Would it be different, if I had a boyfriend?

Maya wakes up, thinking about this question. She had a dream about chilling with her friends and her... boyfriend?

They were laughing, just having a good time with each other and Maya was a part of this. She had a boyfriend but it's more about the person, she gave her heart than spending time with her friends.

It was Josh.

Joshua Matthews was her boyfriend.

Why the hell would she dream about having Joshua Matthews as her boyfriend?!

Her eyes widened.

"This can't happen."

Maya whispers to herself after realizing, that her dream was mostly about her feelings towards this handsome boy, she thought she had buried a long time ago. Seems like she didn't. Maya feels overwhelmed right now. 

Why now?

Why at all?

Usually she would send Riley a message because Maya is in desperate need for a talk. Sadly, this isn't an option. Also it would be really weird to talk to her about this issue because Josh is Rileys' uncle. Then an idea pops into her head - She could text her college friends. Maybe Rachel and Ally can help her.

It's kind of a funny story how these friendships originated. 

Maya was sneaking around at NYU. It was one of these emotional moments, where jealousy took over her and she got scared that Josh might have found a girlfriend at college. So she went to this college and looked for Josh but instead she found these two girls - Rachel and Ally. Well, they found her. Maya saw Josh talking to a really pretty girl, so she sat on a bench under a tree and cried. Her feelings were pretty messed up at this moment. It had nothing to do with the fact that she hoped, Josh would reciprocate her feelings somehow.

She always tells herself that, hoping it becomes true one day. Deep down she knows the truth but she just can't accept the fact that she still likes him. 

Still hopes.

Anyways, Rachel and Ally found her there, completely heartbroken because of a boy, she will never have. They asked her, if she's okay. Mayas' currently state made her saying 'no' and these girls sat down next to her, trying to comfort her. She started talking about a guy she'll never have and they immediately understood her problem and her feelings. Both made her laugh with some stupid jokes, then they ate ice cream together and talked about more stuff, like their favourite movies, food, clothes, and about hobbys.

As they asked her, if they need to bring her back to her dorm, she told them the truth about being in highschool and sneaking into college. They thought, that she was pretty cool so they exchanged numbers and ever since they text messaged each other.

Now Maya feels like hanging out with them. She could need some cheering up and these two know how. 

Maya: Hey Rachel, you and Ally free today?

Maya hopes, she'll reply real soon. While waiting, she decides to make herself something to eat. In the refrigerator she finds a meal, her mom has prepared for her to eat. Maya takes out the plate and places it inside of the microwave. Her smartphone makes a sound and she runs into her room, picks it up and sees a new text message from Rachel.

Rachel: YES, MAYA! Good to hear from you! Of course we're free and we'd like to see you again!

Maya: Awesome! I'm in desperate need for a talk.

Rachel: Oh no. Did someone hurt you?! We're gonna punch him, whoever it is!

Maya: Don't  worry. It's nothing like that, really.

Rachel: Good.  How about seven? Ally and I will go to a party here at college. You should tag along with us!

Maya would like to go but she knows how furious her mother will get. Well, she doesn't need to know. A mischievous grin forms itself on Mayas face as she starts typing again.

Maya: Of course  I'll come with ya, guys!

Rachel: Awesome! We can't wait!

Maya: Me neither!

Just as she sends her text message, the microwave rings, indicating that her food is ready. Maya runs back into the kitchen and grabs her food. First she places it back onto the counter, then hops on the counter and starts eating. After that, she searches through her wardrobe, looking for a perfect outfit. She can't wait for the party and even though it is at NYU, she's confident about not seeing Josh.

He never goes to any partys.

She leaves around quarter past six in her outfit and with her bag. Maya has her phone with her, a charger, her sketchbook and some clothes if she needs to change. She feels pretty confident with her outfit. Today she was feeling like she needs some confident boost which is why she decided to go for badass - a white shirt with a black skinny jeans and her favourite black combat boots. On top of that she wears a chain on the right side of her jeans and her black leather jacket. Her hair is falling down in soft waves. It's been a while since she felt this good about her clothes, which is why she smiles the whole way to the subway. After some minutes the subway arrives and Maya steps into the cabin, where she finds some empty seats so she takes one. 

Soon she should be there, only two stations left. At the second to last station, two boys enter the cabin she's in. They're probably some college students, Maya thinks. One of them sees her and starts smiling before he elbows his friend and nods at her. Now both are staring at her and Maya feels pretty uncomfortable so she continues to look out of the window. The subway stops and Maya reads "Eight street" on the sign so she qickly gets up and walks out of the subway. It isn't as crowded, as she thought it would be so Maya can walk through the streets without a problem. Behind her, she hears some voices. 

Two of them.

Probably these boys who kept staring at her. 

She walks a little faster, happy to see that she's on time as she reaches NYU. It's almost seven so she texts Rachel:

Maya: I'm here.

Rachel: Great! We'll be down in a sec.

Maya: Alright.

Shortly after the messages, Maya can see Rachel and Ally running up to her.

"MAYA!!" both girls scream, earning some annoyed side glances from other students.

"Hey, girls!" the three girls hug each other tight for a few minutes before they let go of each other. Rachel and Ally look Maya up and down while nodding with a smile.

"You look great, May," Ally says happy, using her nickname for Maya. 

"Thanks, Al."

"Yeah, you look like you're at our age," they start laughing about Rachels' comment while Rachel walks up next to Maya and Ally takes the other side. Then they link arms with each other and start walking towards the entrance. 

Shortly after they show up at Rachels and Allys dorm room, behind them they close the door and start squealing. Maya looks at them surprised.

Are they really that happy to see her?

"Okay, it is so great to have you here, Maya! Ally and I still need to get ready for the party. So while we do that, why don't you tell us what's bothering you?"

"Well..." Maya has a lot to tell.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Ugh, why did I even agree to this?!" Andrew laughs at how Josh tries to figure out what to wear for the party.

"Oh, man... You suck at this."

"Thank you, I didn't know that," Josh replies in a sarcastic tone. He's already freaking out and they aren't even at the party yet.

"I think you need some help," Andrew stands up, walking towards Josh who has made a complete mess out of his closet. Josh sits down on his bed, completely frustrated.

"Here," it took him only a few minutes to find some clothing Josh can wear. Andrew throws it at Josh, who just stares at him surprised.

"What's this?"

"It's your outfit, man. A white T-Shirt, combined with a black jeans and I found some black combat boots. Oh, and this."

"My leather jacket?" it is a black leather jacket he hasn't worn in months. Josh stands up and walks into the bathroom to get changed. As he leaves the bathroom some minutes later, Andrew sighs.

"What?"

"You made your hair."

"Yes. I always do that," Andrew sighes again, then he takes a step towards his best friend and roommate just to mess up his hair . 

"Hey!"

"Stop crying like a baby and let me help you. If you want to impress the girls you-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Who says I want to impress girls?" Andrew raises his eyebrows.

"Do you want to impress guys?"

"What? No! God, Andrew."

"Sorry. What is it then? The only goal every guy has on a party is to get laid."

"Yeah, well, I am not like other guys."

"Oh, right. Now I remember. You're still waiting for this blonde chick. What was her name again? Maya?"

"Hey! Don't talk about her like that!" Josh sighs in frustration and tries to calm down. He's angry.

"Woah, you mean it. You're serious about her."

"Of course I am. It's just...-"

"Complicated? Yeah, I know. You say that every damn time," Josh chuckles lightly, remembering some conversations with Andrew where they talked about Maya.

"Alright, guess it's time for the party. You need distraction. Maybe we'll find a cute girl for you. Someone better than 'your' girl." Josh didn't say anything. He was already lost in his thoughts about a certain blonde he'd like to hold in his arms right now. There is no girl in the world who could compete with her.

No one can beat Maya Hart.

Chapter Text

Chapter three: Just drink you sorrows away

"Here we are!" Rachel screams over the loud music.

Here she is. Maya is at a college party. It isn't the first time. She used to sneak out  a lot just so she could have some fun at a college party, where she could get drunk and no one would disturb her peace. At least for a few hours she wants to forget all her pain. 

"I'll get us something to drink," Ally makes her way to a table, loaded with food and alcohol. Rachel stays with Maya to make sure nothing happens.

"Ally and I will take care of you, promise."

"Thanks, Rachel. I appreciate it but I can take care of myself."

"Still. You don't know these people here. Be careful." Maya just nodded while looking around. She sees a lot of already drunk students, dancing, touching each other, singing to an awful pop song Maya doesn't like. Some are standing on the sides, talking to each other or trying to support each other so they don't fall onto the ground. Ally comes back with drinks and hands one to Maya. She gladly takes it and starts drinking immediately.

"Woah, slow down, girl." Rachel and Ally start laughing and soon Maya joins them in their fit of laughter. A few minutes later Rachel disappears onto the crowded dance floor and hugs someone. Ally looks around and sees some friends from her science class.

"Hey, Maya, is it okay, if I leave you alone for a few minutes?"

"Sure. Have fun."

"Thank you!" And within seconds Ally is gone. Maya is all alone again. Sure, she's in a room full of people but she still feels alone. 

Looking around at all these people she doesn't know, makes her feel even more lonely. Rachel and Ally are out of reach. She can't see them.  Not one familiar face... until...

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Maya says out loud which doesn't bother her because no one could hear what she just said. The music is too loud and these people are too drunk anyways.

What is Joshua Matthews doing at a college party?

She almost let go of her drink. Desperately she tries to find Rachel and Ally but it's like both are gone. They aren't there.

As she turns her head again, looking at the place where she had seen him before, her eyes widen.

"Fuck."

He looks at her too.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"It can't be her. 

Probably the alcohol is trying to prank me, why did I even drink?!

 It has to be a joke.

There's no way in the world that she's here right now. 

She's so pretty, no beautiful... no...

There isn't a word that fits to describe her beauty. We are wearing similar outfits.

Guess, we aren't as different as I thought."

Josh can't think of a right way to react right now. Mostly because of the alcohol level he has already reached but also because of her.She's always in his mind and now she stands there for real. How bad he just wants to run up to her and spin her around while holding her, hearing her cute laugh...

He smiles.

Josh looks into her eyes and he smiles.

This is the alcohol doing. Otherwise he wouldn't have that much confidence, especially not in front of a girl.

Maya still looks uneasy which makes him nervous but he keeps smiling.

He has to do something.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

This is not good. Maya wanted to forget him and now they're looking at each other.

He has this handsome smile she loves so much. She can't help but to smile back. 

Even though there's some distance between them, Maya can see how he relaxes a little after she starts smiling too.

She needs more alcohol. 

For a second it looks like Josh wants to walk towards her but then a guy appears next to him and drags him away. Josh looks at her with an apologetic look before he's completely out of her sight. Her smile fades away. 

Quickly she drinks the rest of alcohol that's left in her cup, feeling how it floats down her throat. Then she walks towards the table with food and all and fills up her cup again. A part of her hopes that Josh was just an illusion but the other part of her hopes that he was real. She's so busy with her own thoughts and all that she doesn't notice two boys who have been staring at her since she entered the party.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Andrew, what the hell?!" Josh is furious. His best friend just ruined a wonderful moment, Josh has been dreaming about for some time. 

"What? I found a girl for you. She's blonde and she loves art. Perfect for you!"

"I don't want another girl!" some people around look at them and Josh just hopes that Maya doesn't hear anything.

"What' you mean, dude? She's just.. like... her," Andrew is already drunk and slurs some of his words while pointing at something behind Josh, who's too busy with being angry at his best friend.

"No! You just don't get it. I don't want any of these girls around here. I just want her. I only want-"

"Who?" Josh turns around, ready to punch whoever interrupts his conversation in the face.

"Not now, Maya." He turns around, back to Andrew. Within a few seconds again. "Maya?!"

"Who do you want, Josh?" both are clearly drunk. Usually, Josh doesn't get so mad and Maya wouldn't just ask Josh a question like that. She heard the conversation.

"Maya..." he looks at her. There's this look on her face again. 

Just like four years ago. 

It still haunts him to this day. 

Hurt in her eyes but it's different. She still tries to look brave in front of him. She tries but failes.

Maya takes a few steps until she stands in front of him. Looking him into his beautiful blue eyes where she sees insecurity, worry but also... something else.

Could it be love?

"Answer my question, Boing." Josh gets more nervous by the second. Here he is, looking into the eyes of a girl - not just any girl, the girl he wants to be his - and even with all this alcohol inside of his body, he still refuses to tell her the truth. Maya scoffs at him, not believing him right now. 

He likes a girl and can't tell her who it is.

Maya turns around fast, leaving this conversation. With Josh screaming her name behind her, she keeps walking. Everything is a blur to her. 

The music.

The people. 

All of her surroundings become unclear.

She just keeps walking until a hand grabs her wrist, turning her around and stopping her from walking any further.

Josh.

"Maya-"

"What do you want, Joshua?!" he startles because of her harsh tone he has never heard before. She doesn't call him 'Boing', like always. She uses his name. His real name.

"Little Ferret-"

"No! Do NOT call me that!"

"Maya, I am sorry-" she scoffs again. He can see how the anger in her rises.

"For what? For not being brave enough to tell me which girl you want so badly?! Look, I already know that you don't see me in that way. You told me four years ago, I know that I'm not enough for you and never will be and I'm sorry for feeling this way but I still like you like that, probably even more and I hate myself for still wanting a relationship that's never gonna happen because, like I said, you don't like me like that and that's okay."

Joshs' heart is breaking at her words. 

She still thinks, she's not enough.

She still thinks, that's the reason why they aren't together.

She still thinks that he doesn't like her back.

But mostly, she still likes him after all this time. 

"It is okay, I can live with that but please be an adult and tell me who you want. I want to be able to talk to you properly, I don't wanna ignore you anymore, I never did anyways. I mean, how could I ignore you?!"

Josh can't talk. He's speechless. He just wants to scream that she's the one he wants. So badly but he can't. He still can't tell her.

"Doesn't look like you're gonna talk so please let go of my wrist." 

He doesn't move.

"Josh, let go of my wrist!" he looks into her eyes, staring back at him. Pure anger burns like fire in her ocean blue eyes. He can't do anything to make her stay right now. He takes back his hand.

"Where are you going?!" he manages to ask her. Even though she's mad at him, he still wants to make sure that she's save. 

He still cares about her.

More than ever.

"I'm gonna drown my sorrows in alcohol. Now, if you'll excuse me?!" she turns around, making her way through the crowded room to the alcohol. All he wants to do is to get more drunk just so he can forget all this shit. 

Forget her.

"Josh, are you okay?" he hears his friend asking. 

"Couldn't be better," Josh mutters, not believing himself. He's far from fine. He's not even near of being okay.

"Drew, I need more to drink." Andrew hands over his cup filled with pure alcohol and Josh immediately takes some.

This is not how he imagined this night at all.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Unbelievable.

Maya was beyond mad. Probably the reason for her fast drinking, her throat already burnes but she can't stop. Her thoughts are still clear and she desperately wants to change that. It's been like ten minutes since she stands there, drowning her sorrows in alcohol, hoping they just gonna go away. After one last dram, Maya goes onto the dance floor. Immediately she starts dancing and feels a little better, even though she doesn't like the song that much. Through all this drama, Maya lost track of time but it feels like forever since she started dancing to some pop songs she doesn't like. While dancing, the alcohol she drank seems to take its effect on her - not only her body, her mind too. She can't think straight and she's not the only one seeing that.

Josh sees it too.

Sure, he's drunk but he hasn't stop staring at her since she run away from him. His gaze is completely focused on her and only her. He can't believe that he broke her heart again - twice this time. Even after she confessed her feelings - again. 

"Nice job, Matthews. You're a completely dumbass."

Maya doesn't notice him staring at her. She focuses on herself, on her dancing. 

Josh can't help but to smile while watching her dance. She's just so beautiful and he could watch her all day. He would never get tired of seeing her face, looking at her. Mayas feet are hurting so she decides to take a break. Just as she exits the huge crowd, Ally runs up to her.

"Maya! You're still aliiiiiive."

She's clearly drunk too.

"Allllyyyyy!" both girls fall into each others arms like they hadn't seen each other just an hour ago. As they let go of each other, they start giggeling in a high pitched voice. For some minutes the giggeling continues and after they catch their breath again, Ally speaks up.

"So, May... There was suume cuuute guy who asked 'bout yuuu."

"What do you mean, Al?"

"Well... I need to remember. Give me some seconds." Maya starts laughing as her friend poses arkwardly, pretending to think. 

"Oh, yeah.. He asked who this hot blonde girl is, who entered thisss party with us." Ally throws her hands in the air, gesturing to the party around them. Maya can't keep herself from laughing as she watches her friend. 

"You okay there?"

"Sssure, I'm fine!" a few giggles escape Mayas mouth before she asks, "Soooo, which guy? Shooow meeeee!" Maya exclaims excited and pleeding like a little kid begging for ice cream. 

"Alrriiight, let's goo. I can already tell ya, he was cuteee."

"Ya think, you remember him, sweety?"

"Pfff, sure." Ally takes Maya by the hand and drags her back into the huge crowd consisting of drunk college students. It only takes a few minutes until Ally sees a guy standing at one of the tables with some other guy which leads to her screaming, "THERE!" she points at the guy who stands on the right side.

"This is the guy, I told ya 'bout, May. HEY, you over there!!" Ally starts shouting at him just to get his attention. Maya's shocked. Despite of all of this alcohol, she can recognize this boy. He's one of these two boys who stared at her in the subway today. Sadly, Ally grabs his attention and as he sees her and the blonde, he's been asking about standing next to her, he starts grinning and walks towards them.

"Why did you do this, Ally?!" Maya shouts at her friend, who's pretty offended by her tone.

"Excuse moi?! He's a reaaally handsome guy and he liiiikes you. I already hear the wedding bells, May!"

"Is she serious?! The only one I want to marry is Josh. No, stop it, Maya! Concentrate!"

"I'll go now." But before Maya can escape, this guy greets them a little too friendly.

"Hey, ladies. Ally, is this your friend?" he asks, looking into Mayas eyes. 

"Yuup. That's her. The SWEEETEST girl in the woooorld," Ally says pretty loud which causes some of the less drunken people to glare at them. Maya just smiles sweetly, trying to find a way to get out of this situation. She even finds herself looking for Josh.

"Yeah, haha. Ally's so funny, why don't you go and get her a drink...?"

"Ray. I'm Ray and I think Ally should get you a drink, blondie."

"Blondie? God, I really want to punch him right now."

"I can do that! I'll be baaack, lovebirds," Ally chants while walking, rather stumbling, towards the alcohol. 

"So...Maya." "He knows my name?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

He never leaves her out of sight.

Never.

Until...

"Hey, Joshua, right?"

Who the hell is this guy?

"Yes...Who's asking?"

"You know, usually you need to ask that first but whatever." Josh just rolls his eyes at him, then tries to look at Maya again.

"I am Daren."

"Cool, I don't care."

"Look, I know you're trying to watch out for that Maya girl," Josh stops, his eyes widen. His gaze falls onto him instantly with a shocked look on Joshs' face. "Oh, well, now I got your attention," Daren smirks, proud of himself. "No need to look surprised. I know everything 'bout you and Blondie."

"You don't know shit," Josh finds himself bursting out. The alcohol causes this irritability and the fact that Maya is involved, doesn't make it any better.

"You' sure about that, uncle Boing." Josh cringes at this creep using Mayas' very first nickname for Josh. "Alright, listen, Boing. I'm supposed to deliver a message to you: First, leave Maya alone, cut her out of your life. Second, you aren't enough for her, you don't deserve her. And lastly, if you should still try to get her, you're gonna get hurt, really badly."

Josh is speechless. How does this guy even know him?  Why does he know about him and Maya? And who sends this message to him?

"Who wants me to stay away from her?" he asks in a stern tone. 

"Just look at Blondie. She's actually talking to him right now." Darens' grin grows even wider, if that's even possible, while pointing at Maya and a guy Josh doesn't know. Maya tries hard to stand still, this guy talks to her with a big grin glued to his face, which makes Josh feeling uneasy. This guy grabs Mayas' hand, she tries to pull away but he just tightens his grip, pulling her closer to him. 

Joshs' grip around his red plastic cup tightens until his knuckles get white and he almost breaks the cup. Daren watches Joshs reaction with huge amusement and has a hard time keeping himself from laughing at how red Joshs face gets because of his anger.

"Don't worry 'bout this little angel. Ray will take good care of her." That's when Josh completely looses it. He pushes Daren aside and walks straight to Maya and this Ray, who still hasn't let go of Maya. She sqirms, trying to pull herself out of his grip but as soon as she sees Josh approaching them, she feels relief washing over her. 

Andrew shouts Joshs name but he doesn't answer. He's focused on Maya, so he keeps walking forward until he reaches them. Ray stands with his back to Josh and doesn't notice him 'til Josh grabs Rays' shoulder, turns him around and immediately punches him into his face, causing his nose to bleed. Maya gasps, along with the students around them. The music stops and everyone is looking at them right now, orbiting the boy with his bloody fist and the boy laying on the ground with a bleeding nose. Maya stands there, paralyzed. She doesn't know how to react. Her gaze is focused on Josh, who keeps looking at Ray. 

This is a huge mess.

Chapter Text

Chapter four: It's her.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees a guy fighting himself through the crowd until he breaks out of it, entering the scene.  Daren enters and gets ready to punch Josh.

Andrew is behind Daren, trying to catch up to him so he can prevent any harm to Josh. Maya screams his name to get his attention. Josh turns around, seeing Daren running towards him. 

Maya closes her eyes, scared to watch what will happen next.

As she opens them again, Daren holds his stomach, trying to catch his breath again. Andrew holds his fist, Josh holds a hand to his face. He bleeds right above his left eye. The people around them scream and enliven them. Some want them to stop, others want them to keep going. J asmine screams the name of her boyfriend, Andrew, and runs up to him, out of the cheering crowd.  Ray stands up and swings his fist and Josh, who trips back a few steps and crashes into Daren, causing him to stumble back too.  The crowd keeps getting louder and louder, the boys start fighting again and Andrew quickly pushes Jasmine aside so he can protect her from getting hurt.

Maya still doesn't move. It all feels so surreal to her. Should she get involved? Probably not. 

As she watches them, she notices that Josh gets slower and he looks really hurt... Well, they all look pretty damaged but the most she cares about is Josh, of course.

The crowd got a little closer which means less room for the boys to fight. 

Ray stands up (again), after he fell down (again) and approaches Josh (again.). It doesn't look like Josh is in the position to fight back so Maya decides to help him out. She starts running and jumps onto Rays' back. He breathes out heavily, not expecting this much weight at once.  Everyone looks at her, even Daren, Josh and Andrew. 

Andrew and Josh scream her name while the crowd starts cheering. She's pretty sure she can hear Rachel and Ally encouraging her too. Although she's secure that Josh won't like what she does right know, she feels good because she safes him. Ray can't hold it any longer, so he drops down onto the floor (again) and falls to the side. Andrew helds out his hand, helping Maya to get up.  The college students cheer with a round of applause. 

Andrew asks Maya to bring Josh back into his dorm room, so he can treat his wounds. Maya just nods and runs towards Josh who still bleeds and can't stand properly. The blonde takes his hand and leads him through the crowd and onto the campus. 

"Maya?" Josh whispers weakly.

"Josh? I might need your help to find your dorm room," she says quietly while putting her arm around his waist so he doesn't drop onto the cold, hard ground. Josh lifts up his arm with much effort so he can lay it around Mayas' shoulders for more support.

"Sure. We only need to turn right ahead," he whispers weakly again. Mayas heart breaks, hearing him speak like that. It's dark outside, not much to see except for the moon and the stars above them and some pieces she can see through the light that a few lanterns ray.

With his other hand, Josh holds his stomach. 

Probably he's hurt there too. 

They reach the huge building with a blue flag waving around right above the entrance. You can read "NYU" in white coloured letters on it, even see the symbol of this college.

"We're here," Maya says, helping Josh entering the building and leading them towards the elevators. Josh fiddles inside of his jeans pocket until he finds his room card and key and hands it to Maya who takes it. 

"Maya?"

"It's gonna be okay, Josh," she whispers to him while the sliding door closes itself and the elevator takes them to their destination. 

As Maya opens the door to Joshs' room, she leads him towards his bed where he gets out of his jacket and lays down immediately. The blonde closes the door, locks it and makes her way into the bathroom where she finds what she's been looking for: the first-aid kit. 

"Maya?" Josh calls her name weakly.

"I'm here!" she replies fast, leaving the bathroom and walking towards Josh. "Hold still 'cause I'm gonna treat the wound above your eye, 'key?" he just nods slowly and closes his eyes. Maya opens the small bag and takes out everything she needs, then sits down on his bed and takes off her jacket.  

"It's gonna sting a little so hold on to something." Josh opens his eyes and intertwines his hand with hers.

"Hope you don't mind, Lil Ferret." He looks at her with a weak smile. Maya returns the smile and gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, letting him know that she's not only okay with holding his hand but also doesn't mind his use of the nickname he gave her some time ago. 

"I don't mind, Boing," she answers. For a few seconds they just stare at each other. 

"I'm really sorry for this," Maya says as she starst treating his wound.

"For what? You didn't do anything, Maya. This guy was a huge jerk," Josh says, making her giggle. 

"Still, you got hurt because of me. Trouble follows me everywhere and now it got you too," she mutters. Josh pushes himself up a little, adjusting his position so he can talk to her better.

"Maya. Please don't blame yourself for what happened tonight. It is definitely not your fault, 'key?" he stops, waiting for her response. Maya nods, still insecure. "Also... don't worry about this trouble that follows you everywhere. I've been keeping up with it since I got to know you," he says with a slight grin. Maya scoffs at him and hits his shoulder playfully.

"Do you still want me to play the nurse here, Boing?" she asks with a grin.

"Yes, I need help. Please!" he whines while pouting.

"Okay, okay, geez," Maya says while giggeling. 

Both are probably still at least a little drunk.

Maya places a pavement onto his scratch and pats his head. He starts smiling and just looks into her eyes.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful your eyes are?" Maya starts smiling.

"No, you didn't, Boing."

"Well, you're eyes are really beautiful, just like you," while he compliments her, he looks straight into her eyes. 

She feels her heart beating faster, feels the butterflies flying around inside of her stomach and she feels her cheeks blushing and burning from the heat.

"Boing... As much as I like your compliments... you need to stop," she says with a sad smile. The corner of his mouth immediately drop. He looks at her confused.

"You said there's a girl you want, so you can't flirt with me even though I know how awesome I am," she continues. Josh starts laughing even though it hurts. 

"Lil Ferret... I think I need to clarify something," she raises one of her eyebrows at that. "You deserve to know who this girl is, more than anybody else," he starts smiling.

"Come on, Josh. You can do it."

Nervously he bites down on his lower lip, trying to find a way to tell her the truth about his feelings.

"Maya...Lil Ferret," he starts, gazing into her eyes as he does.

"It's happening. You can do it, Josh!"

"It's you," he tells her softly, never looking away from her. Maya chuckles lightly before replying.

"Boing, I appreciate it but.. you shouldn't lie just to make me feel better," she says sadly, avoiding his gaze. 

"You think I'm lying?" he asks. She can hear the pain in his voice.

"I'm sorry, Josh," he sits up completely, instantly he feels a sharp pain through his waist like a knife cutting him. He groans in pain and falls back. Immediately Maya gets scared and yells his name. 

"It's okay, Maya... I'm still alive, ya know?" he says sheepishly but she doesn't laugh like he hopes she'd do. She panics.

"Where does it hurt Josh?!"

"It's my waist. On the right," he replies, still feeling the pain. Maya looks at him, scared. 

"Uhh, Can I-," she clears her throat. "Can I lift up your shirt?" she asks shyly, feeling embarressed about this question. Josh blushes, feeling embarressed as well.

"Yeah.." he mutters arkwardly. Maya starts lifting up his shirt, gasping as she sees a big bruise along with some scratches and small cuts. She can feel how the tears build themselves up in her eyes, threatening to leave.

"Maya?" Josh asks softly. Her gaze is fixed on his injury and she breathes slowly. He sees a single tear floating down her cheek. Right away he lifts his hand and wipes away her tear, his hand lingers on her cheek for a while, carressing it softly. 

"Remember: It's not your fault, Lil Ferret," he whispers to her, hoping she'll finally stop blaming herself for this. Another tear floats down her cheek and again, Josh wipes it away.

"I'll take care of it, Boing," she says with a shaky voice. "Don't worry..." she whispers over and over again.

Well, she hopes that there's no need to worry.

Maya packs the items back into the bag.

"Alright, I'm done," she says, smiling at him.

"Thank you, my angel."

He just called her his angel.

"Does it still hurt?" she asks worried. 

"A little bit but I'll be okay. Thanks to you," he smiles at her, admiration in his eyes. 

Maya sees it.

She blushes again which makes him laugh. Again, she hits his shoulder playfully and starts laughing too. 

"Ya know, Angels are supposed to keep you out of trouble, not getting you into it. I'm not an angel, I'm a demon," she states proudly. Josh laughs even harder at that, causing some pain in his waist. It takes some time for him to catch his breath again.

"Alright, my little demon," he corrects himself while trying to sit up again. Maya giggles because Josh called her his little demon which causes her heart to beat faster again. After Josh sits up properly, he continues, "You are the prettiest demon I have ever seen and I mean it, Ferret," he says while getting closer to her face so he can nudge his nose against hers. "I've realized that I am a huge idiot, especially when it comes to girls and this hasn't changed. I am still an idiot." Maya giggles again. "I am sorry that I've hurt you at that time. I know now that it was the dumbest thing I've ever done. After all this time I still don't understand how I could have hurt you like that and I still feel bad about it." Maya smiles sadly at him. He looks down for a second before looking up again, staring into her now puffy eyes. "You mean a lot to me, Maya. You always have. The last four years were heavy, I'm not gonna lie because I've missed you, a lot. Whenever I saw you, I got so happy like a little kid. The thought to talk to you about what happened, haunted me. It really did and as you know, I never had the courage to approach you so we could talk this out which is one of my biggest regrets." They gaze into each others eyes with pure admiration.  "You're the one that I want, Maya," he says  with a shy smile. She starts giggeling at his quoting from Grease. It's such a Josh-thing to do.

"Boing..." she starts smiling. "I don't really know what to say. You're speech was beautiful but.. you could have said more about the awesomeness I beam, ya know?" both start laughing at that. "No seriously, it was perfect. Just know that I don't blame you for the things that happened back then. You did the right thing," she assures him. Josh is amazed at how quickly she turnes serious again after her little joking. "And even though I was hurt and acted like I never wanted to see you again... I already knew that I did want to see you again. Sure, I kind of avoided you but I still knew you were there and that I was all I needed to know. It was too embarrassing for me to talk to you so that's why I tried to ignore you. I always feel like I'm not enough for people and I guess... as you said to me that we can't be together, I just automatically thought, it's just because I am not enough for you," she says while looking down embarrassed. Joshs heart breaks at her words. 

"How can this beautiful angel think, she's not enough?"

Josh places his finger under her chin and lifts up her head slowly so he can look into her eyes. "Lil Ferret, don't you ever think you're not enough just because of some idiot like me," she chuckles lightly. "You are one of the most amazing human beings I know and I've met a lot of people. You are enough, you're so much more than enough. You are amazing." Maya is on the verge of crying by now.  "To be honest, it really hurts knowing that..." he takes a deep breath. "That all these years, you always thought you aren't good enough for me and told yourself that this is the reason, why we aren't together. Truth is, I am not enough for you. You deserve someone better. Someone who can admit his feelings towards you and can act on them... not run away from them, from you." Now he feels some tears leaving him too.

Here he is, pouring his heart out. Practically handing it into Mayas hands, hoping she'll finally believe him. "Well...Boing," she looks at him with her red, puffy eyes and a smile that could light up the whole world. 

"Ferret," he replies. "Do you believe me now?" he asks nervous. Maya stares at him before looking down at her lap.

"I don't know..." she mutters shyly, feeling sorry for still being so insecure after everything he just said to her.

This is all she ever wanted.

Being enough for him. 

Hearing him saying these things to her.

Now, she heard them. He admitted his feelings for her and told her that she's the one.

Yet here she his, still feeling insecure about it. 

Why can't she just let go of her fears?

"You know..." he starts, causing her to look up at him.  "I'm still holding your hand, Ferret," he says, smiling smugly. Maya blushes at that and a cute giggle escapes her.

 
"You certainly do, Boing," she whispers.

"You once said to me that actions speak louder than words," he says after a few seconds.

"I did?" she asks confused.

"Yeah, you did. I know because I remember everything you've ever said to me," she starts smiling at that.

"Actually no, I wrote it down," he admits with a shy smile.

"Wait, hold on! You wrote down things I have said to you?!" as he nods, Maya starts laughing.

"Oh my god! I definitely need to write it down on my list with things I can tease you with," she confesses while laughing. Josh just stares at her, admiring her cute laugh. 

"You got a list too?" he asks after she has calmed down. Maya just nods with a huge grin and red cheeks from blushing.

"I do, Boing," she reassures him , causing him to grin too.

"Alright, alright, Lil Ferret. Good to know but what I was going to say..." he trails off, getting lost in her beautiful blue eyes staring back at him. 

"Yes, Boing?" she whispers, snapping him out of his trance.

"Honestly, I wasn't going to say anything..." Maya looks confused.

"But you said that you-," Josh leans in and cuts her off.

With a kiss. 

Josh kisses Maya, much to her surprise but after a few seconds she eases into it and kisses back.  Both are overwhelmed with their feelings - in a good way though. Happiness is what they feel the most, along with relief. Relieved because they finally told each other the things they've been dying to tell the other person for so long. 

Now, here they are, kissing each other. 

Josh puts his other hand onto her cheek and deepens the kiss which Maya doesn't mind at all. The kiss lasts for twenty seconds before they pull away. They gaze into each others eyes for a few seconds before Josh leans in again and catches her lips for a new kiss. 

After they pull away again and stare at each other, it stays that way.

"This night isn't as I've imagined it to be," he admits. 

"I know exactly what you mean, Boing," Maya says while looking around in his room.

"Didn't think I'd end up here," Josh chuckles lightly.

"Well, I didn't think you'd end up her too," he says smiling. Josh leans towards her.

"But I'm glad you did," he whispers in her ear, causing her to smile sweetly at him. 

He pulls her into his embrace and plants a kiss on top of her head. Josh lays back down carefully, taking Maya with him. Now they lay next to each other, face to face, just smiling at one another like two idiots.

They don't know what time it is but it doesn't matter right now. 

The only thing that matters is them in this exact moment.

Nothing more, nothing less. 

Josh watches his little ferret drifting off into a peaceful sleep, tugging some blonde strands behind her ear, earning him a soft smile from the blonde girl. He smiles too.

Both fall asleep with a smile on their face. 

An hour later, Maya awakes due to her smartphone ringing.

She's still sleepy and is still in Joshs' warm embrace. They must have changed their position while sleeping 'cause now, her back is facing his head, one of his arms is underneath her and the other is on her, around her waist. She can feel his breathing against her neck. Slowly she lifts herself up, untangling herself from his grip. Her leather jacket lays on the floor next to Joshs' bed. It's within easy reach so Maya stretches her arm out and forages inside of their pockets until she finds her smartphone. Qickly she grabs it, seeing it is already half past twelve. She doesn't bother looking who's calling her. As she accepts the call, Josh sits up too, rubbing his eyes and looking at Maya confused.
She yawns.

"Ugh, hello?" she grumbles sleepy. The other person starts talking and within a second, Maya stands up and is wide awake.

"Mom?"

She's so screwed.

Chapter Text

Chapter five: Yet.

"Mom, yes- no. Just listen-"

Josh watches how Maya paces back and forth inside of his room, having a phone call with her mother. Josh knows that this isn't good, at all.

"No! Yes, I know how late it is. I'm sorry. - Yeah, okay - okay! Yes. I'll explain later, okay?! - No, I'm fine. - I am! - Ugh, mom! Yeah... sorry. Okay, yes I'll come back. - Yes, right now. - Hmhm. - Yes. - Bye," Maya sighs after ending the phone call and throwing it onto Joshs' bed. 

"You okay?" he asks the blonde girl who looks like she's going to cry again. She shakes her head before her face disappears behind her hands. Josh stands up and throws his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace for a tight hug. Maya starts sobbing as soon as she feels his arms around her. 

"It's okay, Maya," he whispers a few times while stroking her back , hoping he can comfort her. As they break apart, Maya wipes away her tears and chuckles lightly.

"I don't even know why I'm crying," she admits, laughing softly. Josh laughs too.

"Well... I should clean up a little and then go home. Otherwise I'll get killed completely," she jokes. 

"I... uh..." he clears his throat. "I can bring you home," he suggests with a shy smile.

Maya looks at him which makes him nervous. That she doesn't reply back right away, doesn't make this any better for him.

She starts smiling mischievously.

"Oh no..." Josh says and takes a deep breath.

"What? You wanna escort me, Boing? You think, I can't do this on my own?" she says while walking towards him. Josh takes a few steps back until his legs hit the edge of his bed. Maya keeps walking.

"I can take care of my own, ya know?" she says innocent.

"Ye-yeah, I know. I just, uhh... thought that it- it would be better, if you have someone...someone by your side - Goddamn, Maya, stop it!" He rambles. Maya continues smiling, now she stands really close to him. 

"Lil Ferret?" he tries softly.

"Did you just call me small?", she asks in a low, threatening tone. Josh swallows, not sure how to react to her sudden change of behaviour. His face must be in a deep shade of red by now. The blonde keeps getting closer, causing Josh to fall onto his bed. She looks down at him before climbing onto his lap, straddling him. Joshs' eyes widen.

"What is going on with her confidence?" he asks himself inside of his mind.

She's always been confident but right now she's on a whole new level. It's kinda disturbing for the brown-haired boy, in a good way though. Right now, he can't find an explanation for this. He's too distracted by the beautiful blonde girl sitting on his lap with her gaze focused on him and only him.

Maya holds his face in between her hands and pulls him into a heated kiss. Josh kisses back, eagerly, and holds on to her waist. Soon it turns into a make out session both don't want to stop but they know that they have to eventually. That's why Josh stops kissing the girl of his dreams and leans back with a smug grin. As Maya opens her eyes, she instantly starts laughing at his facial expression.

"Sorry, Boing. I was just messing with ya earlier," she says casually. He raises one of his eyebrows at her before he tickles her. Maya starts laughing unconditionally while she begs him to stop.

"Josh!" she squeals. "Stop, please stop!" she says in between her fit of laughter. Josh continues for some seconds before he let her go and stands up.

"We need to get ready before your mother rips your head off and we don't want that to happen to your pretty face. Alright? Alright," he says confident while giving her thumbs up. Maya just stares at him before she starts laughing again, leaving Josh confused. The blonde stands up and walks over to him, giving him a kiss. And a second one. And a third one before Josh finally stops her.

"Ferret, I'd love to kiss ya all night but unfortunately, we need to go, fast," he says. With his fingertip he tips her on her nose, earning him a cute giggle from the blonde.

"Yeah, okay. Let's go," before she can open his door, he grabs her wrist, pulling her back to him.

"No, not like this. You look completely destroyed and you smell like alcohol. The Maya I know won't just tell her mother that she left the apartment, without letting her or somebody else know, just to sneak into a college party during school week, where she got drunk and got harassed by a boy she didn't know. Oh, and let's not forget that she made out with one of the college students who's older than her," he says with a grin. Maya scoffs playfully.

"Okay, I get it," she says while looking down herself. "Thanks to you, I have some blood stains on my white T-Shirt," she exclaims while pointing onto them causing Josh to giggle. Then he makes his way to his closet while Maya watches him curiously. As he comes back, he hands her an "AC/DC" Shirt.

"You can go shower and wear my T-Shirt afterwards."

"Thanks, Boing. We're not even together yet and I already get to wear your clothes," she smiles with an raised eyebrow and a mischievous grin. Slowly she disappears into his bathroom. Josh just chuckles amused while her words stay in his mind, echoing through his thoughts.

"We're not even together yet and I already get to wear your clothes..."

"Thanks, Boing."

"...not even together..."

"...yet..."

"Yet," he whispers to himself with a smile. Then he looks for some fresh clothes he can wear after the shower because he smells like alcohol too and has some small blood stains on his T-Shirt. As he takes a look on his watch, he freezes. 

It's almost one AM.

Ten minutes pass by and there's still no sign of Maya. Josh lets out a deep breath, trying to calm down. He's really stressed right now because he doesn't want Mayas' mother to be mad at her and even though it's not his responsibility to bring her home safe, he feels like it is his responsibility after all. 

"I mean, I'm her... Well, I am not her boyfriend but... something like...that," he speaks to himself out loud without even realizing it. He's so deep in his thoughts that Maya needs to clear her throat loudly, so he finally notices her standing there.

"Maya! There you are," he says relieved. A few seconds later and he almost drools over seeing her in his T-Shirt. She looks really cute with this T-Shirt that's too big for her and her long blonde hair that's wet now.

"It suits you, Ferret," he compliments her and immediately starts scratching his neck with his right hand while blushing. Maya starts smiling and looks down on herself, seeing his AC/DC T-Shirt on her, tugged into her jeans. 

"Thanks," she says softly. Josh nods and grabs his things so he can hop under the shower too. After he disappears into the bathroom, Maya takes his deodorant that stands on his dresser and sprays it onto her clothes. Besides deo, she sees some picture frames on his dresser too. Looking at these pictures brings a smile onto her face.

It's a picture of Josh and his family. His Parents Amy and Alan and his siblings Eric, Cory and Morgan are there. Josh looks really young but cute, sitting on Corys lap, smiling at his older brother.

Another one is right next to this. Maya finds it adorable that he has a picture of Riley and Auggie there too. Auggie sits on Joshs' shoulder, with one arm he supports his little nephew. His other arm is wrapped around his niece, Riley.

A third one shows Josh and his friends on campus. There's Andrew laughing together with Josh and a girl, next to Andrew, laughing too. 

But the last one she sees really warms her heart. 

It's a picture of her and Josh, and her and Josh only. She remembers this picture very well. It was taken during a summer break... four years ago... before they started to ignore each other. 

Josh wanted to take a selfie but Maya, being the goofy thirteen-year-old kid she was back then, kept stealing his precious beanie. Sure, she made him laugh by running away while he chased her, trying to get back his beanie but remembering this now, she realizes that it was kind of embarrassing how she only did that so she would get his attention. After he catched her, tickled her and got back his beanie, he placed it onto her head and took a selfie with her wearing his beanie.

He still has it and the fact, that he placed it into his dorm room even though they weren't on speaking terms and avoided each other for four years makes her heart beating faster.

He was never mad at her...

It was the exact opposite.

He missed her.

"You smell good," he whispers into her ear. Instantly the blonde turns around surprised and shocked at his sudden appearance, definitely not expecting him to be back this soon.

"Josh!"

"Hey, Ferret. Sorry for scaring you, I didn't mean to," he apologizes with a shy smile and, again, scratching his neck. She just raises one of her eyebrows at that, not believing him what he just said. He breathes out a laugh.

"Okay, maybe a little bit," he replies sheepishly. Maya scoffs and hits him playfully before analyzing his clothes. He wears a dark blue jeans along with a grey hoodie. 

"I've never seen you in a hoodie before," she blurts out, still looking at his clothes. Now it's his turn to raise an eyebrow at her with a small smile just because of her cuteness. Quickly she realizes what she just said and puts her hands over her mouth, trying to stop herself from saying more arkward things. Josh just laughs and pats her head, feeling her wet hair. 

"Alright, we need to get going," he says while putting his phone into his jeans pocket and pulling his beanie over his head. 

"Crap, it's already ten past one and I got a new message from my mother," Maya panics. 

Mom❤: Maya, where are you?! I called you like forty minutes ago and you're still not here.

"Not good," Maya murmurs over and over again. Her thoughts are running because she doesn't know how to respond.

Maya: Hey, mum. Don't worry, I'm on my way.

Mom❤: I hope you're not lying. We'll talk about this!

Maya: Yeah... sorry again.

Mom❤: Just get home safe. I'll wait for you. ❤

Josh and Maya leave his dorm room and walk around on campus. Some drunk students are walking there, trying to get into their dorm room. Instinctive, Josh intertwines his hand with hers and pulls her closer to him. She just smiles at that. 

"It's kinda cute how protective you get sometimes," Maya confesses shy. The beanie-wearing boy starts grinning like an idiot, flashing her a wink. 

Well, apparently Maya isn't the only one with a newfound confidence.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees how she blushes more by the second. He can't help but to chuckle lightly.

"Stop it," she hisses playfully. 

At the station, they still need to wait a few minutes 'til the next train arrives, so Josh wants to ask Maya something.

"Maya?"

"Yeah, Josh?"

"This.. guy, I think his name is Ray, what did he say to you?" Mayas' smile fades away as she thinks about it. 

"Why does it matter?" she whispers quietly in a sad tone. Due to her facial expression he knows that she'd rather talk about something else but he needs to know. 

"It matters to me, Maya. I want to know," he says as calm as he can, even though he's already angry at this Ray for hurting Maya. Josh can tell by her reaction that Ray must have said something hurtful to her. 

"Uhm... He said that... there's no college girl who could compete against me in any way because I'm and I quote: "The hottest Bitch at this place." That he doesn't understand how I don't have a boyfriend yet but that it must be is lucky day because he wants to take me out. Something like that," she looks down and fiddles with her thumbs. Anger rises through Joshs' body but he has to control himself.

 At least around her.

At least now.

"Anything else?" he presses, feeling like she hasn't told him everything.

"Well, he said that I am way too good for you and he should be the one to... uhm... give me a good time," Maya avoids his gaze but she can feel how he stares at her the whole time. Somehow it feels embarrassing to talk to Josh about these things. On the other hand it's kinda soothing to talk these things off her chest.

"Maya?" he asks softly. She doesn't respond until he lays his hand onto her cheek and pulls her face towards his, getting her to finally look at him. 

"It is not your fault that this happened. You need to know that," he says calmly, caressing her cheek with his thumb slowly. "This Ray is just a huge idiot and I'd really like to punch him again after hearing what for awful things he has said to you," he continues. Maya chuckles at that and a small smile appears on her face. "There's your smile again," he says, smiling too.

"Look, I want to promise you something," Mayas' gaze falls onto him again, seeing how serious he gets. "I promise you that, no matter what or where or when, I will always protect you from people like him. Just call me or text me and I'll come, wherever you are. Or just tell me where you'll be and I come too, escorting you because I know just how much you love that," now Maya is laughing until some tears well up. 

"How are you so calm right now?" she asks after her fit of laughter calmes down. 

"Hey, you don't know how much self control it takes me right now to not just bump my fist into the next best thing I see until I can't feel my hand," he laughs at the end. Maya however doesn't. She wants to say something but as soon as she opens her mouth, they hear the train arriving. They stand up at the same time and Maya immediately intertwines their hands with each other, making Josh smile. It's pretty empty so it's easy to get seats that aren't taken. 

"I'm curious about how these guys know about us," Josh says. Maya watches as the station passes by, slowly, until she can't see it anymore while thinking how she can respond to that.

"I don't know," she says quietly.

"Hey, these girls who took you to the party... who exactly are they?" he asks.

"Rachel and Ally. They're freshmen at NYU too," she answers, still looking out of the window.

"I've never noticed them, to be honest. Or I just don't remember," he chuckles. Maya smiles at that before she frowns.

"Crap!" she raises her voice. "My bag! I forgot my bag in their dorm room," she facepalms herself and sinks down on her seat. Josh turns his head a little so he can look at her.

"Was their anything important in it?"

"Not really. Well, my charger is important and my sketchbook but it was a new one so it's not that bad," she says. Josh nods.

"Still. I have to get it back at some point," she pouts. 

"Well, I don't think that's gonna be a problem. I'm sure this wasn't the last time you visited NYU," he replies with a chuckle at the end. Maya looks up at him and sits up, giving him a kiss. Both smile, even after they pull away from each other.

"What was that for, Mrs. Hart?" she laughs.

"Just felt like it, Mr. Matthews," she answers with the most sweetes smile he has ever seen. With butterflies inside of his stomach and a fast beating heart, they leave the train and head towards the apartment building Maya lives in. 

They hold hands, walk in sync and smile. 

It couldn't be better.

After these crazy events at the party, they could have never imagined how everything turned out. 

And even though Maya knows that her mother isn't too thrilled about her coming home this late, she's still happy and smiles, just because she walks next to the boy of her dreams since she got to know him. 

"You know," the blonde girl starts with a huge grin. "I will always remember the day I got to see Joshua Gabriel Matthews for the first time," Josh snorts and looks at her. Maya looks pretty amused by his reaction and starts laughing until she cries.

"Since when do you know my middle name?" he asks curious but she just keeps grinning without saying anything in response. As she glances up at him, he raises an eyebrow, repeating his question without saying a single word. She just shakes her head.

"I won't reveal my source to you, Boing," she says happily but Josh has already made some assumptions about who this person might be. He will find out.

"On the day I met you for the first time, you annoyed the hell out of me.", he says after some minutes of comfortable silence. Maya starts smiling, remembering their first conversation as it was just yesterday.

Maya was really nervous that day because it was the first time she'd meet the rest of Rileys' family - her grandparents, her uncles and her aunt. It would also be her first time in Philadelphia, Riley always swoons about this place and Maya would finally see, what's so great about this place. 

First she got to know Alan and Amy, Corys' parents and Rileys grandparents. They talked a lot and immediately fell in love with Maya, treating her like she's their grandchild too. Then Eric introduced himself. He's the eldest out of the Matthews' siblings, also one of Rileys' uncles. He had called Maya anything but her name, much to everybody's amusement. After the laughter had died down, Morgan, Rileys' aunt, came into the picture. She was very sweet and they had a good conversation about art. 
Maya knew that she was supposed to meet  another person but he wasn't present. Amy told Maya that he's playing baseball in the backyard. 

As Maya walked out to look for this person, she got nervous because now, she was on her own. Inside of the living room were her parents and her best friend. People she knows and loves but now she had to face someone new, alone. 

She couldn't see anybody so she kept walking until she heard a hitting sound. The closer she got, the better she could hear it. Then she saw someone. 

A boy in a grey T-Shirt, a blue jeans and a black beanie. She just watched him hitting the ball with his baseball bat again. He hadn't seen here standing there yet.

But as he hit the ball again, it flew towards the small girl, so she catched it easily. Maya stared at the ball, not wanting to look up at the boy.

"Hey!" he screamed, getting her attention. Maya winces at that and got even more nervous, as the boy walked towards her.

"Good catch.", he compliments her with a bright smile, as soon as he reached her. 

"T-Thanks," she stutters. He just laughs a little before reaching out his hand.

"I'm Josh. You must be Maya, right?" he says, still smiling. Maya takes his hand and shakes it.

"Yeah." she replies. 

"Nice to meet you. Uhh.. do you wanna play with me?" he asks nervously, scratching his neck. Suddenly Maya feels really happy and immediately nods, causing him to chuckle. 

"Alright, then," he said, motioning for her to come with him. Maya followed him quietly, not noticing that their families were watching them, since she got into the backyard.

"Wait, how did I annoy you exactly?" she asks after replaying this moment in her head, wondering what she had done to annoy him. "I mean, you asked me to play with ya. Your story doesn't add up, Boing," she says cheekily. Josh sighs, deciding whether he should tell her the truth or not. He chooses to be honest with her.

"Well, it is pretty embarrassing... Please don't laugh," he scratches his neck nervously and looks at the blonde next to him. She just nods.

"I promise," she says honestly. Josh takes a deep breath. 

"You annoyed me because... As I saw you for the first time I was like 'Oh wow, this girl is really cute and beautiful and just wow. How is it that I don't think that about girls at my age but about a girl that's two and a half years younger than me?!' It didn't make sense to me and that shit really scared me. It was new to me, way to new to me. It's just that... It wasn't your presence that annoyed me, it was the way I felt and thought about you. I mean, I was ten and you were eight. I felt kinda guilty for thinking you're cute and I freaked out 'cause you're my nieces' best friend and practically a part of our family which made it even worse and as I realized that we could be really great friends, I just... I got scared that I might screw things up. You became really important to me, pretty fast which was scary too. Usually I don't trust  people that fast but you," he looks into her eyes. "You've always been special to me," he finishes breathlessly. Maya was breathless too. She didn't expect his confession at all.

There she was, speechless.

Maya Hart didn't know what to say. 

That's a first.

"Maya?" Josh asks, snapping her out of her thoughts. 

"Yes?" she asks hesitantly.

"Can you say something, please?" He's scared. She notices.

"Josh," she gazes at him. "Don't worry 'bout it. It's fine, honestly I see nothing wrong with that. Ya know that Riles is only happy for us, she always knew that there's something between us. A special connection, just like you said. I see it too," she says honestly, letting Josh breathe again. "You're special to me too and I will never ever take you for granted. I already lost you once and it was one of the worst experiences I've ever made in my short life," she continues, biting her lower lip nervously. Josh watches her move before he grabs her face and kisses her with passion. As Maya grabs his face, he slides down his hands and pulls her closer by holding her waist. Josh keeps depening the kiss until both are out of breath and pull away.

"You're wrong," he whispers. "You've never lost me. I've always been there and I don't ever wanna leave you."

Their eyes are locked with each other, never leaving their gaze, still face to face. He nudges his nose with hers, making her giggle. 

Both laugh softly, while Josh intertwines their hands, locking their fingers and so they continue their way with huge smiles glued to their faces.

Acting like boyfriend and girlfriend. That they can do perfectly. Both are lost in their own thoughts but thinking about the very same thing:

Each other.

It has been a wonderful night but it's time to face reality.

It's time to bring Maya home.

Chapter Text

Chapter six: Boyfriend?

They stand in front of her apartment building, not ready to say goodbye.

"Ya know, I could walk you to your apartment door..?" he says, making it sound like he already asks. His smile is Mayas' weakness. 

She just can't say no to it.

"Ugh, fine, Boing," she groans, pretending to be annoyed but secretly she's thrilled about it. She won't tell him though. Josh chuckles and leads her into the building. 

"I think the security guard at your dorm didn't even notice us," she says while they enter the elevator. 

"Wouldn't surprise me. Guess, he sees drunk students all the time," Josh says while shrugging. 

"Yeah but you were bleeding. He could've at least asked if he needs to wash my T-Shirt, ya know?" she replies with a grin. Josh just laughs at that, gazing at the blonde next to him. 

"Ouch. Thank you very much," he says while laying his hand over his chest, pretending to be hurt. Both chuckle at his movement, then reach their destination and step out of the elevator. 

"You got your key with you?" he asks, as they stop at her front door.

"Surprisingly I do," she says while she jangles with her keys. 

She opens the front door and walks into the apartment she lives in.

"Maya!"

"Mom..." Maya says quietly.

"Josh?" Katy asks surprised.

"Mrs. Hart," Josh greets her firmly.

"Katy, do you want some cookies....? Oh.. uh.."

"Shawn?!" Maya and Josh exclaim, shocked.

"Hey, Kids," he greets arkwardly, clearing his throat. Katy just stares at him with wide eyes.

"Uhh... Josh?" he asks, trying to sound surprised. 

"Not funny, Shawn!" Katy hisses at him. He stands still, not saying another word. Josh glances at Maya, who's still looking at Shawn. They fall into an uncomfortable silence, neither sure what to do next. 

Katy decides to confront her daughter.

"Where were you, Maya?" she asks her daughter. Maya looks down, feeling guilty.

Should she be honest with her mother?

Maya is scared. Scared at the thought, her mother might be disappointed if she hears the truth. So what do you do instead?

"I.. uhh... I was on a walk," she says with a small, reassuring smile, glancing at Josh, who just bites down on his lower lip. 

You lie.

"This late? You know, that it's not safe to walk around in the middle of the night, alone. Especially not for you. You're a teenage girl, for god's sake!" Katy raises her voice, causing Maya to wince. Josh is kinda surprised seeing Mrs. Hart like this. He feels sorry for Maya. Even though she has made a mistake, she doesn't deserve to get yelled at. 

"I wasn't alone..." Maya says quietly, not really finding her voice right now. 

"Josh was with you?" Katy asks with raised eyebrows.  Maya just nods slowly, not trusting her voice. She still looks onto the ground, trying not to cry in front of everyone. Mrs. Hart turns her head, looking directly at Josh. He swallows heavily, getting nervous as soon as she walks over to him. Maya looks at the back of her mother, trying to look at Josh. Their gaze meets for a second but Maya looks away quickly, feeling guilty for dragging him into this mess she has created.

"Is that true, Josh?" she asks him slowly.

Now Maya has dragged him into this lie and he can either be honest with Katy and betrayal Maya or he can lie with her, letting Maya figure out the rest. 

His head screams at him, telling him to tell the truth. It would be the right thing to do.

But his heart wants him to help Maya. 

"Yes, ma'am." He nods firmly. 

He decides to help the beautiful blonde.

Katy just nods and looks over to Shawn who has been watching this scene the entire time, analyzing each of them. Katy, her daughter Maya and Josh, the youngest sibling of Shawns' long-time best friend, Cory. Josh uses this opportunity to take a look at Maya. She's more relaxed than before and looks really tired too. Still shocked at the fact that Shawn Hunter is standing in her living room. 

There's probably more to this story but now is not the time to find out what.

"So... you two were just walking around?" Katy asks suspiciously. Both teenagers nod at that. 

"Then why do you have a pavement above your eye?" she asks worriedly. Josh feels how the fear creeps up inside of him, not only because of this question but also because they all stare at him at once. It feels like a lump is stuck in his throat. He doesn't trust his voice right now, so he looks down, trying to think of an excuse. 

"I slipped..." he stutters nervously. "In the shower... I slipped and fell and because of that, I'm hurt... but Maya fixed it." Katy nods while Shawn eyes him suspiciously, not really believing their story. Probably Katy doesn't believe it either but she decides to say nothing, for now.

"I still don't understand... How did you two end up walking together and why did you need to shower, Josh?" Katy asks suddenly, waiting for an answer but the teens just look at each other, speechless. 

A few minutes pass by without anyone saying anything. 

"So?-" she presses.

"Katy." Shawn tries to get her attention and succeeds. The blonde woman turns her head and looks at him. 

"I think, we should talk about it in the morning. We're all tired and need some sleep. Whatcha think?" he tries to end this arkward situation. Katy sighs but eventually nods and agrees. 

They fall into an uncomfortable silence again, leading Josh to shift from feet to feet while scratching his neck, not knowing what to do.

"I...uh... think, I should go now," Josh says, looking at Maya.

"Wait," Katy says. Josh looks at her immediately, scared about what could happen next. 

"It's late and I don't want you to be alone out there. Cory would kill me. You can sleep here," she says with a small smile. Josh raises an eyebrow at her, not sure how to respond. 

"On the couch, of course," Shawn adds, looking back and forth between Maya and Josh. He looks away embarrassed while Maya blushes. Shawn just chuckles at their reaction. 

"Thanks, Mrs. Hart," he says, accepting her kind offer.

"Katy, Call me Katy," she corrects him with a smile. Josh nods.

"Alright. I think we should call it a night, we're all tired from these... unexpected events. Maya, we'll talk in the morning, okay?" she says kindly. Maya nods, still looking down. Katy's about to turn around but she takes a closer look at her daughter and notices something.

"Uhh, why's your hair wet?" she asks confused. At that, Maya looks up, looking at Josh who shrugs at her, not knowing what to do either.

"Uhm.. because we took a shower," Maya says like it was obvious. Her mother raises an eyebrow at her and Shawns' cheek turns red. Josh blushes too, covering his eyes with his hand. Maya's confused as to why everyone reacts that way until she realizes what she just said. Now she blushes too.

"Not like that! I took a shower after he finished and left the bathroom. God!" she raises her voice. Joshs' cheeks get even redder, while Shawn bursts out laughing and soon Katy joins his fit of laughter. Maya facepalms herself, wishing she could just disappear. 

"Alright. We'll talk about everything in the morning. I'm tired and I'm just happy you're okay, butterfly." Katy walks towards her daughter and hugs her. Shawn and Josh both smile at that. The girls let go of each other and soon Shawn disappears into Katys' bedroom, while Katy fixes up the couch for Josh. Maya still stands there, trying to process everything that has happened. 

"Okay, everything's set up, Josh," Katy announces happily. 

"Thank you very much, Mrs-" Katy looks at him. "Katy. Thank you, Katy," he finishes. Katy smiles at that and pads his shoulder before she leaves, wishing them a good night. 

"Thanks, Boing," Maya whispers. Josh looks at her with a smile. 

"It's no big deal, Maya." She shakes her head.

"Yes, it is. I want to thank you for that. For everything, to be honest."

"But I didn't do anything," he says confused. Maya walks towards him, kissing him softly. 

"Yeah, you did," she whispers to him. "You're here. That's all you need to do to make me happy." Josh chuckles softly, gazing into her eyes and getting lost instantly.

"You're still drunk?" he whispers in a teasing tone. The blonde just chuckles at that and makes her way into her bedroom. Josh gets out of his jacket and his shoes while Maya turns her head and smiles at him over her shoulder. As Josh catches her gaze, he immediately starts grinning.

"Sweet dreams, Ferret," he says, making her giggle. 

"I'll dream about ya, Boing," she teases, then she leaves. Josh chuckles to himself while getting comfortable on the couch.

Only a few minutes later, he hears someone approaching him. 

It's Maya.

"Hey, Boing. Whatcha' doing?" she jokes. Josh rubs his eyes, then takes a look at Maya. She's still wearing his T-Shirt along with black leggings and grey socks. As she plops down onto the couch next to him, he groans in frustration.

"Maya, I'm trying to sleep," he pouts.

"Aaaand? I can't sleep. Can you cuddle with me?" she asks in a sad, childish voice. Josh chuckles softly and gazes at her, trying to find out, if she's serious. 

"I'm serious, Boing," she answers his unspoken question. Both stand up and walk into her bedroom. Josh starts looking around.  

He has never seen her room before.

There are so many art supplies and a lot of pictures. 

"You're room's really nice," he says after he has looked at everything.

"Thanks, but we're not here so you can look at my room," she says. Josh looks at her, she raises an eyebrow at him. He chuckles softly before climbing into her bed, laying down next to her. Maya immediately lays her head down on his chest and he wraps his arms around her. 

"Can you stay here all night?" she murmurs against his chest. Josh starts smiling and doesn't respond just because he's so lost in his thoughts. That's why Maya moves her head so she can look up at him, seeing him smile. 

"You're still there, Boing?" she asks him. That catches his attention. He gazes down at her, enjoying the sight of the beautiful blonde laying in his arms. 

"'Til you're asleep, 'key?" he says, kissing her head softly. Maya hums in response while closing her eyes. Josh stays awake and watches how she falls asleep real quick with a smile plastered to her face.

"Sleep well, my little angel," he murmurs against her head, giving her one last kiss on her forehead before he slowly stands up and slips out of her bed. He was about to leave as he gets a sweet idea. Quietly he sits down on her desk, taking an empty piece of paper along with a pen.

He starts writing while listening to some quiet snores from Maya.

It's almost half-past six as Josh wakes up due to a smell he knows just too well. 

Coffee.

He sits up and rubs his eyes. 

"Slept well?" a voice suddenly asks. Josh jumps up and lays a hand over his chest, feeling his heart beating rapidly. His eyes wander into the kitchen, seeing Shawn sitting at the table, laughing. 

"Shawn! You scared the hell out of me!" Josh exclaims, still shocked.

"I know, Baby Matthews," he says while laughing. Josh tries to catch his breath.

"Why are you up so early?" Josh wonders while picking up his phone, realizing he has some new messages. He throws it onto the couch, thinking that he'll deal later with these.

"Couldn't sleep anymore. Too many thoughts," he answers. Josh nods in response, knowing that feeling all too well. 

He has had so many sleepless nights just thinking about, how he could apologize to a certain blonde or how he could finish his essay. All of this coffee he drank before going to bed didn't really make these situations any better.

"You know..." Shawn starts while standing up. He takes a seat on the armchair, on the opposite from Josh.

"I thought about you... and Maya..." he continues. Josh swallows.

"Oh, please no."

"I thought about you two.. and then a question popped into my head." He stares at Josh, making him even more nervous than he already is. Wide-eyed, he stares at the man who loves to act as his brother.

"Since when... do you two talk to each other again?" he asks the, now wide awake, Josh. He breaks eye contact with Shawn, not knowing how to respond. "You don't have to answer" Shawn assures him, sensing his nervousness. "It's just that... Cory told me about the things that happened between the two of you and it's quite interesting, to be honest," he continues. Josh just nods, not really knowing what to say. "If you ever feel the need to talk to someone about this or anything else, I'm here for you, Baby Matthews. Okay?" he asks. Josh manages a little smile. 

"Thanks, Shawn." Shawn nods in response. It stays silent, neither knowing if the conversation is over or not. 

"So..." Shawn sighs. "Is there something you wanna get off your chest?" he asks sincerely. Josh sighs. 

Should he tell him?

What could he say without causing any trouble for Maya?

"I... really like her, Shawn," he says finally. Shawn raises an eyebrow at that, leaning back in the armchair. 

He starts smiling.

"I know, kid," Shawn says in a teasing tone, causing Josh to look at him with raised eyebrows.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Meanwhile...

Maya wakes up a few minutes before her alarm would ring. She sits up, rubs her eyes, yawns while she stretches her arms above her head and pats on her bed, trying to find her phone. As she finds it, she immediately turns off her alarm so it won't ring within the next few minutes. She looks around and gets frustrated.

Josh is gone.

Still, a smile forms itself on her face because of Josh. 

Josh Gabriel Matthews is the reason why Maya Penelope Hart is happy.

She grins like an idiot and falls back onto her pillow, letting out a happy sigh. Before she could get lost in her thoughts, she hears a soft knock on her door. The blonde turns her head slightly to get a better look onto the door as it opens.

"Morning, little butterfly," her mother greets her. 

"Good morning, mum," Maya says while she sits up. Katy walks towards her bed but stops suddenly.

"Are you okay?" Maya asks her mother who looks like she has seen a ghost.

"You're happy," Katy states in a concerned tone.

"Yeah?" at that, Katy jumps up a little and sits down next to her daughter. 

"As much as this makes me happy, Maya, I want to know why you're so happy. Yesterday, well, today, you looked pretty upset."

"That's true but it was because I felt sorry for hurting you, mom," Maya explains with a sad smile. She starts to fiddle with her blanket nervously. Katy lays one arm around her daughter and pulls her into a half-hug. 

"It's okay, Maya. Don't feel guilty. I know that I was really worried about you and I also know that you probably didn't mean to do what you did," Katy says to her daughter. Maya just nods slightly, fighting with herself, if she should tell her the truth.

It would be better.

Maya knows that.

"There's actually something I need to tell you..." Maya starts with a twitchy feeling. Katy looks at her daughter, ready to listen to her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Y-you... know?" he asks confused. Shawn just nods and laughs at Joshs' reaction.

"Of course I do! I'm not blind. Listen, Baby Matthews, I know love when I see it."

Love.

There is this word again. 

"Wow... Love?! I think that's a little too forward." Shawn snorts at that. 

"If you say so," he says, looking away with an innocent look on his face and taking a sip of his coffee. Josh scoffs and gets up.

"I don't have time for this! I need to get ready so I can get back to college," he says grumpy and starts to put on his shoes. Shawn watches, how the brown-haired boy puts on his jacket and beanie, making his way towards the front door before he stops. He turns around, staring right into Shawns' eyes.

"Why are you even here?!" he questions suspiciously. 

"The day you two first met..." Shawn starts, ignoring Joshs' question. 

"Hey, don't change the subject," he argues annoyed. 

"We all saw you two. Cory, Topanga, Eric, Morgan, Amy, Alan, Riley, Katy and I."

"Shawn..." Josh tries again but fails.

"Maya knew that she was supposed to get to know five people. Alan and Amy, Morgan, Eric and... you but you weren't there. Your mother told her to look for you in the backyard. As soon as Maya walked out of the door, we all ran to the window and watched as she approached you, being a nervous wreck." Josh smiles at that and chuckles softly because he can't imagine Maya being nervous about something.

She's always been a confident girl.

"Cory started joking about how you two would totally fall in love and get married one day. I just said that I already pictured the two of you at your wedding, being cute and all," he continues. Josh starts laughing at that, imagining how that must have looked. 

"You know, Josh, I still see the two of you there: Maya walking down the aisle, all eyes on her, you waiting at the altar for her and gazing at her with pure love, saying I do to each other. Maya in a beautiful white dress, being happy because of you." Josh smiles fondly at that. 

"Thanks Shawn, now I can't stop thinking about Maya wearing wedding dresses."

"You think about her right now, don't you?"

"Always," Josh answers without thinking. Shawn just smiles at that and breathes out a laugh. He stands up but Josh stops him.

"And what about you?" Shawn turns around confused.

"What do you mean, what about you?"

"You and Katy," the beanie-wearing boy asserts with a boyish grin. He watches how Shawn gets pale and sits down again.

"Don't even try to lie to me. I've seen the looks you gave her last night. You're in love too, Shawny," Josh says, singing the last part with a teasing voice before walking towards the front door and leaves with a huge grin on his face, being proud that he finally played Shawn too.

"Did he just...?!" Shawn murmurs to himself while Joshs' words stay in his mind, repeating themselves over and over again. 

"You're in love too."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Katy is speechless. 

"Mum?" Maya nudges her mothers' arm with her shoulder whereupon Katy turns her head and looks at her daughter with a puzzled expression.

"Sorry. I was just trying... to process this information," she says quietly, still deep in her thoughts.

"You're mad at me," Maya says, making it sound like a statement. Just then her mother shakes her head and gives her a reassuring smile.

"I'm not mad, Maya." At that Maya looks at her mother, very confused and surprised.

"You're...not?" she raises her eyebrows.

"I am not mad at you. I might be a little disappointed because I thought we'd be past that but it's okay," Katy assures her daughter, taking her hand and squeezing it softly. Maya is still very confused.

"Wait. You're not mad at me for sneaking out, getting drunk at a college party, and dragging Josh into a fistfight?!" she asks bewildered.

"Technically you didn't drag him into this fight. He just wanted to protect you," Katy says softly. "I also noticed that I've been too absent the last months and I owe you an apology, little butterfly." Maya looks at her mother, feeling kinda sorry for her because she shouldn't be the one to apologize.

Her mother blames herself and that feels even worse than lying.

"I'm sorry too," Maya starts. "For always getting into trouble and dragging you down with me." She looks down, some tears threatening to leave.

Usually, she doesn't cry that easily but right now it's about herself and her mother. Of course, she gets emotional.

For a very long time, she only had her mother. Now she has her friends too, who are like a second family to her, even though right now it doesn't seem like it. 

She can always count on her mother. She's always there for her.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You don't drag me down with you, I follow you and you know why? Because I'm your mother," she whispers, hugging her daughter tightly. Both hold onto each other like they say goodbye and will never see each other ever again. 

Hopefully, it isn't like this.

Maya hopes.

"Shoot! I need to get ready for school real quick!" Maya realizes as she glances at her clock. Katy loosens her grip and stands up.

"Alright, I'll get our breakfast ready."

"Don't you have to work?" Maya asks surprised. 

"No. Not for another hour." Both smile at each other before Katy leaves her daughters' bedroom.

Maya is happy.

She doesn't have much time left until breakfast so she quickly throws her things into her bag, changes her leggings into black skinny jeans, and grabs her leather jacket. Checking her bag again she realizes that her pencil case is missing. She spots it on her desk and reaches out for it. While picking it up, she also spots a piece of paper laying around. Taking a closer look, she sees that it's a letter.

"Dear Ferret..."

Maya smiles widely, knowing that Josh wrote this for her. Sadly, she doesn't have much time left so she decides to read it later when she's back at home. 

On her way into the kitchen, she pulls up her hair into a beautiful ponytail. As she checks her phone, she immediately notices that she has some unread messages from Rachel. Her mother sets the table so Maya uses this time to read the messages from her college friend before her phone dies.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

 As Josh steps into his dorm room, the interrogation by his best friend Andrew already begins. 

"Hey man! WHERE WERE YOU?! I've been looking for you everywhere!" he shouts at Josh who still wears his boyish grin on his face.

"I was worried sick and- Hey! Why are you smiling like an idiot?" Josh just chuckles, amused by Andrews' behavior. 

"Don't worry, I'm fine. What about you? How are you that awake? You were pretty wasted last night," Josh says matter-of-factly.

"Well, Jasmine stopped by to bring me water and some aspirin. Best girlfriend ever," Andrew chirps happily. 

"No, Maya is.", Josh thinks. Although, at the sudden change of Andrews' facial expression, Josh can tell that he didn't just think these words, he had said them out loud. Andrew grins widely at his friend who gets nervous and desperately tries to think of something he could say to change the subject quickly, even though he knows that it's impossible now. 

"Uh... How are you? I mean... the fight got kinda out of control.." Josh scratches his neck, remembering the fight from last night and seeing, that Andrews' face has some small bruises. 

"I'm fine, man, thanks but what about you?" he points at the pavement above Joshs' left eye.

"Oh, it's fine. Maya fixed it up..." Joshs' voice trails off as he notices that he just brought up the subject again, he tried to deviate. Andrews' smirk appears again at the mention of the blonde girl. Josh quickly turns around, picking up his bag for his class. 

Completely ignoring the fact that he has two more hours left until it starts.

"So..." Andrew starts. "You and Blondie are finally together?" he asks excitedly. Instead of answering, Josh sighs heavily, thinking about what he and Maya are right now. They haven't discussed that yet. 

"We're not even together yet and I already get to wear your clothes..."

Joshs' eyes widen as Mayas' words flow into his mind. She clearly said that they aren't together. It kinda makes him sad and it feels like his heart just stopped beating for a while. As his friend doesn't respond, Andrew waves his hand in front of Joshs' face, bringing him back into reality.

"No, we're not.", Josh says seriously with a sad look on his face. He continues grabbing some books and notes and throws them into his bag. Andrew studies him curiously and also worried but decides to drop it since it doesn't look like Josh wants to continue this conversation right now. 

It gets silent in their room and Josh only takes a deep breath after hearing, how Andrew leaves their room and closes the door. 

What a nightmare.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Breakfast is ready, Maya," Katy says happily. Maya sends her message to Rachel before she gets up and walks over to the table quickly.

"So, what are you up to today, sweetheart?" she asks her daughter, trying to make some conversation.

"Not much. I still need to get my bag back though." Maya shrugs. Her mother nods, placing some toast onto the table, and sits down too. Soon a third person joins their breakfast, much to Mayas' surprise.

"What is Shawn still doing her?" she blurts out. It wasn't her intention to sound rude but by the look on their faces, she kinda did sound rude.

"Well... I didn't want Shawn to drive back to his apartment that late, so I said he could stay and he did," Katy answers honestly, hoping her daughter will drop the subject and won't ask any further questions about Shawn.

It stays silent for some minutes until Maya decides to ask some, still unanswered, questions.

"Why... was Shawn her in the first place?"

Katy drops her knife while Shawn just stares at Maya. She raises an eyebrow at her mother, who refuses to look at her daughter. Instead, she picks up her knife and clears her throat.

"Because..." Katy starts, not really knowing what to say. "I was scared, terrified because you were gone and... I called Shawn for some emotional support and he insisted on coming over, so he did." Shawn nods in agreement. Now Maya gets even more suspicious.

"Since when are you two friends?" she asks them curiously. The adults look at each other before returning their gaze to Maya again.

"I don't really know... a few months, maybe?" Katy responds scared. Shawn nods again but Maya doesn't buy their story. Like, at all. She laces her fingers together, puts her elbows onto the table, and places her chin on her hands, observing them quietly.

"I've never seen you two together, like, at all. Care to explain?" Katy sighs at that.

"We did hang out a lot and talked to each other."

"I've only seen you two exchange some short sentences when Cory and Topanga were involved in the conversation. Now, why is Shawn here and why did you call him first as you needed emotional support?" Maya presses further.

"Because we're friends, just like I said," Katy says, slightly annoyed at her daughters' stubbornness. Maya huffs, knowing her mother is lying to her. Katy looks at Maya.

"Look, I am not obligated to tell you about a new friend I made," she snaps. At that Maya gets even angrier.

"Sorry, it's just that all of this doesn't make any sense. You're the one who told me, that we will never lie to each other ever again and what are you doing right now? You lie!" Maya exclaims in anger.

"And what about you?! You lied to me last night," Katy argues back. Maya scoffs at her mothers' statement. 

"Yeah, but I told you the truth this morning! And you know why?! Because I felt guilty for breaking our promise we made to each other. Now you lie to me and refuse to admit the truth!" Maya shoots back at her mother.

"I'm not lying! How can I admit the truth, if I'm telling the truth!" Katy raises her voice. Shawn just sits there, not knowing what to do right now. He watches, how the fight between mother and daughter gets worse and worse by the second.

"You seriously raise your voice at me, mum?" Maya asks seriously. 

"I don't have another choice!" Katy screams at her. "You accuse me of something, I didn't do!" Maya just stares at her in disbelief.

"You never screamed at me..." Maya says quietly.

"Yeah? Well, maybe I should have," Katy shoots back in anger. Shawns' eyes widen at Katys' statement. Other than Maya, who just stands there, staring into her mothers' eyes.

She used to see love in these brown eyes. Kindness, happiness...

At least when her mother was around, so Maya could look into her eyes.

Now she only sees anger.

Pure anger.

"What is up with you, Maya? I don't recognize you anymore! First, everything's fine and the next second you're spiraling out of control. I did not raise you like this!" Katy finishes sternly. Now, Maya feels like screaming too. She wants to yell but she can't. 

She can't yell at her mother.

She just can't.

"You didn't raise me at all. I mean, how could you, if you were never there," Maya says in a low, serious tone, keeping her eyes at her mother. She sees how the anger in her mothers' eyes turns into something else.

Guilt.

Maya has a hard time keeping it together. She doesn't want to cry.

Not now.

This conversation isn't about lying anymore. It's way more than just that. It turned serious, emotional. 

Shawn held back the whole time but now he feels like he should say something. Both women stare at each other., like they continue their conversation inside of their minds, through telepathy.

"Maya?" she doesn't look at him. He sighs, takes a deep breath, and carefully chooses which words he's going to use now.

"I know how you feel right now or... how you've felt for a long time. I felt that too, believe me. I know, how it is to grow up without having your parents around," he can see how tears are forming themselves, not only in Mayas but in Katy's eyes too. 
"You need to understand that your mother has reasons for keeping some things from you."

"So, she's keeping more from me than just this," Maya says, rather as a statement than a question. 

"Shawn, please just stay out of this," Katy whispers, glancing at him. 

"No. Let him talk," Maya speaks up, glancing at Shawn too. He looks at Katy, then at Maya, and does it for some time, trying to figure out what he should do. 

"Maya, just because you're mother didn't tell you about us doesn't mean that she broke the promise between the two of you. She just wanted to wait," he says. Katy looks away and buries her face in her hands while sitting down.

"Wait for what exactly?" Maya asks directly at Shawn.

"For the right time to tell you about this."

"And what exactly is this? This is about friendship. I mean, it's not like you guys are girlfriend and boyfriend and my mother didn't tell me for months," Maya jokes with a sad voice and a fake laugh at the end.

Silence.

Shawns face goes pale, his eyes widen. 

Katy's headshots up within a second, looking terrified.

Mayas face shows confusion, then it turns into realizing something.

This can't be true.

"Maya..." Katy manages to say but almost chokes at the lack of her voice. Maya shakes her head slowly, not believing that this is happening.

"How long?" she asks quietly, serious but mostly...

Hurt.

"Maya." Shawn tries but fails.

"How long?" Maya presses... A single tear floats down Katy's cheek while Maya fights the urge to cry. 

"Five months... Almost six," Katy whispers, feeling guilty as hell for not telling her sooner and especially, for telling her like this. Maya doesn't say anything, she doesn't even look at them. All she does is grabbing her bag and leaving the apartment, not caring about her mother, who screams her name, telling her to come back. 

She doesn't care.

She simply doesn't care.

She keeps walking until she can't walk any further, her vision's blurry because of all the tears she held back. Now they are streaming down her cheeks and she sobs.

Finally, she lets it all out.

She cries.

This is indeed a nightmare.

Chapter Text

Chapter seven: It's just too much.

She's going to be late.

She knows.

She knows but she doesn't care, falling into her old habits. 

Her old self was always late. To school, to meetings with her friends...

She thought that she has left all that behind.

Seems like she hasn't. Her old self is still there and breaks out of the cage she has  had locked it in a long time ago. 

Should she try to keep it locked away or should she let it out? 

For now, Maya wants to keep her away. She still tries to keep it together but how long can you hide behind your smile? How long can you pretend that everything's fine? When will you break down? 

You can't hide behind these walls forever. Someone will tear them down and see you, crying silently.

She's lost in her train of thoughts, letting the time pass by. Though it feels like she's stuck in some sort of slow motion. There are still some tears leaving her eyes and falling down her face.    

Of course, it has to rain right now.

Mayas' hair starts to get wet due to the rain. Soon it starts to pour heavily and Maya starts running towards the entrance of the school building. As she walks through the door, she takes a deep breath and checks on her clothes. Luckily, she's only wearing black clothes today so you can't really see how wet they got in the rain. 

Slowly she drags herself to her classroom where she should have been since like thirty minutes ago. A deep sigh escapes her mouth before she lifts her fist and knocks lightly on the door. The familiar voice of Mr. Matthews appears, telling her to come in. With permission to enter, she opens the door slowly, trying to keep her gaze focused on the ground. 

"Mrs. Hart," Cory says with a slight hint of disappointment. Maya lifts her head and stares at him. He just gestures for her to take her usual seat, which she immediately does. Her bag just slides down her arm until it hits the ground. At the same time, Maya drops onto her chair and just sits there, quietly. 

She can feel eyes on her, watching her intensely.

Riley. 

She looks at her blonde friend, concerned.

Maya refuses to look at her. Instead, she just stares at her table, zoning out. Mr. Matthews continues his lesson but Maya can't hear a single word of what he's saying. Her own words inside of her head are way louder.

They scream at her, taking advantage of all of her concentration.

Just two more minutes, then Maya can leave this room and spend twenty minutes at her locker, sketching her sorrows away. Just like she did last night, even though she drank alcohol instead of drawing some sketches. She has to admit that her head hurts a little but it isn't just her hungover that causes her headache. There are way too many thoughts racing through her mind.

As the bell rings, everyone is quick to leave. Riley packs up her stuff and walks towards Maya. 

"Maya?" she calls her name quietly. The blonde looks up at her with a confused expression but before Riley can say anything further, her father interrupts their non-existent conversation.

"Maya, can I talk to you, please?" he asks kindly but she can hear the concern in his voice. She just nods with a small smile while he gives an apologetic look to his daughter. Riley just smiles her anger away and leaves the classroom, leaving them alone. 

Cory sighs and Maya sits back down on her seat, raising an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to speak. 

"Maya, are you okay?" he asks concerned. He isn't talking to her as her teacher. 

She notices.

"I'm always okay," she responds smiling but not believing herself. She always says that when nothing's okay. Cory sighs.

"You don't need to lie to me, Maya," she just shrugs and looks away.

"You can talk to me, you know that," he hopes, that Maya understands that. The blonde girl just nods, still looking away. Again, Cory sighs heavily and kneels down in front of her so he's at eye level with her.

"I can see that you're not okay," he starts softly. "The last months you weren't late for school, not even once, and... in class you're usually the one who's talking more than me," he continues with a smile. Maya just chuckles humorlessly.
"But today you were pretty quiet. Actually you didn't say anything. And I've also noticed that you didn't really talk much the last days either," he states worried. Maya can already feel how some tears well up but she still refuses to look at Cory.
"Just know that I'm here if you wanna talk," he finishes and stands up again.

"Thanks," Maya murmurs but he can still hear it, making him smile.

"It's okay," he tells her. Maya takes a deep breath. indicating that she's preparing herself for saying something.

"I got into a fight with my mum," she breathes out. Cory looks at her, sadly.

"You think you guys can get through this?" he asks concerned. She just shrugs.

"I don't know yet," she replies quietly. He nods at that, sensing that she doesn't want to say any more to this.

"Okay. Thanks for sharing this with me. You can go now, Maya," Cory says grateful. The blonde grabs her bag and gets up, ready to leave but he stops her one more time.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask... Is this my brothers' T-Shirt?" Cory asks with an raised eyebrow. Instantly Maya blushes, realizing that she didn't change into another T-Shirt. Cory just chuckles at her reaction.

"No, it isn't." She tries to hide the truth. "I... uhh I bought it at the weekend. Remember? I went shopping with Riley and I bought it that day," she tells him. Cory nods at that, understanding it. With one last nod and a small smile, Maya leaves the classroom, leaving a grinning Cory behind.

"If you say so," he whispers to himself, still grinning.

Maya finally leaves the classroom and wants to take a deep breath but, once again, someone wants to talk to her.

And of course it's a Matthews again.

Riley stands there, apparently she waited for Maya to come out of the room. 

"Maya?" Riley calls her name with a calm yet concerned voice. The blonde keeps walking and stops in front of her locker, opening it and throwing things into it. 

"Maya?" the brunette tries again, still no response.

"Maya," she says more sternly now but still tries to stay calm. 

"What?" Maya asks, already annoyed. Riley knows this behaviour. Maya has acted this way before.

"What's going on?" Maya scoffs at her "friend".

"All of a sudden you care?" is all that Maya says. Riley feels hurt by this statement.

"What do you mean? I've always cared about you. You're my best friend." Riley states, meaning every single word but Maya only gets angrier.

"Yeah, right," she huffs. "That's why you completely ignore me these days." Riley only looks confused, not really understanding what Maya means.

"Don't give me that look. The last couple of days, actually last months, I felt like I don't really exist to you anymore. Whenever I tried to talk to you about anything, you would just interrupt me and start talking about your precious Huckleberry or you didn't listen at all and just kept texting him via message. When I texted you, you never replied. Just like the others but... That you do that, hurts the most. Especially right now it hurts. Even at my fucking birthday you ignored me! I know that I hate my birthday but sometimes I want to feel like I'm special too and my birthday is the only day where I can justify that. I never make it about me so now I'll make it about me." Maya finishes and again, she feels like she's gonna cry. Same with Riley, who just stands there, shocked and hurt as well at Mayas' sudden outburst. 

"I'm sorry," Riley whispers after a while, realizing that her friend is right. Maya takes a deep breath and looks at her friend. 

This girl, standing right in front of her, has helped her through so much but right now she just can't bring herself to forgive her. 

"I'm sorry, too," the blonde girl says angry.

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong, Maya. You never did," Riley responds immediately, causing Maya to stop breathing for a while. More pain rushes through her body, making her heart break once again. 

"You left!" the little girl yelled at the man.

"Maya..." the man tried to calm her.

"No! I hate you!" she kept yelling at him, not caring that it might hurt.

"You don't even know, why I left."

"It doesn't matter. If you would love me and my mom, you would have found a way to stay," she stated angrily. Tears were streaming down her face, still she managed to keep her voice steady. Katy was shocked at the statement of her daughter, yet she felt proud.

Kermit was speechless.

He knew that it's true and that there's no point in arguing against it. So he just nodded with a heavy sigh.

"Is it my fault?" the little girl asked suddenly. Katy looked at her, concerned, before she gave an hateful look to her ex-husband. 

Mayas blue eyes didn't shine like they used to. Love was long gone. It has been replaced with hate, anger. 

"What?"

"Is it my fault? That you left?" she asked with a shaky voice. Kermit didn't even dare to look at Katy, he knew that she wanted nothing more than to punch him. 

"No, It isn't," he said and he meant it but Maya didn't want to believe him. " You didn't do anything wrong, Maya. You never did."

"Maya? You're still there?" Riley asks concerned. Maya just looks confused.

"Yeah... I'm right here..." she drifts off.

"You kind of just vanished for some minutes. Everything okay?"

"No. It isn't. Nothing is okay!" she suddenly raises her voice, causing Riley to wince. "But how would you know that? You weren't there so don't act like you care about me all of a sudden!" Maya bursts out. Riley just stares at her.

"I am here now," Riley says hopefully. 

"A little too late," the blonde says sternly. Now there's nothing Riley could say or do to turn this situation around. She knows Maya.

"What the hell just happened?" a male voice asks suddenly. Maya and Riley turn around at the time just to see that Lucas, Farkle and Zay are standing there.

"Ugh, great! This is just great!" Maya jokes. This is something she doesn't wanna deal with right now so she just throws some books into her locker. The others just watch her. 

"Maya, can we please talk this out?" the brunette begs. Then a loud bang appears, causing them to wince, except for Maya. She was the one who caused it by shutting her locker. 

"No. Just leave me alone! All of you!" she screams at them before running away quickly. Instantly Zay and Farkle run over to Riley, making sure she's okay. Though Lucas stays behind, heading in a different direction. Nobody notices until Riley asks, where her boyfriend is. The three of them just look at each other, Zay and Farkle shrugging, while Riley gets suspicious.

Lucas runs, trying to figure out where the blonde girl went. As he steps onto the schoolyard, it's pretty empty. Most of the students are in the cafeteria. It doesn't take long until he spots the girl with the blonde ponytail, sitting under a tree, her arms hugging her legs tight to her chest, her head hiding between her knees.

"Found you," he says softly as soon as she's within earshot. Maya lifts up her head slightly. 

Usually she would be annoyed 'cause she wanted some peace and he just disturbed it. 

But she doesn't feel angry.

She's relieved.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Ugh," Josh groans, after the teacher of his current class announces a five-minute-break. Usually, he can concentrate just fine but today his head is somewhere else, far away from school stuff. The conversation from earlier between him and Andrew sticks in his mind, repeating itself over and over again. 

"So... You and Blondie are finally together?" there was so much excitement in Andrews' voice.

"No, we're not."

"We're not..." Josh whispers to himself, so quiet that no one can hear it. Probably they wouldn't even hear it, if he'd speak louder 'cause everyone's tied into a conversation and it's pretty loud during their break. Josh takes a look at his notes, adding more stuff to it, which is why he doesn't notice the blond girl taking the empty seat right next to him. 

She clears her throat but gets no reaction. So she does it again but much louder this time. Finally Josh looks up, seeing a girl he has never seen before.

At least he thinks that.

As soon as he looks at her, she twirls a strand of hair around her finger and smiles sweetly. Josh looks terrified because he doesn't know what to do. Usually he'd just walk away but he's sitting in class so that isn't an option right now. He just smiles awkwardly at her and grits his teeth.

"Can I help you?" he asks a few seconds later, still smiling awkwardly. The girl continues to stare at him with a smile and bites onto her lower lip, making Josh really uncomfortable. 

"You don't know me?" she asks suddenly. Joshs' smile drops.

"Should I?" he asks nervous while scratching his neck. The girls' smile drops immediately and she adjusts her position. 

"Okay, I just wanted to check on you." Now Josh is even more confused.

"Because...?"

"I was at the party yesterday and saw you fighting with some guys. I would've asked you yesterday but after the fight, you were gone..." she drifts off, remembering some blonde dragging him out of the room. 

"Uhh, thanks... I guess?" he says, unsure of what to say. "Yeah... my girlfriend-" he stops.

"Damn it! What are you saying, you idiot?!"

"Your girlfriend...?" the blonde asks in confusion but she sounds kinda disappointed.

"Oh god, what do I do?"

"Ye-Yeah. My girlfriend. We went into my dorm room and she treated my wounds," he says with a nod, slapping his inner self for referring Maya as his girlfriend.

"Oh..." the girl sighs, looking away quickly. "Uhm... Well, you're girlfriend is really lucky to have you." Now Josh is overstrained. 

Is this girl into him?

"Uh, actually I'm the one who's lucky but thanks...uh... What's your name?" yet again, Josh scratches his neck.

"Does it matter?" she asks, clearly hurt but the brown-haired boy doesn't really know why. He doesn't even know her. Completely confused, Josh looks at his notes again, hoping silently that the teacher will soon end this break, so this awkward situation will end. The blond girl turns away and stands up, ready to leave. In the corner of his eye, he can see that she stops and turns around again, facing him.

"My name's Ally," is all she says before she finally leaves and gets back onto her seat, leaving a confused Josh behind. He watches her leave while he thinks about her name. 

Ally.

"Why does that sound familiar?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Lucas walks towards her, sitting down across from her, leaving some space between the two of them.

"Hey," he says softly. Maya just stares at the boy across from her, not really knowing what to say. Her eyes seem to be puffy like she cried.

"Hi," she whispers back. Her voice isn't really there right now. Lucas sighs and looks down at the grass, just like Maya does.

"I heard what Riley and you were talking about," he says finally, causing Maya to look up at him.

"Thought so," she chokes out.

"Look, I don't know what is happening right now in your life, Maya..."

"Clearly," she comments.

"But I am here for you, if you need me." He makes it sounds like a promise. Maya just stares at him, feeling kinda thankful for him being there right now.

"Thanks." She even manages a little smile, which he returns immediately with his famous big grin he always uses.

"Wanna talk, ponytail?" he emphasizes 'ponytail', knowing that Maya hates this nickname.

"Haha, really funny, Rangerrick," she replies teasingly.

"Alright, you got me. So?" he gets serious again. The blonde just shrugs at that. 

"I don't know what to say or what you want to know, for that matter," she replies.

"Well... what do you want me to know?" Maya raises an eyebrow at that. Lucas just keeps staring at her, waiting for an answer. For a few seconds she doesn't say anything, so Lucas raises an eyebrow too. 

"Why did you come after me?"

He definitely hasn't expected that question.

"Because...." he starts and trails off. Maya smiles at him, making Lucas's mind work faster. "Farkle and Zay stayed to be there for Riley because you screamed at her... but no one would have ran after you, to make sure you're okay too. That isn't fair," he answers honestly.

Maya has known Lucas for quite some time now and has notices some things about him through this process.

First: He always tries to do the right thing. Always.

Second: He seems kind and all (he really is), but you shouldn't mess with him because he knows how to fight and he will fight, if it's necessary. Always.

And third: He's there for you. Always.

"Thank you, Lucas but I don't deserve that. I mean, clearly I'm the bad guy here," she states sadly. 

"You aren't, Maya." he starts. "I understand, why you think that you don't deserve someone coming after you... I know that feeling. You think that you've made a mistake but you didn't. There are some better ways to deal with this problem than screaming though...", he says, causing them both to chuckle. "But the point is, that you didn't make a mistake. You just told her the truth, your feelings. There's nothing wrong with that," he smiles softly at Maya.

"And also..." he adds. "I'm sorry that we made you feel like an outsider. We didn't mean to."

"You don't need to apologize for the others, Lucas but I appreciate it," she says seriously while looking at him. He nods.

"Still. I am sorry, Maya." She just shrugs at that and smiles sadly.

"It's okay. It's my fault anyways so don't worry too much," it sounds like she's at the verge of crying. Lucas frowns, not understanding why she'd blame herself.

"It's just that... You all have someone by your side. Every single one of you is in a romantical relationship and you all know each other. You're the same age, you go to the same school, you all meet up together to do couple stuff and you all talk about these romantical things and I can't talk or come with you about it 'cause I don't have someone," she bursts out while shedding some tears along the way. Lucas stares at her, letting everything she just said, sinking in. 

"Okay... I can see why you think that way but it isn't your fault, Maya. It's not a sin that you don't have a boyfriend right now. It's nobody's fault," he says honestly. They stare at each other for a while until Maya speaks up again.

"I know. Some guys have asked me out but I said no."

"Why?" he asks surprised.

"Because I like someone," she says. He can hear the confidence in her voice.

"That's great, Maya. I'm happy for you."

"He likes me back." Lucas's eyes widen.

"That's awesome, Maya! Who is it?"

"I can't tell you." He pouts at that. "Yet," Maya adds, making him smile.

"That's really great..." he drifts off.

"Hey, Ricky? You're okay there?"

"What? Uh, yeah. I'm fine," he answers quickly. Maya feels like he's hiding something but decides to just shrug it off. For a brief moment she thought that he sounded kinda sad about her liking someone who likes her back. 

Why would he be sad? He has Riley.

"So... Why haven't you talked to someone about how you feel sooner?" he changes the subject.

"I tried to but whenever I wanted to talk to Riley, she just interrupted me and started talking about you or she just didn't listen to me at all." Maya shrugs, sick of explaining it. "I know, that it was wrong to yell at her but... I just couldn't take it anymore. It's too much. Everything' just too much," she finishes. Lucas nods, completely understanding this feeling. He breathes in slowly and lets it out before standing up. The brown-haired boy reaches out his hand for her. She gladly takes it and he helps her get up. 

"Anything else?" he asks, as they walk back into school.

"Some family drama but... it's nothing new." Maya shrugs again. 

"If you ever wanna talk, I'm here for you. Just to let you know," he says again. Maya smiles at that, being grateful to have him as a friend.

"Thanks, Lucas." He nods with a grin and walks forwards, leaving the blonde girl behind.

And with that he finally lets go of her hand he's been holding the whole time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Where were you?" Lucas stops walking and stands still.

"What?" he asks nervously, even though he knows what she asked.

"You heard me. Where were you?" Riley asks again, more sternly this time.

"Relax. I was just checking on Maya," he answers. Zay and Farkle are standing behind her, a few steps away though, trying to give them some privacy. Around the corner, the beautiful blonde hides, listening to their conversation and feeling guilty instantly.

"Why? Is she more important than your girlfriend?" Riley is angry at him. He huffs out a laugh, getting more nervous each second. He doesn't say anything while Riley continues to stare at him,anger in her eyes. Zay walks forward, touching her shoulder.

"How about you two talk this out later and when you're more relaxed, huh?" he asks them. Lucas' eyes leave his girlfriend and move onto Zay, who smiles lightly. 

"Sounds good?" he asks again. Lucas nods at that with a grateful smile for his friend, saying a silent thank you to him. Then Zays' gaze wanders onto Riley, who still hasn't said anything to his suggestion. 

"Riley?"

"Fine." is all she says. Within the next few seconds, she glares one more time at her boyfriend before turning around and stamping into the classroom. 

"What the hell was that?" Lucas asks confused at Rileys' behavior. Zay just shrugs while Farkle walks towards them.

"She's mad."

"Yeah, no shit," Lucas says, letting out a sigh.

"It's because you went after Maya instead of her. She's your girlfriend so she was disappointed as she realized that you went after her best friend instead of being there for her. For her, she should be your number one priority. Now she thinks that Maya's more important to you than she is." Farkle explains. Lucas thinks about what his friend just said and understanding it.

"So... How's Maya?" Zay asks with concern. Lucas shrugs.

"I guess, she's fine for now. She knows that it wasn't right to yell at Riley but she's not sorry either, I think." his friends nod in understanding.

"So, what do we do now?" Farkle asks, referring to the Maya/Riley situation. Zay and Lucas glance at each other, both looking helpless.

"Nothing." A new voice appears. The three boys look up.

Mr. Matthews.

"Let them figure it out. They will get through this. They always do," he says with confidence in his voice. 

It's always been "Maya & Riley".

No one can take that away from them, not even themselves.

Chapter Text

Chapter eight: True feelings

There's a knock on her door.

"Riley?" she can hear the concern in her mothers' voice but she still doesn't reply.

She knocks again.

"Riley, can I please talk to you?" she asks. Riley takes a shaky breath and stands up. Her face was buried in her favorite pillow since she came home.

Her father has heard their fight and tried to talk to her about it on the way home but she refused to say anything. Then she listened to how he explained everything to her mother and now she tries to talk to her.

Riley doesn't know what to say to her but she can't hide in her room forever.

She takes a quick look into the mirror, seeing her red, puffy eyes from crying and her messed up hair. Again she inhales, taking a shaky breath before turning the key inside of her door lock and opening it. Her mother widens her arms and Riley immediately falls into them, starting to cry heavily. They stand there until Riley's sobs get quieter and eventually they stop at all. Riley lifts her head and looks at her mother, mumbling a quiet thank you before she gets out of her mothers' embrace, taking a seat at her bay window.

She and Mayas safe place.

Topanga follows her daughter and sits down next to her. Both remain quiet. 

"Do you wanna talk? she asks her daughter after a while. 

"I don't know what to do, mum!" Riley exclaims, sounding like she's about to cry again. Topanga wraps an arm around her daughters' shoulders, comforting her. "Maya was right, I've been a bad friend to her. I wasn't there when she needed me the most because clearly something happened and I wasn't there! I was too busy being happy to be with Lucas and that caused to me to neglect my best friend. She screamed at me and I totally deserved it," she breathes heavily after her outburst and some tears float down her cheek. Topanga strokes Riley's back, still trying to comfort her.

"Is that all, darling?" Riley shakes her head.

"No. I feel like Lucas doesn't love me." She turns and looks at her mother.

"Why would you think that?" Topanga asks concerned.

"Today, after Maya yelled at me and ran away, he ran after her, comforting her. She was more important to him than his own girlfriend, mum. Has dad ever done that to you? Did he do something like that?" Topanga huffs out a laugh.

"Not exactly like that." Riley looks at her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... It was one time as your dad and I went on a date."

"Gross," Riley says with a fake disgusted look. Topanga laughs at that, happy to see her daughter making jokes.

"Yeah, gross." Both women chuckle. "So... Cory and I were sitting at the park on the bench, talking to each other and enjoying each other's company, like we always do." Topanga smiles, remembering their date.

"I'm glad you asked me out, Cory." She smiled widely at her soon-to-be-boyfriend.

"I'm glad, too." He returned her smile, both just stared at each other, slowly leaning in. Just as they were about to kiss, his phone rang and it caused both of them to pull back. Cory gave her an apologetic look before he took his phone out of his jeans pocket. The caller ID said "Shawny❤", Topanga saw it too and gave Cory an encouraging smile and nodded. She signalized that it'd be okay for her if he takes the phone call. He accepted the phone call and listened to his best friend, Shawn has never sounded this devastated. Topanga got scared too and she and Cory immediately made their way to Shawn.

"Sounds like something dad would do," Riley says while chuckling lightly. Topanga nods, agreeing with her daughter, smiling brightly.

"You know, honey, I think that you should talk to Maya. I'm sure everything will be fine between you two. Like always, you'll get through this."

"I will. Just not right now."

"That's okay. Take your time. I'm sure, she'll need some time too, honey. Just don't wait too long. Soon, you'll have your summer break and I don't want you to be sad while you have your summer break. You're supposed to have fun with  your friends, especially with Maya," Topanga says. Riley nods at that, knowing that her mother's right. 

"As to Lucas... I'd say you should talk to him too. Tell him how you feel, hear him out. I'm sure it will all be fine in the end and if not, I'm gonna be here for you.", Riley smiles at her mothers words. She always knows what to say.

"Thanks, mum.", she says gratefully.

"It's okay, darling. Just let me know if Lucas breaks your heart. I know for sure there's someone who will kick his ass," she exclaims, making Riley laugh.

She doesn't need to ask. 

She knows that her mother referred to Riley's father, Cory.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Hey, man," Andrew greets his best friend and roommate, Josh, who's sitting at his desk with his mobile phone in his hands.

"Hey, 'Drew," he greets back, although he doesn't sound that happy. Of course, this doesn't go unnoticed by Andrew.

"What's making you all mopy?" Josh sighs heavily, laying down his phone and turning around to face Andrew.

"It's about Maya."

"Figures," he responds. As he sees Josh's questioning look on his face, he starts talking again. "As we talked this morning about your relationship status, you seemed kinda sad so... I figured that you'd probably still be upset about it. And here you are, being upset about it," he replies with a grin. Josh chuckles at the way his friend says this and while doing that, he gets lost in his thoughts once again. A certain blonde still takes over his mind and now, after the previous events, more than ever, if that's even possible.

"What exactly happened between the two of you as you were in here last night?" Andrew asks curious, pulling Josh out of his thoughts. There's so much Josh could tell him but he doesn't say anything, not knowing where to start.

"We made out," he blurts out suddenly, much to Andrew's amusement. He starts laughing at Joshs' honesty but he just sits there, glaring at his friend.

"Can you stop laughing? This is serious." Josh states but soon he joins the fit of laughter. After the laughter dies down, they get back to being serious.

"Alright, alright. Why don't you just start from the beginning?".

"Well, I was born on the-"

"Josh!" he exclaims while laughing again. Josh chuckles before he starts to tell Andrew what exactly happened between him and Maya.

Andrew's mouth is wide open, his eyes widen. He is shocked at what Josh just told him. 

"You aren't serious, are you?" he asks, still not believing him.

"Yes, I am serious," Josh replies with a wide grin. Andrew shakes his head in disbelief.

"That's... so cool, man. I'm happy, you finally did something about your feelings!" he exclaims happily while standing up and giving Josh a bro-hug. "I also know who else will be happy to hear about that!" he says in excitement, making himself ready to leave their dorm room. Josh doesn't know who his best friend means until it dawns on him.

"No! You will not tell Jasmine!" Josh exclaims but Andrew nods with a satisfied grin. 

"Oh yeah, I will." With that, he runs out of the room, leaving Josh behind who just shakes his head with a smile.

Now, Josh is just waiting 'til the moment, where Jasmine will run into his room, being proud of him for finally making a move onto Maya.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Hey, Butterfly...

I really hope you had a good day in school despite the things that happened this morning. I just want to let you know how sorry I am for hiding the truth from you. I really hope that we can talk about it, when I come home from work. You can yell at me, if you want. I can take it and I deserve it for the things I've yelled at you today.

I didn't mean it, I am sorry. For everything. Please let us talk about it.
You mean way too much for me to lose you. You're the most important person to me, Maya, and I don't wanna lose you. Not ever.
I hope, you can forgive me.

Love, mum"

Maya can feel the tears welling up, feeling too much at the same time, as she reads the note her mother left for her.

Sure, she's angry at her mother for yelling at her but she's also hurt by the fact, that her mother didn't tell her about having a boyfriend and for hiding the truth for almost six months. 

But Maya feels also guilty.

Guilty because she has said many harsh things to her mother. After everything that has happened to them, she didn't deserve that. 

Her father left and her mother was there for her. Physically rarely but emotionally always. 

She takes the note and lays it down on her desk, as soon as she enters her bedroom. Seeing the letter, Josh wrote for her, gives her goosebumps. She still has to read it though but the fact that he wrote something for her is enough. Like always, she sighs and falls onto her bed, bouncing a little. She takes some deep breaths before grabbing her phone. Only ten percent of her battery are left so she 
quickly reads over her chat with Rachel:

Rachel: "Maaya! Ii reaslly hojpe youure fione."

"Heey! You'r e alriight, gurrll??"

"That waash a greats fightr, youh dide amayzng."

"Wow, these messages are embarrassing. Sorry for that!
I'll never drink so much ever again! I hope, you're okay. Didn't see you after you left, so... yeah. I want to apologize for leaving you alone!! I heard what happened with this Ray and I am soo sorry! Hope, we can meet some time again! You probably want your bag back. I still have it, just so you know! :D
Alright, gotta go! Hope you have a great day!

Maya: "Thanks, Rachel! I'm alright, just a little headache but that's all. Got a lot to tell ya, gurl! Hoping, you're okay too! Glad, my bag is still alright. Sure, we have to meet up again! Can't wait. :D

Maya smiles as she reads the messages again. Especially the ones, Rachel sent her as she was drunk, make her laugh. Then she reads the new message she  received while being in class:

Rachel: "That's good to hear! I'm okay, thanks. :D Uhh, I'm excited now, wanna know what you have to tell me! Why don't you just come around today? I'm sure you'll need your charger as soon as possible!

Maya: "Actually, that sounds good! I'll come today. Just got back from school so.. maybe in an hour? If that's okay."

Rachel answers almost instantly after Maya's response.

Rachel: Awesome!! Of course. An hour works perfectly fine! Can't wait to see ya, May!

Maya smiles at Rachels' message before checking up on her battery again. Only four percent left so she turns off her phone and gets up. She takes a look into the mirror, staring at her reflection. Before she even knows what she's doing, she lifts her hand and pulls off her ponytail, letting her blonde waves fall down. She grabs her hairbrush and gets rid of some knots in her hair. Then she fixes up her make-up and walks over to her desk, picking up Josh's letter. She settles down onto her bed, getting comfortable, and starts reading.

"Dear Ferret, 

You don't even know how much you mean to me. You always have and always will. That's a promise. 

I just got you back so I will do anything to keep you this time. I've lost you once and I won't even risk, losing you a second time because I'm sure, I wouldn't survive another four years without you. It might sound like I am overreacting but I'm not. 
I mean it.

As I saw you at the party, it felt like time stopped. My heart stopped. My mind stopped.

Everything just felt right at that moment. And even though a few minutes later we screamed at each other, I couldn't help but admire you. You're so pretty but it's not enough to describe just how beautiful you are, Maya. I'm glad that I met you again and of course that you feel the same as me. I didn't even want to attend the party but I am glad that I did. You made this night one of the most beautiful moments of my life and I hope we'll have a lot more moments like these. Thank you, for being a part of my life.

I hope, we won't stay friends forever... in a good way.

I want to be the one to make you happy, every day, every second. I want to kiss you, hug you. Please, let me be the one to do that. I want to comfort you when you feel like falling apart and I want to be the one to cheer you up when nothing feels alright. I want to laugh with you, I want to be the reason you laugh. I want to tell you how much you mean to me, how happy I am to have you around. I wanna fall asleep next to you, holding you, and I want to get up next to you.

It sounds really catchy but well... That's how I feel about you. I have for a while now and you finally know. Whenever I see you, I think about you standing there again, in front of me in my backyard in Philly. We first met there and played baseball together. I will never forget your laugh, how happy you were that day. It's one of my favorite moments and again, it's because of you, Maya. You've never left my mind. Or my heart, for that matter.

Please, don't ever leave me. I'll do my best to be there for you, no matter what.

Even though I have to warn you 'cause I'm an idiot.

Your Josh"

There's one sentence, she can't read. It seems like he wrote something down, then decided that he doesn't want her to read it so he just scribbled over it like a thousand times. By the time, Maya finishes the letter, she's crying unconditionally. 

She has cried so many times today, she has lost count.

This time though, it's different.

These are happy tears.

She has never felt so loved and never had such an urge to hug someone like now. 

Quickly, she freshens up a little and gets ready to leave. After she's finished, she leaves the apartment and walks to the subway.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Zay, I need your help," Lucas says desperately as his friend picks up his phone, accepting the call. 

"Let me guess... Trouble in paradise?" he asks teasingly. Lucas sighs heavily, already annoyed by his friend.

"Please, just help me!" he exclaims, losing his patience.

"Alright, I'm coming over. Ten minutes," he says before hanging up. 

A knock appears on his door and Lucas immediately opens it. 

"Hey," Zay greets his friend and walks into his apartment. Lucas drives his hand through his hair before sitting down nervously.

"Okay... What is up with you? Is this because of Riley?" Zay questions.

"Yes... No... Maybe, I don't know!" Lucas raises his voice and stands up, pacing back and forth. Zay watches, how his friend freaks out about.. well, Lucas doesn't even know why he's freaking out himself.

"How about you calm down first?" he suggests. Lucas just stares at Zay, who's really happy about the fact that gazes can't kill. Otherwise, he'd be dead already. "Okay, then we won't calm down," Zay says. 

"I don't know what's going on, Zay. Riley is jealous because I comforted Maya instead of her and usually I'd feel the need to make things right between us but... I don't." He sighs heavily.

"So... you're saying?" Zay asks, even though he already knows the answer.

"I'm saying that..." he starts but drifts off. His eyes widen and he gasps. "Oh my god! I'm saying that I don't love Riley." His mouth remains open, shocked at what he just said. Zay nods, trying to remain neutral, even though his heart breaks for Riley.

"And? Anything else?" Zay presses.

"I like Maya," he blurts out. Zay snaps his fingers.

"There you have it except... I don't believe this crap," he explains. Lucas looks at him, confused.

"Look, you've been with Riley for over two months now and you two have been through hell to even get one date. You really just wanna throw that away because you think, you have feelings for Maya, again?" he throws at Lucas. "Listen, it's just like the first time you thought that you have feelings towards Maya. They didn't exist back then, why would they exist now?" Zay asks seriously. It doesn't seem like Lucas is going to answer so Zay continues. "When you first thought, that you like Maya like that, Riley was devastated. She has loved you since the first day you guys met and all you did, was giving her mixed signals. First, you say you like her, then you aren't sure if you really like her and then, you tell her that you like her again. After that, you go out with her best friend because both of you thought you like each other but in the end, realized, it was just an illusion. Riley waited for you. She was okay with that. I don't think she'll wait again and honestly, I hope that she won't wait for you because what you're doing right now, is just unfair to her. She doesn't deserve this, bro."

Silence.

Zay's words sink into Lucas's mind. 

He's right.

Riley doesn't deserve this and neither does Maya.

"She likes someone," Lucas chokes out.

"Who?" Zay asks confused.

"Maya. Today she told me that she likes someone who likes her back," he states sadly.

"You sound jealous," Zay observes. Lucas shrugs and sits down again.

"I honestly don't know, if I am," he sighs. Zay sighs too, sitting down next to his friend.

"Okay... We'll figure this out."

"How?" Lucas exclaims worried.

"What exactly happened, as you ran away to comfort Maya?" Zay asks. Lucas takes a deep breath, thinking of how he can explain it to Zay.

It's gonna take some time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Maya!" Rachel exclaims excited, as Maya enters their room. She gets up immediately and pulls the blonde girl in for a hug.

"Hey, how you're doing?" Maya asks, after they break their hug and sit down. 

"Fine, what about you?" Maya chuckles lightly.

"I'm living," she responds. Rachel's look softens, feeling sorry for her friend.

"Wanna talk?" she offers with a reassuring smile. Maya smiles too.

"Sure. If you don't mind?"

"Absolutely not. I'm here for you, May," Rachel promises her with a nod and gets comfortable. 

"What would you like to know?" the blonde girl asks. 

"What exactly happened at the party? I just saw how you started to fight and after it was over, you took Joshs' hand and left with him." Maya looks at her confused.

"You know Josh?" she asks, shocked. Rachel nods at that.

"I do. Well, not really know him. I have one class with him together, so I only know his name and how he looks but I've never talked to him." She shrugs. Maya nods. "The question is: How do you know Josh?" Rachel asks with a teasing grin.

Maya has never told Rachel and Ally who this mysterious guy is, she cried about that one day they first met.

"Well... Wanna hear the whole story?" she asks with a slight smile. Rachel's eyes light up and she nods her head fast. Maya chuckles at her reaction and starts telling her and Josh's story.

The story of Maya Penelope Hart and Joshua Gabriel Matthews.

After Maya told her the story, Ally walks into the room. 

"Hey, Ally," Maya and Rachel greet her at the same time. The blonde just turns around, annoyed.

"Hi." She huffs out before rummaging around in her bag. Rachel and Maya look at each other, confused at Ally's reaction.

"How was your chemistry class?" Rachel asks. Ally just shrugs at that.

"Boring, as always," she answers. 

"Ooookay," Rachel says, then turns back to Maya. "Shall we continue our conversation about your certain Boing?" she smiles. Maya lets out a chuckle at Rachel's excitement.

"Who the hell is Boing?" Ally asks. Rachel looks at Maya, she nods, giving her permission to tell Ally.

"Joshua Matthews is Mayas Boing," she exclaims happily, clapping her hands together. Maya smiles brightly along with Rachel but Ally doesn't. The book she was holding drops down onto the floor, making Maya and Rachel wince.

"Joshua Matthews?" she questions in a low voice and a horrified look on her face.

"Yes," Maya says. "I like him and he likes me," she says confidently. Rachel senses how both blonde girls get angry at each other. Ally scoffs at Maya's statement.

"So you're really his girlfriend," Ally murmurs.

"What was that?" Maya asks.

"Nothing. What makes you think that Josh likes you?" she questions while crossing her arms in front of her chest. Maya can hear the jealousy in Ally's voice and that causes anger inside of Maya. She stands up, slowly walking towards the other blond girl.

"I'm sorry?" Maya exclaims pissed. An arrogant smirk forms itself on Ally's face.

"Just saying. He's a freshman in college and you're a Junior in highschool," Ally states, still grinning.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm pretty sure you're not the one he made out with yesterday," Maya states with a satisfied grin, watching how Ally's grin disappears.

"You think just because he made out with you, he likes you?" she laughs. "That's cute. You know, here, at college, when a boy takes you to his room for the night and doesn't sleep with you, he's not interested in you," she says. "It's as simple as that," she says innocent with a shrug.

"No, it just means, that Josh is a gentleman and that I am way more to him than just sex. I don't know how boys treat you but if you think that way, I guess you're nothing more than just a slut," Maya finishes. Ally's mouth hangs open, shocked at what Maya just said. Rachel is as shocked as Ally but soon it turns into a proud smile. Ally scoffs, turns around to grab her bag, and runs out of the room. Maya is still smiling and sits back down next to Rachel.

"Oh. My. God." Rachel breathes out. "Maya, that was awesome!" she exclaims happily, hugging the blond girl tightly. Maya starts laughing and hugs her back. 

"Thanks but why was she so pissed as she walked in?" Maya questions.

"My guess is that it's because of this guy..." Rachel says while pulling away.

"What guy?"

"She told me that she wanted to ask out this guy in her class she's been pining after since her first day at college but that he said that he has a girlfriend so she didn't even bother asking him out," Rachel shrugs. Maya just nods in understanding.

"So... I'm happy for you and Josh, May," she exclaims happily.

"Thank you. At least you're supportive," she says a little disappointed, referring to Ally. Rachel scoots closer to her blond friend and lays an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a half-hug.

"I'm sorry. Don't listen to Ally, she's a bitch." Maya chuckles at that.

"Yeah, she really is. How can you be friends with her?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Rachel responds with a chuckle at the end.

"I thought she's my friend," Maya says sadly. Rachel rubs Maya's arm, trying to give her some comfort.

"You don't need her. I don't need her either." Both girls laugh at that. 

"You're right," Maya agrees.

"I think we should change the subject. You still haven't told me how the fight at the party started."

Maya looks at her friend and takes a deep breath.

"Well..." she starts.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Why did you hold her hand exactly?", Zay asks his friend, who's hiding his face between his hands. Lucas murmurs something but Zay can't hear it.

"I can't hear you."

"It just felt right!", Lucas raises his voice. "I don't know, I just... I helped her to stand up and then I didn't let go. It felt right to hold her hand."

"So.. You wanted to comfort her? Or did you do it in a romantical way?"

"First it was just a friend comforting a friend but then... I thought about it in a romantical way.", he looks down embarrassed. Zay pats Lucas' back.

"Lucas. You should talk to Riley and to Maya.", at that, Lucas' head shoots up, looking terrified and shaking his head.

"I can't do that."

"Yes, you can... and you will. You have to tell them."

Lucas knows that his friend is right. 

He's just scared of what could happen, if he tells them the truth.

"Thank you, Zay."

"No problem, man. I'm always here for you.", Zay promises his best friend.

"So... Does that mean, you like Maya? For real this time?", Zay asks. Lucas nods at that.

"Yeah. I like Maya.", he says.

It remains quiet between the two best friends. Both thinking about their conversation. 

Zay thinks about the heartbroken faces Maya and Riley will make, while Lucas thinks about what he's going to say to the two most important girls in his life.

It doesn't matter what he will say.

It will destroy their friendship either way.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"And then I left with Josh.", Maya finishes the story about how the fight started. Rachel looks at her, wide eyed. It stays silent for some time.

"I think it's really cute how Josh defended you against this jerk.", Rachel says with a slight smile.

"I agree.", Maya chuckles.

"So, Ally brought you to Ray?", she questions. Maya nods.

"And she said that she doesn't know him?", Maya nods again.

"That's really weird 'cause...", Rachel drifts off. "Ally talks to Ray every day.", Maya stays quiet at that.

"They're friends, even though I don't know why because Ray is a huge asshole. I'd even say the biggest asshole out of every guy in freshman year. Darren too."

"Do you know them too?", Maya questions.

"Not anymore.", Rachel murmurs. "As I met them the first time, Darren was really sweet and kind. He even asked me out and it was a beautiful date but... Ray ruined it. He was always a dick. I couldn't stand him since the second I met him. Darren and I had a good time but... Ray interrupted our date. Said that Darren deserves someone better and that he's pathetic for looking for a relationship. He told me that I'm not good enough for Darren and...", Rachel takes a deep breath, preparing herself for what she's going to say next.
"He left with Ray.", Mayas look softens, feeling sorry for her friend.
"He just left me on our date because Ray said so. Since then I've never talked to him ever again. I still ignore him and he still tries to apologize. Every fucking day. It's just that... I can't accept his apology when I see him at every party making out with a different girl each time I walk past him.", she huffs out. Quickly Maya pulls her in for a hug. They stay like that for a while, just comforting each other.

"Thanks for listening, Maya."

"Anytime.", she answers. "Actually I have to thank you.", Rachel starts to chuckle.

"Anytime."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"I can't believe it, Josh! I'm so proud of you!", Jasmine exclaims happily while clapping her hands together in excitement. Josh just sighs while Andrew grins widely at his girlfriends' reaction.

"Thank you, Jasmine.", Josh says with a small smile. She jumps up and down, still being happy over Josh finally making a move on Maya.

"We have to celebrate that!"

"No!", Josh says quickly, causing Andrew to laugh loudly. Jasmine glares at the two boys.

"Okay, we won't.", she sighs. Josh starts laughing too and Jasmine only gets more annoyed at that, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Andrew calms down after a while and hugs her from behind giving her a kiss on the cheek. She turns her head and they just stare at each other with a smile. Josh can see their affection for each other in their eyes. 

They look at each other with pure love.

Josh smiles fondly at his two friends, as he watches their interaction with each other. It makes him happy to see them like this. At the same time he gets frustrated, hoping he'll have that too in the future.

Hopefully with Maya because he doesn't want to have that with anybody else.

He only wants that with Maya.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Maya is thankful to have Rachel as her friend.

"Hey, Rachel?"

"Hm?", she hums.

"There's one thing I still need your help with.", the blonde girl says quietly.

"Sure. I'm listening.", the brunette says.

"It's about Lucas.", at that, Rachel frowns.

She doesn't know who Lucas is.

"Right, you don't know him. Here are the information you need to know: He's my best friends current boyfriend, I went on a date with time some time ago 'cause I thought I had feelings for him.", Rachel just nods at that, a little confused but she understands it.

"Alright, here's the story: Today has been a really shitty day, at school I yelled at my best friend and ran away. He went after me and comforted me instead of her. Usually I hate it when people run after me even though I told them to leave me alone but... it actually felt nice to have someone who cares about me checking up on me. I talked with him and told him that I like someone who likes me back. He said, he's happy for me but it kind of felt like he was jealous. I didn't think anything of it and we walked back into the school building. He hold my hand the entire time and sure, at that moment it was comforting but now I think he may took it the wrong way.", she finishes, not looking at Rachel. 

"Maya?", the brunette asks. Slowly Maya turns her head and looks at her friend.

"I need to tell Josh.", she whispers. Rachel nods.

"I think, that's a great idea. The sooner he knows, the better."

"But what, if he thinks that it meant something to me too?", she asks, terrified at that thought.

"Did it?"

"No.", Maya exclaims honestly. "But I am scared that he may think that because I can't lose Josh. Not again!", she raises her voice, at the verge of crying once again.

"Maya, it's okay. It's going to be okay.", Rachel assures her.

"Is it? Whenever something good happens in my life, it doesn't last long. Life always finds a way to take it away from me and I can't let it win this time. I can't lose Josh again."

"Maya, you'll get through this, okay? I'll be here for you, no matter what.", she promises her. "It's good that you wanna tell Josh 'cause these things always come out. Some people doesn't say anything because it didn't mean something to them and then they think, there's no need for the other person to know, while this person thinks you didn't say anything because it meant something even though it didn't and that only leads to misunderstandings.", she explains. Maya nods, understanding what she means.

"It makes sense. Thank you, Rachel.", the girls hug again.

"I should really go now.", Maya says with a sad smile. Rachel nods and stands up. She picks up Mayas bag and hands it to her. 

After one last hug they say goodbye to each other and Maya finally leaves but she doesn't plan on going home yet. 

There's one thing left she needs to do.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"You didn't!", Jasmine exclaims shocked. Josh nods while laughing along with Andrew.

"I did."

"That's so cute! You actually gave her your T-Shirt. I can't believe that!", she says happily. 

"Alright, alright, calm down, Jay. It's just a T-Shirt, not a ring or something like that.", he jokes. Andrew and Jasmine both look at him with a knowing smile.

"Oh, no. No. No. No! Don't look at me like that.", he says. His friends start laughing again.

"Okay, first: It's not just a T-Shirt. If you lend a girl your clothes, it definitely means something, just to clarify that. And second: You already think about marriage, Joshy?", she teases with the nickname he doesn't like. He chuckles softly.

"A ring doesn't necessarily mean marriage, Jay.", he replies. She just nods at that.

"Well, guess I was wrong. You do know things about love.", she says softly. Josh blushes at that and scratches his neck nervously. Andrew and Jasmine both start laughing but stop as there appears a knock on the door. Josh gets up and opens the door, being caught by surprise as lips crash onto his, kissing him softly. 

Of course he knows who this is.

After what feels like forever, she pulls back, smiling softly at him and Josh feels like his world just stopped spinning. Both just stare at each other, smiling like idiots. Andrew clears his throat and suddenly, Josh remembers that he has company in his room. He looks at his friends, who give him a knowing look. Jasmine stands up quickly, walking towards the door. Maya steps into the room and Jasmine pulls her into a hug, surprising Maya but she hugs back. The she greets Andrew and Josh couldn't be happier about the fact, that his friends like Maya as much as she likes them. 

One more thing he loves about this girl. 

"Okay, it was nice seeing you, Maya but... Andrew and I wanted to go on a date now.", Andrew looks at her confused.

"We do?", she hits his shoulder playfully.

"Yes, we do!", he says quickly. Maya chuckles at that, exactly knowing what Jasmine is doing.

"Okay, see ya later!", Josh says, waving them goodbye. They clode the door behind them, leaving the two lovebirds alone. They stare at each other with their smile again until Josh speaks up.

"Will you always greet me like this from now on?", he asks with a grin, causing Maya to laugh until she cries.

"I'd love to.", she responds with a smile after she calmed down. Then she sits down on his bed and Josh sits down next to her, intertwining their hands. 

"You're still wearing my T-Shirt.", he states with a grin. Maya nods at that.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? I mean, I got clothing from my Boing, sure I'm gonna wear it as long as I can.", her statement makes Joshs smile grow even wider. "Your brother even asked me about it.", she adds sheepishly, making Josh giggle.

"As funny as that is and as much as I'd like to continue this conversation, I can tell that something's bothering you, so... why don't you tell me what's making you sad?", he lightly taps onto her nose, earning him a cute giggle form the blonde girl.

"I really can't hide anything from you, can I?", she asks, smiling lightly. He just shrugs at that.

"Take all the time you need. I will be sitting here, right next to you, listening to whatever you have to say.", Maya just stares at him with pure affection in her eyes.

"I don't want to bother you with my problems, Josh.", she says sadly. He puts his free hand unter her chin and turns her head, so he can look into her eyes. He kisses her softly before replying.

"You could never bother me, Ferret.", he says with pure honesty.

What did she ever do to deserve someone like him?

She can already feel tears welling up.

"You want to be the one, who comforts me when I feel like falling apart and the one, who cheers me up when nothing feels alright.", quoting something from the letter he wrote for her, really warms his heart. They share a kiss again and Josh whipes away a single tear on her cheek. 

"My mum and Shawn are dating for almost six months and she didn't tell me.", she whispers. Josh gazes at her for a while.
"We had a fight right in front of him at the breakfast table this morning and she yelled at me and I practically called her a bad mother.", more tears float down her cheeks. "Then I cried all the way to school, I was late and your brother was disappointed at me for falling into my old habits. I also screamed at Riley for not being there, when I needed her the most and for ignoring me all this time. I ran onto the schoolyard and Lucas comforted me. Which, of course, made her angry.", she lets out a quiet sob, Josh just stays still listening to her.
"So I listened as she yelled at him and I felt so guilty. Then, at home I read a note my mother wrote, telling me how sorry she is for yelling at me and asking, if we could talk later.", again, a sob escapes her throat.
"Then I read your letter and felt like my heart was jumping out of my chest.", she laughs and Josh smiles at her.
"As I got here to get my bag back, I talked to Rachel a lot. Ally was being a bitch and I found out that she knows this Ray and Darren. Actually, these three are friends with each other. She was just pretending to not know him. Also, she acted really jealous as I told her that Joshua Matthews likes me. She questioned it and I called her a slut.", Josh chuckles at that, while thinking about this Ally, remembering the Ally from class today.

"You finished?", he asks, giving her hand a squeeze.

"No.", she says. "I'm just scared to tell you this."

"Why? I'm not going away, if that's what you're scared of."

"Stop reading my mind, Boing.", she chuckles lightly, Josh does the same.

"It's about Lucas.", she says, glancing at Josh. She can't really read his facial expression but he definitely isn't happy. Maya takes a deep breath.

It's now or never.

"I think he likes me.", Josh doesn't have to ask, why she'd say that. He knows what she means with liking her. Now he feels jealousy washing over him, Maya can tell. She gives his hand a squeeze.

"Why would you be scared to tell me?, he asks, his voice serious.

"I was scared, you'd think that I like him too.", he looks at her. "I don't like him like that, I never have.", she smiles at him. "Because I like you. I always have.", she continues. Josh smiles fondly at her.
"As he comforted me today at school, I told him that I like someone.. and that this person likes me back. I noticed that he looked kinda... sad. Disappointed. Like he was jealous or hurt or something like that. I didn't think anything of it because it was just for a brief moment. Then he helped me getting off the ground and he held my hand 'til we were inside of the school building again. In that moment it was comforting for me but now I think he might have taken it the wrong way...", she glancs at Josh once again, seeing worry in his eyes.

"Maya?"

"Yes?", she asks breathlessly. He leans in and gives her a gentle kiss. 

"I'm not mad at you and I certainly don't think, you like him like that.", Maya sighs in relief.
"I'm glad you told me. Now I know who gets punched the next time I see him.", she laughs softly at that.
"Not only for confusing you but also for hurting Riley.", Maya winces at the mention of her best friends name.

"I need to talk to her too. I have to apologize for yelling at her and I have to tell her about this... Lucas thing. God, I... I feel like this is all my fault. It is my fault.", she exclaims worried. 

"Hey, Maya, calm down. It's no ones fault.", he comforts her and pulls her in for a hug. 
"Don't worry. It will all be fine and I'm gonna be here for you, always.", he promises her with a kiss on her head.
"Also... You should talk with your mom. I truly believe that she's sorry for everything just like you are. And who knows? Maybe you and Shawn will understand each other perfectly fine.", she chuckles at that. 
"And as for this Ally thing...", Maya pulls away and looks at him serious.
"Today, in my class, a certain Ally asked me how I feel after the party. She seemed kinda jealous as I explained to her that this blonde girl who dragged me away, was my girlfriend.", his eyes widen. Maya frowns at him, not knowing what's wrong.

"What is it, Boing?", she asks confused.

"Uhh, nothing...", he responds quickly. He blushes slightly but is also relieved that Maya doesn't mind him calling her his girlfriend. Suddenly it dawns onto Maya.

"Oh...", she breathes out. "That.", she says with a devilish grin. Josh scratches his neck, getting nervous. 
"Don't worry, Boing. It's cool.", she says but Josh can hear the teasing in her voice.

"Anyways... She was also sad about the fact that I didn't know her.", Maya laughs.

"I'm already pissed at her but if she really is into my boyfriend, then I'm gonna punch her right in her face, hopefully I'll break her nose.", now Josh laughs too, being happy about the fact that Maya just casually called him her boyfriend.

"Well, we have a lot of people to punch.", he says laughing. Maya joins his fit of laughter, forgetting, at least for some minutes, all this crap that's happening around them. 

"Ray and Darren too? I mean, you already punched them.", Maya says with a smile.

"That's right but... Ray hurt my girl, so he deserves more punches."

It was this very moment, where Maya felt how happy these words can make a girl.

He called her his girl and it felt like her heart was going to explode. It can't take this huge amount of love she feels right now.

Mayas throat escapes a squeal before leaning in and kissing the boy of her dreams. He, of course, kisses back, eager to feel her lips against his own. This kiss feels different though. It's gentle and soft, yet passionate, almost like a promise. 

A promise about love. 

Both haven't said it yet but both have thought about it numerous times.

And they felt it. 

Not just once.

With this kiss, both silently admit their love for each other. 

Their hearts beat like one, both overwhelmed with pure love. 

Finally they have each other and Maya doesn't even know, why she had ever thought, she had feelings for Lucas Friar.

In her heart, it has always been Joshua Matthews.

Chapter Text

Chapter nine: It's official.

Maya and Josh spend another hour together just talking, cuddling and making out.
 
Maya has never smiled that much in just one hour and it's all because of Josh. He still needs to ask her something and because it's already 5 p.m. he needs to do it fast.

"Hey, Maya?", he asks, becoming nervous. The blonde is currently reading one of his essays and just hums in response, not looking up.

"Can I ask you something?", Maya can hear the fear in his voice, so she lifts up her head to look at him and stops reading. Now he has her full attention. He breathes in deeply and breathes out slowly. 

"Today, we've been calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend jokingly and I just...", he drifts off, suddenly being really nervous. It's like he has forgotten how to speak. 

"You what, Josh?", Maya whispers, staring into his ocean blue eyes.

How is he supposed to concentrate on talking when these beautiful blue eyes are piercing through his? Whenever she looks at him, he just forgets everything that's happening around them and most of the time, his brain shuts off too. It feels like, she's staring right into his mind, reading his thoughts. 

"I... uh...", he stutters, making her smile. Again, he's being an idiot, he knows, but he made her smile so he doesn't feel as embarrassed as usual.
"I've been meaning to ask you but I'm just a nervous wreck around you, like right now.", she chuckles. "That's one of the reasons why I wrote you this letter. Also because I still was under influence of alcohol but also because... the things I wrote to you are things, I've been meaning to tell you and all but I just couldn't get myself to do so. I thought and felt these things the last four years, probably even longer than that. I just never had the courage to tell you. I thought you hated me.", he finishes in a whisper. Maya can feel tears welling up as she listens to the things he says. Again, her heart is full of love. 

"I never did.", she whispers back, causing the brown-haired boy to look up at her. He has tears welling up as well and a little smile appears at her words. 

"I'm an idiot.", Josh says, making both of them laugh. Maya nods her head and Josh playfully scoffs at her agreeing. 

"So... What did you want to ask me?", she asks, already knowing what he wants to ask her. He can see it in her smile. 

She knows.

"Maya Penelope Hart.", Josh starts after a few minutes of silence and some deep breathes.

"Yes.", she  exclaims enthusiasticly. The blonde bites onto her lower lip as Josh looks at her with wide eyes.

"I didn't even ask yet!", he exclaims offended with a bright smile. Maya just shrugs, jumping up in excitement.

"Yes, I will marry you, Joshua Matthews!", she yells happily. Immediately the boy stands up, putting a hand over her mouth to stop her from yelling more stuff.

"That's not what I was going to ask you. Not yet.", he says with a slight hint of a smile. Mayas eyes widen at his statement.

Not yet. 

He takes both of her hands into his and stares deeply into her blue eyes. 

"Alright, I'll try again, hopefully without any interruptions.", he says with a wink, earning him a giggle from Maya.

"Maya Penelope Hart, will you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?"

There it is. 

The moment she's been waiting for.

Maya feels like she can't breathe. 

There's so much excitment and happiness inside of her, that she doesn't know to to handle it. Her vision becomes blurry as she burst out into tears.

"Maya?", Josh asks worried.

"Sorry.", she sobs. "I'm just so happy.", she starts laughing at that, completely overwhelmed with her feelings.

"Is that a yes?", he asks her, referring to his question he's been dying to ask her. Maya nods her head violently with a big bright smile glued to her face.

"Yes.", she says breathlessy and Josh instantly kisses her. A gentle yet passionate kiss and, again, it feels like a promise. After the conversation they just had with each other, this promise feels even more special. 

They continue kissing each other for whole ten minutes before Josh finally speaks up.

"I'll walk you home later, alright?", he whispers into her blonde waves. Maya almost couldn't hear him. She nods and breaks out of his warm embrace.

"Sure, but I'm keeping your T-Shirt.", she says rather as a statement than a question, making Josh chuckle. "You know, why don't you just give this to me, so I can call it mine? Na, I already call it mine, thanks for the T-Shirt, Boing!", she talks like she's speaking with herself, turning around and reaching for the doorknob but Josh grabs her arm and turns her around so she's facing him again.

"Not so fast.", he says to a grinning Maya.

"Ugh, whaaat?", she groans while letting her head fall back.

"There are still some things we need to discuss, young lady.", he says while tucking some of her blonde waves behind her ear. His hand rests on her cheek and Maya can't help but to smile, leaning into his touch.

"Yeah? I'm waiting, Josh.", she says impatiently while folding her arms in front of her chest. He clears his throat quickly, finally gathering his thoughts.

"Right, uh...", he mumbles, making Maya laugh again. "So...now that we're officially together, we need to talk about how we tell the others.", he explains to her, letting his hand travel down her neck, then her arm before intertwining their hands again. 

"You.. uh... mean our families?", she mumbles a little due to their interaction seconds ago. Josh grins at that, obviously proud of himself. She hits him playfully and both start to laugh.

"Alright, back to our conversation. Yes, I mean our families. I mean, we can't just.. you know.. kiss the next time we see each other as a greeting and our families are there, watching us. That'd be weird and I don't want to have this kind of conversation with them, ya know?"

"Yeah, that's true and I don't want that either.", Maya agrees. "I think... we should just... tell them, like I tell my mum, after I've talked with her about... the thing I found out and you talk to your parents and your brother.", she says grinning widely.

"Why don't we just tell them together? I think that would be more convincing 'cause... If we tell them seperately, they obviously wanna know, how that happened and like want to check, if our stories match each other or something like that, ya get what I'm saying?", Maya nods at that, completely understanding what her boyfriend means. 

"Awesome. Now the next question is-"

"When are we going to tell them?", Maya finishes his sentence. He smiles at her fondly. 

"Yeah.", he breathes out, scratching his neck once again. Maya looks away, thinking. 

"I don't know.", she says sadly. 

"You know, even though I'm really happy that we're finally together, maybe we should keep it on the down low for a while. I'd love nothing more than to tell everyone you're my girl-", she smiles at that. "- but with everything that's happening right now... maybe we should wait. You got so much on your plate already and need to sort these things out. I don't want you to stress about our relationship too, okay? I don't want us to mess this up.", he says fondly. The blonde starts to smile again.

She finds it really endearing, how Josh wants her to solve her problems first before jumping into this relationship with him. She'd be happy to let everyone know they're together but Josh is right. It'd be too much right now. First, she needs to sort out her problems and then she can properly think about this with Josh. 

They are together.

She's Joshua Matthews girlfriend and so far, only the two of them know and that's enough for her right now.

He wants nothing more than to tell everyone about them but he thinks about Maya first. He knows, that she has a lot to figure out right now and he wants her to get that out of the way first. So she can focus on their relationship because both know, that it takes the both of them to make their relationship work and it doesn't work, if one of them is occupied with too much other stuff, so this person can't really commit right now.

He puts her needs above his own.

That's one more thing, she loves about him.

"Thanks, Josh.", she whispers.

"For what?", he asks confused with the sweetest smile, she has ever seen. Which is, why she can't help herself but to lean in and kissing him softly. 

"For being a wonderful boyfriend.", she answers in a whisper, making him smile. He leans in, capturing her lips, just like she did seconds ago. 

Both pull away and just smile at each other, again looking like idiots.

"Shall we get you home, girlfriend?", Josh asks quietly, caressing her cheek. Mayas' throat escapes a cute giggle.

"Sure, boyfriend.", she replies, grinning and emphasizing the word boyfriend. The pair made their way out of Joshs' dorm room, holdings hands and never loosing their wide smiles.

This day can't get any better.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile... 

"There you are!", Rachel exclaims annoyed as she finally found her rommate Ally.

"What do you want?", she asks in a low tone. Rachel scoffs at that and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

"You're not being serious, are you?", Rachel raises her voice at the blonde girl. She just huffs out a laugh and stands up.

"Don't play dumb, Ally. What the hell was that?!", Rachel exclaims, reffering to the situation with Maya.

"What do you want me to say?!", Ally shouts at her, not caring that someone could hear it.

"The truth.", She demands serious. "I want you to tell me the truth."

"About what?", Ally asks, more quiet this time.

"About what happened. Why the hell would you do this to Maya?", Rachel asks, more sternly this time.

She's about to lose it. 

There's so much anger inside of her. 

Suddenly, Ally starts crying and sits back down onto the bench. Rachel is  confused, more than she has ever been in her entire life. Even more confused than during a math exam.
Rachel breathes out, annoyed at the current situation she's in. She sits down next to the crying girl.
Ally mumbles something but Rachel can't understand it. 

"Ally, I don't understand you.", she says with a sigh.

"I love Josh!", she yells at her, once again not caring that someone could hear her. Rachel blinks a few times, trying to comprehend what Ally just said.

"Did she really just say that?"

"What?", she chokes out, suddenly not really able to breathe steady. Ally sighs heavily.

"I love Josh.", she repeats with a shaky voice.

"You don't even know him, Ally.", Rachel says. Ally shakes her head at that.

"That's not true. You don't know much about this."

"Clearly.", Rachel mumbles to herself. 

"Remember this guy I asked out?", Rachel raises an eyebrow, not knowing what Ally wants from her, so Ally continues. "At our first day at college. I saw this handsome guy, who had his first day here too."

"Ally, wait up!", Rachel yelled after her. "Why are you running so fast, we still haven't seen this area over there?"

Ally turned to her, she still walked pretty fast. Rachel had a hard time keeping up with her new found friend.

"Sorry, I just don't want to miss him.", she answered quickly.

"Who?", Rachel asked confused. 

"This guy over there! Do you see him?", she answered and pointed to a beanie-wearing boy with a grey T-Shirt, who stood next to a slightly taller boy. 

"Who's this?", the brunette wondered.

"His name is Josh. Full name is Joshua Matthews.", Ally responded in a dreamy voice. "Isn't he just so cute?"

"How do you know this guy?"

"I don't. Just heard how someone called him earlier and I couldn't keep myself from staring at him. During the induction I've been watching him. He's so handsome.", she said, again with a dreamy voice. Rachel sighed heavily.

"Seriously? It's our first day and you're already being creepy. Stop starring at him!", Rachel hissed at her friend while she dragged her away from their current spot.

"Hey!", she exclaimed annoyed and tried to get out of Rachels grip without any succeed.

"Come on, we still have to continue our tour on campus.", she said.. Ally sighed in annoyance but finally agreed and followed her brunette friend without causing any more trouble.

Twenty minutes later, Ally catched the sight of Josh again, she saw him still being with his friend.. He smiled  widely and laughed here and then. Again, she watched him and got lost in her thoughts. That's why she didn't answer to something Rachel has asked her. As Rachel snapped her fingers in front of Allys face, she looked at her completely confused.

"You didn't listen, right?", Rachel wanted to know. Ally started smiling and shook her head, then turned slightly so she could look at Josh again. Rachel followed Allys eyes and scoffed, as she spotted this guy again. 

"Ally!", she almost screamed at the blonde. Ally shrieked in a high pitched tone and some other people around them stared at them arkwardly. Rachel gave them an apologitic look and pinched Ally into her ribs. 

"What?!", the blonde exclaimed. 

"Stop starring.", Rachel said through gritted teeth, she got impatient but the blonde didn't care at all. She took off and run away. With that, she left a confused brunette behind. 

Josh stood there, alone. He waited for his friend, Andrew, to return so he just hold his phone and texted his brother, Cory. Ally appeared in front of Josh, out of breath and with a fast beating heart. The brown-haired boy just stared at her, he didn't know what to do nor what this girl wanted from him. 

"Hey.", she greeted him with a bright smile. Josh nodded slightly.

"Hi...?", he said but more as a question. Behind the blonde girl, he saw a brunette running towards them. She stood some steps behind them.

"Will you go out with me?", the blonde asked promptly. Josh was stunned while the brunette girl huffs and faceplams herself. He saw so much hope in the blue eyes of hers. It reminded him of a special pair of blue eyes, that once looked at him with so much hope too. This flashback haunted him, just like his memories did everyday.

"I'm sorry but... I already have someone waiting for me.", he replies. The blonde started crying immediately and ran away. Rachel apologized to him before she left as well and ran after the blonde girl. 

"That was Josh?", Rachel exclaims shocked. "I didn't even remember that.", she says with a quiet voice. Ally nods at that.

"Yeah... It's always been him.", there's so much honesty in her voice, that it scares Rachel.

"How can you love him? You two never really talked to each other and... You don't know much about him.", Rachel states. Ally huffs out a laugh and looks at the brunette next to her.

"His full name is Joshua Gabriel Matthews, out of four children he's the youngest, he's originally from Philadelphia, his older brother named Cory lives here in New York with his family, consisting out of his wife and their two children - one girl and one boy. Josh cares about his family deeply and visits Cory almost every day. His niece, Riley, is Mayas' best friend, that's how they know each other. Andrew is his best friend since childhood and he dates Jasmine since six and a half months. Josh would do anything for his friends. He even encouraged Andrew to ask Jasmine out.", Rachel gasps after Ally stops talking. 

"Wow...", she mumbles. 

"Did I forget something?", Ally asks herself. "Oh, yeah! After he was born he almost died, which is why his family is very protective over him and gets scared as soon as he gets sick.
He has known Maya for a few years now, probably for ten years. He has always liked her. He has always seen her as more than just a friend. I also know that he never wanted to be with her because he's two and a half years older than her. Though he always says three years and Maya corrects him every single time. 
He's a perfectionist, stays up late to work on his essays and drinks a lot of coffee, which is the reason why he has trouble with sleeping. 
Whenever a girl asked him out, he said that someone's already waiting for him but this morning, as I wanted to ask him out again, he told me that he has a girlfriend."

Rachel doesn't say anything, she doesn't know what to say.

There are so many things running through her mind right now but she can't form a single sentence.

"I love him, I'm in love with him.", Ally finishes. Finally, Rachel finds her voice again.

"You're sick.", she says scared. "You're creepy, Ally. All these things you've just told me... You can't possibly know them from just talking to him."

"I dont.", Ally responds quietly. 

"He doesn't even know you, Ally. How do you know all these things?! Especially about his past, with Maya, and all these things about his family?!", Rachel asks worried.

"His Instagram profile tells you quite a lot, if you put the pieces together and analyze everything. I've also seen some pictures inside of his room and heard his friends talking to him about a certain blonde girl he needs to tell the truth.", she drifts off. 
Rachel tries to comprehend everything she just heard and realizes, that Ally must have been in his room as well. 

"You were in his room?!", she exclaims. Ally nods. "Okay, so basically... You stalked him on Social Media, you listened to conversations between him and his friends, You stalked is family on Instagram as well, you watched him through the day and... you snuck into his room.", Rachel finishes in disbelief.

"I still don't understand why you would do something like that to Maya..."

"Because I was, and still am, jealous. She gets to have him and I don't!", she yells at the brunette. "Ray and Daren are my friends and I asked them to help me to break them apart. I thought that Maya would do something with Ray due to her being drunk and Daren was supposed to get Josh to see it, so-"

"He would think that Maya doesn't want him anymore.", Rachel finishes, finally realizing Allys intentions.

"But how did you know that Josh would be there?", she asks after a while.

"You're seriously asking that?", Ally scoffs. Rachel nods at that.

"Right.", she murmurs. 

"I told Ray and Daren that Maya would be there, told them which subway she takes to get here. So... a few stations before she needed to get out, they entered the subway she was in and watched her. Ray wanted to have fun with her because she is exactly his type, that's why he agreed to help me. Daren followed Ray of course."

"All this time... you knew that Josh was the boy, Maya cried about at the day we met her?", Rachel asks slowly. Ally just nods.

"I even knew who she was before we met her.", she adds.

"But I don't know you...", Rachel whispers while a single tear rolls down her cheek.

"Rachel...", Ally starts crying. "Please, don't leave me.", she whispers, reaching for the brunettes hand but she quickly snaps it away and stands up.

"I don't know you... I never have.", she says, her voice cold and steady.

Rachel feels kinda sick, like she's going to throw up at what she just heard. 

She can't believe that Ally has done all of these things.

Rachel doesn't want to be near this girl she thought she knows. 

So she runs away, fast, leaving a crying blonde girl behind.

Ally sobs quietly, still sitting on the bench.

She just lost her friend. 

And it's all her fault. 

She can't blame Rachel for running away and she doesn't blame her at all. 
She just sits here, wondering, if there's a way to fix this but her train of thoughts gets interrupted as she sees a pair walking on campus. 

They hold hands, they smile at each other and laugh together. The boy brings up the girls hand to his mouth and kisses it, making her giggle. Then he pulls her closer, kissing her softly. 

Ally stands up and runs away, so she doesn't have to watch this anymore.

She can't look at Maya and Josh being together.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Thank you, Josh. For everything.", Maya tells him softly, as they stand in front of her apartment building. She bites onto her lower lip, just so Josh can lift up his hand to free her lower lip and kiss her.

"I'm always her for you, Maya.", he tells her softly. She smiles brightly at her boyfriend, still not being able to believe that they're finally together.

"I know and I'm thankful for that."

"We still got a lot of things to figure out but... I think we can deal with them.", he tells her honestly.

"Together?", she asks while holding out her hand. 

"Together.", he answers but instead of taking her hand, he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her in for a passionate kiss. 

Still the best day.

Maya's the first to pull away, facing a pouting Josh. She just laughs at him before speaking.

"In your letter you scribbled over something and I want to know what it was.", she demands while crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. Joshs head falls down as he starts laughing.

"What's so funny?", the blonde asks serious. Josh cracks up even more but Maya just gets annoyed.

"I'm sorry.", he says. "It's just so cute how you stand there, demanding something and trying to be serious. You look so cute.", he answers her truthfully. Maya takes a few steps towards Josh with an evil grin on her face. Josh walks back, suddenly getting nervous.

"Still funny?", she asks in a low tone. Josh swallows hard before he shakes his head slowly. 

"Good.", she states, pecking him on the lips.

"So...? What did you want to hide?", she asks again but this time in a much sweeter and calmler voice.

"I can't tell you now.",  he tells her with an apologetic smile. Mayas arms drop down to her sides, looking frustraded at his answer. Then she groans and smiles at him.

"You're killing me here, Boing.", she whines while pouting. Josh chuckles and just kisses her again. He attempts to pull away but Maya doesn't let him. 

"I'm gonna find out.", she whispers after pulling away. In response he nudges his nose with hers and smiles at her.

"I should get going.", he says after a few minutes of them just starring and smiling at each other. She nods sadly.

"Yeah...", she whispers. They kiss again and after that, he kisses her forehead softly. 

"I'll text you, okay?"

"Yeah, you better do.", she threathens him playfully with a grin. "And if Ally causes some problems, call me. She still doesn't know the real me.", Maya says. Josh chuckles and nods at her.

"I will and same goes for you because of Lucas , bye my sweet little girlfriend-ferret.", he says softly. 

"Bye my sweet boyfriend-boing.", she says dramatically. They wave at each other and Josh starts to walk away. Maya does the same. 

He turns around one last time, watching how she enters the building but not before she turns around, looking at him. As their eyes lock with each other, huge smiles form themselves. They start laughing and, once again, wave at each other. Then Maya enters the entrance of the building and Josh walks back to the subway with  Maya on his mind. 

Not even for one second he thinks about something or someone else.

It's just Maya.

His wonderful girlfriend. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Katy walks through the front door of her apartment. Finally her shift is over and she's home. It's around eight o'clock as she comes back. 

"Hey.", a female voice greets her softly. Katy looks up, facing her daughter, Maya.

"Hey.", her mother greets back. An uncomfortable silence falls over them.

"I'm sorry.", both woman say to each other at the same time. They chuckle lightly. 

"Can we talk?", Maya asks her mother with fear in her voice. Katy nods at that with a soft smile. 

"Let me just get changed and then we can talk.", with that being said, Katy walks into her bedroom and changes into more comfortable clothes. Maya sits down on the couch and fiddles with her fingers nervously, waiting for her mother.

"So...", Katy sighs, while stting down next to her daughter.

"So...", Maya starts, turning to her mother. "I am really sorry for everything I've said to you this morning. I practically called you a bad mother but you aren't anything even near that. I had no right to be upset about your relationship with Shawn, I guess I was just suprised and mad that you didn't tell me. Thought, you lied to me for some sick reason and I just... I was sad. It felt like you didn't trust me enough or something like that.", she explains quietly while some tears silently roll down her cheeks. Katy, who has listened to her daughter in complete silence all this time, is at loss for words. She feels guilty for the way her daughter felt and probably sill feels. She reaches out and takes her daughters hand. 

"Maya?", the teenage girl looks up with her red and puffy eyes. "It's okay. Even though the things you've said hurt me, they were true. I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most and I still feel like I'm working too much which is why I canceled my job at the diner.", she says softly. Mayas eyes go wide at what her mother just said.

"But that's not the point right now.", she continues. "The point is, that I am sorry for not telling you that I'm seeing someone. I just... After everything that has happened with your father I was scared to tell you. I didn't want to bring a new man into your life before I didn't know he'd stay, which is crazy because you never know, if someone's going to say.", she huffs out  a sad laugh. "I'm really sorry, babygirl."

"Does he make you happy?", Maya asks her mother. Katy nods with a big smile.

"He does.", she bites onto her lower lip.

"Then... I think I can give him a chance.", Maya says with a small smile. Her mother immediately squeals in excitement and hugs her daughter tight.

"I'm so glad you're okay with it, little butterfly."

"Why wouldn't I be? If he makes you happy, then I'm happy too.", there's so much honesty in her voice, that Katy could start to cry.

"It wasn't the best way I found out but... You had a good reason. I'm thankful for it because you were just trying to look out for me.", then Maya pulls herself out of her mothers grip.

"So... You still need to tell me about canceling your job."

"Oh, right. I wnat to spend more time with you, so I found a new job. And... the best thing still comes: I'm working for Topanga now.", she tells her daughter happily and with clapping her hands together.

"That's amazing, mom. I'm so happy for you!", she exclaims with a lot of happiness in her voice. 

"Thank you. So... everything's fine between us?", she asks, just to make sure. At that, Maya nods.

"Yup. Everything's fine.", then they hug again. 

"Great! Now we've talked enough about me.", Maya stares at her mother. "Why don't you tell me about a certain Joshua Matthews?", she asks curious with a knowing look. Soon, after she asked her question, a deep, red blush creeps up in Mayas face, causing the older woman to laugh. 

"There's nothing to say.", Maya says innocently but Katy doesn't believe her.

"Oh, please. You're blushing so hard right now and also... don't think I didn't notice that you're wearing his T-Shirt.", Mayas blush intesifies even more now. Her attempt at hiding her face behind a pillow failes, as Katy takes it from her and throws it onto the floor.

"Hey!", Maya exclaims while laughing.

"Come on, tell me.", Katy says. Maya sighs with a smile. 

"Why do you think that there's something going on?"

"Please. I saw the looks he gave you last night. He cares so much about you. You can see it in his eyes. That boy is in love.", Maya stays still after that. 

Love.

Could it be true?

"I'm glad you two talk with each other again. Even, if it's because of a college party where you weren't supposed to be.", she states with a slight smile. Maya looks down at her hands, suddenly feeling very anxious.

"You never know, if someone's going to stay."

"Hey, are you okay?", Katy asks, snapping Maya out of her thoughts. 

"Yeah, just thinking...", she drifts off.

"About a certain someone?", Katy asks with a knowing smile and nudging Mayas arm with her shoulder.

"Yeah.", she answers honestly. "I'd love to tell you but we've decided to tell everyone at the same time. All I can say for now is, that he has a special place in my heart.", she says. Katys look softens.

"That's so cute. I'll just pretend that I don't know anything and use my great acting skills to seem suprised when you guys tell everyone.", she tells her daughter with a wink. Maya starts chuckeling.

"Thanks, mom."

"Anytime, honey. So what do you say about watching a movie and talking more about our wonderful men in our lives. I mean... my man and you're special someone.", she corrects herself. Maya loves that suggestion, so she agrees immediately.

"Sure.", with that, both get comfortable, quickly find some movie on TV and start talking, not really paying any attention to the movie after all. 

It's official.

Maya and Josh are together.

Chapter Text

Chapter ten: Conversation

Katy yawns for the second time within thirty seconds which caughts Mayas attention.

"Should we call it a night?", Maya asks her mother softly. The blonde woman smiles and nods slightly.

"I think we should.", she agrees and reaches out her hand, so she can grab the remote and turn off the TV. Maya gets up and grabs their blankets, they used to get comfortable. Quickly she folds them together and places them onto the couch where they've been before. Both woman hug each other tightly and say good night to each other before parting ways, walking into their bedrooms.
With a big smile, Maya falls onto her bed and takes a quick look onto her phone, where she finds two new messages. The first lets her smile grow even wider.

Boing❤:  Hey, my sweet little girlfriend-ferret. :)) (I'm so glad I can finally call you that. :D) Just wanted to let ya know, that I'm thinking about ya all the time, especially since we've parted ways in front of your apartment building. :)) I hope you're doin' okay and that you've talked with your mum! If you did, I hope it went well. Anyways, I'm here for ya, if you need moi. :)) 
Wish you a good night!! I had a wonderful day today. I think you know why. :D
Alright, sleep well! Don't dream too much about me. 
See ya, like you to the moon and back. :)) ❤

By the time Maya finishes reading his message, she's choked up and giggles like the little seven-year-old girl, she used to be. Only this boy can bring out this side of Maya Hart. Her stomach feels like it's going to explode because of all these butterflies she's feeling, just because of Joshua Matthews. Her eyes light up even more, as she reads his message again and stares at her ceiling for some minutes, before she starts typing. 

Maya: Thanks, my sweet boyfriend-Boing! ❤ (Glad, to finally call you that too. :)) )
Actually, I'm pretty good. Talked with my mum, everything's fine between us! :D Today started pretty shitty but, thanks to you, it turned around and became one of the best days of my life! ❤ 
Hope, you sleep well too!! Oh, please... I won't even think about ya for one second... :)) 
Aaand, did you really change this phrase with the moon?? I like you to the sun and back, ha! Got ya! Okay, bye! :))

She sends her message and thinks about, what her mother said earlier.

"You can see it in his eyes."

"That boy is in love."

"Love.", Maya mumbles to herself, before she opens her chats again and reads the other new message she received. It's from Rachel.

Rachel: Hey, Maya! I know it's pretty late but please call me as soon as you can... I got some crazy shit to tell ya. It's about Ally. Hope you're okay. :))

Mayas smile fades away immediately as she reads the name of the blonde girl, who, apparently, has a crush on Mayas boyfriend. She glances at the time, seeing that it's almost 1 AM. 

Maya: Hey, Rachel. I'm fine, actually I'm more than just fine but the good news can wait! :)) I hope, you're doing okay too. :( Can I call you now? :)

It takes her only ten seconds to answer with an incoming call, Maya accepts instantly.

"Hey, Rachel.", Maya greets her friend worried.

"Hey, May...", her voice drifts off.

"How are you?"

"Uhh... I don't really know... I can't sleep as you may know and uhh... Ally isn't here, in our room."

"What happened, Rachel?", Maya hears through the speakers how her friend takes a deep, shaky breath.

"Ally... She's uh... She's creepy. I found out some things about her today... and I don't really know what to do. I'm freaking out, Maya.", Rachels voice sounds like she's seen a ghost but also, as if she's been crying the whole time before this call.

"What do you mean with 'creepy'?", Maya asks, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat.

"Are you sure, you're ready to hear this?", Rachel asks worried.

"Rachel, please just tell me.", Maya asks, raising her voice slightly, losing her patience. Her finger was drumming against her right leg fast. Rachel sighs and, once again, she takes a deep breath, preparing herself.

"Ally is kind of a stalker...", she starts. Mayas eyes widen, as Rachel continues to tell her about the previous events from that day. Mayas breath hitches from time to time, sometimes she's full with anger, then she feels like she's going to cry. 
Rachel has already stopped talking but Maya can't speak a single word. 

"Maya?", she hears her friends voice at the other end of the line but she's still not reacting.

"Maya.", she hears again, still not being able to speak. 

It gets silent again.

"Rachel?", Maya chokes out after some minutes.

"I'm here, Maya.", she reassures her with a shaky voice.

"What do we do?", Rachel sighs at that, not really knowing what to say.

"I... uh... I don't really know about that... I just thought, I should... tell Josh about this in the morning. I have the same class as him so maybe I get a chance to talk to him. He needs to know as soon as possible.", the blonde nods, even though she knows that the brunette can't see it.

"Yeah, you're right... Thank you.", she says with a smile.

"No problem.", Rachel smiles too. "For now... I don't know where Ally is but I can't help but to worry about her.. I just hope she isn't doing anything stupid, you know? God, this is all so complicated... Why does she have to be in love with Josh?!", Maya chuckles sadly at that. 

"I wish I'd know. She's sick... Maybe you should talk to someone about this.", the blonde suggests quietly. 

"Yeah... I probably should...Ugh...", Rachel groans. Maya huffs out  a laugh before a yawn escapes her mouth.

"We should probably sleep now. It's late and we have school. I don't want Josh to hate me for keeping his girl awake.", she jokes. Maya chuckles at that. It's funny, how Rachel calls Maya Joshs' girl because she just did it as a joke.

Little does she know that Maya is now Joshs' girl for real. 

Softly, Maya smiles to herself and thanks Rachel for all the information about Allys sick obsession about Josh and tells her to take care of herself. Then the girls say goodbye to each other and Rachel ends the call, leaving Maya alone with  her thoughts.

She thinks a lot but at the same time her head feels empty. A quick glance onto her clock tells her that it's already 1:52 AM. She talked with Rachel almost an hour and has still so many unanswered questions. The blonde is not only worried about her boyfriend, but also about her friend. Rachel doesn't deserve this pain she's going through right now. 

Maya feels guilty.

She doesn't sleep well that night.

Unlike her best friend, Riley, who has fallen into a deep sleep because of the exhaustion all this crying brought up on her.

Lucas couldn't sleep that night either. Feelings of guilt kept him awake, just like Maya. 

Even though both felt guilty for two entirely different reasons.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The sun is shining brightly and yet another warm day of the summer begins. Her alarm rings at 6 AM but just groans and turns around, facing her wall. The alarm doesn't stop, until she slams her hand onto the small device, knocking it onto the ground. She groans again and sits up, opening her eyes and immediately regretting it. 

"Fucking hell.", Rachel mumbles, as she struggles to get out of her bed. After some failed attempts, she finally stands up and gets ready inside of the bathroom.

Allys bed hasn't been used ever since the day before.

It doesn't seem like she was in their room at all. All her things are still in place, just like she left it the last time she was there.

Rachel sighs in frustration while getting dressed for the day. Her class starts at 8 AM but she was hoping to eat properly this morning. It's only 6:32 AM as she's finished with getting ready. Her bag is already packed for her classes so she just picks up her phone, looking for new messages. She has received one. 

May💕: A beautiful morning, Rachel! :D I hope you got some sleep, don't want ya to fall asleep in class. :)) Thanks again, for calling last night and I am sorry for dragging you into this mess. Anyways, just wanted to thank you for wanting to talk to Josh. Hope, he'll get through this. I'm still shocked at what you told me. Hope ya doin' fine, honey. If not, call me. I'm here! :D 
PS: Forgot to tell you last night: I talked with my mum and everything's fine! Thanks for our talk. Love ya! Bye. :))

Rachels day is already better than it was before, thanks to Maya. She's so glad to be friends with this blonde girl. At least one of her friends isn't some crazy person.

Rachel: Morning to you too. :) I actually got some sleep, if you can call it that. Don't worry, I won't fall asleep in class. If anything, I'd do that after class. :D
Yeah, I'll try to tell him, if I can catch him today. Got class with him in an hour and a half. I'm okay, I guess but thanks for your offer! :3
It's good to hear that you and your mum are fine again. Proud of ya, gurl! Love ya too, May. See ya! :D

She throws her phone into her bag and walks out of her dorm room, making her way to her favourite café on campus, while enjoying the bright sun on her skin. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riley gets ready for school but she considers to ask her mother, if she could just stay home and call in sick today. It wouldn't be a lie though.

It's the truth.

Her stomach hurts and she just wants to stay in bed all day, hiding under the covers  and sleep, until this pain goes away. Inside of her bathroom, she takes a look into the mirror, starring at her reflection. The colour of her face is drained, her eyes are red and puffy and she looks pretty devistated. You can still see the hurt in her eyes, so she considers applying some make up. Usually she puts on make up every day but today she doesn't feel like doing that at all. 

She wants him to see how hurt she is. 

He needs to understand, what he has done to her. 

"Good morning, Riley.", Cory greets his daughter friendly. He's standing in the kitchen, getting breakfast ready while her mother Topanga fills out some documents. The brunette girl just nods at her father and sits down across from her mother.

"Hey, honey.", she greets her daughter, not looking up. Riley doesn't reply, so Topanga stops what she's doing and takes a look onto her daughter. 

"You' feeling better today?", Riley just shakes her head, not being able to speak right now. Her eyes are focused onto the table, her head is hanging low. Topanga takes a deep breath, before she starts talking.

"Listen, I know that you probably want to ask, if you can stay at home today because you're not feeling good and you don't want to face Lucas.", Riley looks up and for the first time this morning, looks into her mothers eyes.
"I completely understand that, honey, but I think you should go to school. Wanna know why?", Riley shrugs, losing her hope as fast as she got it. 
"First of all, it's your last day of junior year in your highschool. You don't want to miss it and even though you're thinking yes, I want that right now, later you're gonna regret it.", her words sink into Rileys mind, deeper and deeper, understanding what her mother means. 
"Also, you're a Matthews.", Cory sits down, listening to his wife. "That means, you can do anything and you will be successful in the end. It doesn't matter, if you get what you want or not. At least you tried and did you're best and you will feel better than not trying at all and getting nothing out of it.", a small smile plays on Rileys' lips, the genuine words of her mother making her feel better. 

It's true. She can face this situation and she will get out of this mess with a smile. 

A proud smile and no one will take that away from her.

She won't let them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

He's tired. 

All this thinking and deciding has taken a toll on him. His head is tired from thinking, his mind doesn't shut up. Not even on his way to school. 

Why should it? He will see them again. He has to face them again but he doesn't know, how he's going to survive that. 

He has his friends but they can't help him with this.

It's his own fault that he's in that position now, so it's also his job to solve this problem. 

He has created it without any intention on doing so. 

There's no going back now. He needs to get it together.

He enters the school building, keeping his head low. Sometimes he looks up slightly, checking, if he's going the right way to his locker. He hasn't expected seeing Zay standing there already. 

"Hey, man.", he greets his friend. Lucas just nods at him and opens his locker, looking for some books. 

"How are you?", Lucas shrugs in response, not really in the mood for talking. 

"Hey, can you at least look at me? I'm trying to help you."

"But you can't.", Lucas exclaims, shutting his locker with a loud noise. Zay winces a little while other students look terrified already. Zay knows this behaviour but he hasn't seen it in a while.

"Calm down, man. This isn't you. Not anymore.", Lucas huffs out a laugh at that, facing Zay now.

"This isn't me?", he asks in a sarcastic tone and takes a step towards his friend but he doesn't back off. He knows Lucas, which is why he has trust in him, that he won't hurt him. 
"Don't say things like that, Zay. It isn't true. That's me and I will always be this person people are afraid of. I didn't change.", he says sternly. 

"That's not true and you know it. You're not the same guy you were back in Texas. You've changed for the better since you're here.", Zay tells him honestly and in a calm tone. Lucas just scoffs at his friends statement, not believing him for just a second. He shakes his head and walks away. 

He can't deal with this right now.

"You' really just gonna walk away?"

"YES!", Lucas screams back, turning around one last time to look at his friend. Some students, who watched this fight in fear, are now running away, others stay because they're too afraid to run away. Zay stands there, starring at his friend. He is used at being yelled at by him but he hoped, that they'd be past that.

Clearly they aren't and won't be for a long time.

Angry, the brown-haired boy walks away, letting his friend behind. Zay sighs heavily, not knowing what the hell went wrong. 

This is going to be a long day. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For him, it is a wonderful day. A special day.

It's not like some event is happening today. He's just happy about the previous events from yesterday. 

Despite the bad things, the blonde girl told him, he's happy about it. Just because he finally asked her to be his girlfriend and she said yes. 

He has never been this nervous before in his nineteen and a half years of living.

Waking up and greeting the day with a smile glued to your face is, for sure, one of the best feelings in the world. Josh is experiencing right now, just how wonderful.

"What's up with you today?", Andrew finally asks his friend Josh, after watching him smile since he woke up. "It can't be just because today is the last day before summer break.", he states. Josh chuckles and turns to look at his friend, as they walk to their first classes together.

"Is this about Maya?", he asks curiously. At the mention of her name, Joshs eyes light up even more and his smile grows wider.

"Oh my god, it is!!", Andrew exclaims excited while jumping up and down. The brown-haired boy starts laughing as some other students look at them with a confused look but soon look away again, not really caring about what's going on.

"Come one, spill!", Andrew says eagerly.

"Okay, fine.", Josh gives in, not really trying to fight it. "It is about Maya.", he comfirms sheepishly, causing Andrew to smile too. 

"What happened after Jas and I ran away? You didn't tell me yesterday 'cause you were already asleep as I got back."

"Yeah, I was tired. Sorry about that.", he mumbles a quick apology. "Well... I talked with her... a lot. I looked at her a lot.", he says sheepishly, earning a knowing look and an eyebrow wiggle from his friend. He just smacks him onto his shoulder.

"Not like that.", Josh says. "I also hugged her and I kissed her. A lot.", Andrew jumps up again. 

"Anything else?", he asks in a teasing tone. 

"I asked her to marry me.", Andrews eyes widen. 

"WHAT?!", he practically yells for everyone to hear. Josh jumps up in surprise at his sudden yelling and all the annoyed glances they get. He shoves his friend a little, so he walks faster. They take a turn and walk down the hallway to their different classes.

"Would you chill? That was a joke.", Josh explains quickly. Andrew lets out a breath he's been holding in. 

"God... I hope so.", he breathes out. "If she's wearing a ring at her finger the next time I see her, we need to have a serious talk, man.", He threathens rather jokingly than serious. Josh nods in response.

"Alright, alright.", Josh starts smiling. "Yes was still her answer.", Andrew looks at him confused, stopping in front of his classroom. 

"Uh.. What? I thought you didn't...", then it dawns onto him. "Oh.", he breathes out. 
"YOU ASKED HER TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND?!", he yells again. Josh hides his face behind his hands, feeling embarrassed. He doesn't even want to see all the students around them, looking at the two of them.

Because, in fact, they look at them. Some are amused, others are confused. There's one face that's neither of those. 

She's pissed. Maybe angry? Maybe sad? She might even be dissappointed. Probably jealous. 

The blonde girl runs away quickly. She  doesn't need to hear about which girl they're talking.

Ally knows it's about Maya.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

She yawns, as she walks into the school. She hasn't slept that much, after her phone call with Rachel. Maya was too worried about her and also about Josh. 

She thought about just everything that has happened in the last two days. 

It was a lot. 

Between all these horrible things, there are still some good memories. Of course, the best one is that she's now Joshua Matthews' girlfriend. 

Another one is, that her mother seems to be fine with them being together. She just hopes that Cory and Riley won't be mad at her. 

She still needs to talk with Riley. Maybe today? She doesn't know yet. 

The blonde sits down in class, no one is there yet, which is kinda weird because usually, Maya is the last one out of the five of them to enter class. Since they all have a significant someone by their side, she's the first to sit down in class, not wanting to watch her friends being cute and romantic and all. 

Even though now she has someone by her side too, which they don't know yet.

Riley is the next one to walk into class. As Maya looks up at her, the blonde is shocked. You can see that Riley's been crying a lot and has a lot on her mind. She sits down in her usual seat, looking straight forward, zoning out already. Maya turns in her seat, looking at her.

"Riley?", she asks softly. The brunette turns as well. As Maya stares into her eyes, she feels like crying too. There's so much pain in these brown eyes and Maya immediately wants to take it all away. 

"Will you talk to me when you're ready to talk?", the brunette nods in response. 

"I will. I'm not ready today, probably not tomorrow but... maybe in two days.", she adds softly but quietly, almost in a whisper. Maya nods, a small smile on her lips before turning around again. Cory smiles to himself at the conversation the two girls just shared with each other. 

They can never stay away from each other that long, no matter what went down between the two of them, this conversation just proofs it. Soon, they'll fall into each others arms again. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hey, Josh.", a brunette girl greets him friendly, after the first class is over. He just stares at her, hoping she isn't like this Ally girl. The brunette girl realizes that this might be arkward, so she quickly introduces herself.

"Uh, sorry. I'm Rachel."

"Wait, are you the Rachel? Mayas friend?", he asks while standing up.

"I am indeed.", she nods once with a smile, following him out of class. 

"Cool. It's nice to meet you, Rachel. I'm-", she cuts him off.

"Boing. You're Mayas boing.", she says with a grin. Josh looks slightly uncomfortable now. Rachel facepalms herself, realizing that she sounded like a stalker. 

Just like Ally.

"I'm so sorry. That just came out. Maya told me about you...", she explains. 

"Figures.", he says with a small chuckle at the end. "So... Rachel. What can I do for you?", she looks at him worried. 

"Well... Actually nothing. I'm doing something for you.", Josh looks at her concerned. "Can we talk somewhere? It will take some time...", Josh stops. Then he starts walking again. 

"Got any classes the next hour?", she shakes her head. "Okay... How about we go and drink a coffee, then you can tell me whatever you need to tell me."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The bell rings and everyone storms out of the classroom. This was the weirdest class they ever had. Cory, Mr. Matthews, asked a lot of questions but he always asked them directly to Lucas. He even threw him out for five minutes because he wasn't listening to something Mr. Matthews said. Riley dissappeared behind her hands more by the minute. 

Gladly, the class is over and Lucas runs out of the room, earning a glare from Mr. Matthews. 

That happens, when you mess with his daughter. 

It didn't take long for Maya to realize why Cory was acting that way. She's relieved that Riley talked to someone about this, so she wouldn't have to go through this alone. She was even more happy about the fact, that they both shared a calm conversation with each other again. 

Riley might not be ready now but it's enough for Maya to know, that Riley tries to be ready. 

Maya knows, that Riley  tries. 

That's enough for her. 

On her way out, the girls share a short glance with each other and head out of the class, parting ways. Zay and Farkle walk out too, stopping at the lockers.

"So... what exactly happened with Lucas and Riley? This isn't just because of their fight yesterday.", Farkle observes quietly. Zay sighs and looks at his friend with a sad smile. 

"It isn't.", he confirms with a nod. Farkle stares at him, wanting to know more so Zay continues. 

He thinks that Farkle should know the truth.

"Uhh... It's kind of... really bad.", he starts. "Yesterday, Lucas called me because he needed help. As I got there, he was nervous and wouldn't calm down."

"Because of Riley?", the brown-haired boy asks. Zay shakes his head slightly.

"Not really. I mean... kinda but she wasn't the only reason. He felt and probably still feels guilty because...", Farkle raises his eyebrows. "He doesn't love Riley.", Zay breathes out. It was already weird, hearing how Lucas said these words out loud but to say them by himself made it way more real. 

Way more painful.

Zay can't really read Farkles facial expression. 

He looks angry, furious. Hurt too. Also... guilty? Sad? He was definitely shocked at Zays statement. 

Farkle is pretty smart and usually, he has an explanation for everything at any time. Science has always helped him to figure things out or to get to the bottom of certain things. 

Now, there's nothing.  

It's not possible to explain, how someone could ever hurt Riley like that. She doesn't deserve this. To feel hurt by this asshole.

How could someone hurt her at all?

"What an asshole.", Farkle exclaims in anger. He has never been that close with Lucas, which is why it's so easy for him to insult him. Zays eyes widen, he has never heard Farkle saying things like that. Before Farkle turns around, Zay catches his shoulder and stops him.

He knows, what Farkle wants to do but he can't let him make that mistake. 

"That's not everything."

"There's more?!", Zay sighs again. 

"He told me, that he likes Maya."

That's enough for Farkle.

"You can't be serious, Zay!", he exclaims, shocked and angry at the same time. All Zay can do is nodding.

"It is.", he says quietly. 

"No! He already said that a few months ago and back then it was just imagination. He can't do the same thing again!", Farkle exclaims angry. "I mean, what is he doing? It's okay, if he's confused about his feelings, I know how that feels... but he can't be in a relationship with Riley while liking someone else. That's just not fair. Especially because it's Riley and Maya we're talking about. They're like the best friends that could ever exist and two of the most important human beings in my life. I know, how hard it is to like both of them but I never tried to break them apart. Not ever! And he's doing that without even realizing what he's doing."

"Farkle, calm down.", Zay tries but failes.

"No, I can't and I won't calm down! He's playing with their feelings while not even knowing his own. Who does that?!  And can we even believe him this time about having feelings for Maya?", by now, Farkle is breathing heavy. Zay pats his back before speaking. 

"We can. I was sceptical at first too but... As I asked him, if he likes Maya for real this time... He said yes and I believed him."

"What did you tell him?"

"That he needs to talk to them. This is something, he has to do because it can't stay like this."

"I don't think, I can be friends with him after this.", Farkle says serious. "Maya and Riley are some of the best girls to exist. He doesn't deserve to have either of them. I'm sorry for saying these things about Lucas because I know, that he's your best friend but your best friend is a huge dick, Zay.", with that, Farkle leaves and Zay stays behind. He takes a deep breath while closing his locker and walking away too. 

Not till both of the boys are gone, some quiet sobs appear around the corner, where a girl sinks onto the ground, thinking about the conversation she just witnessed. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jasmine finally has a free period, so she decides to grab something to eat at her favourite café. As the brunette enters the small building, she feels like she's going to explode. 

Her best friend, Josh, is sitting there with a girl. 

A brunette girl. 

His hand on her shoulder.

His eyes staring into hers. 

That's not Maya.

Anger shoots through her body and she quickly walks over to them, hitting the back of his head while insulting him.

"You asshole!, she exclaims angry. Josh turns around his head and stares into a pair of brown eyes, telling him how angry she's right now.

"Jasmine-"

"What are you doing?!", she interrupts him. "Have you suddenly forgotten all about Maya? Do you still know about this blonde girl?! Anything ringing inside of this small brain of yours?!" she exclaims. Josh stares at her, wide eyed and pretty uncomfortable. He can feel Rachels eyes on him as well. She's probably confused.

"Jasmine, this-", he gestures between him and Rachel. "isn't a date."

"Huh?", Jasmine asks. Josh chuckles lightly and soon Rachel joins him. 

"This girl here, is Rachel.", he introduces her. 

"Hey.", the brunette says to her. Jasmine looks at her, still shocked. 

"Hey.", she greets Rachel back. "I still don't understand...", she says confused.

"Rachel is one of Mayas' friends.", Josh starts explaining. "And she's a freshman here too and... told me about something important.", Jasmine just raises an eyebrow at that.

"About what exactly? It's looks like she cried.", she points out. 

"Because I did.", Rachel admits. "It's because of one of my... well, not really friend... I... It's complicated. Josh just comforted me because it is important that he knows and I just got emotional again.", she explains softly. Jasmine sits down next to her. 

"Should we tell her too?", Rachel asks the brown-haired boy next to her. He nods so they start to tell the brunette girl everything. 

Mostly Rachel because Josh still needs to comprehend everything he just heard. 

He has or at least had a stalker after all. That's not easy to take. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Maya is lost in her thoughts, just like Riley, Lucas and Farkle. Zay tries to avoid the topic for at least some minutes during class. 

Mr. Matthews is currently talking about consequences, if you don't know your own feelings while other feelings are involved. 

How classy.

Riley stopped listening an hour ago, while Maya didn't even start to listen to what he says. Farkle listens but doesn't care, Zay listens and thinks about the words. Lucas is listening and thinking and is angry. 

"It is okay, to not know your own feelings. It's a part of growing up and even then, you'll see that, sometimes, you don't understand your own feelings, even if you are an adult. Feelings are complicated... but only, if you make it complicated.", Cory tells his class. "Conversation is one of the most important things in a relationship. If there's a problem, it always helps to talk about it. With this way, you can  find out how the other person is feeling and you can sort this out together. Don't keep it to yourself. Open up and let the others in, let them know how you feel."

The last few sentences get into Lucas head. 

Conversation is important. He knows that but he's bad at doing that. He's scared of what could happen after the conversation is over. 

It might be the last with this person. 

It can change anything. 

It will change anything.

For the better or the worse. 

He has to talk to them. 

Chapter Text

Chapter eleven: Out of control.

Riley walks into the cafeteria and sits down across from Farkle, even though she didn't want to, he insisted that she comes with him. In the very end she agreed, thinking this is better than being alone.

Oh, how wrong she is.

Soon after they sit down, Zay and Maya join them. The blonde girl wanted to be alone too but Zay has talked her out of it and got her to come with him. While Zay sits down next to Farkle, Maya sits down next to Riley but leaves some space between them. 

She wants to give Riley the space she needs. The brunette girl knows, so she gives the blonde a weak smile. 

Zay and Farkle look at each other with a knowing look, before Vanessa and Smackle appear. The girls sit down too but their boyfriends are already occupied with something else.

More like someone else.

Farkle and Zay keep an eye on Riley and Maya, making sure they're okay. They seem fine until a certain brown-haired boy joins them at their table. Both girls haven't looked at him the whole day, choosing to ignore him. The other two boys stare at each other with a scared face Vanessa and Smackle don't quite understand. 

Of course, Lucas has to sit down between Riley and Maya. 

Zay mentally facepalms himself while Farkle rolls his eyes slightly at Lucas' stupidity.

"Hey, Maya.", he says, breaking the uncomfortable silence between the group. Lucas looks at the blonde sitting next to him but she just pokes inside of her salad with her fork, pretending she didn't hear him. The brunette girl sitting next to him on the other side freezes, starring onto her food in front of her. Vanessa observes this interaction just like everyone else who's sitting at their table but she's the first one to speak up. 

"Geez, What is up with you all?", she asks in an annoyed tone. Maya and Riley lift up their heads slightly, looking at the brunette girl. Lucas is still looking at Maya but she ignores him completely. 

"Van, don't-", Zay tries to stop his girlfriend but she just ignores him.

"No, seriously. What's up with you guys?", she asks again. "Yesterday, Riley and Lucas were so in love and now they're not even looking at each other.", Lucas winces as she says in love, Riley takes her eyes off of Vanessa and stares at her food again while Maya pokes her salad even more agressive than before. Lucas sighs before taking a deep breath. He turns to Maya, hoping to get her attention. 

"Maya?", he tries again. 

No answer.

"Maya.", he says, more sternly now. 

Still no answer.

Lucas sighs in frustration because he doesn't know, why the blonde girl is ignoring him. No one does, except for her. 

"Why are you ignoring me now too?!", he raises his voice at her, causing Maya to wince a little. Riley stares at him in disbelief while Vanessa and Smackles eyes widen and Zay and Farkle just stare at him, shocked. Maya turns her head slowly, looking into his eyes for the first time this day.

Her ocean blue eyes are piercing through his forest green eyes. He sees anger in her eyes, a fire that burns brightly and has been for a while now.

It's silent.

They all just watch them, waiting for something to happen.

Maya pokes her fork into the salad violently and stands up, leaving the cafeteria in a quick pace. Lucas stands up too. 

He wants to run after her just like he did the day before but someone stops him. 

Zay's standing too, holding Lucas' arm so he won't follow the blonde girl. 

"Zay, what are you doing?!", he exclaims angry at his best friend. 

"Don't.", he says, his voice steady and serious. "Stay here, I'm gonna go, check on her.", he tells him and leaves immediately, not giving him a chance to respond. As Farkle takes a look at the quiet brunette, his heart breaks again.

First, it broke as Zay told him about Lucas' non-existent feelings towards his girlfriend Riley and his feelings towards Maya. 

Now, it breaks a second time. 

The look on Mayas face after Lucas raised his voice at her, causing her to run away and the look on Rileys face now. All the colour of her face is drained, she looks lost. 

Lucas still stands, watching the entrance the blonde and his best friends ran through just seconds ago . Riley follows Lucas' gaze and stands up too.

All eyes are on her, even Lucas' eyes stare into her chocolate brown eyes. It breaks her heart so she just runs away too, not knowing what else to do. 

Lucas doesn't do anything. He just watches his girlfriend running away from him. 

"Don't you want to go and comfort your girlfriend?", Smackle asks confused. Farkle gives her the are you serious? look and she just shrugs at him, not knowing what he wants from her. Farkle stands up now too and goes towards the entrance. Smackle watches how her boyfriend leaves, probably going to comfort Riley. As Vanessa takes a look onto her face, she sees some jealousy creeping up. 

"Oh no.", the brunette mumbles to herself. 

This is not good.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I can't believe this...", Jasmine says quietly as she and Josh walk to their next class. 

"Neither can I.", he admits, sighing heavily. 

"This Ally girl is really creepy. How does Maya even know this girl?!", she exclaims. The brown-haired boy shrugs slightly. 

Maya hasn't told him.

"I don't know, Jas.", he tells her softly. She turns her head to look at him.

"You look pretty calm to me even though you just found out that you had and probably still have a stalker on campus.", she exclaims shocked. Josh huffs out a laugh.

"I'm not, trust me. I just...", he drifts off. Jasmine looks at him curiously. 

"You just what?"

 "I'm worried about Maya.", he admits. As Jasmine raises an eyebrow at him, he continues. "Rachel told me, that she and Maya had a phone call during the night for almost an hour. Maya already knows about this and Rachel told me, that she sounded scared and... worried...", he explains to his friend.

"So you're saying that... you hate the thought of Maya tearing herself down because she's worried about you and Rachel?", she smiles slightly. Josh nods at that.

Maya might look pretty confident to outsiders but he knows the real Maya.

Still a little girl that's self-conscious because of so many people who have left her. She always thinks that it's her fault, which is why he knows how her mind works now.

She'll think that he will leave her because of this mess around her.  

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Zay walks to Mayas locker but she isn't there. He remembers as Lucas ran after her and found her on the schoolyard, so he walks through the doors and finds the blonde girl sitting under a tree.

Just like yesterday.

As he gets closer, he can see her drawing inside of her sketchbook, her eyes glued onto the paper in front of her. The blonde can hear his footsteps on the grass and how they get closer to her. Looking up, she sees her friend, Zay, approaching her and waving his hand slightly.

"Hey.", he greets her friendly, as always. Maya just nods her head a little.

"Let me guess...", she breathes out. "You wanna know why I ran away?", she assumes. Zays mouth opens but no words are coming out, so he closes his mouth again, nodding in response instead. Maya nods as well, sighing a little. Carefully she closes her sketchbook and lays it down into her lap, placing her hands onto the book and starring at it. 

"You probably know what happened yesterday.", she states quietly.

"I do.", Zay answers with a sigh. 

"As Lucas held my hand, it was comforting.", she starts. "But that is all that it was. Comforting.", she emphasizes, looking at Zay with a serious expression. He nods again. 

"First, I didn't think anything of it but... as I replayed this moment in my head, I just... I was scared, that Lucas might think something else.", she explains quietly. "That's why I'm ignoring him. I don't want him to think, that there's something going on between us because there isn't. He's with Riley and I already like someone who likes me back and makes me happy.", she pulls out some blade of grass beneath her, destroying it in anger. Zay watches her before he speaks up again.

"First of all, I'm happy, that you found someone, Maya.", he tells her with a soft smile. "Someone, who makes you happy, like you deserve.", Maya smiles slightly, thanking him. "As to Lucas...", her smile fades away as fast as she got it. "I don't like what he's doing either. He's being a complete dick to both of you - Riley and you.", The blonde lets out a humorless chuckle at that. "I already told him, that he needs to talk with Riley and with you as fast as possible but... he just can't get it together and he's kind of being a dick to all of us now. He yelled at me this morning and just walked away.", Maya looks at her friend, wide-eyed. "I'm used to it, so it doesn't really hurt me but it did hurt me to see, how he raised his voice at you.", Maya looks into her lap again, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Usually, I don't really care about people yelling at me... I just try to play it cool and cry about it later, when I'm alone but... Lucas is my friend and he has never raised his voice at me like this.", she says sadly. "He sounded so... serious. It wasn't a joke or something, he knew that he scared me with this. I feel like he wanted to scare me with this."

"I know, what you mean, Maya.", he tells her. "He wanted to run after you again.", that catches her attention and her head snaps up instantly. "I stopped him."

"Thank you, Zay.", she smiles slightly at him. 

"No problem. I knew, it would only end up just like yesterday but way, way worse.", he chuckles a little. Maya nods, agreeing with him. 

It would have been way worse.

"Riley ran away too.", Maya looks at him again. "Lucas didn't want to run after her.", he tells her without any emotion. 

Would Lucas really do something like that to her?

"I wanna punch him so hard, that he can't get up from the ground and if he does, I'm gonna punch and kick him again, as long as it takes.", she exclaims angry. Zay chuckles softly.

"How sweet.", he mumbles to himself before standing up. "Look, it's not my place to tell you this."

"Tell me what?", she asks nervous. 

"That's it. I can't tell you. Lucas should, even though I don't think it's a good idea. We'll have to wait and see what happens Just do me one favour.", she looks at him. "Don't give up on Riley. You two need each other." 

He starts to walk away, Maya stands up quickly and walks faster, so she could catch up with him. 

They walk back into the school building in silence while Maya thinks about everything, Zay has told her. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile...

Farkle finds Riley sitting on the stairs inside of am empty hallway. Her face looks exhausted, now more than before. The brown-haired boy walks up the stairs and stops two steps in front of her, sitting down. The brunette stays silent, waiting for her friend to speak.

"Wanna talk?", he offers his help, just like he always does.

Farkle is always there for you.

Riley takes a deep breath and opens her mouth but it feels like she forgot how to use her voice. It takes a few minutes for her to finally speak.

"Why doesn't he love me?", she whispers in a calm yet broken tone. Farkles eyes instantly look at the girl sitting in front of him.

She knows.

"I heard you and Zay talking earlier...", she confesses sadly after seeing the frightened look on his face. Riley folds her hands together and stares at them intensely. Only Farkles voice causes her eyes to look away.

"Riley-"

"Don't.", she says sternly. "Just, please, don't. I can't take it right now.", Farkle just nods, not knowing what to say. "My boyfriend doesn't love me, he likes my best friend... again.", she sighs heavily. 

"He's dumb, Riley, and apparently blind 'cause he can't see the amazing girl you are and that he's losing right now. ", Farkle tells her honestly. The brunette manages a little yet weak smile at her best friend. 

"Thanks, Farkle. Maya is amazing too, you know..."

"I know.", he says truthful. "That still doesn't make it right, what he's doing to you... or to her...", he drifts off. 

"I know.", she says in response. "But I don't think, he's doing it on purpose. Lucas is way too good for that kind of stuff.", she says. Farkle sighs.

"Riley... I know you always tend to only see the good in people but sometimes... even the best people do something horrible.", Farkle tells her. "Just because they say a nice hello to you, doesn't mean they aren't capable of doing bad things."

Riley knows that Farkle's right.

She just doesn't want to believe that Lucas would do this on purpose.

She can't.

"He just doesn't understand his feelings..."

"Riley, stop this. Please...", he pleades his friend. "Stop trying to find excuses for his behaviour."

"I'm sorry...", she apologizes quickly. "I just don't understand why he doesn't love me...", she exclaims sadly. It sounds like she's at the verge of crying. Farkle moves up a few steps and sits down right next to her again.

"Maybe the universe is trying to tell you something.", Farkle suggests. Riley turns her head, looking at him confused. 

"Like what?", she asks him curious.

"Like Lucas isn't the right guy for you. Maybe it wants to say that there's someone else waiting for you, someone who knows how to love you like you deserve it.", he tells her softly. Farkle manages to get Riley to smile again which brings a smile to his face too. They hug each other for some time before they stand up and walk down the stairs. As they walk down the last steps, Zay and Maya walk into the main room, seeing the other pair as well. 

Zay and Farkle walk towards each other and leave the two girls alone, talking on their way. 

Maya and Riley just stand there, neither of them moving or looking away. Their eyes are only focused on each other. 

Both girls start to smile slightly before hugging each other tightly, holding on to each other like they're scared of losing the other one again.

Riley is the first to break out of their embrace.

"Peaches...", she sighs.

"So... You ran away too, Riles?", Maya asks her with a slight hint of a joke.

"Yeah, I did... Just like you.", Riley tells her friend, causing both of them to chuckle a little. "Listen, Maya...", she starts. Maya looks her friend into her eyes, listening closely.

"Even though, I'm not ready to talk with you about... you know... yet, I just want to let you know, that I'm not mad at you.", she tells her friend softly. The blonde nods slightly and pulls the brunette in for another hug that lasts until the bell rings, indicating their last hour of school for more than six weeks. 

Hand in hand they walk into class, a smile plastered to their faces. 

Cory sees their interaction and smiles too. 

He knew that their fight wouldn't last long.

It never does because they need each other. 

There's nothing, that could tear Riley Matthews and Maya Penelope Hart apart. 

Everyone knows that.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next hour passes by really slow. 

Maya is sketching again while Riley writes down some things. Farkle glances at the two girls, sitting in front of him. Sometimes at Maya, sometimes at Riley. He even throws some angry glances towards Lucas, who only stares at Maya, sitting in front him. 

She used to rest her arm on his table but she doesn't do it today. Instead he can only see her blonde waves and a little piece of her blue denim jacket. 

Zay looks pretty annoyed but smiles whenever his girlfriend Vaness looks at him worried. Smackle notices the looks her boyfriend, Farkle, gives to Maya and Riley.

He will always love them. 

Nothing could ever change that. 

Nothing. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Josh is currently sitting in his last class for today and it's about to end. The teacher wishes them a wonderful summerbreak before dismissing the class. Fast, everyone packs up their stuff, if they haven't already, and leave. Josh stands up and grabs his bag quickly, walking out of the classroom, relieved that classes are finally over. 

He can't wait to see his girlfriend again. 

On his way back to his room, he pulls out his phone to text her. He's so lost in his thoughts, that he almost bumps into someone. 

"Oh, sorry. That was my fault.", he quickly apologizes to the stranger before realizing that this girl isn't a stranger at all. 

"It's okay.", the blonde says with a sweet smile, gazing into his blue eyes. He sees that she's holding a book in her hands, it look likes a sketchbook. 

He notices that because Maya has plenty of these and by now, he knows what they look like. 

The brown-haired boy clears his throat arkwardly and nods slightly at her. As she opens her mouth to say something, he's back on his way to his room but much quicker than before. A few times, he lookes behind himself, checking, if she's following him.

She isn't.

Josh sighs, as he enters his dorm room and lays down onto his bed. 

"God, this is all so messed up."

He runs his hand over his face and stands up again, taking a look through his window. It has a nice view onto the campus but as soon as  she comes into the picture, it isn't enjoyable anymore. 

Ally.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Boing❤: Good day, gorgeous. Finally, my class is over. :D How are you today, darling? Hope, your doing well. :)) I'm gonna be at the Matthews apartment at monday, maybe we see each other there..? :D How are things with you and Riley by the way? How's your last day of school going? Do you miss me as much as I miss you? Call me later, please. :)) Until then, like you! :D ❤

Maya smiles brightly as she reads Joshs message. She's still in class but it's over and the other students are already leaving. Another good thing that has happened today.

She got a sweet text from her awesome boyfriend.

Riley notices the happiness of her best friend and can't help but to smile slightly. Lucas however, doesn't look happy at all. He stands next to his seat, adjusting his bag, as he sees a heart emoji on her display. 

"Who the hell is Boing?"

Zay sees his friend starring down onto Mayas' phone so he quickly drags him out of the classroom. Maya, Riley, Smackle and Farkle watch how Lucas tries to get ouf Zays grip, he's successfull and puts some distance between him and Zay. Vanessa says goodbye to the group of friends before she walks over to her boyfriend.

"We need to go or we'll be late.", she whispers to her boyfriend. Zay nods in repsonse, not taking his eyes off of Lucas until he waves goodbye to his friends and leaves. 

Vanessa and Zay have a dinner to attend to because her parents insisted on having lunch together at their last day of school. 

The others walk out of the entrance, Lucas a little behind them. Farkle says goodbye to his girlfriend, Smackle, and she leaves too. He hugs Maya and Riley, longer than usual which Smackle sees while entering the car of her driver. Again, she feels this weird feeling creeping up.

She doesn't know what kind of feeling this is but she sure as hell doesn't like it.

"You need to take the subway?", Maya asks her brunette friend and they slowly walk away from the huge school building and from Lucas, who watches them.

More like, he watches Maya walking away from him. 

"Yeah, I do.", Riley answers quickly. She gets a nod from the blonde and Maya doesn't even have to say something because Riley understands what the blonde meant by that question. They walk to the subway together, making a little small talk on the way home.

Lucas sighs, as he walks down the stairs of the school. On his way, he sees Farkle and runs up to him. 

"Farkle!", he yells his name, getting the boy to stop walking. Farkle turns around and isn't sure, why Lucas would want to talk to him. 

"Yes..?", he asks, unsure of what to do.

He can't stand Lucas Friar right now. 

"I know, that you probably don't want to talk to me right now."

"You're right."

"But I have a question for you.", now Farkle gets even more nervous. He doesn't say anything, he just waits for the taller boy to continue. 

"Do you know who Boing is?", he finally asks. 

Farkle doesn't move. 

Of course, he knows who Boing is, more specifically Maya's Boing.

"How the hell does Lucas know about him? Maya has never mentioned him in front of Zay and Lucas or Vanessa and Smackle. 

Only he and Riley know about Mayas' Boing. 

Lucas sees the frightened look on Farkles face, telling him that Farkle knows who Boing is. 

"You know.", he states in a serious tone. 

"So? I don't owe you anything, Lucas. I'm not obligated to tell you.", he tells him and starts to walk away but turns around once more. "It's none of your business, okay? You should concentrate on more important things, like solving this mess with Maya and Riley. They deserve so much better than you and I hope that Riley knows that now too. She's too good for you anyways, just like Maya.", what happens next is something neither of them saw coming.

Lucas moves into Farkles personal space and grabs him by his collar. Both stay still, Lucas looking at Farkle with pure anger in his eyes. Farkle is breathing heavy and stares back at Lucas. As the taller boy sees the frightend look on Farkles face, the fear he's feeling, Lucas lets go of him. He runs his hand through his hair and runs away quickly. Farkle watches him and tries to comprehend everything that has just happened in the last two minutes. On his way back home he texts Zay, hoping that maybe he could help. 

Farkle: Hey, Zay. I know you have dinner with your girlfriend and her parents in a bit but something happened with Lucas. I think he was about to punch me, at least he held me by my collar. Think, I pissed him off. Maybe you can check on him later? Probably you're the only one who can get to him right now. 
PS: Good luck with your dinner. :))

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I have something to ask you.", Riley blurts out as they enter the subway. 

"Ask away.", the blonde replies.

"Why were you smiling so brightly at school?", as Maya looks at her confused, she continues. "I mean at the end of class, as you were reading something on your phone.", then Maya nods her head, understanding what her friend's talking about.

"Was it a boy?", she asks the blonde girl teasingly. As Mayas head falls down in an attempt to hide her blush, Riley starts laughing. "It is a boy.", she observes, Maya starts giggeling and nods a few times.

"It is. I'll tell ya later, it's a long story.", is all she says. The brunette nods slightly.

"Yeah, okay. Maybe... we can meet at the weekend?", she asks a little nervous. 

"Of course, we can.", Maya answers with an assuring smile that Riley returns immediately. As they reach their destination they get out of the subway and hug each other goodbye.

"Bye, peaches.", Riley waves one last time.

"Bye, pumpkin.", Maya says, waving back before they part ways.

Both walk home with a small smile on their faces. 

As Maya gets home, she instantly texts Josh back.

Ferret❤: Good day, handsome! Thank you, I'm fine... now. Got a lot of questions there, Boing. :D Got time right now? I'd love to call you. :))

While she waits for an answer, she takes off her jacket and puts her bag away. A quick glance at her clock tells her, that her mother has to work some more hours at Topangas. As she gets back into the living room, her phone starts ringing and the caller ID brings a smile to her face.

"Hey, Boing.", she answers happily. 

"Hey there, Ferret.", he greets back., making her giggle.

"You know, I thought that I was supposed to call you.", she replies sheepishly. Josh starts grinning.

"Well... I know what I texted you but I wanted to call you.", he shrugs innocently and Maya could swear that she hears the smirk on his face.

"Alright, alright... Anyways, to answer all of your questions from earlier...", she starts, changing the subject. "Riley and I wanna meet up this weekend, so we can talk. I'm sure we'll see each other on monday.", she tells him softly.

"That's great to hear, Maya."

"Yeah.", she replies. "School was okay, I guess. At least I talked with Riley again and we took the subway together after school."

"Did something happen with Lucas?", he asks serious, trying to sound calm but Maya can hear his anger. 

"Uhh...", she drifts off, not really knowing what to say. Soon,  Joshs voice appears again.

"Maya.", he warns.

"Please don't be mad at me.", she chokes out scared. She can't have somebody else yelling at her today, especially not her boyfriend.

"I'm not. I just want you to be honest with me.", he explains softly. It's quiet for a while. Josh stays silent, giving Maya the time that she needs to tell him everything.

"Something did happen with him today.", at her confession, Josh clenches his fist angry while his grip around his phone tightens until his knuckles get white due to the pressure he's putting on his hand. 

"What did he do?", he asks quietly with a deep, threatening voice, Maya didn't know he has.

"He... uhh. He raised his voice at me as we were in the cafeteria.", Josh stands up, trying to keep himself from punching something. "He was sitting between me and Riley, he ignored her and tried to talk to me but I ignored him and ran out of the cafeteria."

"Please tell me, that he didn't run after you again.", Maya sighs.

"No, he didn't.", she tells him. Josh is relieved as he hears her saying that. 

"He wanted to but Zay stopped him. He told me because he ran after me instead."

"Wait... Do I need to worry about another boy who's having feelings for you?", he asks with a slight hint of a sarcastic tone. Maya chuckles softly.

"No need to worry.", she assures him. "Also... I don't know, if Lucas likes me. I just think he does.", she shrugs, even though he can't see it. 

"Yeah...", he says, still unconvinced that he doesn't need to worry about this Zay.

"You seriously don't need to worry, Joshy.", he smiles at her new nickname for him. 

"Okay, I won't because I believe you."

"Thank you."

"Anything else?", he asks.

"Hmm...", she starts thinking. "No, I don't think so. What about you? Something interesting you gotta tell moi?", she asks in return.

"Yes, indeed.", he says. "I bumped into Ally today.", now it's Mayas turn to clench her fists. "But she didn't do anything. I just almost ran into her and apologized and then realized 'oh wait, this is the stalker-girl.' and ran away before she could say anything else.", he tells Maya.

"Good for her. She's already dead, so it doesn't matter what she does or doesn't do.", Maya says angry but Josh just chuckles.

"It's so cute when you try to be badass.", he compliments her softly. He can hear the growl that escapes her mouth. 

"You' tryna' say that I am not badass, Joshua?", her voice is deep and his breath hitches. 

"Uh..."

"Aww, what's the matter, honey? Can't talk?", she asks, mocking him in a sweet voice. Josh shakes his head, an attempt to get a hold of himself.

"I... uhh. I...", he stutters. Maya just starts laughing at him. 

"Oh my god, that is the best thing ever.", she laughs loudly. Soon, Josh joins her fit of laughter and is thankful, that Andrew isn't there right now. Otherwise he'd think that Josh is crazy. 

"Yeah, okay... I'm sorry, my sweet little Ferret. You're the most badass person I know.", he tells her softly. Maya blushes at his sweet comment and smiles.

"Thanks, boyfriend.", he smiles at that.

"Alright, girlfriend, I gotta get ready. I'm meeting up with some friends in a bit."

"Buuh, you aren't fun, Boing.", she fake-pouts. 

"Heeey, I am fun."

"Nope, you're totally boring.", she says.

"No, I'm not!", he defends himself.

"Yes, you aaare. That's why I'm calling you Boing. It's just the word 'boring' without the 'r'.", she starts laughing again and Josh realizes, that he never noticed that.

BOrING.

"Okay, I got no time for this. I'm ending the call now.", he says confident. 

"Nooooo...", she whines. "Please don't go.", his heart melts at the tone she's using. 

"I'm sorry girlfriend-ferret. I really have to go now."

"Okay boyfriend-boing, I'll see ya probably on monday. We text, right?"

"Of course we'll text. Bye, like you."

"Bye, like you too!", she chants happily. Josh loves to hear her voice, especially when she sings. He quickly ends the call or else he won't do it at all. He walks into the bathroom and gets ready to meet his friends.

Every friday he meets up with some guys of his science class and they just play some basketball and talk about their week.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Zay is mad. 

Not only because he had to excuse himself from the dinner with his girlfriend and her parents because of Lucas, but also because Lucas almost punched Farkle. 

He enters the bathroom and quickly dials Lucas' phone number. It only takes a few rings until Lucas accepts his call. 

"Hey, man, what's up?", he asks casually. 

"Don't 'what's up?' me. We have a problem, a huge problem or should I say you have a problem?", Zay fusses. Lucas takes a deep breath. 

"I guess you know...?", he asks, even though he already knows the answer. 

"Yes. I know. Are you out of your fucking mind?!", Zay exclaims angry. 

"Zay-"

"Farkle is our friend.", he interrupts Lucas. "How could you almost punch your friend, Lucas? This morning you yelled at me, I'm fine with that even though I'm still waiting for an apology, but what happened with Farkle? That's unacceptable. I hope you know that.", he says in an agressive tone. 

"I'm sorry.", Lucas chokes out, feeling like he can't breathe. 

"Yeah, right. I'd love to believe you. Really.", Zay says sadly. "You need to solve this. Apologize to Farkle, please. That's all you can do now."

"But... what , if he doesn't accept my apology?", Lucas asks nervous.

"Then you have to accept that. In your position right now, you can't demand anything. If you really want him and the girls to forgive you, you need to do what they tell you that you can do, even, if that means that you have to stay away from them.", Zay finished cold and ends the phone call, returning to the dinner quickly. 

Lucas stares at his beeping phone. 

He knows that Zay's right... again... 

With a deep sigh, he opens his contacts at his phone and quickly finds the contact he's been searching for. After a moment of hesitation, he touches the 'call button' and waits for her to accept it.

Hopefully she will. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Her phone rings, as she lays on her couch and watches TV. With a groan, she grabs it from the table as she sits up and looks at the caller ID. 

Lucas.

Wide eyed, she looks again, checking, if it's really him. She's sure that Lucas is calling her but she also knows for sure, that she doesn't want to accept it. She declines the phone call and tosses her phone onto the couch. 

She doesn't want to talk to him right now.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Lucas groans in frustration after she declined his phone call. Angry, he walks into his bedroom and throws his phone away. A loud thud appears, as it lands onto the ground. Seconds later, his pillow lands next to it, then a book and lastly his bag from school which causes the loudest thud out of the things he threw away in anger. 

"GOD, WHY?!", he yells in frustration as some single tears roll down his cheeks and he lands on the ground, burying his head inside of his hands. 

"Why?", he mumbles sadly. 

He just wants to talk to her.

He just wants to tell her the truth. 

He just wants to hear her voice. 

He just wants Maya to like him. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It's great to talk to you, Rachel.", Jasmine says with a soft smile.

"I can only say the same about you, Jasmine.", the brunette replies with the same soft smile. "It's really cool to have somebody to talk to. I mean, I have Maya but... she can't always be there. It's not that easy to meet up with her 'cause she goes to a different school, you know...", she drifts off. Jasmine puts her hand onto Rachels shoulder.

"Yeah, I understand that.", Jasmine tells her. "I think, that it's good to have a new female friend too.", Rachel smiles at the word friend. "I mean, some female students talk to me sometimes but mostly just in class and besides that I only spend my free time with my boyfriend and his best friend... which is great but... There a certain things I just can't talk about with them.", Rachel nods slightly. 

"Yeah.", she says. "I understand completely, I mean I lost Ally... so... It's good to have you, Jasmine.", her sad smile doesn't go unnoticed by Jasmine.

"Hey, you don't need her. She's creepy and has been lying to you all this time."

"I know.", Rachel huffs out a sad laugh. "It's just that... As I got to know her, she was so sweet and nice and all. I really thought that I made a friend with her. It just sucks to find out after this amount of time that she isn't what I thought she was.", Jasmine only nods and let the silent fall over them for some seconds until the door bell rings, indicating that a new customer enters the café. 

"Have you seen her again?", Jasmine asks suddenly.

"No. Only at campus but I didn't talk to her or something like that. She hasn't been in  our room since yesterday. She's probably sleeping at Rays and Darens' apartment.", Rachel answers quietly and Jasmine nods in response. As the person walks up to the counter, Rachel feels sad and angry all over again. Jasmine follows her gaze and looks back at Rachel. 

"What's going on?", she whispers to the brunette.

"That's Ally.", Rachel whispers back. Jasmine stares at the blonde girl at the counter and they listen to her order.

"A large Iced coffee please.", she orders and Jasmine looks at Rachel terrified.

"That's what Josh always orders here.", she whispers to Rachel. They watch how she takes the coffee and pays for it. Both brunettes take one of the order lists and hide their faces behind them. The blonde walks out of the cafè without noticing the two girls. 

"It could be a coincidence.", Jasmine shrugs but Rachel shakes her head. 

"No, if this is something Josh usually orders, then it isn't just a coincidence that she orders it too.", she explains while standing up and grabbing her beg. She quickly throws enough money on the table to pay for their food and drinks and she walks out of the building, Jasmine following her fast. 

"Where is Josh right now? Do you know that?", Rachel asks as she hurries into the direction Ally went. 

"Uh, he's probably getting ready to play basketball with his friends... like he does every friday at this time.", Jasmine tells her slowly. Rachel nods at Jasmine and quickens her pace. 

"What exactly are we doing right now, Rachel?", the brunette asks.

"We're spying on her.", she simply says and doesn't add more. Jasmine walks beside her, looking for Ally. 

"Where is she going?", Rachel mumbles to herself. 

"This is the way to the dorm room building where Josh lives.", Jasmine observes frightend. They reach the building and hide behind some bushes and trees. They spot Ally, standing in front of the building where Josh has his dorm room. 

"When does he meet with his friends?", Rachel asks quietly. 

"Around 3 PM. It's currently 2:40 PM, so he should leave his room in like five minutes or something.", Rachel looks over to her with an raised eyebrow. "He told me, which means I am allowed to have this information about his life.", she says with a grin, causing Rachel to giggle slightly. Then, Jasmine takes out her phone and texts Josh about the creepy blonde in front of the entrance at his dorm room building. 

Jasmine :) : Hey, Josh. I know you're in a hurry but just wanted to let you know that Ally's downstairs at your dorm room building, waiting with an large iced coffee for you. Just to let ya know! Take care of yourself! :)

Josh: What the fuck?! Really?

Jasmine :) : Yes, really. Rachel and I are hiding behind some trees and bushes, we followed her. 

Josh: You're all creepy.

Jasmine :) : Please, just making sure she doesn't do anything to hurt you or something. :D

Josh: Yeah, yeah, thanks to you and Rachel. 

Jasmine :) : \(^-^)/

Josh: Well, what do I do now? I can't go down there.

Jasmine looks over to Rachel and shows her the messages. She thinks a while before grabbing Jasmines arm and pushing her out of the ambush. Wide eyed, Jasmine stares at her.

"Go and wait for him, she won't do something when someone's with him.", she whispers to her. Jasmine nods unsure and walks over to the entrance, busying herself with her smartphone. 

Jasmine :) : Come down, I'm waiting her for you. 

Josh: But I thought Ally's there?

Jasmine :) : Yeah but Rachel said that she won't do anything as long as someone is with you. Now move your ass down. 

Josh: Geez, alright, I'm coming.

Jasmine places herself next to the stairs, leaving a lot of space between her and Ally. The blonde girl watches the brunette carefully but as soon as Jasmine looks at her, Ally turns her head away quickly. A minute later the door opens and a brown-haired boy walks out. Josh sees Jasmine instantly and walks over to her, much to Allys dissappointment. Rachel observes how Allys grip on the iced coffee tightens and her knuckles get white while her face remains neutral. A small smile plays on Rachels lips while she watches Josh and Jasmine walk away. Looking back at Ally, she just runs away, throwing the coffee into a trash can on the way. Rachel continues to smile and walks back to her dorm room. 

She has a mission.

Usually she doesn't rummage through the property of other people but after what happened a few minutes ago, she decides that it's time to take a look into Allys things. Before she starts, she locks the door, just in case. 

She isn't surprised as she finds a piece of paper with Joshs class schedule on it. Another piece of paper tells her, where Joshs favourite places are at campus and out of campus. Along with that a list of the subways he takes, in which shops he likes to buy things, his favourite food and various recipes  to make these. Then she finds his coffee order and she even writes down when he gets a coffee. 

It gets more frightening as she finds copies of his essays he has turned in during freshman year and all of his grades are listed too. 

Then she finds something, where she had hoped that she wouldn't find it:

Pictures of Josh during the day. In class, in his dorm room, with his friends on campus, while he's buying something somewhere and even as he walks out of the dorm room building. 

The last picture she finds is the most scariest of them all. 

A photo of Maya and Josh, kissing each other inside of his dorm room. 

Rachel takes out her phone so she can text Maya but as she unlocks her smartphone, she gets a notification. 

It's a message from Ally. 

Ally: Oh, Rachel... You shouldn't take things that don't belong to you. 

Rachel stands up and her phone falls onto the ground as she lets go of it due to the shock. She looks around but can't find anyone inside of the room. She quickly grabs her phone again and dials a number.

"Uh, hi. Here is Rachel. Rachel Moore. I'd like to make an appointment. -Yeah. -Right now? - Yeah, no, sure, that's fine, I'm on my way. - Okay, thank you, bye."

The brunette walks out of her room quickly and walks along the campus until she's in the main hall. At the counter, she greets the lady, that's working there friendly.

"Hi, I'm Rachel Moore. I just calles a few minutes ago for an appointment with Mrs. Holth and I was told to come now.", she explains kindly. The woman nods.

"Uh, yeah. Mrs. Holth is available right now, please walk down the hallway and the last door on the left is her office."

"Thank you.", Rachel says and makes her way towards the office. A few knocks and she's told to come in.

"Hello, you must be Rachel.", the older woman stands up and shakes Rachels hand. 

"Yeah, I am.", she assures and sits down across from the older woman, as she gestures for Rachel to do so. 

"So... Rachel, how can I help you?"

"I'd like to talk to you about a student with a huge problem.", Rachel says.

"Who?"

"Ally Sanchez.", the woman writes down her name. "She has some serious issues with her mental health and I am really concerned about her."

"Okay, then... Why don't you start at the beginning?", she asks. Rachel nods and starts explaining. 

Ally Sanchez will go down.

Rachel will make sure of that. 

Chapter Text

Chapter twelve: The beginning of something new.

"No, mum. I... uh... I've decided to stay in New York over the summer, you know. Got something planned with some of my college friends. -Yeah. -Yeah, we're making a trip to Philadelphia. I'm so excited! -I'm sorry, mum... -Yeah, love you too, Bye!", Ally hangs up and continues packing her stuff, as a soft knock appears at her dorm room door. 

"Coming!", she yells and runs up to the door, opening it. "Uhm... Hello?", she asks, not expecting an older woman to stand there. 

"Hello, Mrs. Sanchez.", she greets her friendly. "May I come in?", she asks. Ally just nods and makes some space for her so she can walk into her room. 

"I'm sorry, who are you?", the blonde asks.

"Oh, right. I didn't introduce myself, I'm sorry.", she apologizes. "You probably don't know me. I am Mrs. Holth, one of the-"

"-College psychologists.", Ally finishes in a whisper. Mrs. Holth smiles slightly at that.

"That's right.", she assures.

"Why are you here?", Ally asks, making sure to show her annoyance. 

"As you know, it is my job to make sure that every student is fine. I'm responsible for all of the freshmen here at NYU and since you just finished your freshman year... I am still responsible for you.", she says. "I need to talk to you about something important."

"What?", the blonde rolls her eyes and just continues packing her stuff. The older woman looks around, noticing Ally's bags and stuff. 

"You don't drive back home over the summerbreak, am I right?", Mrs. Holth asks. Ally just scoffs at that.

"How do you know that?"

"Well, I talked to your parents just yesterday.", the older woman explains.

"WHAT?!", Ally yells.

"Yeah. I called them and they told me about how happy they are to see you over the summer break. Said, that you don't really talk to them since you are in college and they can't wait to spend time with you again. Why's that?"

"Why's what?"

"Why is it that you don't talk with them that often?", Ally sighs deeply and sits down across from Mrs. Holth.

"I don't know, I had a lot on my mind.", she shrugs.

"Like a boy?"

"No!", Ally answers a little too quickly. Mrs. Holth raises an eyebrow.

"No?", she questions. "You don't sound so sure about that.", Ally looks down.

"I don't know, okay? It's complicated."

"It's always, isn't it?", the older woman chuckles slightly. "Wanna talk?", she offers the blonde girl kindly.

"Aren't we already doing that?"

"Yeah but... Do you, maybe, wanna tell me about these things that are on your mind?", she asks with soft smile. "It seems like you keep a lot to yourself and don't really let it out, even though you probably should.", Ally looks at her. She takes a deep breath before talking.

"I don't get along with my parents that well. It always ends up in a fight when I'm with them or just calling them, even when I text them.", she explains. "They never made me feel loved... I never had somebody who loved me. I still don't have anybody who loves me."

"I see..."

"Do you? 'Cause I feel like nobody takes my problems seriously and that makes me thinking that maybe they aren't even a problem, maybe I'm just looking for attention because I never got it.", Ally shrugs again, looking down onto the ground. 

"I understand that, Ally. Believe me or not, I do."

"I just don't know what to do.", the blonde girl sighs heavily.

"I take your problems seriously.", Mrs. Holth tells Ally. "You aren't alone, Ally.", the blonde just nods. "Anything else you wanna get out of your system?"

"No...", Ally mumbles. 

"You sure? You don't wanna talk about this boy...?", Ally lifts her head and stares at the older woman at the opposite from her. 

"There is no boy...", she says quietly.

"I heard otherwise.", Mrs. Holth says. "Like the exact opposite from what you're telling me.", Ally's eyes widen suddenly, asking herself who the hell has talked with this woman. 

"Who exactly told you that?", she blurts out. 

"I'm sure, you already know that, don't you?", she asks in return. Ally is a little taken back by her question that sounds more like a statement. 

She's right.

Ally knows.

"Rachel Moore.", Ally says confident. 

"I won't tell you, if you are right or not. What I will tell you, is that I've heard a lot about your obsession with... Joshua Matthews.", the older woman says slowly. Ally lets out a laugh.

"I'm not obsessed with him."
 
"So, you know him.", she observes. Ally's smile fades away quickly, realizing that she has just revealed herself. 

"I've talked to your teachers and to some students that know you. They all told me that you know a lot about certain people, observe certain people and that you love to take pictures."

"What's wrong about photography?"

"Nothing, it's just that you always take pictures of other people and I'm just wondering, if these people know that these pictures exist.", the older woman explains suspiciously. Ally shakes her head slightly. 

"They don't. At least one person doesn't know."

"And who's that?", Mrs. Holth presses.

"Joshua Matthews.", Ally breathes out. Mrs. Holth nods at that and crosses her legs. 

"Okay.", she says. "We can get through this, Ally."

"What? I didn't say anything about stalking him or something like that! What did I do wrong?!",  Ally yells suddenly, starting to cry. 

"I never used the word stalking or anything similar to that. You brought that up, Ally.", the blonde girl stands up.

"I just want him to love me the way I love him, why can't I have that?! That is so unfair!", she yells again, tears streaming down her face. "WHY?! Is it so hard to love me?!", the tears continue to fall down and Mrs. Holth takes a few deep breaths, looking into Allys blue eyes, filled with tears. 

"Ally..."

"NO!", she yells again. "No, do not tell me to calm down! I just want love but I can't have it! I never will. He doesn't love me! Why doesn't he love me?! Is that so hard?!", she continues yelling while pacing back and forth through her room. "It's just because of that bitch, Maya Hart! He isn't supposed to lover her, he should love me. Since the day I met him, I knew that I want to spend the rest of my life with him but he never even looked at me ever again! I'm not crazy, she is!", Ally exclaims breathlessly. She falls down onto her knees and cries heavier than before. "No one loves me. My parents hate me just because I'm not the person they want me to be. I'm not perfect like my sister! I'm not enough...", she says while sobbing and trying to catch her breath. 
Mrs. Holth stands up and opens the door, where a brunette girl has been waiting and listening the entire time. She enters the dorm room and kneels down besides the crying girl. She wraps her arms around the blonde girl and feels how her own unshead tears finally leave and float down her cheeks. 

"It's okay, Ally. I'm here.", Rachel tries to soothe her in a calm voice. Suddenly Ally hugs the brunette girl back.

"I'm so sorry, Rachel.", she sobs.

"It's okay, Ally.", Rachel says again. "It's okay."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riley groans as her phone rings once again. She turns around in her bed and picks it up from her nightstand, looking at the notifications. 

Three new messages from Uncle Josh.

Riley sits up and opens the app, reading through the texts. 

Uncle Josh: Hey, Riles.

Are you up? 

Can you open the door?

The brunette rolls her eyes at the texts. 

"Doesn't he own a key?"

She stands up with a loud groan. She could use a couple more hours of sleep but now, she won't get them, probably. Riley steps into the living room and is shocked as she sees Josh sitting on the couch with his phone in his hands. 

"Are you kidding me?!", she exclaims angry at him. Josh turns around and bites back a laugh at the sight of her. 

"Morning to you too, niece.", he says, she can hear the laughter in his voice and she just growls at him while walking into the kitchen. Josh stands up and follows her quietly. 

"You're unbelievable." she mumbles in an annoyed tone while pouring some water into a glass. 

"Someone's in a good mood.", he jokes with a small chuckle but all he gets is a death glare from the brunette. 

"Why are you here?", she demands. 

"Can't I just visit my family?", he asks innocently. The brunette rolls her eyes and walks over to the couch. She sits down and rolls her eyes again, as her uncle sits down next to her.

"They're not even here.", she says with a sigh. "Also I thought you wanted to be here on monday, not saturday.", she makes sure to emphasize the word saturday. Josh just shrugs a little.

"You're a part of my family, Riles. I also wanted to visit you.", he says softly but she just rolls her eyes once again. "No seriously, are you okay?", he asks, letting his concern show.

"I don't know, Josh.", she shrugs. He looks at her with worry in his eyes.

Maya was right about Riley.

She is devestated after everything with Lucas. 

"Lucas is an idiot. A huge one. A total dumbass.", he says. Riley chuckles slightly and looks at him.

"Since when do you swear, uncle?", she asks him but he just shrugs in response. Then Riley gets lost in her thoughts about what Josh said.

"Lucas..."

"You know about what happened between me and Lucas?", she suddenly asks, surprising him. 

"Fuck... Maya told me but Riley obviously doesn't know we're talking again... like the rest of our family."

"Uhh...", he chokes out. "C-Cory told me.", he answers finally. "Yeah, Cory told me.", he repeats with more confidence this time, hoping she'll just drop it. 

"He told you about that?", she asks in a suspicious tone, not quite believing him.

"Yes, h-he did.", Josh mutters. "Look, it's not important. The important thing is, that he has hurt you in more ways than one and he's an asshole.", Josh states. Riley looks away quickly, feeling some tears welling up again. 

She doesn't want to cry because of Lucas. Not again. He doesn't deserve her tears or anything else from her except for anger. 

And even that is too much. 

Riley hates being angry at someone but right now, she wants for Lucas to experience a heartbreak just like she does. 

"Are you guys still together?", Josh asks her, interrupting her train of thoughts. Riley can only nod in response, feeling her throat going dry at his question. She quickly grabs her glass of water again and drowns it until it is completely empty. 

"May I ask why?", her uncle asks, ignoring her sudden thirstiness.

"I don't know.", she whispers. "Guess, I'm just too scared to let go of... whatever we have. I still have hope, you know?", she tells him and turns to face the brown-haired boy, who does the same. "I still hope that... he maybe calls me or something and says that it's just a joke. That he loves me and just lied about his feelings for Maya.", Josh winces at the mention of her name. He has to act like he's still avoiding the beautiful blonde. 

"Did he tell you that? About his feelings, I mean.", his throat goes dry now too. 

"No.", Riley replies. "I overheard a conversation between Zay and Farkle in the halls yesterday. Zay told Farkle about it and later, Farkle confirmed it to me as he realized that I heard their conversation.", Josh nods while being lost in his own thoughts.

He still hates Lucas for being such an asshole to Riley but he also hates him for having feelings for Maya.

Maya is Josh's girlfriend, so of course he isn't thrilled about the fact that one of her closest friends, she sees almost every day, wants to be her boyfriend because that is Josh's position. 

"You don't deserve that, Riley.", he tells her softly. "You and Maya don't deserve this mess. You two are way too good for him and shouldn't waste your time with someone like him. He's just tearing you two apart, even though everyone knows that it's impossible to destroy your friendship.", he tells her with a grin, Riley returns it instantly. "You are a young, beautiful girl that deserves someone who will treat you like a queen, like you're the only girl in the world for him."

"Would you say the same thing about Maya?", she questions with a smirk. Josh turns his head, feeling irritated suddenly.

"What's that supposed to mean?", he asks slightly nervous.

"Just saying... You two have ignored each other for a long time and I'm just wondering if you'd tell her the same thing...", she explains. "Like that she's a young, beautiful girl, you know?", by now she's grinning widely at him, waiting for an answer but her uncle just tries to hide is deep red blush. "You're blushing!", she exclaims. "Oh my god! You're actually blushing!", she claps her hands together and smiles brightly, feeling happier than before. 

Now she doesn't think about Lucas that much, thanks to her uncle.

"Shut up, I'm not.", the brown-haired boy says, not really sounding convincing.

"Yes, you are, Josh. You're blushing because of Maya.", Riley states, still smiling brightly at him. "You have feelings for her.", she observes.

"You have no idea."

Of course, Josh won't say that to his niece because then, his girlfriend would kill him. 

"You don't argue against it.", the brunette exclaims. "It's true. Finally, you accept it!", she stands up and does some jumps, feeling excited and happy for her uncle and for her best friend. 

"How are you and Maya by the way?", he asks her, even though he knows everything about their fight. He just wants to change the subject quickly before he spills everything that has happened the last few days between him and the wonderful blonde.

"You seriously won't deny it.", she mutters to herself, not able to believe that he just admits it like that. She clears her throat quickly. "I think we're fine. We still need to talk everything out but... we've talked yesterday and even hugged each other... We're getting there.", she tells him and he hears the hope and happiness in her voice. 

"Sounds great.", he replies with a smile. Suddenly Riley stands up.

"I need to go into my room.", she says while walking out of the living room.

"Wait, what do you need to do?", he yells after her.

"I need to make a phone call.", she yells back, closing the door of her bedroom and grabbing her phone, dialing a number.

She needs to do this.

She should have done this already.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It was great to eat breakfast with you, mum. It was delicious.", Maya compliments her mother who takes some of the dishes and places them into the sink carefully.

"Thanks, butterfly.", Katy thanks her daughter with a soft smile. "I actually have a surprise for you.", she tells her, grinning widely.

"What's that?", Maya asks excited. Katy lets out a small chuckle and just in time the doorbell rings. Katy walks towards the front door and Maya stands up quickly, following her mother curiously.

"Hey there.", the man greets both of them, as Katy opens the door. He reaches for the older woman and kisses her softly before turning to Maya, handing her a sketchbook with a new pencil. 

"Is this for me?", Maya asks a little insecure.

"Yes, it's just for you, Maya.", he says softly.

"Thanks, Shawn.", the blonde girl thanks him with a smile. "So... is this my surprise, mum?"

"Yes, Maya, it is.", Katy explains. "I thought, it'd be good, if you two get to know each other properly after... the first meeting didn't really... go that well.", she drifts off, looking at Shawn, who smiles slightly at her. 

"Well... I've already met Shawn at the Matthews' apartment.", Maya tells her mother.

"I know.", she answers with a nod. "But that wasn't really getting to know each other: He told me that you two never really talked, so we're gonna change that today.", she states firmly while grabbing her purse from the couch. 

"Fine by me.", Maya shrugs and skips into her room, placing the new sketchbook along with the pencil onto her desk and grabs her phone, sliding it into the back pocket of her jeans. 

"Where exactly are we going, mum?", the blonde girl asks her mother as they walk down the stairs of the apartment building. 

"We'll visit the mall.", she tells her quickly. Shawn opens his car doors for Maya and for Katy, both entering his car.

"Such a gentleman.", Katy says with a huge smile and admiration in her eyes. Shawn leans down and gives her a quick kiss before closing the car door and running around to slide into the drivers seat. 

"Just to let you know, you can't buy me into liking you.", Maya says coldly while leaning towards the two adults in front of her. Katy's eyes widen at her daughter's words.

"Maya!", she hisses at her but the anger is quickly forgotten, as Shawn suddenly starts laughing, confusing both woman with his reaction. 

"Don't worry, Maya. That's not my plan at all.", he says to her. "I also know, that I can't buy you into liking me. I already noticed that at the short amount of time where I got to see you. Just enjoy the day with us and get your own opinion of me.", he explains softly. Maya can't fight the urge to give him a small smile.

So she smiles at him slightly, making all of them - including Katy - happy. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Thank you.", Rachel says to Mrs. Holth, as they enter her office.

"I just did my job, Mrs. Moore.", the older woman shrugs slightly and motions for the brunette girl to sit down. "So...", Mrs. Holth starts. "How do you feel now? After everything that has happened?", she asks in a calm tone, keeping her voice quiet. 

Mrs. Holth had already informed Ally's parents about everything, after Rachel came to her and told her about Ally's situation. They were shocked at first and Ally's mother even cried at some point, after remembering the time with their daughter before she moved out and started college. 

At saturday morning, they drove to NYU and had a conversation with the college psychologist and some of the security guards in person, hearing about everything that has happened with Ally. Her mother cried once again so mostly Ally's father talked about Ally's childhood and how she grew up.

They thought about a solution for Ally's problem and came to the terms, that she should take a break from college, also because Rachel mentioned , that it'd be better for Josh and for Maya and also for herself. Her parents wanted Ally to live at home again but Mrs. Holth explained how that would affect her. So they decided that she needs to concentrate on her own problems first, which is why she got moved into a special therapy-program, where she also got a place to live. 

Her spot at NYU remains open for her, they promised that to her parents and even though Ally refused in the beginning to do that, even yelled some more and cried even harder, especially after seeing her parents, she finally agreed and packed the rest of her things to get ready to leave. 

Rachel takes a deep breath, replaying this eventful saturday morning in her head once again. "I think... I feel relieved. Like, this weight is off my shoulders now.", she explains quietly, letting her eyes staying on the ground. "I mean, I definitely haven't suffered the most from her actions but I still feel... kinda responsible for this.", she ends in a whisper. 

"Responsible how?", the older woman tilts her head slightly. 

"I always think about... what, if I found out sooner about this? I could have prevented all of this. Knowing, that I practically dragged Maya into this situation at the party... causes nightmares for me.", Rachel takes a deep breath once again. "It is my fault."

"It's not.", Mrs. Holth replies after a few seconds with a soft voice. "Don't blame yourself for this, Rachel, because there's no reason to do so. Also, how in the world were you supposed to know about all of this? Sure, it would have made a difference but... it could have ended way worse than this.", she says. Rachel nods, indicating that she's still listening and understanding what she's saying. 

That doesn't mean, that Rachel believes what Mrs. Holth is saying.

 "What exactly happens with Ray and Daren now?", the brunette asks quietly, still not looking up. 

"What do you mean?", the older woman asks slightly confused. 

"They helped Ally to do these things.", Rachel finally manages to lift up her head. Mrs. Holth inhales slowly before responding. 

"We informed the police and they will call Maya Penelope Hart and Joshua Gabriel Matthews so they can testify. You will need to do that too, Rachel.", she tells the brunette. "Ally will have to do that too but we're not sure yet, if she's in a stable condition to be actually ready to do that."

"And when will that happen?", Rachel asks impatiently while tapping her foot on the floor repeatedly.

"They're gonna call them on monday, probably.", she responds.

"Probably.", Rachel murmurs, repeating the last word. 

"It's because of the summer break. I'm sorry, Rachel but I can't promise you that this will happen right away. It can still take a few weaks.", the brunette just nods at that. 

"Yeah, no. It's... uh, It's okay. I get it. There are more important things, I know.", Rachel tells her honestly and stands up, getting ready to leave. 

"It's best, if you stay at college 'til everything's settled. They could call at anytime.", she informs Rachel, before the brunette opens the door and leaves without looking back. 

This summer break doesn't go as planned... like at all. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

She holds her phone near to her ear, hearing the familiar ringing while waiting for the other person to accept the call. It takes some rings until her call gets accepted and she loses all of her confidence she had. 

It's like she forgot all of the words and things she wants to say.

"Riley...", a male voice speaks at the other end of the line. She hears a deep sigh and then a sob. 

"Are you crying?", she asks softly, mentally slapping herself for still being so empathetic towards him. 

"N-No..", he stumbles out. 

He's lying, Riley knows but she doesn't care. Not anymore.

"I wanna break up with you.", she blurts out suddenly. Neither of them expected this sentence. At least not at the very beginning of this phone call. 

Lucas already knew that, sooner or later, she'll get tired of this drama and will dump him because he fucking deserves it. 

Riley knew from the very beginning of this mess that she's gonna have to face the truth - she and Lucas won't marry each other one day and have a happy ending like her parents, for example. But then other questions popped up - Where they really highschool sweethearts? Was this bound to happen to their relationship? Was this doomed from the start? 

She doesn't know any answers but she's also not determined to find some anymore.

All she wants is to wake up from this nightmare. 

She hears another sigh at he end of the line and tries to calm her breath. 

"Okay.", is all he says after a whole minute of pure silence.

"Okay?!", she exclaims angry. Even though she doesn't want this relationship anymore, she's still pissed that he just takes it and doesn't even try to make this okay. 

It hurts, knowing that he probably just waited for her to call and to end this. 

That he just gives up. 

That he doesn't love her.

That she's not even important enough to him to, at least, explain it, to apologize or something like that.

Just an "okay", that is all she gets from the boy she once thought she could love for the rest of her life.

How could she be so wrong?

Riley can't stop the tear, that escapes her eye.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now, Friar?!", she's mad. Not mad but furious at him. Usually she doesn't swear but right now, she can't stop this anger she feels towards the boy. 

Josh is still sitting on the couch in the living room, debating wether or not he should text Maya about his conversation with Riley. Then he suddenly hears his niece shouting, so he stands up immediately and walks up to her bedroom door. He doesn't mean to listen to her conversation but after hearing her shouting Friar, he knows that she's talking to Lucas. 

"Riley-"

"NO!", she interrupts him with a yell. "You can't say anything to make this okay! There's nothing you could do or say to make this right! You just can't!", she screams into her smartphone. Josh is shocked hearing his niece like this. 

"I just-"

"NO!", she interrupts him once again. "No, Lucas. You hurt me and you're still hurting Maya.", at that, Josh's body freezes, his hands curling into fists. "She likes someone else so get. Over. It."

"You know that too?"

"Yes, I know about that. I don't know who but that doesn't matter, as long as my best friend is happy, I am happy and I know for a fact, that she'll be happy, if you finally leave her alone.", Riley finally has her confidence back. "She doesn't want to be more than friends, Lucas. Just get over yourself and accept the fact, that she will never love you. You lost both of us so do us a favour and leave us alone."

"I can't, Riley. I love Maya and I won't stop. I need to show her how much she means to me.", he says agressive. "Also, you really don't care who she likes? It's someone called Boi-"

"I DON'T CARE!", she screams. Josh winces at her volume and just hopes that the neighbours aren't home. "Maya doesn't love you. GET OVER IT! And I swear to god, if you do anything to her... You will never see the sun or the moon ever again!", Riley ends the call instantly, not waiting for him to response. First, her smartphone drops onto the floor and shortly after, she follows. Crying, she curls up into a ball and almost doesn't hear the door open, her uncle entering the bed room of hers and kneeling down beside her, wrapping his arms tightly around her while listening to her loud sobs and her unsteady breath.

How did she end up here, like this?

This wasn't supposed to happen.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Lucas is destroying almost everything around him.

He throws his smartphone against his bedroom wall.
The lamp on his nightstand falls down, after he threw a pillow against it, and now the lamp is splintered into a lot of pieces, scattered all around the floor.
Ripping out pages of his books isn't enough. He aims with one book at a picture frame hanging on his wall and as he strikes it perfectly, it falls down onto the ground with a loud thud. 

He had purposely chosen to destroy a group picture of him and his friends, where he had one arm draped around his (ex-)girlfriend and the other was draped around the beautiful blonde.

Some frustrated sighs later, he slams his fist against the wall until he sees blood. Then he screams in pain and sits down onto the floor, thinking about what got him into this in the first place.

Maya.

He can't help but to scream, trying to get his anger out of his system but it doesn't work. His fist hurts like hell, so he quickly runs into the bathroom, treating it and puts a bandage around it. Hopefully he can avoid his mother when she comes back from work because he really doesn't want to answer any questions. As he enters his bedroom again, he sighs deeply. Staring at this mess he has created only makes this worse. Within seconds he grabs his keys and is out of the apartment, closing the door behind him and walking down the streets of New York.

Maybe, just maybe, he can calm down with this walk. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Maya couldn't believe how happy she feels. For the first time since a long time, it feels like she has a father again, thanks to Shawn. The car ride has been a lot of fun due to the songs they've heard and them singing along. Katy and Shawn were shocked at Maya's incredible voice, he even thinks that the small blonde blushed a little as he and her wonderful mother threw compliments at her. 

In the beginning of the car ride, she was pretty silent but soon, Shawn put on a song and started to sing along, Katy joined him shortly after. As soon as the chorus started, Maya had to join them because she actually really loved the song, so she started to sing.

"'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby,
Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby,
Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me,
Ooohooo hoo Ooohoo"

The next one Maya didn't expect but started singing anyway.

"Just a small town girl,
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere"

Shawn and Katy looked so happy while singing and Maya felt like her heart couldn't take more of these cheesy moments but the next song told her otherwise.

"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone,
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run,
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess,
It's a love story, baby just say 'yes'"

Then, Maya laughed at Shawn for a good minute just because he knew every single word to this song. 
The car ride continued with them singing to every song Shawn put on. 

"Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there
Feeling so high but too far away to hold me
You know I'm the one who put you up there
Name in the sky
Does it ever get lonely?
Thinking you could live without me"

"And we'll never be royals
It don't run in our blood
That kind of lux just ain't for us
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler, you can call me Queen B
And baby I'll rule (I'll rule I'll rule I'll rule)
Let me live that fantasy"

"Who's gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning?
Who's gonna rock you when the sun won't let you sleep?
Who's waking up to drive you home when you're drunk and all alone?
Who's gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning?"

They visit shop after shop, either Maya or her mother Katy insisting on entering this shop. Shawn's paying for Maya's clothes, much to her delight, so she takes piece after piece and tries them on in the wardrobe while Shawn follows Katy through the shop because she has to find something too. 

Right now, Maya is wearing a cute white top with a dark blue skirt. She snaps a quick picture of herself through the mirror and sends it to her special someone with the phrase "What' you think, Boing? :D"  before trying on other pieces of clothing. 

A black skinny jeans with some zippers and a green top with long sleeves, leaving some space to show her shoulders.

Again, she snaps a quick photo of herself.

A red crop top along with a pair of white waist-high jeans and a black leather jacket that ends at her waist, exactly where her pair of jeans starts.

Another photo.

For her last outfit, she picks up the blue hot pants and mixes it together with a top in a light brown shade, tying a flannel in midnight blue and white around her waist. 

She takes the photo and dresses into her own clothes again before she  packs up the different clothes and leaves the wardrobe, searching for her parents.

Yes, she'll refer to them as her parents now - including Shawn into the family but Maya won't tell him that. At least for now she'll keep it as a secret. 

After a few minutes of passing strangers and bumping into some clothes and bags around her, she finally manages to spot her parents. Katy is smiling brightly while holding some clothing and Shawn just nods, agreeing with whatever her mother is saying right now but probably not really knowing what she's saying after all. Maya approaches them and as soon as Shawn sees her, relief washes over his his face. At that, Maya lets out a giggle and walks a little faster.

"Hey, there.", She greets them happily. Katy turns around, taking a look at her daughter and at all the pieces of clothing she's managing to hold. 

"You got some things, don't you?", Katy observes with a grin while holding up her own things.

"Like mother like daughter.", Shawn mutters but both woman can hear him and glare at him at the same time. He puts up his arms in defense and says:
"Hey, killing me is not good - I'm paying!", he exclaims, pointing at himself while both woman start laughing at his facial expression.

"We'll just knock you out and steal your money.", Maya shrugs innocently while her mother nods approvingly at her daughter. Shawn looks terrified by now and glances at his girlfriend.

"Traitor!", he points at her with a grin she returns instantly. Maya chuckles lightly and drags them towards the check-out, so he can pay for her and her mothers clothes. 

Sitting down at a table in the corner of a restaurant, Maya takes out her smartphone once again but she doesn't have any new messages yet which makes her kinda sad. Usually Josh is quick with his response but this time she still got nothing after half an hour. Katy notices the look on her daughter's face as she glances at her.

"You' waiting for someone special to reply?", she asks, a raised eyebrow and a light giggle at the end tells Maya, that her mother is already referring to someone and Maya knows exactly who. What she doesn't know is, that Shawn knows it too. 

"Nope.", Maya answers with a shake of her head but her eyes say everything. Shawn smirks a little at the blonde's attempt to lie because he knows, that she's usually pretty good at lying, meaning that she didn't really try to hide the truth this time. 

"What's got you all smiling there, old man?", she throws at Shawn playfully while scanning over the menu list she's holding right now. Shawn swallows a cough and lokos at her while shrugging innocently.

"Nothing.", he says. "Just wondering how you two can be so obvious to other people except to each other.", he explains with a grin towards the small blonde sitting at the opposite of the table. Katy lets out a chuckle before gesturing to one of the waiters that they want to order their food. 

"Obvious about what?", Maya questions, still not looking up at the man. 

"About how you two love each other.", he throws into the room with a grin plastered to his face. Next to him, Katy shakes her head, trying to remain herself from bursting out into loud laughter. Maya's head shoots up within a second, starring into the man's eyes. He can't read the look on her face though.

Does she want to kill him right there right now or does she feel irritated because he just spit out the truth about her and the youngest Matthews' feelings towards each other?

He doesn't know but he's scared either way.

Gladly, a waiter appears and writes down their orders before disappearing again. Katy watches the two curious. Shawn just gets scared even more and Maya's look becomes more furious by the second. 

"Who are we talking about exactly?", Maya asks with a raised eyebrow, keeping her voice low. Katy can't hold it in anymore, she starts laughing and soon Shawn joins her. Maya's the only one who doesn't think that this is funny in any way.

"Please.", Shawn manages to say before their food arrives. The waiter places a large sized hamburger in front of Shawn, a medium sized pasta along with a small salad in front of Katy and two medium sized cheeseburgers in front of Maya. "We all know-", Shawn gestures to the three of them. "That you love Josh.", he states before taking a bite of his hamburger. Katy just nods, agreeing with her boyfriend before she starts eating. 

"How the hell do you know about my relationship with Josh?", she asks angry, completely ignoring the statement Shawn just made about her loving Josh. 

"It was obvious he has feelings for you, I even noticed that before you two got together, which, by the way I didn't know, so thanks for this new information.", he says with a cocky grin. He glances at his girlfriend but she just shoves more pasta into her mouth, hoping that she doesn't need to speak up. Maya glances between the two of them and starts eating, not wanting to adress this any further. 
It takes some more minutes before Shawn speaks up again. 

He loves to tease Maya about this topic.

"I already know how he feels.", he says, earning another glare from Maya. He just shrugs and continues. "There was something he said to me as I talked to him about you in the morning after the college party...", he drifts off, remembering their conversation, more specifically one particular sentence Josh said to him this morning.

"You're in love too, Shawny."

Josh had just admitted, that he's in love with Maya without even noticing it. 

Shawn starts smiling while Maya gets even more confused. 

"Will you tell me what he has told you?", she tilts her head to the side and waits for him to response. He shakes his head at her a few times before taking another bite of his hamburger and trying not to swallow his food, as Maya groans at his response. Katy starts to laugh just as Shawn finally manages to catch his breath. 
"You two are unbelievable.", the blonde girl mutters under her breath and continues eating without saying another word to both of them. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

To say that Rachel is pissed would be an understatement. She's fucking furious right now. The fact, that some police officers are in her dorm room right now doesn't make it any better. As she takes a closer look, she realized that they're only at Ally's side of the room, packing up the things she had collected about Josh and Maya - the photos, his schedule and all the lists with some other information about him and her. 

"Good day, miss.", someone greets her firmly. "Can we help you?", he asks friendly.

"Uh, this is my dorm room.", she explains slowly. "I'm Rachel Moore.", she introduces herself after seing a questioning look on his face. 

"Ah, yes, you're Rachel.", he says. "Sorry for intruding but we needed to gather all of the things Mrs. Sanchez had related to the stalking-case. We're all finished actually so we'll be able to head out now, miss.", he says firmly. Rachel only nods, glancing at the other officers, packing up all the stuff. "We'll call, when we're ready for your statement, miss. Same goes for your friends.", he informs her. 

"Okay, thank you.", she tells him while some officers leave her room. He's the last one to leave and says goodbye with a firm nod before Rachel closes the door and falls onto her bed. A deep sigh escapes her lungs and she asks herself how she ended up here like this, being is this situation. 

Time passes but she doesn't know what the clock says until her phone vibrates and dings one time. It's currently a little after 4 PM, under the time she sees a notification. A new message from...

Daren.

Rachel sighs heavily and hesitates but decides to read his message. 

Daren: Hey, Rachel. 
I know that you probably doesn't want to talk to me and are surprised that I text you right now. I want to apologize. For everything. Seriously. 
Rachel rolls her eyes at that and almost laughs, as she reads the next sentence.
Probably you rolled your eyes right now, I know you. I am sorry, believe me. Not just for the thing at the party that happened recently. Also and still for our date, more like how I ended it. It has been a year since that and I still can't forgive myself for what I've done to you. 
I don't want to blame Ray. I know he's an asshole, we both know that but if I wouldn't have been so insecure with myself and all, I would have been able to resist the bullshit he has talked me into. I heard the things with Ally and I can't believe that she's really a stalker...
Just so you know, I wasn't aware of what she was doing to this Josh-guy or this Maya-girl. She never told me why she planned this thing that happened at the party. I was just dumb enough to listen to Ray and I did what he asked me to. 
I am sorry and I also want to apologize to Josh and Maya. If you let me. 
Is there any chance we can meet? I want to say these things to you in person too. You deserve a real apology and I wanna give you that. You don't have to accept it, I just want to let you know how sorry I am. 
If you let me, I'll make it up to you. Meet me at the special place (you know where) at 7 PM and I'll wait there 'til 7:30 PM. If you come, I know you'll give me a second chance and if not, I promise to leave you alone and to never bother you again. 
Thank you for opening this message. 

Rachel has to admit that she definitely didn't expect a text like this. She wants to feel happy about it but somehow she can't bring herself to. No matter how hard she tries. 
Instead of thinking about it, she calls her father to inform him about her current situation. 

A while later, she calls Maya to tell her about the previous events that day and can't help but to smile as the blonde tells her about the wondergul day she just had with her mother and the boyfriend of hers. Rachel is happy for her friend and gets even more happier as Maya finally tells her about the fact, that she and Josh are together now. 
Some advice from Maya helped Rachel with her decision she has yet to make referring to Daren. The call ends and it is already 5 PM. The brunette stands up and gets ready to take a needed shower. 

Maybe the water on her skin can help her to wash away her fear and the anger she has felt the last couple days. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

He doesn't know for how long they've sat on the floor of her bedroom but as her sobs quiet down until they completely disappear, he realizes that she has fallen asleep in his arms. 

Carefully he stands up, taking her with him and places her onto her bed. After she's covered in her blanket and turns a couple times , he leaves her room, closing the door slowly and walks back into the living room to let her continue the peaceful sleep she desperately needs. 

Plopping down onto the couch, Josh finally relaxes a little and takes some deep breaths in order to calm down. Checking his phone reveals some messages from his girlfriend. He's surprised after seeing the pictures she has send to him where she wears some outfits she bought at the mall today. 
The "What' you think, Boing? :D"  brings a wide smile onto his face. It doesn't take long until his fingers slide over the keyboard of his smartphone, typing his message. 

Josh: You look amazing, gorgeous! :)) How did I get so lucky? ;) 
Seems like you had an amazing day, that's awesome! My day has been... pretty interesting but I don't wanna text you about this. Maybe I can call you later? :3

PS: I love these clothes! Can't pick a favourite outfit out of these. :D

It only takes a few minutes until he gets a response from his favorite blonde.

Ferret❤: Thank you, Thank you! Yeah, well, You really are lucky. ;D But I am lucky too! My day has been amazing indeed, thanks for observing, Uncle Boing. :)) Sure, I'll call you later, waiting for Shawn and my mum to leave, then I'm alone at home. 

PS: I love these clothes too! :D Can't pick one either. Hope to see you soon!

Just as he finishes reading her text message, his brother walks through the door along with Josh's sister-in-law and his wonderful nephew.

"My Brotha!", Josh exclaims happily while throwing his arms up in the air. 

"My Brotha!", Cory exclaims while doing the same gesture before Josh stands up and pulls his older brother into a hug. Topanga watches them with pure affection in her eyes and carries the two bags into the kitchen. 

"Joshieeee!", Auggie yells happily and runs up to him. Josh breaks the hug with Cory just in time to catch his little nephew who jumps up into his arms. Cory chuckles at his little son before walking into the kitchen, where Topanga has already started to concede the groceries into the fridge or into one of the kitchen cabinets.

"What are you doin' here already, Josh?", Cory asks him as his younger brother places Auggie carefully onto the couch and walks into the kitchen too, sitting down on one of the bar stools.

"Aren't you happy to see me, brotha?", Josh plays hurt which makes his brother and his wife laugh. 

"Of course I'm happy to see you, brotha.", Cory corrects quickly while gesturing with his hand. "Just surprised 'cause I thought you'd visit on monday.", he shrugs slightly.

"Yeah, I know.", Josh nods slowly. "My friends already left this morning and also... I thought I should take a look on Riley.", he finishes quietly, once again forgetting that Maya was the one to inform him about her current situation and no one from his family knows that they're talking to each other again, let alone the fact they're dating now.

"That's nice, thank you, Josh.", Cory says with a single nod. 

"Speaking of-", Topanga sits down next to Josh. "How is she?"

"She's... sleeping.", he tells them. "I woke her up and talked with her about Lucas, then she walked into her room and called somene - probably that asshole - and I just heard yelling from her room. As I walked in, she collapsed and fell onto the floor, crying heavily. I hold her until she fell asleep and placed her onto her bed.", he drifts off, seeing the painful look on Topanga's face. Cory looks at his wife too, feeling how his break for her and for his daughter. 

A few minutes it's silent, also because Auggie has fallen asleep on the couch. Then Topanga reaches out and places her hand on Josh's arm, looking at him with a sad smile. "Thank you, Josh.", she whispers to him before standing up and lifting up her son in order to bring him into his bedroom. Josh watches her until she's gone and turns his head. Cory opens his mouth but he doesn't say anything. 

It remains quiet.

"What took you so long for grocery shopping?", Josh asks his brother, trying to change the subject and to light up the mood a little.

"We may got some ice cream because Auggie wanted some.", Josh chuckles lightly at that because it sounds so much like his nephew. "And then we took a walk because Topanga wanted to. She needed some air to clear her head a little.", Cory sees the questioning look on his brother, so he continues. "Work has been pretty intense this week.", Josh nods before Cory starts to speak once again. "We also had to drive to another grocery store because we want to make Riley's favourite food tomorrow but the sauce we need for that was missing so...", he drifts off as he notices Topanga entering the room once again. 

"She's still asleep.", she tells them, after seeing the look on their face. Both men nod in understanding before Cory starts speaking again.

"We actually have some plans tonight. We want to go out for dinner and take a walk at Riley's favourite place. You wanna come with us, brotha?", Josh smiles at Cory. 

"That's very nice but... I am really tired and I think I'm just gonna chill a little, if that's okay with you guys.", he glances at Cory and Topanga. "Spend some time with Riley tonight, she needs it.", he tells them softly. Cory glances at his wife who nods with a smile.

"Sure, whatever you wanna do. You can make yourself something to eat, if you like."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It's getting darker as he reaches the park - a park full of memories - but he can't bring himself to turn around and walk back into his apartment. 

He's not ready to face the mess in his bedroom that his mother should have discovered by now. 

He finds an empty bench and sits down slowly, taking some deep breaths before he looks around, watching some other people - couples only - sitting on the grass or on benches. His mind can't help but to wander back to the blonde who has feelings for someone she calls Boing. He still has to find out who that is. 

He hears a female voice laughing and it sounds dangerously close to Maya's. 

Moments of last summer fill his head. 

"Hey!", he yelled after the blonde girl. "I'll catch you! I'm faster than you, ya know?", he yelled before standing up and running after her. Zay just shook his head at his best friend while Riley and Farkle were laughing. Maya had stolen the last cookie from Lucas, that's why he was chasing her. He managed to catch her and dragged her back to the others. She was laughing unconditionally just like the others. Lucas couldn't even pretend to be mad at her.

"Please don't run after her again, Lucas.", Zay pleaded his best friend as they were at the park once again. They all got some ice cream and Maya - who already finished her sundae - stole the sundae from Lucas so she could eat the rest of it. While Riley just shook her head at her best friend, Farkle thanked god that Maya didn't steal his sundae like she usually did. With a deep sigh, Lucas plopped onto the bench and watched the blonde girl eating his ice cream with a smile on her face. 

"How come, that she always steals your food when we're here?", Zay asked confused as he and his friends watched the girl in question running away with Lucas' cheeseburger. 
"Honestly, I have no idea.", he breathed out, looking at her eating the cheeseburger happily. Riley ran towards her, pulling Farkle along and together they tried to get his burger back - more like what's left of it. They failed and Riley ended up buying Lucas a new cheeseburger because she felt bad for him. Maya acted like nothing happened and Zay could only laugh. 

These are just some of the many, many memories he has at this place. He realizes that the girl he heard laughing, isn't Maya which isn't a big surprise after all. More memories with the blonde float into his mind and he can't shut it off.

"We could go out.", Lucas suggested with a smile. Riley choked on air while Maya didn't even try to hide the terrified look on her face. 
"I'm sorry, what?", she asked breathlessly, even though she understood him the first time. Lucas repeated the sentence he said and Maya looked even more terrified. Riley managed to get back her normal breathing and stared at the boy she likes.
"Are you being serious?", the brunette asked him. Lucas nodded a few times.
"I am. We can find out, if the feelings we have are real.", He told Riley, referring to him and Maya. The blonde looked at him, as if he had just killed someone. 
"Maya?", the brunette asked her friend. She just shook her head slowly.
"I don't want to go out with him.", she states before running away.

"So...", Maya started. "Why are we here exactly?", Lucas took a deep breath before he turned his head and looked at his best friend, Zay, who sat  a few tables away from them with a smile. 
"I don't know.", he told her.
"You don't know?", she asked annoyed. "You're the one who instisted that we go out.", she pointed out angry before she crossed her arms in front of her chest with a scoff. 
"Okay, enough of this.", he said and took Maya's hand in his. "I like you, Maya. I really do and I just wanted to see, if it's real.", he explained to her but as she pulled her hand away and turned her head, he knew that he messed up.
"I don't see how a date could help you with that.", she mutters angry. Lucas heard it and felt sorry for dragging her into the restaurant. Zay followed and Maya knew, that he was there. 
"Look, can we just enjoy out time while being her, please?", Maya huffed out a laugh and turned again, so she could look at Lucas properly. "We don't need to call this a date. We can sit here and talk like the friends we are.", for a minute it was quiet between them, Maya was considering his idea and nodded slowly.
"Sounds good to me.", she agreed. "Riley is better for you anyway.", she said honestly and ordered her food. Lucas just stared at her with a sad smile.
"Yeah.", he agreed slowly.

"Of course I care about you.", she told him. "Just not in a romantical way, ya know?", she said, explaining it further. A raised eyebrow told her that Lucas didn't know, why she started talking about that. "I'm apologizing actually. At the beginning of this... whatever it was, I was pretty mean to you and I'm sorry for that.", she told him softly. The boy couldn't help but to smile at her.
"Thank you, Maya. I care about you too.", he told her. "And I am sorry too for dragging you into that restaurant. It's a good thing that it wasn't a date.", the blonde girl nodded in agreement as their other friends approached them. 

"What's got you so smiley today?", he asked the blonde girl next to him as they were waiting for Riley and Farkle to get their food. Maya just shrugged innocently and continued to smile brightly. 
"Just finished one of my art pieces the other day and I am finally happy with how it turned out.", she explained to him happily. 
"Sounds great, Maya.", he exclaimed, matching her smile. "Can I see it some time?", Maya quickly shook her head at him.
"Nope.", she said laughing as their friends came back and they continued their walk.

Lucas can't believe all of this. How did he end up here? He doesn't know. All he knows, is that it's just frustrating sitting here all by himself while being surrounded by couples and thinking about Maya. The blonde boy gets on his feet within seconds and walks back home. It takes good fifteen minutes to get back into the apartment and the closer he gets, the more he feels fear creeping up on him. 

He takes out his key and fiddles with them until he finds the right one and opens the front door slowly. As he walks into the apartment, he can't see his mother even though she should be home by now already. With a deep sigh he closes the door and walks into his room, where he finds the chaos he has made. What he didn't expect was his mother standing there with her arms folded and a furious glare at her son. 

"How nice that you've decided to show up again.", he looks into her eyes where he finds a lot of anger. "Care to explain what you did to your room?", another deep sigh escapes Lucas' lips. 

"I... uhm, I got angry.", he answers quietly.

"Yeah, I can see that. Why?", she demands the truth and Lucas doesn't really know, if he wants to talk about it right now. So instead of saying something, he shakes his head slowly.

"Lucas. Please tell me.", she tries again, this time more calmer.

"I'm sorry.", he says, even more quiet than before. "I didn't mean for this to happen.", he gestures to his room. "I'm really sorry, mom.", he says once again before he lowers his head slowly, feeling ashamed. 

"Honey, you need to tell me. Please.", she says softly, walking towards her son. "I will listen to whatever you have to say. I won't judge you or get angry. This hasn't happend for the first time and you got better, so please tell me what has made you do this again.", she places a hand on his shoulder and guides them back into the living room, where they sit down onto the couch. Lucas takes some deep breaths and tells his mother everything - sometimes she nods in understanding or pulls him into a hug - and he finishes with tears in his eyes. Another hug from his mother and he lets the tears fall. He cries and his mother holds him tight, not ever letting him go. 

He never thought that his life would be like this.

How could he be so wrong?

Chapter Text

Chapter thirteen: We're getting there.

Shawn and Katy stand in the kitchen together and enjoy some coffee as Maya walks into the room, a huge smile plastered to her face.

"Hey you two.", she chirps happily. "I wanted to thank you. It was a beautiful day and I'm glad I got to spend some time with ya.", she says, making Katy and Shawn smile. 

"Well, thank you, Maya.", Shawn starts. "How about I make this day even better?", Katy smiles at him and Maya just raises an eyebrow. "Your mother and I have decided to take a walk, look at the starts and all and we want to get some good food too. Wanna come with us?", he asks the blonde girl. 

"Thank you for the kind offer but... I think I'm just gonna go to bed, I'm pretty tired.", she lies. She just thinks, that it'd be good to give them some alone-time and she doesn't feel like third-wheeling today. Shawn nods at her and she's pretty sure, that he knows what she's doing. 

"Well, okay... Are you going to be okay, staying here by yourself?", Katy asks her daughter concerned.

"Yes, mom, don't worry.", Maya assures her mother. 

"Okay... then I'm just gonna grab my jacket and then we can go.", she tells Shawn before heading into her bedroom. He places his empty coffee mug into the sink and turns to Katy's daughter.

"Thank you, Maya.", he tells her softly. She just shrugs innocently.

"No, thank you, Shawn. Oh and just so you know, I'm gonna find out what Josh said to you.", she says while smiling brightly and soon both start laughing. Katy comes back and takes Shawn's hand before they walk towards the front door, saying goodbye once again. As Maya watches how they close the door and their voices fade away, she lets out a laugh.

"This was really a great day.", she mutters to herself with a huge smile. Back in her bedroom, she picks up her new clothing pieces and puts them into her dresser. Then she searches for her favourite sweater and for a blue jeans. She quickly changes her clothes, ties her hear into a ponytail and picks up an envelope before putting on her black pair of sneakers. Then she grabs her keys and leaves the apartment, walking down onto the street. She still needs to call Josh so while she's on her way she decides to call her boyfriend. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Josh sits on the couch and reads a book as his smartphone starts ringing. Quickly he picks it up from the table in front of the couch and smiles as he sees the caller ID - "Ferret❤".  Instantly he accepts the call and feels his heart skipping a beat at the sound of her voice.

"Boyfriend! Hello!", she chirps happily. 

"Hey, sweet girlfriend.", he greets her back and hears a sound on the other side of the line that sounds like a car is driving by. "Hey, uh... are you outside?"

"Yeah, I am. I have something to do... that's why I'm walking outside.", she explains quickly.

"Huh. Why exactly are you outside...alone?", he can hear Maya's sigh.

"I need something to do, like I said.", she says like it's obvious.

"Maya.", he says sternly. 

"Ugh, fineee.", she groans. "I wrote a letter for Riley and I just want to deliver it.", she explains to him. That brings a smile to his face and he thinks about telling her that he's currently sitting in the Matthews' apartment and that his niece isn't even home. Then he decides that it'd be more fun to keep it to himself. 
"Boing? You're still there?", she asks suddenly and that's, when he notices that he was lost in his thoughts for too long. 

"Huh? Yes, I'm still here, Ferret.", he says quickly and hears how she chuckles at the nickname. More cars drive by and he hears how she shuffles her phone around. 

"Sorry about that, I just had to tighten my ponytail a little.", she explains. 

"No worries. How was your day?", he asks, trying to make some conversation. Maya's eyes light up at his question and it feels like he can hear the smile that spreads across her face.

"One of the best days ever. I had a really good time, Shawn's really nice. I mean, sure I still don't really trust him cuz I haven't talked to him that much but I think today was a great start.", she explains, still smiling. It makes Josh smile too, hearing her so happy. "Really, it felt like good. Still can't believe that Shawn bought me all those clothes.", her smile gets even bigger, if that's possible.

"Glad to hear you so happy.", he says softly. The sound of cars fade away, so she's probably walking into an alley.

"It's great to feel so happy. Even better, I'm almost at Riley's. That's good 'cause I'm freezing. Maybe my sweater wasn't enough to keep me warm...", she drifts off as she hears Josh laughing. "Wow, thanks, Boing. You know, usually when a girlfriend tells her boyfriend that she's cold, he's worried that she might get sick or something. He certainly doesn't laugh at her.", she says in  sarcastic tone but he can hear the smirk she wears while talking. As he hears the sound of her opening a door and slightly after that, the sound of walking up a staircase, he knows that she's almost at the front door of the apartment. 

"Sounds like you're almost there.", he says quietly and with a huge smile while standing up slowly.

"I am.", she admits as she bends down, so she can shuffle the envelope into the apartment through the gap that's between the door and the floor. Josh sees it and walks over to the door. "By the way, how was your day?", she asks and he can hear her voice on the other side of the door. He decides to open the door and as he does, he's greeted with the sight of his beautiful girlfriend.

"It just got a whole lot better.", he says while ending the phone call and locking eyes with the blonde standing in front of him. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It's 19:32 PM and Daren starts to lose his hope. "I'm such an idiot.", he mumbles to himself. 

"Yes, you are.", a female voice agrees behind him. He turns around and sees Rachel in a beautiful white dress with long sleeves and it ends just above her knees. She is wearing white high heels and her brown hair falls down in soft waves, a few strains are tied into a beautiful braid. A small smile on her lips as she sees him. 

"Wow...", he stutters out. "Y-You're here.", he stutters again. 

"I am.", she says with a nod. "I'm sorry for being late. Being on time has never been my thing.", she chuckles softly at the end. Daren starts smiling and is still frozen in his place. He can't believe that she really came.

"I'm happy that you came, Rachel. Means a lot.", he tells her as he gazes into her brown eyes. The brunette smiles and looks down nervously.

"So... What exacty have you planned?", she asks shy. Daren walks over to her.

"First, you look absolutely stunning.", he compliments her, making her blush. "Seconds, close your eyes.", Rachel does as she's told and closes her eyes. Daren turns around quickly, turning on some lights, placing a few flowers here and there, getting two chairs out and places them at the table. Then he lights up some candles and places them on the table before he adjusts the position of the flowers. 
"Okay. You can open your eyes now.", he says quietly.

As Rachel opens her eyes, she's shocked at how good everything looks. There are so many chains of lights around this place, so many colorful flowers around it, a table with two chairs, a flower vase in the middle of the table and some candles too. Through the darkness the sky above them provides, the candles and chains of light look even more beautiful. Daren stands in front of her and in his hand, he's holding two different flowers. It's a yellow tulip and a pink rose.

"A yellow tulip because you're a complete ray of sunshine, for the cheerfulness you always have and for the hope you give to others.", he hands her the yellow tulip. "A pink rose because no matter what you do, you do it with so much grace and elegance. The way you walk, they way you talk, even the way you're just standing here right now, smiling at me.", he tells her softly while handing her the pink rose. Rachel can't help but to giggle at this sweet gesture. 

"Thank you, Daren. They're really wonderful."

"Glad to hear that.", he says. "How about we sit down?", he holds out his hand and Rachel gladly takes it, letting him lead her over to the table. He shoves back the chair for her and waits for her to sit down. He lets go of her hand and sits down on the opposite chair from hers. "So... How are you?", he asks her with an unsure smile. Rachel chuckles softly.

"You don't need to be scared to ask me that question.", she tells him. "After verything that happened... This right here, is something good. Gives me a little happiness so.. thanks for that."

"I'm happy to hear that. And that you're feeling better of course.", he adds quickly with a smile. 

"Thanks. Yeah, it has been pretty crazy in the last few days. How are you?"

"I'm fine. More than fine actually because you agreed to meetup with me.", her smile grows wider. "All this shit with Ally has been crazy, that's right. Before we talk about anything else, I need to get some things out, if that's okay."

"Let it out.", she says honestly.

"Okay...", he breathes out. "I didn't know that Ally was a stalker although I am pretty sure that Ray knew what she was doing. I didn't know. I still don't know, why I even helped them to set her plan at the party into action. I am so sorry for the things I did and I know, that I already told you these things in my text but I wanted to tell you in person too. I just hope that you can forgive me someday."

"I can.", she assures him after a minute of silence. 

"Really?", he asks in disbelief.

"Yeah.", she says. "I'm happy you apologized to me. I really am."

"Well, I'm happy you heard me out."

"Me too.", she says. "I'm glad that everything with Ally is over now. I hope, she'll get better but these past few days have been hell and... I guess, I was pretty upset as I heard that Ray won't be fined for what he did... Also you... Afterall you helped them and Ray aussulted Maya at the party and you two got into a fight with Josh and his friend. It was so messed up and I still need to make a statement at the police station. Worst summer break ever.", she says breathlessly. Daren nods. 

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe I need to make a statement too. I wanna see how Ray gets what he deserves.", he says while taking her hand. Rachel looks up at him and sees him smile. "We'll get through this, Rachel. Together.", he whispers the last part. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Josh?", Maya asks in disbelief.

"At your service.", he bows a little and hears her soft chuckle. Instantly she closes the gap between them by running up to him, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him down into a passionate kiss. Josh opens his eyes and looks at her beautiful face as her eyes widen suddenly.

"Wait, they aren't here, are they?!", she asks scared. Josh starts laughing and stroked her cheek softy. 

"No, Maya. They're out for dinner.", he explains. 

"Oh.", she relaxes a little. "Then what are you doing here? I thought you wanted to stop by at monday?", Maya questions him with an raised eyebrow. Josh chuckles again and closes the door behind them, automatically letting Maya into the apartment of his brother.

"Thought I could check on Riley.", he says as he sits down. 

"Were you going to tell me that you're already here?", the blonde sits down next to him. Josh just shrugs.

"Probably tomorrow but then you called me and told me that you're on your way to Riley's place and I just had to use this opportunity.", he earns himself a playful punch onto his arm with this explanation. 

"So funny.", Maya mumbles annoyed. 

"Oh come on.", he throws his arm around her shoulders. "You would have done the same.", he says with a chuckle. Maya just rolls her eyes at him.

"Alright, what' you doing here?", she asks as she picks up the book beside him. 

"I was reading but then I got interrupted so rudely by someone.", at that, Maya elbows him into his side lightly. "Hey! Careful. That's the side I got hurt, remember?"

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Boing.", Maya apologizes quickly and feels bad now.  

"Nah, don't worry. Everything's alright.", he tells her. "You didn't hurt me so it's okay. I do want some revenge though.", he says with a mischievous grin. 

"What kind of revenge?", the blonde asks a little scared while leaning back. His grin grows wider and he starts tickling her. Immediately she breaks out into laughter.

"No! Not this again!", she exclaims between her laughter. For some minutes Josh continues to tickle his girlfriend. 

"Okay, I think that's enough.", he stops. "For now.", Maya turns her head and stares at him. Both break out into laughter again before Maya stands up and picks up the envelope from the floor.

"I'm gonna go and bring this into Riley's room quickly.", she says and runs into the hall. As she comes back, she places herself onto Josh's lap and he can't stop the smile that spreads across his face. "What you' smiling at, Boing?"

"Nothing. Just happy that you're my girl.", he says softly and gazes into her blue eyes, getting lost on an instant. His smile grows wider as he notices her blush. 

"Stop it.", Maya says while her blush intensifies. She hits his shoulder and gets pulled down, as Josh catches her hand. "Wh-", she can't even get out one word. Josh kisses her softly, still holding her hand in his. 

They make out for awhile until Maya pulls away and laughs at his pouting face. "I actually wanted to tell you something.", she says.

"Yeah? What is it?", he asks, softly tucking a few loose strains behind her ear.

"Rachel called me today...", she starts. "We talked some time and she filled me in about the Ally-situation.", Josh stops his movement and locks eyes with Maya. 

"Seriously? She's gone?", Josh asks, still not believing it.

"Yes.", Maya nods a few times. "Rachel is just upset because of Ray. Told me that they can't really do anything about it but she wanted to meet up witn Daren today. I hope it goes well.", the blonde says.

"Probably. Don't worry.", Josh says, trying to comfort her. Maya nods and lays her head into the crook of his neck. He slides his hand through her blonde ponytail slowly and they both stay silent for awhile, enjoying each other's company. 

"How's Riley?", Maya asks, breaking the silence that filled the room. 

"Uh...", he stumbles out. Maya lifts her head, looking concerned already.

"Did something happen to her?

"Kinda... I don't want to tell you because I think she should be the one to tell you about it. All I can say is... that she cried a lot and that I did my best to comfort her.", he says softly, touching her cheek and stroking it. 

"Thank you.", she whispers with a sad smile and hugs him tight. 

"Shall I walk you home, mylady?", he asks her with a bow again while holding out his hand. Maya chuckles at him and intertwines their hands as they open the door and walk out. 

"You' think, I can't take care of myself, Boing?", she asks him, grinning widely, remembering their conversation at NYU just a few nights ago. Josh just shakes his head and leads them out of the building. 

"No, I just want to make sure my girlfriend gets home safe.", he tells her and brings her hand up to his mouth so he can kiss her knuckles. 

They walk through the night, talking about things they wanna do and remembering some moments from the past together. These twenty minutes are filled with laughter, smiles and a lot of kisses. 

As they stop in front of her apartment building and want to say goodbye to each other, Joshs' stomach chunters loudly and both start laughing. 

"You' hungry, Boing?"

"I am, Ferret. I wanted to eat something but then you came along and I forgot about food.", he says.

"How about you I invite you in and make you something to eat? Sounds good?", she asks with a smile. 

"Sounds good.", he agrees and follows her inside. "How about I make us some pasta?", she suggests as she walks into the kitchen. 

"That sounds great.", he agrees again and sits down at the table, shrugging out of his jacket. 

"I'm surprised you aren't wearing your beanie.", Maya says in a teasing voice. Josh starts grinning and stands up so he can help her. "What are you doing? I wanted to cook something for you!", she exclaims.

"I just want to help you.", he offers and so they heat up the pasta and Maya gets a sauce ready for them while Josh places the dished along with the cutlery on the table. About fifteen minutes later they eat and continue talking about a TV show they both find horrible. 

"I agree.", Josh nods. "This scene was the worst."

"See? I'm right.", Maya nods to herself and eats more pasta. "I mean, I'm always right.", she says with her mouth full.

"Such a lady.", Josh exclaims sarcastically and Maya threatens to throw pasta at him. "Okay, okay.", he says quickly. 

"Do you want some more?", she offers the rest of what's left.

"If you don't want it, yes.", he says with a smile. Maya takes the pot and tips it over so everything that's left, falls onto his plate. "I'll take that as a yes.", he says and starts eating while Maya chuckles softly. 

"I'm gonna put my dishes away so I can get them clean before Katy comes back." the blonde stands up and walks into the kitchen while Josh finishes his food and brings her his plate. She thanks him with a kiss and he leans against the counter. 

A sudden knock at th front door startles them. Maya looks scared at Josh as he slowly walks over to the door. "Did your mum forgot her key?"

"I don't think so... And I also don't think that she's back already.", Maya says quietly. Josh opens the door and it feels like his heart stops. He freezes in place, staring into the eyes of the other person. "Who is it, Boing?", Maya yells from the kitchen with he rback to the door. 

"You are Boing?", the male voice asks shocked. Maya's eyes widen and she quickly runs to the front door, stopping next to Josh.

"Lucas?", she frowns at him. 

Chapter Text

Chapter fourteen: Don't count on me to stay.

"You are Boing.", Lucas states while pointing at Josh with wide eyes.

Maya still can't believe it. 
Lucas is standing right in front of her, in front of her apartment. Next to her stands her boyfriend who's just as shocked as she is.

She doesn't really know how to feel. 

Lucas just shows up in front of her door, at this time to do what?

To talk? To yell at her?

"What are you doing here?", it's Josh voice that brings her back to reality and that is, that Lucas is still standing there, looking at her. 

"He's the guy you like?", Lucas asks the blonde girl, completely ignoring the question Josh has just asked him. Maya's still unable to talk, she just wants Lucas to leave.

This day has been so great, so wonderful and now Lucas is destroying it.

"I asked you something.", Josh says sternly. Maya glances at him and sees the anger in her boyfriend's eyes practically burning. 

"And I asked her something.", Lucas says, never looking away from her. 

"Lucas, please just go.", she finally finds her voice. "Whatever you want, I don't want you here. Not ever again."

"I just wanna talk.", he says, getting louder and walking towards her but Josh straightens himself and places his body in front of his girlfriend before Lucas can reach her. "Get out of my way.", he says to Josh.

"No.", Josh says in a low voice. "She said, she doesn't want you here. Leave.", Maya has never seen him so confident and she's really grateful that he's there right now. 

"Look, man, I love her and I just wanna talk to-",

"You love her my ass.", Josh interrupts him. "Listen, here's what you do: You're gonna turn around and leave. You will walk home and you will never speak to my girlfriend ever again. If you do, you'll get in big trouble.", Lucas wants to speak again but Josh doesn't let him. "Don't come with You don't know what I was like in Texas because I don't care. I'm not afraid of you.", Lucas swallows. "Now go."

Lucas just nods and looks at Maya, then back at Josh. "Now I know why Riley doesn't know about this.", he says and looks at Maya again. "I love you, Maya.", he says and Josh pushes him slightly out of the door frame. Then Lucas leaves and sighs heavily. Josh closes the door after Lucas is out of his sight and turns around. 

"You' okay?", he asks Maya. She looks up at him and smiles sadly.

"Yeah. Thank you.", she says quietly.

"Need a hug?", she only nods and Josh immediately wraps his arms tightly around her, listening to her quiet sobs.

"I'm so sorry Josh.", she apologizes with her muffled voice. He strokes her head and her back.

"It's okay, Ferret.", he says. "It's not your fault."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Thank you, Daren. This was really wonderful.", she thanks him as they walk down the campus hand in hand.

"This is great to hear, Rachel. I think it was wonderful too.", she giggles, which brings a smile to his face but as he looks past Rachel, his smile drops. Rachel stops her giggling and turns around to see, what Daren sees. 

The boy walks towards them and claps slowly.

"Bravo!", he says sarcastically. "So great to see you two."

"Ray.", Daren says. "What do you want?", he grips Rachel's hand tighter as he feels that she wants to let go.

She's scared that Daren will leave her again. Just like a year ago.

"Daren.", she whispers. 

"Don't worry, Rachel. I won't go away.", he assures her. "Not again.", she grips onto his hand again and Daren smiles slightly. 

"You won't? What a shame.", Ray speaks again. "I'm here to get you actually."

"Go away, Ray.", Daren tells him sternly. "I won't come with you.", the brunette next to him, looks at him with a small smile. 

"Look how cute you two are. It makes me want to puke.", he says with a grin. Then he turns around. "Come on, Daren. Let's go."

"No!", Daren speaks up and Ray stops walking. 

"What?", Ray turns around, getting angry. 

"I said no. I won't come with you. I mean it.", Daren straightens himself.

"You better be joking right now.", Ray says but Daren starts walking and Rachel follows him. 

"I'm not. Just leave us alone. I don't want to be your friend anymore, Ray. You destroyed something I wanted and I still want.", he looks at Rachel. "I finally have it.", the brunette smiles at him and gives him a soft kiss on the cheek. They continue walking and walk past Ray. He stands still. 

He lost this time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riley feels a lot better now. She's grateful for the conversation she had with her uncle and is grateful for the awesome dinner her and her family had together. Now she's sitting in the back of her parent's car and hums the melody of the song that's playing in the radio. 

"Stay a little longer if you convince me
And tell me all the things that you have against me
Every time we make-up, the truth is fadin'
Everybody's blind when the view's amazin'
Damn, who are we right now?
Can we have a little conversation?
Figure it out with no intoxication
We carry on, what is our motivation?
We're never wrong, how the hell we gonna make it?"

Suddenly her phone rings and she looks at the notification.

It's a text message from Lucas.

Riley groans silently because she forgot to block him after she finally ended things with him earlier that day. She opens the app and doesn't even want to read the message but as she sees the beginning of it, she opens her chat with Lucas and stares at it wide-eyed.

Lucas: Maya is dating your uncle Josh.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Josh hugged Maya for a long time. She stopped crying shortly after they sat down onto her couch. Maya told him that she's sorry for dragging him into this mess and for being such a mess herself but Josh comforted her as the supportive boyfriend he is and made her feel okay again. They kissed sometimes and hugged each other more, after talking about what they're gonna do about Lucas.

After Maya fell asleep, he carried her into her bedroom and pulled the covers over her, giving her one last kiss onto her head and left the apartment. 

As he got back into the Matthews' apartment, they were still gone. 

Josh lets himself fall onto the bed in the spare room and takes a deep breath. He hears the front door opening and walks out into the living room, seeing Topanga wo carries Auggie into his bedroom 'cause he fell asleep during the car ride back home. Cory excuses himself into the bathroom and that leaves Josh and Riley alone. 

The brunette looks at him a little scared because she doesn't know, if she should ask him, if it's true. 

"You okay there?", he asks his niece a little concerned.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine." she answers fast.

"Okay.", he says a little arkward and walks into the kitchen to get a glas of water.

"Uhm, I'm gonna go to bed now. Sleep well, uncle Josh.", she winces a little as she says his name but is grateful, that his back is turned to her so he can't see it.

"You too, Riley.", he says and Riley walks into her bedroom before closing the door. She looks over to her bed but she isn't tired due to her sleep at noon. 

Instead, she decides to sit down at her bay window, immediately missing Maya and wishing she'd be there. Just then, she sees an envelope laying on the place next to the window, Maya usually climbs through.

"Dear Pumpkin.", she reads out loud as she picks up the envelope. 

She knows that Maya wrote this because Maya is the only one who calls her "pumpkin".

Riley opens it and slides out the piece of paper. She takes a look on it and sees that Maya drew herself and Riley as an anime-version. It brings a smile to her face and she turns the piece of paper around and starts reading.

"Dear Pumpkin/ Riles/ Sister/ Best Friend,

I hope you're doing okay. I really, really miss you and our talks and just everything. (I'm not good at these things so I'm sorry, if it gets cheesy. :D)

You mean the world to me and I miss you. You can't even imagine how happy I was as we talked yesterday and hugged each other. It just made me miss you more and now here I am, writing a letter for you. 
I hope, we can talk soon because I just want my best friend back! 
So many crazy things happened to me over the last few days and I wanna tell you about them! Text me when you're ready to talk. I can wait but it's slowly killing me D:

There's something important I need to tell you but I'm scared because I don't know, how you'll react... .-. 

Hopefully you feel better after everything! Feel hugged from me!

 love, 
 Maya

PS: Lucas is an asshole and doesn't deserve you! 
PPS: I love you to the moon and back!"

At the last two sentences, Riley giggles slightly. She lets out a quiet sob and wipes away the tears. Maya needs something to tell her and now she thinks that maybe Lucas is right about her and Josh dating after all. 

These thoughts are soon replaced with the question, how Maya even delivered that letter into Riley's room. The brunette had locked the window before they went out for dinner and there's no way Maya could have opened it from the outside.

Then it dawns onto Riley...

Maya walked through the front door but she has no key...

Then it dawns onto her again.

Josh was there.

"Has he...? No, it can't be..."

Riley takes a few deep breaths and gets herself ready for bed. These thoughts won't stop running and suddenly she noticed some other things too. 

"Why the hell was Josh still wearing his jeans and shoes? It has already been like 10 PM. Why wasn't he wearing his sleep-clothes? And why were his cheeks red? It's cold outside... Was he outside? And why the hell were the lights on in the living room? He came out of his bedroom as we entered the apartment..."

So many questions Riley can't answer now.

She has to be patient but she can't wait to see Josh's face when she's going to ask him these things.

For now, she just wants to sleep so she hums the melody of the same song, she heard on their car ride back.

"Tell me that it's all okay (tell me that it's all okay)
I've been waitin' on this all damn day (waitin' on this all damn day)
Call me in the mornin', tell me how last night went
I'm here, but don't count on me to stay"

Chapter Text

Chapter fifteen: Let's talk about the truth.

The Matthews enjoy their breakfast together and Riley thinks about the questions, she's going to ask Josh later. She wants to know the truth and decided to confront him about it.

And she has planned a big surprise.

Sometimes she glances at him from across the table. He's sitting there, eating his food in peace. 

He has no idea what's coming.

Cory and Topanga start to put the things away and Auggie has already left to play some video games in his room. 

"Uncle Josh?", Riley asks as he wants to leave too. 

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk?", it surprises him a little.

"Sure. Let's talk.", he says while sitting back down. He places his hands on the table and looks at her, waiting for her to talk.

"Not here. At my bay window.", she explains further.

"Oh, you mean your safe place?", he asks. Riley nods her head a few times. "Isn't that yours and Maya's place? What do I there?"

"Technically you're right but it's my safe place so it'll work for you too.", she stands up and wants him to follow her.

"Alright, I'll just go into the bathroom real quick, then I'm gonna be there.", he tells her and leaves. Riley hurries to get into her room and takes her phone, writing a text message quickly. Just as Josh walks into her room, she puts her phone away and pats the seat next to her, indicating that he should sit down there. Josh does as he's told and gets comfortable.

Riley has about twenty minutes to talk to him.

"So...", he lets out.

"So...", the brunette repeats. "When were you gonna tell me that you have a crush on Maya?", it's the best, if she just gets to the point right away.

"What?", Josh chokes on air a little and looks away.

"You know what I mean. Don't play dumb with me. I see those kind of things.", she states proudly.

"I... uh.", he stumbles and Riley just starts to laugh.

"Josh, are you being serious now? I already noticed, you can tell me the truth.", it's silent between the two of them because Josh doesn't know what to say without losing his head by his girlfriend. 
"Yesterday, as we talked about her you started to blush and didn't correct me as I said, you have feelings for her. 
As we got home, the lights in the living room were on, even though you clearly came out of your room.
You weren't wearing your sleep-clothes but it was already late.
Your cheeks were red, which means you were either blushing over something or you were outside... Or both."

"Damn, she really paid attention, didn't she?", he thinks while his niece lists all of the things she noticed.

"I also got a letter from Maya, saying that she needs to tell me something and that she's scared because she doesn't know how I'll react AND this letter was next to her place at the bay window here. The window was closed yesterday, so she couldn't use it as a way to get into my room, meaning that she had to walk through the front door."

"Maybe she has a key?", Josh questions quickly but he knows that there's no point in arguing anymore. The brunette raises an eyebrow at him, basically saying are you fucking kidding me?

"She doesn't."

"It's Maya.", Josh states. "She does what she wants and sometimes, not everyone knows about the things she does.", an amused smile plays on Riley's lips and Josh instantly regrets what he just said to her.

"You know her pretty well.", Riley observes quietly, still smiling. "Where were you yesterday, Josh?"

"I was here.", he tells her slightly annoyed - not at her, more at himself. 

"Yeah... No.", she shakes her head. "Okay, you won't tell me. Maybe we should ask her instead.", she says as she looks out of the window. Josh hears a light tap at the window next to him, so he opens it. A beautiful blonde girl peeks her head into the room, looking confused at the brown-haired boy and at the brunette sitting next to him. 

"Uh... Hey?", she asks, staring at Josh.

"She's looking at you.", Riley says excited. Josh lets out a growl and looks at her. "Come in, Maya."

The blonde does as she's told and enters Riley's bedroom quickly. As she walks over so she can sit next to Riley, the brunette stops her and places her next to her boyfriend Josh. "Uh, Riles? What are you doing?", she questions her friend.

"I want to have you next to Josh, duh.", she says as if it's obvious. 

"Why?", Maya asks loudly.

"Because you like each other.", the blonde turns her head quickly and looks at Josh who does the same.

"No, we don't.", they say at the same time, causing Riley to giggle. 

"What's so funny?", Maya asks, sounding angry at Riley. 

"You two.", she says in-between her giggles. "I love how you try to hide it even though I already figured it out."

"Riley, I thought you texted me to come over because you're finally ready to talk?", Maya asks irritated.

"I am, Peaches. I just found out yesterday, that you two are probably together. That's why Josh's here.", she explains. "Now we can talk."

"Well, you totally ruined my plan I had how I'd tell ya.", Maya says with a giggle on her own. Riley gasps and her eyes widen.

"So I'm right? You two are finally together?"

"Yes.", Maya admits. "Finally?", while Josh questions Riley. She chooses to ignore him and squeals at Maya's statement. Riley stands up and hugs the both of them tightly. 

"This is so amazing. I wanna know everything.", The couple looks at each other and nod slightly before they start to tell Riley the story. 

"Okay, shall we start?", Josh asks Maya. She nods once and turns to Riley again. 

"How about we tell them both out of our perspectives, Boing?" the blonde asks her boyfriend who smiles at her and nods. Riley gets comfortable and stares at them.

"I'm ready.", she says. Josh nods at Maya, indicating that she can start with her side of the story.

And she does.

Josh actually blushes slightly as Maya told them about her dream where Josh was her boyfriend and they laughed as she told them about panicking afterwards.

Riley smiled the whole time as Maya told her about the college party and almost cied as she heard about the conversations they shared that night. Riley thought it was really cute how Josh started a fight because he wanted to protect Maya.

Then she told the story about the kiss and all and Riley was at the verge of crying by then.

They all laughed at the conversation she and Josh had with her mother and Shawn. Josh put an arm around her as she mentioned the breakfast the next morning, where she found out about her mother and Shawn being together.

Riley felt so sorry, as Maya started talking about school and stood up to give her a hug. Of course, Maya told Riley about the conversation with Lucas and felt really relieved after finally telling her. 

Then she talked about Rachel and Ally and about making up with her mother. The happiest moment was for Riley, as Maya said how Josh asked her to be his girlfriend. 

Of course they had to tell her the stalking part too, so Maya said a little bit of the things she knew and said that Josh will be able to tell her more about this.

The blonde also told them about her conversation with Zay at friday as she ran out of the cafeteria at school and told Riley once again, how happy she was about talking to her again. She also mentioned her phone call with Josh and that Lucas tried to call her.

Then she finally told Riley about the wonderful saturday she had with her mother and Shawn and told her about the outfits. Maya even had to show Riley the pictures she sent to Josh yesterday. 

Then the hardest part came... The incident that happened with Lucas later. First she told Riley that she was at the Matthews' apartment and how it came to the situation, that Josh was in her apartment for a while. Riley started laughing and exclaimed an "I knew it!" happily as she found out that she was right.

As Maya told her about Lucas though it quickly changed. Riley was mad at him and started to tell Maya about their phone call and how she finally ended things with him. Maya was really proud at Riley and thanked Josh for taking care of the brunette. 

Both girls started crying and hugged each other tight, so Josh interrupted their moment because he wanted to tell the story too. 

Not a lot was new except for the conversations he had with Andrew about Maya being a special girl to Josh - which made Maya and Riley squealing loudly - and the talks with Jasmine.

Riley got to know more things about this Ally girl and was shocked at what she heard. 

It seems like he's done telling the story, so Maya smiles at him because she has a question for her boyfriend.

"Hey, Boing?", he turns to her. "You talked to Shawn that one morning, right?", the brown-haired boy swallows quickly, knowing exactly which conversation his girlfriend means. 

"I did...", he mutters and Riley just looks at them, a questioning look on her face.

"Great. He told me about something you said to him that he will never forget... What exactly is that?", she asks, still smiling at him. Josh gets nervous because he knows which sentence Shawn was referring to. 

"I won't tell you.", he says quickly. 

"Oh, come on.", she groans loudly while Riley starts laughing. 

"Okay...", the brunette starts, getting the couple's attention. "So to wrap this up... My best friend's mother has been dating my father's best friend since half a year...", Maya nods at that. "My best friend sneaked out to a college party and got drunk and also harassed by some guy named Ray.", the blonde nods again. "My uncle started a fight and got hurt. He made out with my best friend - not only once - and they started dating.", this time Maya and Josh nod both, slowly because they feel a little embarrassed. "Okay... My now ex-boyfriend realized that he loves my best friend and not me... He showed up at your apartment and told you that he loves you.", she points at Maya, who nods again. "You protected her.", her finger points at Josh now and he nods too. "On top of that, my uncle was being stalked by someone from college, who was one of Maya's friends and wanted him to herself and now you're waiting for the police to call, so you can testify...both of you.", Riley finishes slowly and takes a deep breath, as the couple nods again. "You started dating and didn't tell me.", she adds quietly.

"Riles, it's not because-"

"It's okay, peaches.", the brunette interrupts her best friend. She stands up slowly and Josh and Maya take a quick glance at each other before they watch Riley's movement. She picks up a pillow and turns to Maya.

"Riley, I thought you were happy about me finally admitting my feelings for Maya and us becoming a couple?", Josh questions his niece nervously. The brunette looks at him and smiles. 

"I am, Josh. Don't worry. I wish you all the luck in the world and hope you can make her happy because she deserves some happiness.", Riley tells him honestly. "I just need to let some anger out real quick, okay?", she asks and before either Maya or Josh can say something, the brunette starts hitting Maya with the soft pillow and then throws it away and starts yelling.

"Are you okay?", Josh whispers to his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I am.", Maya says a little out of breath while she tries to arrange her hair. 

"Should we do something?", he asks, referring to Riley who's currently destroying a picture of her and Lucas.

"No. She needs to let it out.", Maya says quietly, watching how Riley yells at another picture of her and Lucas and destroys this too. 

A few minutes later, Topanga and Cory open the door, looking terrified... at least Cory does. Topanga widens her eyes at the sight of her daughter, crying softly and destroying pictures. She turns her head and sees Maya and Josh sitting at the bay window, watching the scene quietly.

"Why don't you do something?", the woman questions both teens quietly.

"Because she needs to let out her anger and frustration.", Maya and Josh say at the same time and chuckle slightly afterwards. Topanga just watches her daughter and sees how Cory quickly runs out of the room. She just shakes her head and watches her daughter slowly calming down. 

"You okay now, honey?", Maya asks her best friend as she stands up and walks towards her. Riley slightly nods her head and hugs Maya tight, not letting go. Josh and Topanga both smile at the scene in front of them. At the door frame, Cory peeks his into the room and smiles too, earning an eye roll from his wife and a sigh from his younger brother. 

Finally Maya and Riley are back and now stronger than ever.

Chapter Text

Chapter sixteen: A new problem

"Thank you, Riley."

"For what, Maya?", the brunette questions her best friend as they're, once again, sitting at her bay window. 

"For being okay with me and Josh.", Maya smiles brightly. Riley just shrugs at that.

"Well, I meant what I said.", she says. "You deserve happiness, Maya, and I believe that Josh can give you that.", Riley takes Maya's hand and intertwines them, smiling back at her. 

"Do I need to worry about that?", Josh questions, as he enters the room and gestures towards their intertwined hands. Both girls start laughing.

"Yeah, totally.", Maya says sarcastically. 

"I'll totally gonna steal your girl, Josh.", Riley jokes too. "Or did I already do that?", she asks and the girls gasp playfully. Josh bites onto his lower lip, trying to keep himself from laughing but failes a little. He walks towards them and places himself in-between the two, causing them to let go of each other. The brown-haired boy wraps his arm around his girlfriend.

"Not gonna happen.", he says to Riley and she chuckles nervously. "She's mine.", he says while looking into Maya's eyes. Riley observes them quietly and can't help but to smile at them. She's so happy to finally see them like that.

Like a real couple that isn't dancing around their feelings. 

"I don't want to destroy this wonderful moment but...", she drifts off but gets the attention of the couple anyways. "When exactly are you going to tell Cory and Topanga...?", Riley asks directly at her uncle. "Or your parents for that matter."

Josh takes a look at the blonde next to him, she shrugs at him innocently.

"Don't look at me, Boing. My mother already knows... and Shawn too, so...", she drifts off too, looking at Riley. 

"I'd like to announce it to them with you together.", Josh states. "How about at the trip to Philadelphia. Then I can tell my parents at the same time and they can keep him from murdering me.", he says while pointing at himself. Riley chuckles at that, just like Maya.

"Don't worry, Joshy. I'm gonna make sure that Mr. Matthews won't kill ya.", Maya promises him with a smile that lights up his eyes. 

"I think, that's a great idea.", the brunette agrees with a nod. "But the trip is still a week away... you two think you can manage that long?"

"Yeah, we can.", Josh says but Maya's face tells otherwise. "We can.", he tells her seriously and taps onto her nose, earning him a giggle from the blonde. It brings a smile to Riley's face again, seeing them like this. Especially because they don't try to hide their feelings in front of her anymore. 

"Okay, you two. What should we do now?", Riley asks them.

"Hmh. That's a good question. How about watching a movie?", Maya suggests.

"No.", Josh says. "For that we'd need to go into the living room and I want to continue cuddling with you."

"And what if I don't want that?", the blonde challenges him, fixing her eyes at him and getting a little closer. Josh does the same.

"You' sure 'bout that?", he whispers, never leaving her gaze. Riley is quite impressed.

Usually, no one is able to challenge Maya Hart but Josh might be the right guy for that. 

The blonde raises on of her eyebrows. "You think, ya know me, Boing?", she fights back.

"I'm pretty sure I do, yeah.", he says back. Maya bites onto her lower lip, thinking about her next words but she doesn't have to as suddenly Riley's bedroom door opens and Cory enters the room. Maya and Josh quickly pull their heads away, putting a lot of space between them. 

"Hey, guys. Just checking on you.", he says.

"We're fine, dad. Everything's fine.", Riley says a little too nervous. Maya shots her a glance before looking at Mr. Matthews.

"Yeah, we're fine. Just talking.", Maya says quickly. Cory nods at that and looks at Josh.

"I agree.", his brother says with a nod. Cory nods again.

"That's great to hear. Alright, I'm gonna go now. Oh!", he stops walking. "Do you guys maybe wanna watch a movie?", he asks them. Riley and Maya both burst out into laughing, confusing Cory completely. His eyes land on Josh again but he just shrugs and shakes his head slightly while the girls continue laughing. 

"Alright, I think I should tell Cory and Topanga about the stalking thing.", Josh says, an hour later. Maya's head is placed on his shoulder and her arm lays on his stomach while his arm is draped around her waist. They've been talking with Riley the whole time but Josh knows that he needs to tell Topanga and Cory about it. "Over the next week, the police is going to call because I need to testify. You too, Ferret.", he says to his girlfriend. She nods slightly.

"I know. I should tell my mum too."

"So you're gonna leave now?", Riley asks, losing her smile immediately. "I just got you back.", she whines. Maya lifts her head and smiles at her best friend.

"Peaches, you never lost me in the first place. Also, I can come back to dinner, if you want.", the blonde suggests and Josh and Riley both nod at the same time. "Alright, alright. I'll come back later.", she says with a grin and hears Riley's familiar YAY!

Maya leaves shortly after but not before giving her boyfriend a few kisses and Riley a tight hug. Then Josh leaves Riley's bedroom too, heading towards the living room, where Cory and Topanga are.

This is gonna take a while.

While Maya and Josh are both busy with telling the story about Ally Sanchez, Riley decides to call Farkle so he can hear about the news - that she and Lucas broke up for good. 

"Hey, Riley.", Farkle greets her but she notices, that he doesn't sound as happy as always when she's calling him.

"Hey, Farkle. How's it going?", she asks carefully. 

There's a pause.

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Uh...", Riley stumbles. Farkle is way too good at that. "I don't know... you just don't so happy as you usually do.", she explains softly.

"Huh. Thanks for noticing, Riley. Let's talk about you first, I mean you're the one who called."

"Alright. I wanted to let you know... That I finally ended things with Lucas yesterday.", she hears him taking a deep breath.

"You sound happy, so I'm happy too. That's great, Riley. I mean, not that you two broke up, I mean it kinda is but uh, not like that. I mean-"

"Calm down, Farkle. I know what you're trying to say."

"Okay, that's good."

"Now, what's up with you?", she asks softly.

"Uh... It's uhm, it's because of Smackle."

"Oh my god, did something happen to her?", Riley asks, immediately being concerned.

"No, nothing happend to her. It's just that... we kinda had a fight."

"Kinda?"

"Okay, we had a fight.", he admits quietly. 

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I kinda do..."

"Then let's talk about it. What was the fight about?"

"You.", Riley's shocked at his statement. Why would they fight because of her?

"Me? Why me?"

"And about Maya too."

"What? Farkle, how can Maya and I be the cause for a fight between you two?"

"It's... complicated. Like, reaaaallly complicated."

"Then explain it, please.", she hears some shuffling on the other side, probably he changed his position.

"These past few days have been... intense. I mean the fight between you and Maya... and then this thing with Lucas happened and... Smackle didn't like the way I was comforting you."

"Why wouldn't she? You were just there for a friend.", Riley says a little more agressive than she intented to do. 

"That's it. Smackle doesn't think that you are just a friend to me. She knows that I've loved you since first grade... same with Maya. Apparently, she saw the way I was looking after you two on friday as you left after school together. She thinks that my love for you two is stronger, than the love I feel for her and now, I don't know what to do.", the brunette takes a deep breath as she lets his words sink in. 

"Okay. That does sound complicated, I'm not gonna lie."

"It's a huge mess a-and I don't know, how to handle this. Relationships are so confusing Riley. Science doesn't work here.", he gets louder with every word he's saying. 

"Okay, calm down, Farkle. We're gonna find a way and I think I got something already."

"Really?! What?!"

"How about, you plan a date for her. Something that she loves and that you've never done before. You can surprise her with it and tell her how much you love her and that she's the one for you.", she hears a deep sigh at the other end of the line.

"I think, that's part of the problem, Riley."

"What is?"

There's a pause again.

"I'm not sure, if she really is the one."

Chapter Text

Chapter seventeen: Hope will always find you.

"We have a problem.", Riley says as soon as her best friend climbs through the window again. 

"We always have.", Maya huffs out as she finally sits down at the bay window, slightly out of breath.

"It's about Farkle.", the brunette starts explaining. "He got into a fight with Smackle because she thinks, that Farkle loves us two more than he loves her and now he's not even sure, if she's really the one for him.", Riley finishes, being completely out of breath.

"Riles, calm down. Take a few deep breaths, okay?", the blonde says and Riley does as she's told, calming down a little.

"I'm sorry, Maya. I just don't know what to do but I wanna help Farkle.", Riley says sadly. 

"I know and we're gonna help him.", Maya assures her.

"But how?", Riley whines. Maya takes a deep breath herself and takes Riley's hand. 

"How about we meet up with him over the next week and talk this out?", she suggests softly. Riley thinks about it for a few seconds before nodding.

"That's a great idea.", she tells her best friend. 

"I know.", Maya says with a smile. "Is your uncle already back?"

"Uhhh, I think he's still talking to my parents.", Riley says unsure.

"Hmm, how about we check on the situation? I mean, I said I'd be back for dinner and I wasn't kidding.", Maya exclaims, making both girls laugh before they stand up and leave Riley's bedroom. 

"Wow...", Topanga exclaims shocked once again. She has been doing that for the past thirty minutes. "Sounds like your week has been pretty interesting.", she finally says with a slight smile. Cory's mouth still hangs open, so Topanga closes it with her hand. "Don't worry, we'll come with you, Josh.", she assures her brother-in-law with a firm nod. Cory still doesn't say anything. Topanga raises her hand again and uses it to make it seem like Cory's nodding too.

"Yes, my brotha, we'll be there for you.", she imitates him and makes Josh chuckle. 

"Hey! I don't sound like that!", he whines with a fake pout.

"You do.", Riley and Maya say together, as they walk into the living room.

"AHHH", Cory shrieks and turns around quickly. Riley smiles at him apologetic while Maya starts laughing at him. 

It's in moments like these, where you can see just how different these two girls are from each other.

"Not funny.", Cory grumbles and looks at Maya but she just continues laughing at him while sitting down next to Josh. He shoots her a quick glance along with a smile before he gets back to their actual topic. 

"Thanks, guys.", he tells them with a smile. 

"It's no problem, Josh.", his sister-in-law tells him. It gets quiet but soon Maya's voice fills the room. "So... What about dinner?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Monday arrives and Josh, Cory and Topanga are at the police station, so Josh can testify. Topanga wants to stay with Josh, saying she'll be his lawyer, if he needs one. 

Josh answers a lot of questions about how he and Ally even know each other and tells the officer what Ally did. They even talk about the fight at the college party but not even once is Maya's name mentioned.

Josh gets to see the things some officers found in Ally's dorm room too, meaning that Topanga sees them too. 

All the lists with his schedules, favourite places, favourite food and everything. 

The pictures of him.

Then he freezes. So does Topanga.

It's a picture of him.

And Maya.

Making out in his dorm room...

"Josh... what have you done?", Topanga mumbles under her breath but he can hear every single word. The police officer speaks up to clarify some things. 

"This girl is Maya Penelope Hart. Correct?", he asks, completely ignoring their horrified looks. Josh swallows slightly and nods.

"Yes.", he comfirms quietly. 

He's praying that the officer won't ask him, if she's his girlfriend.

"Okay...", the officer says, writing something down. "Another question and then we're done.", he says. 

"Please don't ask.

Please don't ask.

Please don't ask."

He says in his head, over and over again, even though he's already screwed because of this picture where he and Maya clearly make out with each other. 

"Is Mrs. Hart your girlfriend?"

"Fuck."

Josh swallows visibly and feels Topanga's eyes practically burning a hole into his face. He doens't even dare to glance at her.

"Fuck."

"Uh...", he swallows again. "Y-Yes.", he confirms and hears Topanga's breath hitching. 

"Alright, thank you for your time Mr. Matthews.", the officer says while standing up, nodding at Topanga and opens the door for them. Both walk out, staying silent until they get to Cory. 

"Hey. Everything alright?", he asks, looking at them. Josh nods and walks past his older brother. He already knows that Topanga will tell Cory everything, probably mention the picture of Josh and Maya too. Josh feels sick and just walks out of the police station, not looking, if Cory and Topanga follow him. 

He stands next to Cory's car and waits for them. It takes them a few minutes to finally walk out of the building. Cory smiles at Josh and opens the car so they can enter it. 

This is weird.

A few minutes after they start to drive back home, he gets a text message from Topanga.

"Why would she text me, if she sits right in front of me?"

As soon as he opens the message, he sees why.

Topanga :3 : Don't worry, I didn't tell Cory about you and Maya. 

A small smile appears on his lips. 

Josh: Why?

Topanga :3 : I believe, there's a reason why you haven't told us yet. :)

They lock eyes through the side mirror of the car and Josh gives her a thankful smile. She returns a smile and for the rest of the car ride, Josh feels relieved that Cory didn't have to find out about Josh and Maya's relationship that way.

He quickly texts Maya, so she knows that Topanga knows about them too but he doesn't get a reply. Maybe she's still sleeping.

He's grateful, that Topanga didn't tell Cory but he's still sad about the way, Topanga found out. 

This weren't supposed to be that way.

Maya sits with Katy at the police station. The blonde girl needs to testify and she's bored already. So many questions she needs to answer.

Did you know Ally Sanchez before?

How did you two meet?

Did you ever notice something?

How was she acting?

Have you ever witnessed something she did?

The officer shows Maya and her mother the photo of her and Josh making out. Maya blushes into a deep shade of red while Katy chuckles softly at her reaction.

"Joshua Gabriel Matthews. Is he your boyfriend?", the officer asks. Usually, Maya would use her sassy attitude, asking something like How the hell is this your business? but since she's at the police station, she remains calm and answers with a simple yes.

Then they're free to go and on the way to the car, Maya checks her phone, seeing Josh's message.

Boing❤: Good day, my little ferret. Just wanted to let you know, that I already testified and that Topanga was there with me... She saw a photo of us making out so... she knows about us now but she didn't tell Cory! :D

Maya: Hey, Boing! That sounds great. We need to thank Topanga for keeping it as a secret... for now. Just got out of the police station. Finally, it was so boring, answering all these questions. :D

"You okay, Butterfly?", Katy asks her daughter on the way back home.

"Yeah. I'm fine now.", she answers, smiling at her mother. Then she continues to stare out of the window, watching all these huge buildings and the many people passing by. Maya feels some happiness and that's great.

Other people may think that but not Maya Penelope Hart. 

When she's happy, it's always a bad sign because it usually means, that something bad is going to happen in the near future. 

For the first time, she tries to fight against it.

She tries to hope.

Hoping for something better.

For more happiness. 

Katy drives them to the Matthews apartment, where Shawn is already sitting on the couch, drinking a coffee and listening to Cory, who sits next to him. Shawn turns around and greets his girlfriend with a long kiss. 

"Hey, kiddo.", he says to Maya and pats her head slightly.

"Hey, Shawn.", she says kindly and with a happy smile. Riley and Josh walk into the living room, hearing new voices. The brunette walks over, so she can hug her best friend and drags her with her into her bedroom, much to Josh's disappointment.
Topanga watches his facial expression and chuckles quietly to herself while taking a sip of her own coffee. Josh places himself into the armchair, listening to Cory and Shawn.

After half an hour, Josh walks into the kitchen where Topanga is preparing dinner for everyone. 

"If you continue to look at her like that, Cory will figure it out by himself.", she tells him, glancing over at her husband. Josh stops his movement and looks at his sister-in-law.

"You sound like Shawn.", Josh grumbles. 

"Shawn knows too?", she asks, getting curious. Josh answers her question with a nod. "Interesting. What about Katy?", Josh nods again and a quiet gasp appears.

"Wow...How did they find out?", Josh looks at her and just shrugs. He really doesn't want to tell Topanga the story about what really happened at the college party. He'll do that later, when Maya's with him. 

"Wait a little longer and you'll find out.", he tells her before leaving the kitchen.

Topanga has to be patient for now. 

Because it's a long story.

He makes his way to Riley's bedroom, where Maya and Riley sit at the bay window like always. They make some room for him, so he can sit next to his beautiful girlfriend who kisses him immediately.

Yeah, Maya definitely feels happy.

At least for some time.

At least for now. 

Chapter Text

Chapter eighteen: Wonderwall

As Maya wakes up the following day, she's still feeling this happiness inside of her. It's almost unbelievable that something in her life makes her happy for that long but she's grateful for it and wants to enjoy every second of it. 

Slowly she sits up and rubs her eyes. A few shafts of sunlight fight their way through her blinds and lighten up her room which makes her smile even more. 

But there's something different this time. She doesn't wake up to complete silence like she usually does. 

She hears music blasting through the living room. It's time for her to get up so she changes out of her sleep clothes and dresses into a pair of clothing for the day - her new black pair of jeans with some zippers along with her green top that leaves some space to show her shoulders. As she walks into the living room, she's surprised to see Shawn standing in the kitchen and singing along to one of Maya's favourite songs. 

"Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do, about you now

Backbeat, the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I
Would like to say to you but I don't know how

Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all, you're my wonderwall"

Shawn notices the blonde girl a minute later and turns off the music. "Good morning, Maya.", he greets her friendly and smiles brightly at her.

"Man, how are these people able to be this awake at this time?", She asks herself but then she glances at the clock in the kitchen and sees that it's already noon. 

"Morning.", she says to him while driving a hand through her blonde waves. 

"Are you hungry?", he asks her. Maya sees some food on the table and is astonished at how delicious it looks. Her facial expression brings a smile to the man's face. 

"It looks good.", she shrugs slightly but he can see a hint of a smirk on her face. 

She just doesn't want to show him how much she appreciates this gesture. 

He knows.

"Well, have a seat and try it.", he tells her before placing a plate onto her place. Maya does as she's told - she sits down and tries some pancakes. Her closed eyes say everything.

"These are amazing.", she says happy and Shawn's smile grows wider. 

"Thank you.", he says. "Oh, by the way, I hope the music didn't wake you.", he tells her worried. The blonde shakes her head immediately and watches how relieve washes over his face on an instant. 

"I actually really enjoyed the music. It's one of my favourite songs...", she says, getting shy suddenly. Shawn smiles at her softly.

"It's one of my favourite's too.", he admits with a nod. A chuckle escapes him as he sees how Maya's eyes light up at his confession. 

"That's amazing!", she exclaims. "I never had someone who enjoys the same music as me. My friends listen to country music or to some upbeat pop songs.", she explains, sounding annoyed the more she talked about her friend's music taste.

"Well, not this guy here.", he points at himself with a grin that matches Maya's. 

"Can you turn on the music again, please?", she asks with her puppy dog eyes.

"Of course.", he says happy and turns on the music again. Both eat their breakfast together while singing along to some of their favourite songs, discovering along the way that their taste in music is pretty much the same. 

Maya and Shawn are so deep in their conversation, that they didn't even notice as the playlist ran out of songs and just the sound of them talking fills the room. Their conversation started with music - both love listening to every kind of rock, even metal, sometimes even to some pop songs from Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes and so on, they also love rap music from NF. Then the conversation shifts to movies - both love horror and action, as long as there's a good story and adventure they're happy. The next theme is hobbies - Shawn already knows that Maya loves to draw but he didn't know how passionate she is about art, Maya gets to know how passionate Shawn is about photography and both tell each other how they got to this hobby.

"I love to capture the moment.", he tells her. "It's just so captivating to look at it afterwards, reminds me of good times, ya know?", he says with a sad smile.

"I kow.", she says softly. "But these photos aren't always good memories...Sometimes it makes me sad. No, they make me sad everytime.", she corrects herself. Shawn gets more comfortable on the chair and puts his arms onto the table, leaning forward.

"Why do they?", he asks quietly. Maya changes her sitting position, reminding Shawn how he sat like that many times before too. Whenever someone asked him something personal, he'd make himself really small, trying to hide himself from the rest of the world.

"I don't know...", she says quietly but Shawn knows better.

"Yes, you do, Maya.", she looks up at him.

"It just makes me sad, knowing that, when I look at these pictures, I will never feel the way I felt in that moment the picture was taken.", she explains sadly. "It's a kind of happiness I will never feel like this again. It doesn't even have to be a good feeling. Just because you smile on the picture, doesn't mean you were really smiling during that time. We all smile for the picture, we manipulate the memory so we look happy while falling apart on the inside. A picture means nothing.", she explains sadly and looks down. Shawn understands Maya very well. There was a time, where he used to think just like her.

"I totally relate to you Maya.", she looks up at him again. "The way you think, and speak and even the way you act sometimes.", he chuckles softly and sees a small smile breaking through her facade. "I get it, I really do.", Maya tilts her head to the side. "I mean... I see why you think like that, I used to think like that too."

"And how do you think now?", she asks curiously. Shawn breathes out a laugh before intertwining his hands with each other, laying them onto the table.

"Now I capture memories - no matter, if they're good or bad. They're a part of me and I need to accept that. Why would I want to cry over past moments that were bad, when I could also use this time to make good memories? That's better than moping around all life, thinking about what could have been. Live the things you want to live, don't just think about them. Make them happen, Maya.", he says softly and her smile gets bigger. "There are always going to be people who will critize you and be mean to you and maybe don't believe in you... Who will be a complete asshole towards you.", the blonde chuckles quietly. "But you know why that is?", she shakes her head in response. "It's because these people were surrounded by assholes themselves. They don't know it better because no one showed them how to be. Don't let these people tear you down."

"I won't."

"Sorry? I can't hear you.", he says, making her laughing louder.

"I won't!", she says louder. Shawn smiles fondly at her and stands up. They hug each other, both smiling. "Thank you, Shawn.", she says softly and he feels a kind of happiness he doesn't ever want to lose.

Maya is on the way to Riley's place. They want to meet up with Farkle so they can finally talk with him about the Smackle-drama. During her peaceful walk, Rachel calls her and Maya immediately picks up. 

They talk about the testifying and Rachel tells the blonde, that she and Daren didn't mention Maya as they had to speak about the college party, also that Ray was there too and actually told the truth (without involving Maya).

Maya slowed down as Rachel started talking about her and Daren and how happy she is that everything's fine again. Maya of course told her about her summer break so far, mentioning Shawn, the things with Riley and Lucas, another drama in her circle of friends and last but not least about Josh and how he's the best boyfriend ever. Both girls seem to be happy and they end the phone call, as soon as Maya reaches her destination - only eight and a half minutes later than intended.

As she walks around the house to get to the window of Riley's bedroom, she's surprised to see a familiar boy sitting on the ground just around the corner.

"Farkle?", Maya says, walking towards him slowly. His head shoots up on an instant and Maya's heart breaks at his red, puffy eyes telling her that he's been crying a lot these days.

"Maya.", he chokes out and she almost couldn't hear him. The blonde slides down the wall and sits beside him. 

"What are you doing out here?", she asks quietly. Farkle shrugs slighty, nudging his shoulder against hers during the process.

"Don't know. Guess I'm too scared to go in there.", he admits, feeling defeated and embarrassed at the same time. Especially in front of Maya, the most fearless person he has ever known in his life. "Nice clothes.", he suddenly says, making her smile slightly.

"Thanks.", she says. "So... why are you scared to go in there? It's just Riley, one of your best friends.", the blonde states with a shrug.

"It's not just Riley!", he snaps, making Maya flinch a little. Farkle instantly realizes that and apologizes. "I'm sorry, Maya. Didn't mean to do that."

"Yes, you did.", she says and he looks at her wide-eyed. "You meant to say it because you feel something and need to let it out. Let it out, Farkle. I'm here for you.", she says while taking his hand into hers, squeezing it lightly. 

He's speechless right now. 

How does she knows this?

"I... uh...", he stumbles out, not being able to speak properly.

"Let it out.", she whispers softly. Farkle lets go of her hand and stands up quickly with his back facing her.

"I...", he starts quietly. "I can't. I won't! You're not supposed to be smarter than me, Maya!", he finally turns around, staring into the eyes of the small, blonde girl sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall of her best friend's apartment, he has known for so long. "I have always been the smart one in our group so how come, that you know more about this than me?!", he questions, rather himself than her. "Not even Riley would be able to say these things. She only sees the good in people and tries to cheer you up when something's wrong. She doesn't understand these kind of things, why do you?!", he lets out. The brown-haired boy is breathing heavily after his outburst but Maya feels like he's still not done yet. "Maybe Smackle was right.", he breathes out, sounding terrified. Maya remains quiet. "Maybe it's true that I like you and Riley more than her. I mean, she gets all this sciene stuff and loves the things that I love but...she's not you... or Riley.", he says, looking at Maya. "Maya, what should I do?", he asks her. The blonde stands up too and walks towards him.

"I think... you should break up with Smackle.", his heart breaks at her words but he already knows they're true. "It wouldn't be fair to keep being her boyfriend, if you know for sure that you don't like her like that and already know, that you'll never will."

"Thank you, Maya.", he says and hugs his friend tightly. "You're the best, you know that?", she chuckles softly.

"Heard it a few times.", she says, making them laugh. 

"You're kind of my wonderwall.", he says softly and Maya starts smiling at that.

"Now...", she breaks their hug. "Shall we go inside?", he nods and they both enter Riley's bedroom through the open window, sitting down at the bay window like they always do.

They doesn't expect to see a terrified Riley standing in the middle of her room, looking like she's about to cry.

What the hell?

Chapter Text

Chapter nineteen: Confused & A Broken Heart

"Riley?", Maya breathes out, getting the attention of her best friend. The brunette turns her head slightly, facing her two best friends and taking in the scared looks on their faces.

For some seconds, nothing moves. The heavy breathing from Riley is the only sound that fills the room. The blonde girl decides to end the silence and takes a few steps towards her best friend, who falls into her arms instantly and starts crying. Farkle wraps his arms around two of the most important people in his life and listens to Riley's quiet sobs. They stand there for some minutes, waiting for Riley to calm down and as she finally does, he and Maya look at her, waiting for answers.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to cry.", while saying so, she wipes her face and tries to get a hold of herself.

"Wanna tell us, why you did cry?", Farkle asks with a slight smile towards her. Riley lets out a breathy chuckle and fixes her hair, feeling like it looks like a mess.

"It's... uhm, it was a phone call that I got.", she starts, feeling Maya's and Farkle's eyes on her. "Lucas' mother called me with his phone."

"What?!", Maya exclaims loudly and her friends look at her, slightly startled by the hearable anger in her voice.

"It's no big deal, Maya."

"The hell it is!", she replies angry. "What did she say to you?", Maya wants to know and Farkle too, so he shifts his eyes back at Riley, waiting for her to say something.

"S-She apologized for her son's behaviour towards me and you. Apparently he told her everything and feels bad because of the things he did.", Maya just rolls her eyes at that, not feeling sorry for Lucas. He deserves to feel like this.

He should feel like this.

 "Anything else?", Farkle asks.

"She just told me that she wishes us luck and hopes, we can forgive him someday.", Riley tells them quietly, already knowing what Maya's reaction is going to be.

"I'm sorry, what?", the annoyance and anger in Maya's voice tell Riley, that she's right about her reaction. "I should forgive him?", she asks with a mocking tone. "Is she serious?"

"Maya, calm down. She said someday, not today.", the brunette tries to calm her friend but it doesn't work.

"Yeah, thanks, I know what someday means.", she crosses her arms and huffs out a humorless chuckle. 

"Maybe we should just forgive him and move on.", Riley says quickly and she's sure that she'll never forget the look on Maya's face in that moment. 

"Riley!", Maya exclaims and winces at her own tone. "I'm sorry, it's just... He has messed up, bad. I can't just forgive him and move on, pretending like nothing happened. In order to forgive him, he needs to apologize first. So, no, I won't just forgive him.", Maya says to Riley and stands her ground. This time, Riley can't change Maya's mind.

"Fine. You don't have to.", the brunette says in a whisper. "I'm gonna talk to my parents.", she says and turns around, leaving them alone and not looking back.

"What is wrong with her?", Maya turns to Farkle who sits down at the bay window, taking a deep breath.

"She feels sorry for him.", he says quietly.

"Why would she? I thought she's angry at him?", confusion is taking over Maya's brain.

"Yeah, she is."

"Huh?", Maya sits down next to Farkle and looks at him with a puzzled facial expression.

"Riley is mad at Lucas for the things he did to her... and to us. But she's still sorry for him because he's still important to her. She can't just turn off her feelings for him.", he explains to Maya, who seems to understand her best friend's struggle.

"Hey, kiddies.", Josh greets them as he enters his niece's bedroom with a smile on his lips. Maya turns and looks at him, the sight of him his enough to make her smile. Of course, that doesn't go unnoticed by Farkle, which presence seems to be forgotten, as Uncle Boing sets foot into the room Maya's in.

"Hey there, Boing.", her dreamy voice makes Farkle wanting to laugh at her.

"Hey.", Josh smiles softly at his girlfriend and makes his way over to the bay window, sitting down next to the blonde. 

"Why didn't you tell me, you two are dating?", Farkle questions directly at Maya, who looks at him within a second, her smile already gone.

"What?", she breathes out and stares at him wide-eyed. "How do you know?"

"I'm Farkle.", is all he says and all three of them just accept his answer like that, Maya shrugging slightly and smiling at him.

"Mum? Dad? I need to talk to you.", Riley says to her parents as she enters the living room, fiddling with the hem of her T-Shirt nervously. Topanga and Cory look up at her and glance at each other.

"Has this something to do with the loud voice of Maya we've heard a few minutes ago?", her mother asks with a slight smile, and a hint of sarcasm, trying to bring a smile to her daughter's face. She fails.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry 'bout that.", Riley admits quietly. "I got a call from Lucas' mother.", she says after apologizing. Cory and Topanga glance at each other for a few seconds and look back at their oldest child. 

"What did she want?", Cory asks, breaking the silence first.

"She apologized for the behaviour of her son. Wished me and Maya luck and hopes, we can forgive him someday.", the brunette tells her parents just above a whisper. "Maya got mad at me because I... I thought about just forgiving him for the things he did, so I can move on.", her eyes get watery again but she blinks a few times, so she can get rid of her unshed tears.

"Honey.", Topanga starts softly and motions for Riley to sit down next to her. The brunette does as she's told and her mother wraps an arm around her. "Did he apologize to you?", Riley shakes her head in response. "Then how can you forgive him?", Topanga questions.

"I don't know.", she shrugs lightly.

"You do know, that, in order to forgive someone, he needs to apologize, right?"; her father says, more as a statement than as a question. His daughter lets out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, Maya said the same thing.", she mutters to herself but her father can still hear it and smiles to himself.

"Okay, I think you shouldn't just forgive him. He broke your heart, sweety, and he doesn't deserve this huge amount of kindness, especially not from you and especially not right now.", Topanga tells her daughter with a reassuring smile. "I understand now, why Maya freaked as you told her about your idea and she's right, honey.", Topanga finishes, stroking her daughter's shoulder. Cory nods, agreeing with the things his wife said. Riley lets out a heavy sigh, feeling her mind being completely overwhelmed with thoughts. 

She knows that her parents are right and she also knows that her best friend is right. Still, she feels guilty and wishes that, she could just turn this off.

Maya, Josh and Farkle left the Matthews' apartment a while ago. They decided to take a walk and Josh and Maya told him the story of how they got together. Farkle wasn't surprised at all, as Josh told him that Maya attended a college party and got drunk. In fact, he would have been more surprised, if she wouldn't have done something like that. 

It's just so Maya.

"Well... I'm glad you two are finally together.", Farkle says with a small smile. "It's good to see Maya so happy.", at that, Maya's smile gets even bigger. Since Josh walked into Riley's room, she's been smiling brightly and Farkle wonders, if her face is already hurting from all this smiling.

"Thanks, Farkle. It's good to feel so happy.", the blonde admits, as she gazes into her boyfriend's eyes, getting lost in them immediately.

"Oh... and thanks again for the advice on the Smackle-thing.", he thanks her once again. Maya turns her head back at him because she's walking in-between Farkle and Josh.

"No prob', Farkle. You know I'm always there, if you need me.", she says and Josh can't help but to smile at his girlfriend's words. Another thing he loves so much about her: She's always there for her friends, no matter what.

"Can I ask what the Smackle-thing is?", Josh leans forward slightly, trying to become  a part of the conversation. Maya and Farkle glance at each other before Farkle nods at the blonde and tells Josh the story. 

"Is it bad that I'm a little jealous?", Josh questions his girlfriend with raised eyebrows and a hint of a smirk.

"No. It's actually kinda cute.", she whispers, even though she's very well aware that Farkle can hear what she's saying but he remains quiet, smiling to himself in complete silence. Josh leans down and nudges his nose against Maya's, smiling softly at her before he steals himself a quick kiss with her. 

The couple hears a quiet sigh next to them and face a sad looking Farkle Minkus.

"Farkle? What's going on?", the blonde asks while bumping her shoulder against his, trying to get his attention.

"Nothing. It's just... It makes me sad, seeing you two so happy.", he explains, flashing them a quick sad smile before dropping his head, focusing on the sidewalk they're walking on. Josh and Maya share a look with each other before they stop holding each other's hands and before Maya pushes him to the side, so he's now the one to walk in-between them. "What are you doing, Guys? Just because I'm not happy with my relationship right now, doesn't mean you need to stop acting like a couple.", he chuckles softly and glances at both of them. 

"We know but we don't want to rub our happiness into your face, so we're gonna get ice cream now and make you feel better.", Maya exclaims with a huge grin and takes Farkle's hand, dragging him with her and Josh following behind.

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty: Parts don't always stay together.

They cheered him up indeed. Now they got some good insider-jokes and some good memories too. While Maya was getting her ice cream, Josh had managed to encourage Farkle to text Smackle, so they can meet up  the next day and talk everything out. Then they walked through their favourite park and laughed some more, at some point only Josh and Farkle were talking to each other 'cause Maya texted with Rachel for some time. It took another thirty minutes for them to return at the Matthews' apartment but they had huge grins plastered to their faces.

Riley walks back into her bedroom in the exact same moment, as the trio climbs through her window, smiling brightly and talking about how Maya had made a huge mess out of herself while eating ice cream, well the boys were laughing and Maya just glared at them but couldn't hide the smile that was breaking through her facade.

"Where have you three been?", the brunette speaks up, her voice even. With that, she brings the laughter to a stop and gets them to look at her at the same time. Their puzzled faces telling her, that they didn't expect Riley to be there when they get back.

"Out.", Maya says, matching Riley's tone and crossing her arms.

"Where?", Riley presses further and catches Josh and Farkle exchanging some nervous glances with each other.

"Why do you need to know?", Maya asks back, keeping her voice quiet. "Look, Riley, why are you suddenly mad at me? We just made up after our last fight, I really don't need another one with you.", The blonde tells her best friend, being aware of the fact that her boyfriend and other best friend are watching her intensely. Riley swallows hard and feels awful for the way she talked to her best friend since childhood.

"I'm sorry, Maya.", she whispers and takes a few steps towards the girl. "For now and for before you guys left. You're right, I shouldn't just forgive Lucas like that. Even if I would, it wouldn't close this chapter at all. The problem would still be there, and the pain... the disappointment. It would stay. I wouldn't feel any better.", she admits defeated and notices how the look in Maya's eyes changes.

"I'm sorry too, Pumpkin.", the blonde says quietly. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, I kinda get why you thought, that it'd be the end of this, if you'd just forgive him but... it kinda made me angry, that you wanted to do that because he doesn't deserve this kind of forgiveness.", Maya says with a sad smile. Both girls let out a chuckle and hug each other tight, getting some awws from Josh and Farkle.

"Great, now that you two are back together once again, I have some news.", Farkle says with an amused smile towards Josh, who nods and smiles knowingly. The girls stare at him wide-eyed, waiting for the news. "I texted Smackle and we'll meet tomorrow so we can talk.", he says confident and once again, they're hugging each other.

"Are you going to...?", Maya starts her question but Farkle already nods, answering her question because he knows what Maya's going to ask him. Confusion takes over Riley's face.

"He's going to break up with her.", it's Josh, who explains it to Riley. She looks at Farkle again with a horrified look on her face.

"You what now?", she stutters out.

"I will break up with Isadora. I just... I don't feel like she's the one for me. Sure, we understand each other well, she gets my jokes and  makes me laugh, we have the same interests but... I don't really see myself having a future with her.", he explains softly and gets nods of understanding from Maya and Josh. Riley is still frozen in place.

"Y-You don't love her?", Farkle shakes his head.

"Nope.", he says, answering her question easily. So easy, that it's almost scary.

"Huh.", Riley lets out a deep sigh, mentally preparing herself for some more drama over the next few days.

"You wanted to talk?", an extremely nervous Isadora Smackle asks her boyfriend from a safe distance the next day. They meet at the park, sitting on a bench with lots of space between them, not looking at each other.

"Ye-yeah.", Farkle stutters, feeling how his confidence of the previous day isn't there anymore. Now, that he has to really face this situation, he's scared.

"Okay...", Smackle whispers to herself. "Let's talk.", she says a little louder, turning to face him. Farkle takes a deep breath and turns too, seeing that she's just as scared as he is.

"First, I want to apologize for my behaviour lately.", he starts with a small smile. "I've been kind of a dick and I am truly sorry for that. You're an amazing girl and you definitely don't derserve to be treated like that...", he drifts off, glancing at her and much to his surprise, he sees her smiling at him.

"It's okay, I guess jealousy took over me and I kind of overreacted.", she lets out a chuckle. 

"Yeah...", he says, not really knowing how to start what he really wants to say. "Look, Smackle...", he looks at her once again and feels even worse as he sees her smile, being so hopeful. "I... uhm... I can't keep doing this.", he finally whispers to her, hating himself for hurting her feelings.

"What exactly do you mean?", she asks confused. Emotions have never been her thing.

"I mean us.", he tells her, hoping she'll finally understand what he means. 

She doesn't.

"I'm not getting it, Farkle."

"Think about it this way: We are both different parts, that have been working together for quite some time and very well too.", he explains and feels relieved as she nods. "Sometimes parts stay together and work as a team for the rest of their lives because no one can break them apart...", she nods again. "But some teams don't stay together that long. They break apart, so they can continue their life alone, without the other part...", her eyes show sadness and he knows, that she now understands what he's trying to say. "Sometimes they fall in love with another part on their way and want to be with them, to work with them but in order to do that, they need to let the other part go first.", he finishes and Smackle turns away quickly.

"So... you want us to not be a team anymore?", she asks with a cold voice, staring at a tree not so far away from them.

"Yes, I don't want us to be a team anymore.", he admits quietly, turning away as well.

"Which part to you want to be you partner instead?", her voice gets colder, already knowing the answer to her own question but she asks anyway, she needs to hear him saying it, admitting it to himself and to her. Farkle shakes his head and Smackle turns her head, seeing his refuse to answer her question. The look on his face though, says everything and she bites down onto her tongue, nodding her head slightly. "How long have you been in love with her?", Farkle swallows and feels heat creeping up over his whole body, while also being watched by the girl next to him. "Farkle, how long?", she presses. 

Farkle swallows hard, trying to answer but he just can't get it out. The words always die on his tongue before he can get them out.

"Farkle.", she says his name sternly.

"Since first grade!"

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-one: Not So New At All.

Her phone goes off in the middle of the night. She rolls around, groans a few times and stops as her hair is tangled up with her face and her fluffy pillow. Another groan, much louder, escapes her before she reaches out to her nightstand, strobing it to find her smartphone. As she finally does find it, she hits the accept button and holds her phone close to her ear with her eyes closed and her hair still being tangled up with the pillow and mostly her face.

"I don't know who this is but you better have a very good reason for calling this late, unless you want me to cut off your-"

"I love Riley!", a male voice cuts her off.

"Farkle?", Maya asks confused, not being able to recognize him due to her sleepy state but she's pretty sure that she's very much awake now. Her eyes shoot open on an instant and she sits up straight, completely forgetting her mess of a hair. 

"Yes?", he asks quietly, sounding way too awake at this time of night. 

"What...What did you just say?", she wants to know. Maya's not sure, if she heard him correct the first time he said it.

"I love Riley.", he says, more relaxed than before. Then she can hear him sighing heavily. 

"I know.", the blonde says quietly. "You have always loved her."

"I mean-yeah... But I'm sure that I love-love her.", he specifies, feeling his heart beating fast, almost drowning out Maya's voice next to his ear with it's loud pounding.

"And now?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Farkle.", Maya says sternly and he knows that she's right. He does know what his friend is talking about.

What now?

"I'm not sure, what to do.", he admits softly and there's a certain sadness in his voice.

"I think you're lying.", Maya tells him. "I think... No, I'm pretty sure you've been awake the whole night, making a plan on what to do with these not-so-new-at-all information.", he freezes. "Am I right?", he can practically hear the smirk in her sleepy voice.

"Uh..."

"I am right.", she answers her own question. His reaction gave it away. 

He knows.

She knows him too well.

"Okay. Yes, I have a plan and I need your help."

"Me? What do you need me for?", Maya asks shocked.

"Like I said, I have a plan. Meet me tomorrow, I'll text you when and where. Oh, and bring your Boing.", he adds the last part quickly and ends it with a soft chuckle.

"Hey! Only I call him Boing!", she pouts but Farkle just quickly says a goodbye and thank you. Then the line disconnects and Maya's mouth falls open. "Rude.", she mumbles to herself, before getting back to sleep.

As the sun wakes up and the day is starting slowly, Maya gets up with a yawn. This late-night call with Farkle ruined her sleep and now she feels like she hasn't slept at all. With some more yawning, she fulfills her usual morning-routine in holiday-edition; the only difference though is, that she fulfills her routine really slow.

Ready for the day, she leaves her bedroom, greeting Shawn and her mother on the way out. 

"Where' you going, sweety?", her mother asks just as Maya is about to open the front door. 

"I'm meeting up with Farkle...", she drifts off but Shawn notices the change in her facial expression.

"And...?", he starts, waiting for her to end the sentence. 

"Josh...", she mumbles but not quiet enough for them not to hear. They smile to themselves and say their goodbye's to her before she leaves, looking as red as a tomato and hoping that the people passing by won't give her any weird looks. Usually she doesn't care about that but right now she's embarrassed and therefore vulnerable.

Farkle had texted her a few minutes after she woke up but she just saw it now. He wants her to meet him at Topanga's because both, Topanga and Katy, doesn't have a shift today, at least not in the morning. Josh got a quick text, saying that he has to be at Topanga's in like... twenty minutes. His reply comes on an instant, it is an angry emoji combined with an eye-rolling emoji and a heart emoji. Maya smiles at his text and sends an emoji who sticks his tongue out but puts a heart emoji right after it. With a much bigger smile she puts her phone away, letting it sink into the back pocket of her black skinny jeans.

Shortly after her conversation via text with Josh, Topanga's comes into her sight. Quickly she walks down the stairs to one of her favourite places in New York. As she enters, her eyes scan the room, looking for her best guy-friend. She spots him at the window-seat, perfect for three people. Farkle looks up as the doorbell rings and a smile spreads across his face at the sight of one of his best friends.

"Hey, turtleneck.", she greets him with a wide smile and it grows bigger, as he groans at his old nickname.

"Hello to you too. I'm not even wearing turtlenecks anymore.", he whines with a pout but Maya just laughs at him.

"I know but I also know, that you absolutely hate this nickname. It's some kind of revenge.", she explains but he just raises his eyebrows sceptically.

"Revenge for what?", nervousness takes over in his voice, Maya knows and her sweet smile turns into a wicked one.

"For calling me last night.", after she's done talking, her smile fades away on an instant and instead, she glares at him with her death stare. Farkle ducks his head and puts up his hands in defense.

"What is going on?", a new male voice appears behind them. Maya turns around and her sweet smile comes back, only this time it's a real smile. Farkle lifts up his head and opens one of his closed eyes, peeking at the new person. 

"Boing!", the blonde makes a jump and runs up to her boyfriend, greeting him with a heated kiss, Josh returns it immediately.

"Guys? I really don't need to see this.", Farkle hides his face behind the menu card, feeling his cheeks burning from the blush that's creeping up. Sure, he's happy for his friends finally being together but he really doesn't need to see how their kiss turns into a heated make-out session. "Could you please do that in private? We're in public here.", he whispers to them but it's almost like a yelling whisper and both, Josh and Maya, stare at him either one with a raised eyebrow. Farkle blinks a few times, waiting for something to happen.

He has to watch how Josh gives Maya another kiss but it's a sweet and short one. They turn around then, sitting down next to each other and across from Farkle so they can talk better. For a few seconds Farkle looks around, scanning the area, if someone watched them but no one was paying attention to them, not even in the slightest. He lets out a relieved sigh, ignoring the confused looks he's getting from the pair across from him.

"So, why am I here exactly?", it's Josh, who speaks up first. He still doesn't know, what's happening, Farkle kinda forgot that. Maya shoots him another glare before turning to her lovely boyfriend.

"Farkle here called me last night, confessing that he loves your niece.", she explains with a grin. "Even though it wasn't a confession because I already knew it.", she says amused and gets a smack from Farkle. Josh pulls his hand away.

"Hey, no! No hitting my girlfriend.", Josh says only half joking, making Maya smile and she just nods along but is still smiling, letting Farkle know that everything's okay. "So, you finally admitted that you love Riley?", Josh asks in a serious tone. Farkle can only nod, suddenly at a loss for words. "That's great, it was about damn time.", Josh exclaims happy. Farkle feels the tension leaving his body and sees Maya giving him a soft smile.

"Okay, that's that.", the blonde speaks up. "Now... Farkle, you told me that you have  a plan and that you need us to help you?", her tone makes it sound like a question. Farkle nods again and glances at the couple.

"That's right. I want to find out, if Riley loves me back.", he says in a dreamy voice. It gets a few giggles out of Maya, which earns her a side glance from her boyfriend next to her. He then looks at Farkle with concern in his eyes.

"Farkle.", he gets his attention within a second.  "I... don't really know, if that's such a good idea.", he says worried. Farkle tilts his head to the sight, looking confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...", Josh takes a deep breath. "It's pretty soon, don't you think?", Farkle's eyes drift away from Josh, instead he stares at the table. "I'm not saying, that I don't think you two would be good together. I mean, that Riley and Lucas broke up like a few days ago. It hasn't even been a week since that and we saw how Riley was just two days ago.", Maya glances at Farkle with worry in her eyes.

"He's right, you know?", the blonde agrees with her boyfriend. "You even said it yourself. These feelings don't just go away. They stay for a while and it takes time to get over something like this. Especially the way things ended between these two, it just adds more time she needs to heal.", Maya says sadly. Farkle knows his friends are right, it's true what they say. 

It takes time.

He nods slowly, accepting the bitter truth. What was he even thinking? Of course, it will take time for Riley to get over her break-up with Lucas. Did he seriously thought, she would happily jump into his arms and telling him, that she loves him too, if he'd tell her the truth? Pathetic.

"What do you guys think I should do now?", he asks quietly, not even trying to hide the pain he's feeling now. Maya and Josh glance at each other before looking back at Farkle. It's Maya who speaks up.

"Be there for her. You're one of her best friends, help her to heal, to work through this.", she says with confidence in her voice. It gets Farkle to look up at her, staring into her blue eyes. "If you stay by her side through a hard time, she'll see how much she means to you and that she can rely on you, when she needs someone.", the blonde finishes and catches her boyfriend staring at her with pure admiration in his eyes. She smiles sweetly at him, returning the gaze and the admiration right back at him. 

This interaction brings a small smile to Farkle's face, letting him hope that he and Riley will be having interactions like these too one day. 

"That was pretty great stuff you said, Ferret. I'm proud of you.", he says softly and Maya's smile grows wider. 

"Thanks. Means a lot to me.", his smile gets wider too. Farkle clears his throat, getting their attention.

"Sorry to interrupt your cute little moment but I have a question."

"Shoot.", Maya says with a firm nod at him.
 
"How long do you think it will take Riley to fully get over Lucas?", he asks curious. Again, Maya and Josh glance at each other. This time, it takes some time until Josh answers.

"Uh, I'm not sure, Farkle. Probably a few months. Depends.", he answers unsure. 

"Aren't you studying in psychology?", Farkle questions with a raised eyebrow. Josh nods slowly. "Shouldn't you know it?"

"Farkle, what do you want me to say? It depends on the person, the situation, the people around this person, how long and good the relationship was and much more.", Josh shrugs helpless. 

"Really? You got no logical answer?", he challenges Josh, Maya notices it.

"Fine!", Josh lifts up his hands in surrender. "According to a study it takes about three months, eleven weeks to be exact, to feel good after a break-up. Most of the times, it takes much more time to heal though and to feel ready for another relationship is something completely different. If it's the end of a marriage it can take way longer, up to eighteen months but like I said, it's just a study.", Josh explains. Maya groans at his explanation, feeling like there are two Farkle's.

"That's right. Finally someone who understands!", Farkle exclaims happily and points at Josh with his index finger. Maya groans even more.

"God, Boing, what are you doing?!", she asks annoyed and rolls her eyes at them. Josh puts his hands up again and chuckles at his girlfriend.

"Sorry, Ferret.", he replies sheepishly and smiles at the blonde girl who's losing her mind right now. Farkle just laughs at them.

"Love isn't a science project you guys.", she says with another eye-roll.

"I know.", the boys say at the same time and smile widely at each other before standing up and doing a bro-hug which causes another groan from Maya.

"What did I do to deserve this?", Maya mumbles jokingly to herself, watching the two boys laughing with each other and starting yet another conversation about some science and psychology stuff.

"At the time my classes are about Brain Science and Cognitive Psychology. It's pretty interesting to learn about how humans all have a very different mind but at certain things, they all think just the same.", she hears her boyfriend saying to Farkle and immediately her presence is all forgotten. Still, there's a smile plastered to her face as she looks at the two, already looking like best friends.

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-two: Don't Worry.

"Hey, my brother asked me to check on you.", Josh says as soon as he opens the door to Riley's bedroom. The brunette lays in her bed, face covered with two pillows.

"Whmhat dyo yhou whhmahnt?", the pillows muffle her voice and Josh doesn't really understand, what she's saying so he just chuckles.

"Yeah, I don't really understand pillowish, so... either you get rid of those pillows or I'll get rid of them for you. It's your choice.", he shrugs even though she can't see it. He sees her sighing heavily and grabbing the pillows with both hands, throwing them onto the ground with a quiet thud. She just stares at him with her brown eyes.

"What do you want?", she asks annoyed, probably repeating her question from before.

"Cory asked me to check on you. He said, you've been in here all day.", Josh tells her while looking around. "What's up?", he shrugs again and this time she can see it. Josh earns himself an eye-roll that pretty much looks like the one he gets from his girlfriend, when he acted like an idiot or... acted like an idiot. 

So basically all the time.

Riley sits up and supports herself with her hands while doing so. She stares at him before looking away, staring out of her window instead. 

"Wanna talk?", he offers kindly. It's not hard to tell that something's bothering Riley and maybe he can help her.

"I just... So much is changing right now.", she says sadly and feels tears welling up. Josh walks over to her bed and sits down next to his niece.

"Already? But you still got a year before starting college.", he jokes a little, hoping to ease the tension and to get her to smile a little. Riley scoffs and lets out a chuckle but it isn't the kind of smile or laughter he wanted to get. 

It was a I fake a smile and laugh so I don't start to cry reaction.

"Funny.", she mumbles with a small smile. "No, it's because of my friends."

"Did something happen?"

"Indeed something happened. Not only one thing.", she breathes out.

"Oh, you mean all this feeling-stuff?", the brunette nods in response.

"I'm scared that we won't be friends after everything. I mean, I was with Lucas and then he broke my heart because he realized, he's in love with Maya, my best friend. Now Farkle and Isadora broke up too and I don't know what's going to happen now.", Riley says sadly. Josh starts to understand her problem. 

"It's pretty rough what you are all going through right now and I understand, why you're scared, Riley.", Josh starts. 

"What should I do?", she asks helpless.

"I don't really know, if there even is something you could do right now, niece.", Josh tells her sadly. "It doesn't just depend on you. It depends on everyone in your group. A lot is changing right now and it definitely won't be like it used to be between you all. All of your friendships are changing and you can't really stop that."

"What about me and Maya?", she asks and her voice sounds like she's scared for her life. Josh gives her a reassuring smile.

"You know Maya and you know you. Has there ever changed something between the two of you?"

"I mean, yeah it has."

"And your friendship survived. It always has because you two do anything to stay friends and you guys fight for each other. There has never been anything that was strong enough to destroy your bond. Sure, there were times where you stayed away from each other for some days but... like I said, you survived.", Josh explains and Riley starts to realize, that her uncle is right.

"Thanks, uncle Josh."

"No problem.", he shrugs slightly and is surprised, as Riley hugs him. 

"You're a wonderful uncle to me and a wonderful boyfriend to Maya. Keep it that way.", Riley says with a content smile on her lips. Josh returns the hug with a smile too.

"I will."

Katy knocks at her daughter's bedroom and as Maya says yes, she opens the door and sees her daughter, sitting at her desk and drawing something. "Hey, butterfly.", she greets Maya.

"Hey, mum. What's up?", she asks and lays down her pencil, turning to her mother instead.

"Nothing, just wanted to check on you.", that takes Maya by surprise.

"Oh, uh, thanks. I'm fine.", she smiles slightly.

"You' sure?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"That's great.", Katy nods. "So... did you start packing your stuff already?", she asks and Maya's face shows her confusion. 

"Packing for what...?", the blonde girl asks with raised eyebrows, her eyes fixed on her mother. Katy starts laughing at her daughter's confusion.

"Did you already forget?"

"Forget what?", Maya asks.

"Tomorrow, we'll drive to Philadelphia.", Katy reminds her daughter. It seems to dawn onto her because Maya's eyes widen and her mouth falls open.

"Oh, wow. I actually forgot that with everything that's going on right now.", she explains to her mother. Katy walks over to her daughter and puts her arm around her shoulders. 

"Don't worry. You're going through a lot right now and if you need help, just come to me or Shawn. We'll be there for you, butterfly.", Katy says softly and the smile her daughter gives her, warms her heart.

"Yeah, we'll be there for ya, kiddo.", Shawn agrees as he peeks his head into Maya's room with a huge grin. Maya and Katy start to chuckle softly at his sudden appearence. "So, are we goin' to watch the movie or not?", he asks with a hint of sarcasm and Maya stands up from her chair, takes her mother's hand and leads them both out of her bedroom and into the living room.

They all get comfortable on the couch and start watching a horror movie. Katy hides behind a pillow, while Shawn and Maya make fun of some of the characters or start laughing, when something scary happens. 

She could definitely get used to this.

It's late as Topanga knocks at the guestroom door in her apartment. "Come in.", a male voice says and Topanga opens the door and walks into the room.

"Hey, Josh.", she greets her brother-in-law friendly.

"Hey. What's up?", he nods is head at her.

"Just wanted to check on you. Already packed your stuff?", she asks him.

"Yeah, I did. Anything else?", Josh asks because it feels like Topanga has something else she'd like to talk about with him.

"Yeah. It's about you... and Maya.", she admits and Josh's smile fades away at the tone she's using.

"What about us?", he asks suspicious.

"Since we're driving to Philadelphia tomorrow for... like two weeks and... Maya's going to be there too, I just... I wanted to make sure that everything's fine between you two...?", she explains worried and Josh is happy about the fact, that this is something important to her.

"Thanks, Maya and I are fine. Actually, we're more than just fine, we're pretty good.", he says with a content smile. Topanga sighs in relief.

"That's good to hear. So, what about your parents? Wanna tell them about your girlfriend?", Topanga teases him slightly. 

"I guess so, yeah. Also my siblings, I mean, Cory still doesn't know.", Josh says, sounding a little worried, Topanga notices. 

"Don't stress so much about it. I'm sure, he's shipping you two in secret.", she whispers the last part and makes the both of them chuckle. "And if something goes wrong... I'm still there and I'm gonna help you. No matter what because I'm happy for you two. You deserve that and you make Maya very happy. There's no reason for being against your relationship with her.", Topanga shrugs innocently and smiles widely at the brown-haired boy. 

"Thank you, Topanga. It means a lot to me.", he says softly.

"Aww, no problem, Josh.", she pulls him into a hug and smiles softly. After breaking their embrace, she stands up and gets ready to leave. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight.", Josh says and waits until the door's closed again to turn off the lights and to get to sleep. It will be a long day tomorrow and really long two weeks.

He just hopes that it's the right decision to tell them already.

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-three: Worries, Family and a car ride

"Riley, wake up!"

Riley groans loudly and turns inside of her bed, taking her blanket with her and hiding her face in her pillow. "No. It's too early.", she grumbles into her pillow, not even looking who's talking to her. The person standing next to her bed groans frustrated and mumbles something that sounds like you asked for it. Just then, Riley's blanket gets taken away from her and she can only listen to how it lands on the floor. Her pillows are next.

On an instant Riley sits up, eyes wide open and she looks really mad but at the sight of the person standing next to her bed, her facial expression softens. "Peaches, what are you doing here so early? We still have a few hours 'til we drive to Philadelphia.", she asks her best friend.

"I know, I'm sorry.", Maya apologizes with a sad smile. "I just need to talk to someone and... I wanna talk to you.", she explains. Riley makes some space for her and watches her best friend plopping down on Riley's bed, bouncing up and down until she just sits there. 

It's silent between the two girls and this gives Riley some time to analyze her friend. She notices how Maya must have been awake the whole time, she probably hasn't slept at all. She's still wearing her jeans and all and Riley knows, that Maya hates sleeping in her jeans.

Maya needs some time to get some courage to talk to her best friend. It's not everyday that your best friend climbs into you bedroom at 3 AM.

"Are you really okay with me and Josh being a couple?", the blonde asks without looking at her friend even once. She keeps her eyes at some pictures hanging on Riley's bedroom wall, completely ignoring the way Riley's head turns to the side and the feeling of her eyes on Maya.

"Why wouldn't I be okay with this?", Riley wants to know.

"I don't know.", Maya shrugs ever so lightly, she isn't sure, if Riley even saw this small movement. "Guess, I just got scared that you just lied to us because you were afraid of hurting me or something like that..."

"Maya.", the brunette puts her hand on Maya's shoulder. The blonde looks at her. "I didn't lie. I am happy for you and for Josh and I couldn't imagine a better boyfriend for you than my uncle.", both girls smile. "And I couldn't imagine a better girlfriend for my uncle than you.", Riley adds and gets a tight hug from her best friend.

"Thank you, Riles."

"What are friends for?", they say to each other, still hugging and holding on tight. "Anything else?"

"What, if your family doesn't want us to be together. What, if they don't accept it. Would Josh break up with me? Or maybe Cory is disappointed in us and then Josh will be feeling down because he let down his older brother and then he will definitely leave me! Oh my god, what did we get ourselfs into?! This was doomed from the start-"

"Maya!", Riley interrupts the rambling of her friend with a yelling whisper.

"What?", she whispers back, matching Riley's yelling.

"Calm down. Everything will be fine, okay? Josh likes you and you like Josh. No one is going to try and tear you apart, okay?", Riley speaks softly.

"Yeah, you're right. It's going to be fine...", she says quietly.

"See? It will be okay. Everything's going to work out just fine.", Riley states confidently.

"Famous last words, Pumpkin.", Maya mumbles to herself. "Famous last words..."

"Family visit!", Cory yells happily in the morning, as he jumps down the stairs and into the living room, where Topanga is gathering all their suitcases and bags.

"Someone's in a good mood today.", Topanga observes, as she watches her husband's bright grin.

"Yes, it's me!", he yells and raises his hand as if he's in school. Josh walks into the room a few minutes later and places his bags and a suitcase onto the couch. 

"Morning, family.", he says to them.

"Hey, Josh.", Topanga greets him friendly, remembering their conversation from the day before. It's good to see that he seems to be more relaxed now.

"Family visit!", Riley yells just like her father, as she walks into the living room, suitcase in one hand and her bag in the other.

"Is that all you're taking with you?", her mother asks.

"Nope. I have my backpack right here.", she says while turning around and almost knocking her father over with her suitcase. It's such a typical Riley-situation. That's why Josh and Topanga can't keep themselves from laughing at the two of them. 

"Where's Auggie?", Josh questions no one in particular as he looks around the room without seeing his nephew.

"Oh, he's at Ava's place. He wanted to say goodbye to her because they won't see each other in the next two weeks.", Topanga answers with a soft smile.

"Cool. Do you know when...the others come?", Josh asks quietly, seeing that Cory is talking to Riley but he's still in the same room. 

"You mean Maya?", Topanga raises her eyebrows and gives him a smirk. Josh jumps a little and lets out a nervous laugh, scratching his neck like always.

"Yeah, and also Shawn and Katy, since they're coming too.", he adds quickly, hoping to save himself but he fails.

"Hmhm.", Topanga hums sceptically at him and starts to pick up some bags. "Why don't you just text her? I'm sure, it will make her happy.", she suggests and smirks again before opening the apartment door. "Cory? I'm gonna get these into the car already.", she yells out for her husband, motioning to the bags in her hands.

"Oh yeah, I'm gonna help you.", he yells back and takes some of the suitcases, following his wife out of the door.

"Nervous?", a sudden female voice appears next to Josh. He jumps slightly and looks at his niece who's standing next to him.

"No. Why would I be nervous? Is there something to be nervous about? I wouldn't know. Only secrets make me nervous, I don't have any secrets! Don't look at me!", he ends his ramble with a yell and Riley can only laugh at her uncle. He sounds just like Maya last night.

"You two really are perfect for each other.", she mumbles to herself but it seems like Josh heard something.

"What did you say?", he whispers.

"I said that you two are perfect for each other.", Riley tells him with a soft smile. "Last night, Maya climbed into my room and rambled about being afraid of not being enough for your mother and that Cory will be disappointed in you and that you will leave her then.", Riley sums up the ramble from her friend. Josh's mouth falls open at these information and suddenly he wishes, that he could give his girlfriend a long and warm hug. 

Cory and Topanga walk through the front door again and stop as they see the look on Josh's face. "Josh? Everything okay?", his sister-in-law is the one to speak up first, walking towards him. 

"Ye-Yeah, I'm fine...really fine.", he says but more to convince himself than the others. Topanga just nods at him and grabs more bags, leaving the apartment once again. If Cory wanted to say something, he probably chose not to do it because he just turns around and continues helping his wife to load their stuff into the car.

Riley looks at her uncle with her sweetes smile and shrugs innocently, like nothing happened. "Don't worry. It will all be fine. You know how scared Maya can get when it comes to people who are important to her. She overthinks. Just like you.", Riley tells him with a soft smile that turns bigger, as she stares at the entrance. "Peaches!", she yells happily and runs up to the blonde girl that just walked into the apartment.

"Pumpkin!", Maya yells back and embraces her best friend tightly. Josh watches the two girls with a huge smile. As they break apart again, Maya walks towards him and his heart starts beating faster. "Hey, Boing.", she greets him quietly, stealing a kiss with him for almost fifteen seconds. Riley watches the hallway so she can tell them when Cory walks in but as he's still not back, Maya leans in again and Josh can't help but to do the same. This kiss is more passionate and lasts even longer than the one before.

"Gaaarrrr.", Riley lets out and Maya and Josh turn around, staring at the brunette.

"What are you doing? Are you okay?", Maya asks confused.

"It was a bird. Garrrr", Riley explains and makes that weird sound again. "Cory is coming.", she whispers in a yell at the couple, who still... well, looks like a couple with her hands in his hair and his arms around her waist. Josh is the first to let go and Maya does the same shortly after. They break apart just in time because within the next five seconds, Cory walks in, along with Topanga, Katy and Shawn. Maya had managed to take a few steps away from her boyfriend, standing next to her best friend instead, without the adults noticing it.

"Alright, the car is loaded. Shall we get on the road?", Shawn asks the three teenagers. They all nod and start to leave the apartment one by one, the adults following behind. 

"I'm gonna get Auggie.", Topanga says and hurries into the hallway. The others walk down and make their way to the car. 

"Shawn's sitting next to me!", Cory yells as soon as Topanga walks out of the apartment building with Auggie. She rolls her eyes at her husband and turns to Katy.

"My whole life.", Topanga says with a huge fake grin. Katy just chuckles at her friend and intertwines their arms. 

"Then we'll sit next to each other.", Katy states with a soft smile and Topanga returns it immediately. They enter the car along with Auggie and Cory gets into the driver's seat. Shawn flashes Maya and Josh a small reassuring smile and gets into the co-driver's seat next to Cory. Riley climbs into the seat first, then Maya and then Josh, who closes the door after he's seated. Cory is the last one to put his seat belt on and turns his head to look at the others.

"Everyone ready?", he questions. Everyone says yes and Cory starts the car, driving out of the parking lot and onto the street. He turns on the radio and starts singing along with the song. Of course, Shawn has to sing as well.

Topanga and Katy laugh at the men sitting in front of them and start talking about some funny Cory & Shawn moments, while Auggie plays a video game on his video game console. 

Riley stares out of the window and tells Maya about just everything she sees in the city. 

Josh stares at Maya with pure admiration in his eyes and intertwines their hands, hidden under their legs. Maya smiles at him and closes her eyes, feeling how tired she actually is from her late-night visit last night at Riley's. It doesn't take long until she lays her head onto Josh's shoulder.

"Sweet dreams, Ferret.", Josh whispers to his girlfriend and continues staring out of the window. 

"You got me runnin' goin' out of my mind
You got me thinkin' that I'm wastin' my time
(Don't bring me down, no no no no no)
I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor
(Don't bring me down)

You wanna stay out with your fancy friends
I'm tellin' you it's got to be the end
(Don't bring me down, no no no no no)
I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor
(Don't bring me down)"

This is going to be a long car ride.

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-four: Daughter

The car ride lasted for whole thirty minutes until Cory needed to use the toilet. Of course, they all groaned and rolled their eyes. "Cory!", his wife, Topanga, yells at him but her husband just shuts the car door and runs. "Shawn, get in the driver's seat. We'll drive without him!", she claims and makes everyone laugh.

"Yes!", Maya yells with her sleepy voice. "No more singing!", she says with a smile and Topanga and Katy turn around, smiling at the small blonde who's head is still resting on her boyfriend's shoulder. 

"How has he still not noticed anything?", Topanga asks no one in particular. Katy chuckles softly and shrugs slightly. Shawn turns around and looks at them.

"He's Cory. What do you expect?", he asks them, flashing them a smile. Topanga and Katy agree with him and turn around again.

"You two are really cute together.", Riley tells them with a smile and looks at her uncle and her best friend. Josh and Maya glance at each other before the blonde lifts her head a little, giving her boyfriend a kiss. Riley watches them with a smile and all three teenagers don't see, how the adults smile at each other too.

Finally, Cory comes back and sits down again. "Hey there, did I miss something?"

"No", "Absolutely not.", "Nope.", Whaaaat?", "No, you didn't.", everyone says at the same time. "You always do, honey.", Topanga says to her husband and Shawn turns around on an instant, looking at her with a horrified look. She just shrugs innocently and motions for Cory to continue driving. He does and the car ride continues much to everyone's relief.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine.", Josh whispers to his girlfriend, sensing how uneasy she feels.

"You always say that.", she whispers with a sly smile. He breathes out a chuckle and kisses the top of her head softly.

"Family!", Cory yells happily as he parks the car in front of the garage at his parent's house. Immediately he opens the car door and runs up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. The others get out too and start to get their suitcases and bags out of the trunk. Shawn carries his own things and Katy's, Josh is carrying his own bags and suitcase and also Maya's. She looks at him with a dreamy smile and he earns himself another kiss, after Maya has checked the area. Shawn whistles at them and shakes his head in amusement at the two teens. 

"You two are so lucky.", Topanga whispers to Katy, referring to her and Maya and nodding at Shawn and Josh. "I mean it, I have to carry my bags on my own.", she adds with an eyeroll towards her husband, who's bouncing up and down in excitement. Katy lets out a chuckle and touches her friend's shoulder lightly.

"I do too, mum.", Riley says annoyed and walks up to the house, Auggie following behind. Now Katy laughs even more and walks towards the house too, Shawn walking right next to her. Topanga huffs out a laugh and follows her friends. Josh and Maya stop looking at each other and go too, walking into the Matthews' house.

"Josh!!", Amy shrieks happily and runs up to her youngest child, hugging him tightly. 

"Hey, mum.", he breathes out. "Good to see you too.", he says with a small smile. She lets go of him and pats his head, then turns to Maya.

"Hey, Maya.", she greets her softly and pats her head too. 

"Hello, Mrs. Matthews.", Maya says politely. 

"Oh, please. Call me Amy.", she corrects the small blonde and Josh flashes a smile towards his girlfriend. "We're family here.", she looks at the other people standing in the living room and they all smile warmly at her. "It's like you're my grandchild."

The corner of Maya's mouth fall down on an instant while Josh's grin freezes and the boy doesn't move. Shawn's eyes widen and he lets go of the bag he was still holding in his hands, Topanga and Katy look at Maya and Josh, then at each other and mumble a quiet "Oh oh." Only Cory is still smiling happily and walks over to them, side-hugging Maya.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, mum. Sometimes it feels like Maya is my daughter.", Cory says proudly and Maya swallows hard. Josh is still frozen in place, he doesn't even breathe. Topanga's mouth opens, her jaw almost hitting the floor, Shawn looks like he's about to faint and Katy catches him just in time before he falls down onto the floor. "Maya? You' okay there?", Cory pats her back and the blonde looks up at him, doing her very best to fake a smile. 

"I've never been better.", she lies through gritted teeth, feeling how her fake smile is hurting her cheeks. Silence fills the room, no one knowing what to make out of this situation. It feels pretty arkward now to be in this room, only Amy and Cory not knowing what's going on. 

Alan walks back into the house, Riley and two other people following behind. "Look, who I've found in the backyard!", Riley yells happily and throws her hands into the air. Everyone looks at the new people entering this arkward situation. Everyone is still being silent, just staring at the four new people. Riley takes her arms back down and looks around. "Did I miss something?", she asks with her innocent, brown eyes. Her eyes wander around until they stay at Maya. Her best friend looks kinda pale, like she just saw a ghost.

"Family!", Cory yells, trying to change the subject, as he walks to his older brother Eric and his younger sister Morgan, hugging them tightly. The others follow and hug each other, Riley stops Maya as she's about to follow Josh. The brunette pulls her best friend aside. 

"What is going on, Maya?", she wants to know. Maya avoids eye contact and tries to look past Riley, watching how the others greet each other and how her boyfriend is tied into a conversation with his siblings. "Maya. What happened?", Riley demands. 

"Bay window?", the blonde asks weakly. Riley nods immediately.

"Bay window right now.", she takes Maya's hand and drags her upstairs, walking the both of them into the room they'll be staying in while being here. They have an almost bay window in their room and sit down, still holding hands. "So. Talk.", Riley says softly.

"Your grandma said, that I'm like her grandchild.", Maya says quietly. Riley doesn't seem to understand the problem. 

"I don't get it. I mean, these are great news. It means you're part of our family.", the brunette explains.

"Your father said, that sometimes I'm like a daughter to him.", the blonde continues but Riley still doesn't get it. "Riley, I'm with Josh.", the brunette nods slowly.

"I know."

"Josh is Amy's son and Cory's brother.", Maya explains further. Again, Riley nods. "If I'm like a grandchild to Amy, in her eyes it would look like her grandchild is dating her son.", Maya says and Riley's eyes widen, finally understanding the problem. "And if I'm like a daughter to Cory...-"

"It would look like his daughter is dating his brother in his eyes.", Riley finishes the sentence, looking horrified. "Oh my god...", she mumbles to herself. "I'm so sorry, Maya.", she embraces her friend and they stay at the bay window for quite some time, just hugging each other.

Like always, it just doesn't work for Maya.

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-five: His name is Josh.

Maya decided to just let it go for now, which is why she has been pretty quiet for the rest of the day. Right now, Amy is preparing dinner for everyone with the help from Topanga and Katy because they insisted on helping. Cory, Shawn and Josh offered to get the dinner table ready while Eric wanted to get some beer for them. Riley and Maya are seated in the living room, chilling on the couch. Auggie wanted to to stay in the kitchen.

"It's gonna be fine, Maya.", Riley says once again. Maya just shakes her head at her friend.

"Stop saying this, Riles. I already told you that I don't want to talk about this anymore. I just want to enjoy this family trip as much as I can.", the blonde says with a certain sadness in her voice.

"Peaches. You can't avoid this topic that long. I'm pretty sure that Josh wants to talk with you about it too.", the brunette says quietly. "After all, you two wanted to use this trip so you could tell his family, that you two are together.", Riley reminds her best friend. Maya rolls her eyes at that and sighs deeply.

"Just stop, Riley.", Maya says annoyed. "I just won't talk to him."

"Maya!", Riley hisses at her. "You can't do that. Avoiding is not the answer.", the brunette says sternly and can't believe her friend right now.

"Oh yeah? Watch me.", the blonde whispers as her boyfriend approaches the couch both girls are sitting on. Riley sees him first and glances at her friend before looking away. 

"Hey, ladies.", Josh greets his niece and girlfriend and can tell immediately, that they had an argument. 

"Hey, uncle Josh.", Riley says with a small smile. 

"Hey, Boing.", Maya says with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. Josh can tell that something's off. 

"Everything alright here?", he asks them friendly. Maya looks straight forward, not looking at her boyfriend or at her best friend. Riley shoots her uncle a look that tells him everything he needs to know, so he just clears his throat and nods at his niece. The brunette takes the hint and stands up, Maya looks at her on an instant.

"Where' you goin'?", she wants to know. 

"I'm just gonna go, check on them in the kitchen.", she makes up an excuse real quick and practically runs out of the living room. Maya sighs, kowing exactly what her friend just did. Josh walks past Maya and sits down next to her, looking at her as he sits down. 

"Can-"

"No, we can't talk.", Maya interrupts him, already knowing what he's going to ask her. 

"Maya.", he breathes out. 

"No, Josh.", she stands up and walks away. Josh stares after her, sighing heavily. 

As Maya walks into the kitchen, Riley can tell what happened and she can't say that she's pleased with it. So the brunette pulls her friend aside since the others are occupied with the food. "Maya, you can't avoid it forever.", Riley tells her. 

"I can try.", the blonde insists and walks away once again. "Can I help?", she asks Topanga, who's cutting some onions. The woman nods with a smile.

"If you want, that would be wonderful.", she says while wiping away some tears. Riley watches how her best friend avoids this topic, knowing very well that she has to face it sooner or later. 

"I can read your thoughts, honey.", Maya whispers as she walks past her friend. "And let me tell ya, it's rather later than sooner."

As Amy calls everyone for family dinner, they all gather around and sit down. Amy and Alan sit down next to each other, next to Alan there's Eric, then Morgan. Topanga sits next to Amy, then Cory, next to him Shawn and Katy. Maya sits next to her mother and then Riley. Josh sits in-between Riley and his sister Morgan but he glances at his girlfriend at every chance he gets. Of course, Riley notices and she feels really sorry for her uncle. 

The dinner goes pretty good until Amy decides to ask her granddaughter about her boyfriend. "So, Riley.", she speaks up and the girl in question raises her head. "How's this little boyfriend of yours?", she asks her. Riley's face goes blank and her parents look at her, worried. Maya lets down her cutlery slowly, never looking away from her best friend. 

"Oh yeah, that cowboy dude, right?", Eric asks suddenly, vaguely remembering Lucas. 

The break-up is still pretty fresh and Riley hasn't talked about it since a week. "Uhm, we actually broke up, grandma.", Riley says quietly, playing with her food a little. Now it's Amy's turn to go pale. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry dear.", she apologizes. 

"It's okay. You didn't know.", the brunette says, smiling slightly. Everyone exchanges some looks at the sudden change of the atmosphere, trying to figure out what to do next. Amy wants to ease the tension but she just makes it worse.

"Uhm, well, Maya.", she turns to the blonde. "What about you? You got a boyfriend yet?", she asks with a cheeky smile. Shawn facepalms himself, while Katy chokes on her water just like Topanga. Cory almost falls off his chair and gets weird looks from his sister Morgan while Eric laughs at him. Alan looks at his children and just shakes his head with an amused smile. Riley turns to her friend, who's frozen in place. Maya doesn't really know, if she should just say yes and move on, so she glances at Josh nervously, who's already looking at her. He shrugs slightly and Maya decides, to be honest. 

"I do, actually.", she nods a few times and almost laughs at the looks she gets from the adults. 

"Oh, boy.", Topanga mumbles under her breath, not knowing what's going to happen next. 

"Uh, what's his name?", Amy presses and Maya had really hoped, that she wouldn't get this question. Josh shoots her a terrified look and is even more scared, as Maya starts smiling at everyone. 

He knows that smile and it's never good.

"Well, you see...", she starts, smiling brightly. "His name is Josh.", she says and hears a few gasps. One right next to her. It's Riley. 

"Maya.", she hisses at her quietly. 

"What? His name is Josh. What's so special about it?", she shrugs innocently and catches Shawn's knowing look out of the corner of her eyes. 

"Well, that certainly is a funny coincidence.", Amy laughs slightly.

"How come?", Maya tilts her head. 

"Well, I mean... I have a son called Josh.", she points at Josh who's face is as red as a tomato and Maya just chuckles along with Amy. 

"Oh, yeah. Right. Josh.", Maya nods with every word she says. Eric laughs a little while Morgan can't stop the smile that's breaking through. Amy doesn't even contemplate that Maya could be talking about Joshua Matthews, Amy's son, which is just another sign that she wouldn't be happy with Josh and Maya being together.

If she only knew...

"So...", Amy starts again, still not letting this topic go. "Is he from your school?", she wants to know. Maya feels like she's at the police station again, with all these questions she needs to answer. 

"Nope.", Maya says quickly, continuing with her food and silently hoping, that Amy will finally let this boyfriend-thing go. Sadly, she doesn't.

"How do you two know each other then?", she presses and Maya feels like everyone who's sitting at this table can feel how tense she feels right now. Josh puts his face in his hands, trying to calm down. He knows, that Maya is pretty fierce and all but sometimes, she's not really in control of her emotions and says things, she shouldn't say. 

"He lives in New York too.", is all Maya gives. Shawn sends her a quick smile while Katy worries about this situation, already seeing that it won't end well. 

"Oh, that's awesome. What does he do?", another question comes and Maya knows that she can't really keep it together much longer. 

"Uh, Mrs. Matthews, I think that's enough, don't you think?", Topanga chims in, trying to save the helpless teenager girl. 

"Yeah, honey, this feels more like an interrogation than a family dinner.", Alan agrees with Topanga. Everyone except for Amy nods.

"Pf, fine.", she lets out annoyed and looks at Maya. The blonde girl feels really uncomfortable now and kinda sorry but otherwise, it isn't her fault that Amy can't keep her mouth shut. "Okay, how about Josh?", she suddenly says. "Found a girlfriend in New York?", she asks him with much curiosity in her voice and in her face. Josh sighs deeply and looks at his mother. 

He really loves his mother but sometimes she's just too much for him. 

"Uh...", Josh stutters, not knowing, if he could play this game just like Maya did a minute ago. The blonde is staring at him right now just like everyone else.

This is the most arkward family dinner he has ever had and he had some pretty messed up family meetings already. This is really something. 

"Please, mom. It's Josh we're talking about here. When has he ever had a girlfriend?", Eric asks jokingly and points at his youngest sibling.

"Yeah. Josh never had one. Have you ever seen him flirt? It's terrible.", Morgan chims in, laughing right after she's done talking. She and Eric fist pump and look at their youngest brother with huge grins. 

"Yeah, thanks guys. Really funny.", Josh says with lots of sarcasm, laughing along with them. Maya feels really relieved and silently thanks Eric and Morgan for making fun of Josh because it really saved them. 

"Oh, come on. Stop making fun of him.", Amy whines and it just makes the adults laugh even more. 

The dinner goes on without any more relationship questions and Maya finds herself being very thankful as the dinner ends.

Still, she knows that she has to talk to her boyfriend. Maya tells herself that it can wait. 

Can it though?

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-six: The Most Beautiful Mess.

It's getting late as the family steps out into the backyard of the Matthews' house. Amy and Alan sit down along with Topanga and Katy and start some conversations about how New York is treating the two women. 

"You can't catch me.", Cory yells out suddenly and starts running away.

"Is he serious right now?", Eric questions annoyed. "We just had dinner.", he points out, watching his younger brother still running through the backyard. Shawn chuckles softly before looking at Eric. 

"It's Cory.", he says. "What else do you need to know?", he yells out before he starts running after his childhood best friend and catching him after like five seconds. Eric laughs at that and runs up to them quickly but before he can reach them, they start to run again and Eric runs after them while laughing. 

Katy and Topanga are laughing too, not believing that these men are supposed to be adults. "They're never gonna change, are they?", Topanga asks with a smile towards her husband. 

"I don't think so.", Katy shakes her head while watching her boyfriend with a content smile playing on her lips. Alan just shakes his head at them while smiling and Amy watches them with a grin.

Riley sits down next to her mother and turns, after she notices that Maya doesn't sit down as well.

"Maya? Don't you wanna sit?", the brunette asks her friend. The blonde just shakes her head. 

"Not really.", she adds quietly and walks away, suddenly being very interested in the huge flower field she spots at the corner of the garden. Riley watches her friend and sighs slightly, feeling like this trip isn't going as it should be, at all.

Josh watches his brothers and Shawn catching each other and laughs at them before his eyes shift to a blonde girl, walking through the flower field he used to love as a child. His eyes stay there for a while, enjoying this beautiful view.

He's not only thinking about the flowers though.

Maya admires them and sometimes, she'd kneel down so she could take a better look at them. It brings a smile to Josh's face, watching how his girlfriend admires some of the lilies in white-blue. For a second he considers approaching her but then he stops himself. His parents are right there so he decides to get himself a glass of water, maybe that will calm him down.

He knows that he should be mad at Maya, he really should be...

But he can't bring himself to be mad at her.

How could he when he just has to take one look at her gorgeous face and everything's blank in his mind. She's so precious and cute, someone he really wants to protect from all the bad things in the world, also knowing that he can't do that. She has been hurt so much already and he really doesn't want to be one of these things who did hurt her.

Josh is so lost in his thoughts, that he doesn't notice someone approaching him in the kitchen.

"Quite a show your girlfriend performed at the dinner.", a female voice says with a smirk. 

"Yeah, she did.", he says without even thinking about it. All of the sudden he recognizes the female voice and makes a sharp turn with his whole body, facing the woman in front of him with a satisfied smirk plastered to her face. "Morgan.", Josh chokes, realizing the mistake he had just make. 

"Hey, little brother.", she greets him with a wicked smile. 

"How... How do you know? Did somebody tell you?", he panicks right there. His sister just laughs, letting the loud sound fill the whole house. 

"Please, I'm not blind.", she says as if it's obvious. "No one had to tell me. I saw it myself.", she explains further, loving the confused yet shocked look on her brother's face.

"How? When did you...?", he can't even form a reasonable sentence in his mind.

"Well... it took some time but... I noticed it during our very, very interesting family dinner. I think, that Maya did a great job by the way. It was hilarious. I so love that girl.", Morgan says and pretends to wipe away some tears. Josh is still frozen in place. "You should bring her along with you more often. She's a great addition to our family.", his older sister adds with a soft smile. 

"Thanks...", he drifts off, scratching his neck nervously.

"So... How's it going?", she asks, leaving her fun-mode and switching to her serious-sister-mode. Josh can only let out a breathy chuckle.

"I don't know, if I'm being honest.", he says quietly, taking a look out of the window, seeing Maya still admiring the flowers. Morgan follows his gaze with a soft smile and it only grows bigger, as she sees what he's staring at.

"You should figure it out then.", he looks at her. "She's amazing, Josh. Don't take her for granted.", Morgan threathens him only half-jokingly. 

"So Mayala, hmhmhm?", a new male voice rings right through Josh's ears and makes him jump to the side, holding a hand above his heart and letting out a yell. Morgan laughs at his reaction and points at him.

"That was good.", she says in-between her laughter. Josh glares at her while Eric laughs along.

"Awesome choice there, Joshy.", Eric says happily, referring to Maya with a smile. Josh nods slightly.

"I know.", he says and almost laughs at his sister's aww. "So you know too?", Josh asks his older brother, Eric, who nods like ten times. "How?", Eric shrugs.

"It wasn't that hard. I mean, why do you think Morgan and I started joking about your love-life at dinner as maaa kept asking, if you have a girlfriend?", Eric asks Josh, staring into his eyes with a hint of a smile on his face. Morgan smiles too, nodding at Josh.

"You guys saved me.", Josh observes with a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much.", he hugs his older siblings quickly.

"Of course. We're here, if you need us.", Morgan assures him with a soft smile.

"We are?", Eric questions confused and earns himself a smack from his sister. Josh just laughs at them.

"Well, that was a lovely conversation. I'm gonna head outside again, wanna come?", Morgan heads towards the door, turning around to ask her siblings. 

"Ahh, no thanks. I'm gonna stay here a little bit.", Josh replies and goes back to the kitchen counter to grab his glass of water. Eric just shakes his head, watching how Morgan nods and heads outside. 

"So... Malaya?", Eric teases his little brother. 

"Her name is Maya.", Josh corrects him.

"Yeah, whatever. I really like her.", Eric shrugs and takes a look outside, seeing the girl in question still admiring the huge amount of flowers and being completely captivated by them. 

"I do too.", Josh replies sheepishly and Eric can't help but to laugh at that.

"You know that maaa is going to kill you, once she finds out about the two of you?", Eric asks. He's not joking, not even in the slightest. Still, knowing it's completely true, won't stop Josh from hoping that it isn't, even though that won't get him anywhere.

"I know, thanks for reminding me.", he huffs out, trying to be funny but he can't bring himself to laugh. Eric manages a smirk but it fades away quickly. 

"Look, it's gonna be fine. I know maaa is... intense sometimes but she'll get used to it, once she sees how happy you two make each other. This trip is the perfect chance to show her, you know.", Eric says, trying to help his youngest sibling.

"Yeah, I guess you're right.", Josh admits. "Hey, uh, one question.", Eric hums in response, indicating that Josh can ask his question. "How exactly did maaa react as she found out about Cory and Topanga?", Josh asks, letting the panic show in his voice. Eric shifts from feet to feet for quite some time, staring at the ground.

"She wasn't happy. At all.", he starts quietly, looking outside the window and watching Topanga and Amy tied into a conversation that even included some laughters here and there. "It's a miracle these two get along today, seriously.", he continues. "At first, Maaa hated Topanga and I mean it when I say it.", he tells Josh who looks pretty scared now. "Maaa believed that Cory would deserve better than her, someone who's really going to be successful in her life. Maaa strongly believed, that Topanga wouldn't get anywhere in life, that she'd be useless and pretty much not worthy enough to be with her son."

"That's awful.", Josh says quietly, being shocked at the thoughts his mother had about Cory's wife as they were at his age.

"Maaa thought highly of Cory and just wanted the best for him, which was never the best, ever.", at that, Josh cracks a small smile. "Topanga still did her very best because she just wanted to be accepted by her but she never got it, no matter how hard she tried. As she decided to leave her college for law school, it was pretty much everyone who thought, there's no chance in hell for her still being accepted by Amy Matthews. To her, people who quit school are losers and won't get anywhere in life, ever. It was pretty awful.", Eric says. 

"Then how was she okay with Shawn being Cory's best friend?", he asks confused. Not, that Shawn ever quit school but there were many times, where he damn sure wanted to and almost did. He didn't want to apply to college either, believing he doesn't belong there. 

"She wasn't always. Sometimes she even yelled at Cory because he refused to end his friendship with Shawn. Maaa thought that Shawn wasn't a good influence, thought he'd turn Cory into a troublemaker too, ya know?", Josh can only nod. "She'll lose her mind, if you tell her you're dating Mayala.", Josh fights the urge to roll his eyes. 

"Why do you think that is?"

"Maya is just like Topanga.", Eric shrugs slightly with a grin and nods at the blonde girl still being outside. Josh turns around, looking at her too. "Her life may be pretty messed up but she's still an amazing girl and even better for you, Josh."

"I know.", Josh nods a few times.

"You know what Cory told me and Shawn about Topanga once?", he asks grinning. Josh shakes his head.

"Not exactly. He said a lot of things.", the brothers share a few laughs.

"True, true.", Eric says. "Wanna know?", Josh nods, being curious at what his brother is going to say.

"Of course."

"She's the most beautiful mess you'll ever meet."

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-seven: "Stay or Leave."

Well, shit. These two words are echoing through Josh's mind since his talk with his older brother, Eric, last night. He just can't get the things he had said out of his head. Josh already noticed that Maya is pretty much a young version of Topanga, a little different but there are a lot of similarities between these two woman, everyone notices that. 

'She's the most beautiful mess you'll ever meet.'

This has to be one of Josh's favourite sentences he has ever heard out of his brother's mouth, even though originally Cory said this. It fits very well, Josh has to admit that. 

He still doesn't know what to do about their current situation. They're kinda trapped but know the way out of this cage, they just need to find the courage to finally fucking do it and Josh doesn't feel like he's anywhere near that. Still, it needs to be done so he can avoid another arkward family dinner or even worse than that (because he's sure his family'd manage to make it even more uncomfortable at this point). 

He hasn't slept at all last night, trying to find a way to approach his girlfriend instead. In the morning he didn't see her because she and Riley slept longer and missed breakfast. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing though considering the knowing smiles he got from his sister Morgan during breakfast this morning. He only glared at her whenever he got the chance to do so.

At some point, it might have been 1 or 2 PM, Maya and Riley finally made an appearance and stumbled into the living room. The brunette had greeted them with a sleepy smile while Maya just growled a morning and skipped into the kitchen, preparing food for herself and almost dropping all the ingredients onto the floor, if Riley wouldn't have catched the blonde's arm just in time to prevent any further mess. 

It was now dark outside and the family found themselves in the backyard once again, split into small groups and  making conversation. Of course, Shawn and Cory shared a conversation with Eric while Morgan talked to Topanga and Katy with a huge smile plastered to her face. Josh's parents were seated on the huge white swing that has been there for years already, slowly swinging back and forth, watching and smiling at their children fondly. Josh finds himself in the entrance of the door, seeing Riley and Auggie walking through the flower field with content smiles on their lips and talking about Auggie's current favourite video game.  

It took him some time to realize that Maya wasn't with them. He looked around once more, trying to find the blond waves in-between all this green but failed at doing so. She isn't there. Josh let out a breathy sigh and turned around, walking back into the house without his family noticing his absence and, apparently, Maya's as well. He looked everywhere on the first floor but couldn't seem to find her so he decided to look for her in her room. Approaching the staircase slowly, he tries to figure out what he should say to her, once he'd find her somewhere in the house. He felt utterly ridiculous to even think about how he should approach his own girlfriend.

The door of her and Riley's room for the time being here was slightly open, letting some light irradiate into the dark hallway because he didn't bother turning the lights on. She would have noticed and probably tried to escape before he could talk to her. Nervousness creeps up as he stands right in front of the door, peaking into the room and seeing the blonde's head at the bay window, looking down onto her sketchbook in her hands. She must have sensed someone at the door because her head shoots up on an instant, wide-eyed staring at the door. 

"Hey.", he says softly, trying not to think about the slight stutter she must have heard in his voice. Maya looks down into her lap and closes the sketchbook carefully, placing it down beside her. 

"Hey.", she says quietly, tugging some blond strains behind her ear, trying to get a better view.

"Can I come in?", it feels weird asking her this but they really need to talk and he doesn't want her to run away again. His girlfriend nods, attempting a slight smile but the corners of her mouth move only slightly upwards. Josh closes the door behind him just in case another family member walks back into the house. Maya starts to fiddle with her fingers as Josh walks over to her and sits down beside her, leaving only a little amount of space between them. Maya takes a quick glance at him, only moving her eyes and immediately regretting it, as she's greeted with the side of his blue eyes already staring at her. "Maya, I'm sorry.", he says quietly and her head snaps up, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. Silence falls over the couple, neither saying something, only staring at each other. It's like something inside of Maya's mind snapped as she stands up suddenly, running out of the room, completely ignoring Josh's voice yelling her name, begging her to come back.

She races down the stairs, not really knowing where she could go. The whole Matthews Family is outside, if she joins them they'll see something is wrong with her. She panicks, her breath becomes uneven, her heart races fast, feeling how it pounds against her ribcage and hearing it loud and clear in her ears. Her head lands in her hands, trying to find some sort of calm in the darkness her hands offer her now. The sound of her pounding heart invades her ears, preventing her from hearing Josh coming down the stairs as well. On the last step he stops in his tracks, seeing his girlfriend pacing back and forth in the living room and almost tripping over her own feet. 

"No, no, no.", she mumbles with every step she takes, letting her hands run through her long blond waves, an attempt to calm herself down but failing miserably.

"Maya.", his voice. She stops on an instant, not daring to look up at him. His voice sounds so near yet so distant at the same time. Hearing him gets her heart to beat even faster than before, it's the only thing Maya can concentrate on right now. Tears are at the corner of her eyes, ready to stream down her cheeks and it surprises her that they haven't already. "Maya, what happened?", his voice again. She grips a fistful of her hair, feeling the sharp pain while doing so. 

"How could you apologize to me?", she chokes out, almost breathless. If he wasn't already confused, Josh would be by now. It doesn't make any sense to him as to why Maya would react this way, nothing makes sense to him anymore. 

"What?", he matches her quiet tone, sounding breathless himself. "Maya, what the hell are you talking about?", he clarifies, not knowing what she wants right now or... ever.

"Why would you... How could you apologize when you didn't do anything wrong?", she asks, sounging angry. "I am the one who messed up everything! I'm still messing everything up! And there you are, apologizing because you think it's your fault and I didn't do anything to make this so complicated, when in reality, it's all my fault!", she raises her voice and never leaves his gaze, her blue eyes getting completely drowned in tears. Her vision is blurry, so she looks away, putting her arms around herself for comfort that doesn't come. 

"Maya-"

"No, Josh.", she interrupts him quickly, raising her hand slightly. "Don't speak, if you're just gonna take the blame on yourself.", she whispers, avoiding his gaze because she knows it still lingers on her. He just stares at her, hating that she's right. So he stays silent, letting her know that she can see through him. "See? I was right.", his eyes leave her as she lets out a humourless chuckle. "Josh, what are we doing?", her arms fall down to her sides in frustration and she finally looks at him again. "I mean... We... Ugh.", she gets even more frustrated and her voice gets louder. "This is so wrong.", she mumbles but Josh can still hear her words, feeling the anger rising in his veins. 

"What is wrong?", his head turns to her, the anger in his eyes burning right into her soul, seeing how she winces at his tone. Right, yelling isn't good in her presence.

"What's happening right now, that is wrong. You apologized to me, even though you didn't do anything and expect me to be okay with that! Why did you? Why are you doing this? Do you think that I don't know this is my fault? That I don't know, how I completely messed this up by ignoring you when you just wanted to talk about it, how I completely embarrassed myself at the dinner where I felt like I needed to play this stupid game, giving away just everything?!", she yells at him and he's sure, the others could hear their argument by now but he can't say anything to her, knowing that she's finally opening up to him, something she rarely does to anybody. "I know I'm complicated, I'm not an easy person to understand or to please even though it's enough for me, if people just stay, are there for me and don't leave at the first chance they get to go, to just walk out of my life, pretending I don't exist and never did.", with every word her voice gets louder, her face turns more red and more tears stream down her cheeks, he can't tell, if these are tears of sadness or anger, probably both. "I'm used to people running away when I show them who I really am as a person and how defensive I get when things get rough. I'm just trying to protect myself because I can't stand it anymore to be the one who gets left."

"So you leave them first.", Josh says quietly, finally understanding the meaning behind her behaviour towards him. Maya's eyes widen for what feels like the tenth' time today, her tears stop, everything just stops. He knows it now. He figured it out. He figured her out. Maya starts to shake her head, taking a few steps back but Josh walks after her. "Maya, it's okay. I understand now.", she folds her arms in front of her chest, gripping on her sleeves tightly and feeling her knuckles hurting due to the tight grip. "It actually makes sense. I'm an idiot for not realizing it earlier. Now you had to stain your pretty face with tears. I'm sorry, Ferret.", he sends her a small smile and Maya can't help but to let her heart race at his cuteness. 

She smiles too and runs up to him, hugging his waist and nuzzling her head into his chest, desperate for some comfort she can't provide for herself anymore. Josh chuckles softly and places his arms around her, letting her know that he'll keep her safe while stroking her head, feeling the softness of her hair beneath his fingers.

"Do you think we moved too fast?", Maya's muffled voice breaks the comfortable silence that had washed over them but before he could answer, someone else felt the need to say something.

"Moved too fast with what?", the stern voice of Amy Matthews rings through the living room, causing Maya to wince and to lift her head, turning it and staring at Josh's mother with fear in her eyes. Well, this trip just keeps getting better and better; Maya thinks, hating how bitter her inner voice sounds. 

This won't end good.

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-eight: Stay or Leave (Part II)

Fuck. It doesn't seem like there's another word coming to Josh's mind right now. Just fuck, fuck, fuck. 

He's staring at his whole family and they're staring back but they all show a different kind of reaction towards this scene in front of them - his mother looks furious, his father is observing the scene with pure confusion, Cory presses his lips together, Topanga smiles sadly at Josh and Maya, Eric's mouth hangs open in wide shock, Morgan smiles and keeps herself from laughing, Shawn's eyes are wide just like Katy's, Riley lets out a shriek and Auggie just stares at the young couple, not understanding a single thing that's happening. 

Usually, Maya is thankful for silence but this kind of silence is her least favourite and she really wishes she could just disappear, to escape this weird situation she really doesn't want to be in. Her eyes can't look away from the hatred look in Amy Matthew's eyes, even though she can feel every single pair of eyes on her and her boyfriend, it seems like Amy's eyes are the only one's who look really pissed at what they see. 

Amy raises an eyebrow at her son, silently repeating her question. Maya can feel the discomforting feeling Josh must be feeling right now, she feels it herself. 

"Josh.", the stern voice of Josh's mother makes them both jump since it was silent until now. The boy in question has is arms still wrapped around the small blonde girl, just like her arms are still wrapped around his middle. Both don't seem to let go of each other, suddenly feeling like they won't be able to for a long time now. "Answer me.", Amy says through gritted teeth, completely ignoring the fear in Maya's eyes and the whispered mom from her children behind her.

Josh certainly feels like there's no air to breathe anymore, his heart pounding loudly, knowing that Maya can feel it too since her head is still leaned against his chest, ringing in both their ears. He still doesn't say anything, not knowing how or what to say. His mother sighs deeply and takes a few steps towards them, breaking eye contact with her son, letting her eyes stay on Maya instead, who desperetaly tries to avoid the burning stare that lingers on her.

"Maya. Why on earth are you and my son this close? I though you have a boyfriend.", Amy says, her voice not giving away any emotion. "With what did you move too fast? What is going on here? I demand an answer right now!", she ends with a yell at the small girl who winces in response. Josh's grip around his girlfriend tightens, anger rushing into his veins suddenly. No one talks to his girl like that, not even his mother, especially not his mother.

"Don't ever talk to her like that ever again.", his voice shocks Maya. He sounds just like that one night at the college party, where he defended her too, only this time there's even more emotion behind his voice. Maya can't quite make out which emotion it is though, since she can hear so many different feelings leaving his lungs.

"What did you just say?", his mother says, matching his tone. The only difference is that she sounds a little scared. Probably because Josh has never talked to his own mother that way. A few gasps appear behind Amy Matthews but Maya doesn't know who gasped at there conversation. She's too focused on Mrs. Matthews.

"You heard me, mum. Don't talk to my girl like that ever again.", his grip around the small blonde tightens even more and Maya can't even appreciate the fact, that he just called her his in front of his entire family. She's stunned. The look on Amy's face after her son's statement is truly spine-chilling, something Maya has never seen or felt before and never wants to again. 

"Your girl?", Amy repeats in disgust, letting everyone know how nauseated she feels by that. "Josh...", she sighs deeply and moves forward towards her youngest child, a worried yet hatred look in her eyes and it takes everything Josh has right now to keep himself from just walking away and taking Maya with him. "Whatever this is.", she gestures between him and the blonde in his arms. "It's not going to last. You see, this feels like something from the past repeats itself all over again.", she takes a moment to glance back at Cory and Topanga, holding each other tight. "I still don't get how this lasted but oh well, whatever."

"Mother.", Cory's stern voice forces her to look back at her son. "I thought we've let that in the past, where it belongs. Don't bring it up again.", he says, keeping his voice low. Amy Matthews scoffs slightly but nevertheless turns around again. Cory has had enough from this, so he walks forward, getting a reassuring smile from his family as he's doing so. "Mum. Don't you think you should just let it go?", he asks in a soft tone. Alan places himself next to his wife and looks at her but she refuses to look at him. 

"Our son's right, honey.", Alan agrees with Cory. "We've already been through all of this and look at them now.", he glances at Cory, then at Topanga with a smile. "They're happy and a family.", he then glances at Riley and Auggie with an even bigger smile. "Our family.", Alan says softly and looks back at his wife. He can't exactly tell how she's feeling, it's a facial expression he has never seen before and it's quite terrifying. 

"Don't you see what's happening? It's the same thing as with these two all those years ago!", Amy raises her voice and points at Cory and Topanga. "I wasn't happy with these two and look at what we got here now!", now she's pointing at Josh and Maya. "She's just like her, even worse!"

"Mother!", Cory and Josh yell at the same time, not letting her insult Maya or Topanga. The woman in question seems to be taken back at the sudden outburst, Topanga thought that Amy finally had accepted her - it's not as hurting as she thought it'd be but it still hurts. Maya just shakes her head slightly, pushing away Josh's pair of arms around her and turns away, walking towards the front door.

"Maya, where are you going?!", Josh runs after her and barely hears his family yelling at each other behind him;

"Mum, why are you doing this?!", Cory asks with hurt in his voice.

"Amy, you really need to calm down. Look at what you've done to this poor girl.", Alan argues, a flash of anger in his otherwise kind eyes.

"I won't let you talk about my daughter like that!", Katy throws in angrily. 

The yelling continues but Josh has only one mission for now - keeping Maya. 

"Ferret, wait!", he yells after her. She has opened the front door and walks out onto the porch, not caring one bit about the cold night air piercing through her thin sweater and her thin leggings.

"No, Josh.", she says, surprising him with her calm and quiet voice. He would have expected her to yell at him, to completely lose it. "This is exactly what I was so scared of.", she says, avoiding eye contact. "Now, you're family is in there, arguing back and forth about us and it's all my fault.", she takes a deep breath. "I didn't want this. Now you have to choose between me and them and I think it's pretty clear how you'll decide.", she laughs but with such sadness that Josh feels like crying. This isn't what he had wanted either but as usual, everything exploded at once and now they have to live through the aftermath - no matter what. 

"Maya, please. Just listen to me.", he walks forward until he's standing in front of her. She hasn't fully turned around to him but as he's standing so close, she meets his gaze and holds it as much as her blurred vision lets her. "I would never want to choose. These people are my family, forever, and if they or at least my mum can't accept the person who has my heart-", at that, Maya exhales deeply and her cheeks become even more red, not just because of the cold air. "-then she isn't my mother.", he finishes as he slowly strokes her cheeks with his hands.

"Don't say that.", her voice is just above a whisper as he dips his head, stealing himself a small kiss. 

"It's just the truth.", he whispers back, kissing her again, more intense this time. Maya kisses him back, feeling how the tension slowly leaves her body as she realizes how much she has missed him. She knows that it's her fault but for now she's just happy to kiss him again. His arms drive down her arms and settling onto her waist, keeping her close and giving her warmth. Her hands hold his face, not letting him go and deepening the kiss by pulling him even closer.

"No!", a female voice yells, causing Maya and Josh to break their kiss as they jump at the sudden sound. Once again they're facing an angry Amy Matthews. She walks up to them before Cory and Eric can stop her. Riley shuffles herself through her father and uncle, staring at her best friend as she struggles to get away from Mrs. Matthews.

"Mom!", Josh yells as his grip around his girlfriend tightens once again - he won't let her go.

Not this time.

Not ever again. 

"Josh! Let her go!", Amy yells back, trying to reach for Maya again but Josh takes a few steps backwards, taking Maya with him in his arms. 

"That's enough!", it's Shawn's voice ringing through everyone's ears as he runs forward, putting distance between Amy and Maya by stepping in-between them. Cory and Eric are quick to follow while Topanga is trying to comfort Katy who just feels sorry for her daughter, Morgan has her arm around Riley's shoulders and with her other arm, she's trying to keep Auggie away from the scene. 

"I've had enough of this.", Maya hears Josh's angry voice mumbling next to her ear and before she can even ask, what he wants to do, he's running. He's running with her in his arms, down the stairs of the porch and through the front yard, not caring one bit about the others. 

"Josh!", they hear several voices yelling but he doesn't stop. Not until they stand in front of his father's car parked in the driveway a few feet away from the house. Josh lets his girlfriend down onto the ground again and his hands immediately begin searching for something in his jeans pockets. 

"Josh, what are you doing?!", Maya questions him with anger hidden behind her concern. He doesn't answer her. Instead, he continues to go through his pockets of his jacket and finally discovers what he's been looking for. The blonde's eyes widen as her eyes land on the car keys her boyfriend's holding in his hands, fiddling with them nervously as he opens the car and walks towards the door of the driver's seat.  "Josh, have you lost your mind?!", Maya hisses at him. All he does is to look at her with his big blue eyes.

"I have but I can't stay here right now, not like this. Either you stay or leave. I want you to come with me, Maya. So we can be with each other for a few more hours, please.", he begs her, walking towards her again and kissing her quickly. "You want that too, don't you?", he glances over his shoulder, seeing as his two brothers approach them. Back at the porch, Alan is trying to prevent Amy from running over. Josh turns back his head, focusing his attention on his girlfriend again. "Stay or leave?", he questions with pleading eyes. Maya's lower lip is quivering, she isn't certain, if it's from the cold or because the tears in her eyes are threatening to leave but she's certain of her pounding heart, beating out in her ribcage. Out of the corner in her eye, she sees Riley. Riley is looking at her, a tear stained face and a pleading look on her face as well.

It looks like the one Josh is giving her right now but they're both pleading for entirely different things.

Josh wants her to leave with him.

Riley wants her to stay with her.

Maya closes her eyes, exhaling deeply before she hears Cory and Eric coming near. 

"Leave.", she whispers and her and Josh are on their way to the car. Josh gets into the driver's seat, Maya into the co-driver's seat and as soon as she closes the door, Josh starts the car and drives them away from the voices yelling their names, from the huge mess they've created, from the people he has known all his life, from his family. 

Their family. 

Maya's tears are streaming down her face now, quietly sobbing as she stares out of the window, looking at the stars above them like nothing happens. Like everything's okay. Josh's hands grip the wheel tightly until his knuckles turn white from the firm grip he's holding, his vision slightly blurs as some tears well up at the sobbing from his girlfriend sitting next to him. 

What has he done?

What was going on in his head, thinking this is a good idea?

He fucked up. Badly. 

"Josh!"

The yelling voice of his girlfriend is the last one he hears before darkness takes over, his eyes closing slowly and feeling nothing but pain until it vanishes too, losing his consciousness as he tells himself what he's been saying all along.

'It's your fault.'

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-nine: Quite the Mess

A flash of blond hair. Falling down her back in soft, long waves. 

Her small frame, her head barely reaching his shoulder but they fit perfect together, if he embraces her in his strong arms, shielding her away from the darkness surrounding her. 

The white dress she's wearing - its length reaching the floor, its tender cloth comprising her beautiful body, the white high-heels giving her some extra height and complimenting her long legs.

Her gentle smile she has only reserved for him, whenever she's just looking at him with these remarkable blue eyes - an endless ocean he has drowned in so many times already; whether it is a sunny day or a devilish thunderstorm, he simply doesn't care. 

She's always beautiful. 

A chaos of art.

So many flaws, so many imperfections, yet so delicate and gracious. 

A mind that never takes a single break.

A heart that ingests so much hate, still manages to turn it into love. 

 Eyes, observing the world around her, taking in everything they can with a certain curiosity, a certain interest and never getting tired of looking. 

Her small hands, creating so much art with a single pencil or several hundreds of different colours. Every single word she writes down, using her stunning voice to enliven them, her hands playing just the right cords with her guitar to match her voice and the words.

She's amazing.

She's Maya.

It feels like his lungs get filled with oxygen all at once. With a loud and deep gasp his eyes snap open, getting blinded by the bright lights above his head. The brown-haired boy groans in pain because of the dazzling light but also because several parts of his body hurt, he just can't pinpoint what it is. 

For a few minutes he's just closing and opening his eyes, blinking and trying to get a clearer vision since everything is just a blur to him. Hell, he doesn't even know where he is right now. 

He's conscious about the blandly fabric beneath his body, the soft pillow his head is positioned on and some quiet muffled voices around him, although he can't recognize them at the moment. 

More hushed voices fight their way into his brain but it sounds like they're vanishing rather fast. A tall woman is standing next to him, smiling sadly at him while she's saying some things he doesn't really understand. Just then he notices another presence on the other side of him - a man wearing white and writing down some things. 

"W-where?" Josh chokes out, his throat hoarse and hurting. 

"You're at the hospital, Mr. Matthews," the woman replies kindly, knowing what he wanted to ask. "Are you in pain right now?" she questions, glancing at the doctor quickly. Josh can only manage a nod, thinking it might be better, if he doesn't use his voice. "Alright, I'm gonna go and get you something for that. Just a second." she gives him a small wave and leaves the room in a quick pace. The doctor remains in his position.

"Can you tell me where exactly you are feeling the pain, Mr. Matthews?" he asks, his voice even. 

"No-Not really." Josh shakes his head slightly. "Everywhere," he finally whispers. The doctor nods and writes down something else. "What exactly happened?" the brown-haired boy wants to know. Finally the doctor stops his movement and looks at him. 

"You had a car accident," the doctor answers with some hesitation. "You got lucky though, it may seem bad but you're wounds will all heal just fine and there won't be any permanent damage," he explains and sees Josh's face relaxing a little at the new piece of information. It doesn't last long though.

"Where's my girlfriend?!" he raises his voice as much as he can, ignoring the pain it causes him. 

"She's okay, Mr. Matthews, but please remain quiet. You need to rest," the doctor says with some hint of empathy in his voice. The nurse walks back into the room, carrying some medicine with her.

"I'm sorry that it took so long. Quite a few people outside." she smiles knowingly at Josh while getting him ready to take the medicine. "There you go."

"Thank you," he chokes out before taking a sip of his water, taking the pill afterwards.

"Alright, I'm gonna inform your family that you're awake now. They can already visit you. Would you want them to?" the doctor asks him. 

"I'd rather just have my girlfriend with me right now."

The doctor and the nurse exchange a few looks before he nods at Josh.

"That's understandable. We'll see how far they are with Miss Hart," he informs quietly before leaving the hospital room. Josh looks at the nurse with a worried and pained look on his face.

"Oh, don't worry. Your girlfriend just needed to be checked too," she informs him quickly. "She has some small bruises but nothing more than that. We just wanted to make sure she's fine."

"Thank you." the nurse nods slightly. "How long have I been absent exactly?"

"Not for long. From what I've heard, you've even been awake several times during the car ride in the ambulance." the ghost of a smile is on her face. "I'm gonna go and see, if I can do anything to calm down your family," she says and leaves too.

Josh is alone, giving him some time to think about everything that has happened over the last few hours, at least the things he can remember properly. Honestly, he'd rather forget the last few days. So many things were out of his control, out of her control and he feels like this is all his fault. He could have done better, much better. Now he has to figure out where he's going from here, with his parents, especially with his mother and kinda with the rest of his family. They all tried to protect him and Maya in some way but they can't fight this battle for him.

Just thinking about what he's going to do about that causes a bad headache and makes him to never want to leave this hospital room ever again. He doesn't want to face it but he has to eventually. 

-----------------------------------

"Can I see him now?" Maya asks for what feels like the millionth time that day.

"Just a minute," the nurse says a little annoyed while she puts away some supplies.

"You already said that five minutes ago," the small blonde states with a quiet scoff at the end.

"We'll have to wait until his doctor allows him visitors."

Maya was about to protest once again but the look on the nurse's face makes her change her mind. Now isn't the time to pick a fight, she knows that. The small blonde even manages a quiet sorry before her gaze drops down onto the floor, causing her to miss the small smile the nurse manages.

"Alright, you're done," the nurse informs her. "You just have a few bruises but nothing bad. It will all heal and you won't be able to see them ever again."

"Thank you," Maya mumbles, truly feeling grateful for the help. 

A knock on the door fills the silence that had fallen over them. The white door opens and a tall man dressed in white enters the small room with a smile on his face and various documents trapped under his left arm. 

"Hey there," he says. "I'm here to get Miss Hart. I assume you're ready?" he directs his question at the nurse who's look is fixed on the doctor. She gives him a short nod.

"Indeed, you can take her with you."

"Great. Miss Hart?" he turns to the blonde. "You may come with me. I'm gonna take you to your... boyfriend was it?"

"Correct." her answer is short and she's quick on her feet, ready to see Josh after what feels like hours she has last seen him getting ready to be taken to the hospital under the dark sky, some stars were already there and her eyes were full with tears, not only because of the sharp pain she was feeling in her body - mostly in her head.

No, it was because of him.

Maya follows the doctor through the hallways of the hospital, wondering how long she has to walk to get to Josh. Her thoughts run into every direction, thinking about the fear she has felt since it all went wrong, although she can't exactly tell in which moment it all crashed down. It feels like the last few days are just one huge explosion and this is the aftermath, though it is yet to come. 

She has to face it, her family and his family. Not only after they're finally being able to leave the hospital, no. She has to face them as soon as she reaches Josh's room and she isn't sure, if she can do it. Putting her brave face on has always come easy to Maya but over the last few days she kind of lost this ability. Josh causes her to let her guard down, to show her true feelings and true thoughts, even though she always says what's on her mind, she doesn't pretend anymore like she used to do. There's no need for that because she has Josh now. 

Losing him has been on her mind since the accident occurred, actually it has always been in her mind since they got together but especially over the last few hours this dark thought haunted her mind. What if? 

What, if they wouldn't have been so lucky?

What, if it would have been way worse and Josh got injured really badly?

What... What, if Josh had died?

Maya shakes her head, attempting to get rid of these bad thoughts. She can't have them now that she's about to visit her boyfriend who got injured because he wanted to get away with her, trying to save their relationship. 

'It is my fault.'

She has told herself this sentence so many times in so many different situations; As her father left her and her mother behind, as she and Riley got into a bad fight and didn't speak to each other, as her friends slowly drifted away from her. . . 

With every step that she takes, her heart beats a little faster than before, another tear rolls down her cheek and another fear creeps into her mind. 

She knows he's okay, they told her, promised her he's fine but why does she still feel like he isn't? This isn't fine. It's not okay. Not even close. 

This would have never happened, if she just wouldn't have been so... so... irresponsible. Maybe, if she would have said 'stay' instead of 'leave'. No, if she would have talked to him as he asked her for it after some things went down during the trip. No, if she would have... 

"If I wouldn't have said yes as he asked me to be his girlfriend," her quiet and tired voice whispers, finishing her train of thoughts without her even noticing it. 

Her feet carry her through the usual loud hallways, today they're filled with an uncomfortable silence though. What she wouldn't give for some movement or sound right now, just so she could distract herself from awful thoughts, a pounding heart and way too many tears. 

Just, as Maya convinced herself that her thoughts couldn't get any worse, her and his family come into her view. It seems like the doctor walks even faster than before now, way too fast for Maya's liking. The closer she gets, the more afraid she becomes of what might will happen when she arrives. 

The first person she clearly sees is, of course, Mrs. Matthews. Apparently she has looked at Maya even before the blonde could see anyone from them, the hatred look on her face says everything Maya needs to know. 

She doesn't want Maya here. 

That much is clear and it doesn't surprise Maya, at all. 

"Maya!" a female voice cries out.

Riley.

The brunette runs up to her best friend as soon as she sees her and jumps out of the chair she had been sitting on, pulling the blonde into a tight embrace. Katy and Shawn turn too, watching the two teenagers hugging each other. As they seperate again, Katy walks over to her daughter, hugging her as well. 

"I'm glad you're okay," she whispers into Maya's hair. 

"I am too," Shawn agrees before he puts his arms around the two of them, pulling them into his embrace. It actually brings a smile to Maya's face. 

Like a real family.

Next to them the doctor, who has been watching the entire scene, clears his throat quietly, getting their attention.

"I am sorry to interrupt your moment but Mr. Matthews asked for company," he says politely. 

Mrs. Matthews walks over instantly, already reaching for the door handle but the doctor stops her.

"I am sorry, Mrs. Matthews. Your son asked for her company."

He gestures towards Maya, who's wiping away some fresh tears on her face. 

"But I am his mother!" Mrs. Matthews raises her voice suddenly, feeling very offended that her son would prefer the company of his girlfriend over his mother's.

"I am aware of that," he says calmly. "But your son said that he only wants to see his girlfriend right now and I'm sure, he's old enough to decide for himself."

With these words the doctor turns away from Mrs. Matthews and looks at Maya with a weak smile.

"He's already waiting for you, Miss Hart."

The blonde can only manage a small nod and a small smile towards her mother and Riley. All eyes are on her, waiting for her to enter Josh's room. It seems like nobody has a problem with that except for Josh's mother. Everybody else is smiling at her, encouraging her.

Maya walks towards the door, placing her hand on the door handle but before she can open the huge, white door, a hand on her arm stops her. 

"I won't forget that," Mrs. Matthews threatens with a thight smile, the look on her eyes not giving away any emotion. 

Katy steps forward, sending a nasty look towards Mrs. Matthews before opening the door and pushing her daughter into the room, shutting the door as soon as Maya's inside.

The sudden sound gets his attention and his face lights up almost at the exact same moment as his eyes catches hers. 

"Maya!" 

His smile is wide, his raspy voice sounds happy and his eyes light up. 

"Hey, Boing," Maya's weak voice chokes out. 

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty: Picking Up the Pieces

"What did you just do?!"

Katy Hart is looking at a pair of stormy eyes staring right back at her, with even more anger in them than she has ever seen and she has seen a lot over the last couple of days. The doctor left after Katy pushed her daughter into Josh's hospital room, saying he needs to check some things about Josh's injuries.

"Amy-"

"No!" the older woman interrupts the younger one. "Do not call me that. You don't deserve that. You just put them together, alone. I can't believe that you actually support this... relationship."

"Why wouldn't I? My daughter is happy and that's all that counts for me as her mother," Katy replies calmly.

"It's wrong! They're wrong together."

"They're not, they are happy with each other. Why don't you want your son to be happy?" At that, Amy scoffs with a laugh at the end.

"You think I don't want my son to be happy?"

"You're giving me any reason to believe that, yes," Katy shots back on an instant, not feeling sorry for even a second. Amy laughs again.

"Oh, trust me. I want my son to live a good life and to be happy but I don't want him to be happy because of your daughter. Maya may be nice and pretty but she isn't the one for my son. I refuse to believe that."

"This doesn't make any sense, Mrs. Matthews," Katy says confused. "You can't decide, if my daughter is the one for Josh or not."

"Oh, yes, I can and I will." Amy's tone sounds deadly and they all exchange concerned looks with each other. Only Topanga rolls her eyes and takes a few steps forward, ignoring Cory's worried eyes on her back as she does so. "I already told you why she isn't good for my son and this time I won't give up. I made that mistake once, I won't do it a second time. I just can't let that happen again."

"So I'm a mistake?" Topanga's voice cuts through the silence like a knife, shifting the mood completely. Amy turns around slowly and takes a look at her daughter-in-law she never quite liked. 

"You know how much I despised you two getting married. If I'm being completely honest, I still despise it to this day and I never stopped." Some of them gasp but Topanga doesn't even flinch. She kind of expected this the whole time but never said something about it. 

"I believe every single word you just said," Topanga says quietly. "But although you couldn't stand me and Cory getting married, you stopped trying after a while and I finally figured out why."

Now everyone's staring at Topanga, waiting for her to continue. 

"What would that be exactly?" Amy asks with  a cocked eyebrow, trying to appear as though this doesn't scare her one bit. 

"It's because you knew that Cory wouldn't just give us up. After everything you did, he still didn't give me up and that's when you realized he never will. Cory loves me and loved me back then already and as soon as you saw that, you knew there's no way to ruin our relationship. It was already too strong."

With every word Topanga says, she walks a step towards her mother-in-law, who, in return, walks backwards. 

"Now you're doing the exact same thing to Josh and Maya because Josh reminds you of your other son, Cory, and Maya reminds you of me, Cory's wife."

Now it dawns onto most of the family members, you can see it in their faces as the realization hits them. Cory walks up to his wife and takes her hand in his, supporting her. 

"Mum," Cory grabs his mother's attention and is shocked at the look he sees in her eyes. "You already know how this is going to end, don't you?"

"Mother." 

The woman turns around again and meets the concerned eyes of her eldest child, Eric, who's expression shows worry and stress but also something else... sympathy.

"Don't take Mayala away from Joshy. Don't take away his happiness."

"Ma," Morgan speaks up too and walks forward. "You see how happy Josh and Maya are together. You may not like them together but even you can see how much Maya means to Josh. That's why you're so scared. You know that Maya is the Topanga to Josh's Cory."

Cory and Topanga chuckle softly at Morgan's reference and share a lovingly smile with each other.

"I mean, Cory did tell Josh he'd find someone as wonderful as Topanga one day," Amy's husband, Alan, chims in with a sheepish smile, causing his children to laugh.

"Yeah," Shawn agrees with a fond smile. "I mean, it's pretty obvious that Maya is just as wonderful as Topanga, isn't it?" Topanga smiles softly at her husband's best friend's words.

"It is," Cory nods firmly at Shawn before looking at his wife. "It really is."

-----------------------------------

Her blue eyes just can't look away from him and, even though they're hurting and she needs to blink, she refuses to do that. Maya is scared that, if she does blink, Josh won't be there anymore. That he'll just disappear.

The blonde feels incredibly weak, like her legs will give out any second now but her eyes still manage to get teary all over again. Soon her heavy sobs fill the silence of the room and cloud her vision once more. She can barely see Josh holding out his arms, indicating for her to hug him. 

Never in her life has Maya run so fast like she does right now. In less than three seconds she manages to cross the hospital room to Josh's bed and to put her short arms around him, holding tight. Josh starts to stroke his girlfriend's head lovingly as her sobs grow even louder and heavier and just enjoys having his favourite girl in his arms again. 

"I'm really sorry, Ferret," he apologizes quietly into her hair with his muffled voice. Her head snaps up on an instant, sadness replaced by anger.

"Don't you dare apologizing, Josh!" she nearly screams into his face before nuzzling her head into his chest once more.

"Hm, you used my given name. You must be really mad then," he cracks a smile that Maya can feel on her head. The look she gives him then, causes his smile to fade away quickly.

"I seriously don't understand how you can make jokes right now," the blonde grumbles with a small smile, unable to hide her amusement completely. This doesn't go unnoticed by her boyfriend who, in response, starts smiling again.

"Well, I don't understand you most of the time, so I guess we're even," he chuckles and earns himself a smack against his shoulder. "Hey! Show a little mercy to the boy who just had a car accident a few hours ago," he jokes softly but as soon as her happy smile turns into a sad one and her eyes break eye-contact with him at the mention of the accident, he starts stroking her head again and pulls her against his chest. "It's okay, Maya."

"No, it's not."

Josh doesn't argue with her, he just lets the silence surround them once more, accepting that his girlfriend won't change her mind anytime soon. He leans back to get more comfortable and takes the blonde with him until they're laying in the hospital bed together, letting her head rest on his chest. She can hear his heart beating and has never felt more grateful for something than him being alive.

"That's my favourite sound," her soft voice whispers before the exhaustion of the day finally catches up and takes Maya into a deep sleep. At first, Josh is confused but soon knows what she means. He can't help but to smile at her confession while he, too, falls asleep, feeling content thanks to the small girl he's holding tight in his arms and will hold onto for as long as she allows him to.

Alan decided to get some food and convinced his wife to accompany him. Meanwhile Eric fell asleep on Morgan's shoulder, who's still reading her fashion magazine she found somewhere in the hospital, Katy is talking to Topanga while her husband, Shawn, and Topanga's husband, Cory, just sit next to each other, enjoying the peaceful silence. Auggie fell asleep half an hour ago.

"Well, he lasted longer than Eric," Shawn joked as he watched Auggie falling asleep and then looked at Eric, who has already been in a deep slumber for at least an hour.

Amy and Alan come back shortly after and announce, that they'll drive back home. They take Auggie and Eric with them and ask Morgan to help them. She agrees immediately and helps Alan to get Auggie and Eric into the car. 

"What about you, Dear?" Amy asks Riley, who's fighting to keep her eyes open. As much as Riley would love to crawl into her bed for a sleep, she can't leave Maya alone. 

"I'm gonna stay. Maya needs me," the brunette announces quietly, too tired to talk loud. Amy wanted to protest but as she takes a look at the two older woman, she knows it won't make any difference. So she accepts it quietly and turns to leave as well but before she's fully gone, she turns around again. They all look at her.

"I just..." she starts quietly, keeping her eyes fixated on the ground. "I just wanted to say how deeply sorry I am. For the things I've said... and done," with these last words she leaves and doesn't wait for a response. They all exchange some shocked glances with each other, no one really knowing what to say.

"That's the first time I've heard an apology from your mother, Cory," Shawn says and gets a laugh out of his tired friend. 

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty-one: The right Choice.

It has been quite some time since she left and yet her words are still hanging in the air, refusing to leave. After Shawn's attempt at a joke no one has said anything. They are all still at a loss for words; Amy Matthews apologized and they weren't sure, if she really meant what she said. Although she's Cory's mother, he can't say for sure that she's truly sorry for everything, it was rare for him to hear these words out of his mother's mouth. Most of the time she didn't mean them and that has left a certain lack of trust in him towards her. His own mother.

They are all fighting with sleep, not willing to drift off now but Riley is fighting the most. In order to keep herself awake she stands up and everyone immediately looks at the brunette.

"Honey, what are you doing?" Topanga speaks up quietly. 

"I'm just gonna check on them, if that's okay," Riley answers with an even quieter voice. Her mother nods with a small smile before turning to her husband again. 

Riley walks towards the door to Josh's hospital room and opens it quietly, revealing the young couple; still asleep on the hospital bed. The sight of them being asleep next to each other with Maya's head on Josh's chest and their hands intertwined causes a huge smile upon Riley's face. Not only because her uncle seems to be fine, also because this relationship is making her best friend really happy. 

The brunette walks over to the bed slowly and observes them for a few seconds before turning around again, getting ready to leave. 

"Riley?" a sleepy, male voice whispers into the dim lit room. The brunette turns slowly and looks at his ruffled hair, trying not to laugh. 

"Hey, uncle Josh," she greets quietly, not wanting to wake her best friend up since she's still asleep on his chest. "How are you?"

"I think I'm alright. Still hurts a little but it's better now," he says. His niece nods slightly. 

"What about her?" she nods at her blond friend. Josh looks down at her and his lips pull up into the softest smile she has ever seen on him. 

"She's doing fine."

It's silent for a few seconds before Josh gestures for her to take the seat next to his bed. Riley accepts his offer with a small smile and settles into the chair, getting comfortable before looking at him with a glint of sadness in her usual bright brown eyes.

"Riley, are you okay?" Josh asks worried as he notices the consternation in her features.

"Uhm... I'm not sure, if it's a good idea to tell you already," she offers quietly with an apologetic shrug. 

"Did something happen with my mother?" the look his niece gives him is enough for him to know that he's right. He sighs deeply and runs a hand through his hair. "Of course it did," he mutters angry. "I almost got up, ya know?"

"What do you mean?"

"A few hours ago, before Maya came into my room, I heard yelling," he starts and Riley just stares at him shocked. "I instantly knew it was my mother's voice. Then Maya got pushed into the room and, at first, I couldn't recognize the other voice yelling back at my mother."

"Miss Hart," his niece mumbles. Josh nods at that.

"I know," he says. "Maya acted like nothing happened."

Riley stares at her uncle and sees a certain disappointment in his face. The brunette can only imagine why her friend didn't say anything but she knows Maya and that's why she feels the need to clarify it. 

"Josh." he looks at her. "Listen, you may not understand it now but I know why she chose not to say something," Josh stares at her and listens. "She didn't want to let them ruin your moment. After everything that has happened over the last days you two finally made up and that meant and still means the world to her. You're one of her favourite people in the world and trust me, it takes a lot to earn this place," he chuckles softly. "I just got lucky I had it first."

"You had it first?" he sounds surprised so Riley continues.

"I did," she shrugs slightly, feeling a little better than before. "I assume you know about Maya's father..?" Josh nods and Riley sighs. "That's good," the brunette nods to herself and clears her throat quietly. "Growing up wasn't easy for Maya. Her parents fought all the time and she felt alone, she had no one."

"Until she climbed through your window and found her best friend," Josh finishes and smiles sadly as he takes a look at his beautiful girlfriend. Riley nods a little.

"So you know the story?"

"Of course. Riley, you two never stopped talking about it as you were kids," he says with a laugh at the end and the brunette returns it, letting the silence fall over them for a few seconds.

"We still are," she finally says with that sadness from before, thinking about her best friend and how she has suffered through her whole life. "Please take care of her, Josh," she pleads with a certain kind of desperation he has never heard before in Riley's voice.

"I will," he says as he takes his niece's hand into his and squeezes it lightly before letting go once more. "You know I will."

"I do. I trust you with her," she says quietly, her eyes never leaving her sleeping best friend. "Usually I'm the one who takes care of her but I'm not the only one anymore."

"Katy and Shawn are there too," he reminds her and she smiles weakly.

"Yeah, you're right," an airy sob escapes her. "You're always right, uncle Josh."

He can only manage a weak laugh while he shakes his head at her statement.

"No, you're wrong, niece," his voice is quivering but he continues. "You're so wrong about that," he adds in a whisper and Riley sees the look of a broken boy in his eyes, it's shocking to see him like this. 

He always looks so strong, like he knows what he's doing. Now it doesn't seem like he's really the person she and probably everybody else thought he is. 

"If I'd always be right, I wouldn't be here right now, not in this hospital bed with Maya sleeping on my chest. I wouldn't have created this huge mess and most of all, I wouldn't have endangered her."

"Josh..."

"No, Riley. We both know it's true," tears are shimmering in the corner of his eyes, threatening to leave. "I shouldn't have asked her to be my girlfriend."

"Josh!" Riley manages to whisper and at the same time making it sound like a yell. "Stop talking this nonsense, you know that it isn't your fault. Maya is happy with you, it may not be ideal right now but don't you ever doubt your relationship with her ever again!" Josh can only stare at his niece in this moment. He's completely shocked at her outburst but then again it involves her best friend and everyone knows these two would walk through the fire for each other. "Do you hear me?"

"I heard you," he mumbles quietly, meeting her gaze and feeling the tears leaving his eyes whereas she's already crying her heart out.

"I know you didn't mean to do this, to steal the car and to drive away," the brunette looks him into his blue eyes, wanting to show him sympathy. "You just panicked, it was a panic reaction, Josh. I'm pretty sure we all know that this wasn't your intention, you'd never do such thing."

"But I did, Riley. I did these things. I just wanted to protect Maya."

"I know and I love you for that."

"Then why did I only make things worse?" the look in his eyes brings fresh tears into Riley's eyes all over again. 

"She changed you, Josh. She did that to me too and now she has changed you."

"How?"

"You finally got your head out of your ass," a new female voice joins the conversation. They both look at the source the voice belongs to and see Maya blinking up at him with one eye, a small smile playing on her lips. "Hey there."

"You were never asleep, were you?" Riley asks, watching how the blonde turns her head slowly and stares at her best friend, a slow grin spreading on her face. The brunette grins too now and stands up, embracing her friend tightly. Maya giggles into Riley's hair and returns the hug just as strong as she does.

Josh rolls his eyes but feels a smile on his face and as Maya's innocent blue eyes look up at him once more, pulling him into the hug as well, he knows that he had made the right decision and that his niece is right; He shouldn't doubt their relationship. 

Maya is happy and that is all that counts. 

Chapter Text

"Chapter thirty-two: Here we go"

Josh had to stay in the hospital for two more days. Maya had to stay for only one more day but she had refused to leave Josh's room. The nurse was a little annoyed and didn't hide the fact. In the middle of a heated discussion between Maya and the nurse, Josh had interrupted them and convinced Maya to go to the room she was assigned to sleep in for the night. With the most dramatic eye-roll Josh had ever seen, the blond teenager left without glancing at the nurse even once.

At night he woke up due to a terrible headache but instantly relaxed as he saw his girlfriend sleeping soundly in his arms. With a small smile he closed his eyes again and tried to sleep. 

As the doctor came in the next morning he just shook his head and laughed silently at the sight in front of him while the nurse, who had argued with Maya the day before, glared at the young couple and looked like she was about to explode through anger. 

Riley came to visit again along with her parents and Maya's mother, bringing a bag for Josh with them. Katy took Riley and her daughter to lunch into the cafeteria despite the blonde's complains, meanwhile Cory and Topanga stayed with Josh, hesitantly answering his questions as to why his parents aren't present.

"Mum wants to give you some privacy, Josh. She said that she needs time to get used to everything," Cory had said with a grimace as though it hurt him to answer the question. 

Topanga offered him a small smile but she didn't say anything else. It felt like they were hiding something but Josh decided to not question them any further. Soon Katy was back with Riley and Maya and the room was filled with their laughter once more.

"Don't break into the hospital tonight, Ferret," Josh warned his girlfriend as he hugged her goodbye. She just smiled at him but he knew that face too well. As she raised one of her eyebrows in response he sent her a glare. Maya laughed at him before she kissed him sweetly on the lips. 

"Okay, no, I'm still here," Cory whined playfully and earned himself a smack against his right arm. His wife was staring daggers at him before pulling him out of the room to give the teens some privacy. 

Josh and Maya kissed one last time before she left with the rest, leaving Josh for one more night in the hospital. Before she was fully gone she threw a breathtaking smile at him over her shoulder and he grinned in response, not taking his eyes off her until he couldn't see her anymore and the door to his room was closed once again. 

"Ready, brother?" Cory asked the brown-haired boy next to him, holding his bag tightly in his hands. Josh offered a firm nod at his older brother before the doctor finally released them, wishing them a good day. 

That was only a few minutes ago.

Josh is staring out of the window, watching the field passing by. Cory drives them back to the house and so far it's silent between the two brothers. There are a lot of things Josh wants to ask but he's not sure how. 

"You' okay over there?" Cory breaks the silence for him and it takes a few shaky exhales before his younger brother can answer. 

"I mean... No, not really," he's being honest. "Did I hurt anybody besides Maya? The accident, I mean?" Cory glances quickly at him. 

"No, you didn't. There wasn't another one involved," he answers finally. Josh's lungs release a deep breath before he nods slowly. 

"How did I cause the accident then?" 

Cory furrows his brow as though he's contemplating whether he should tell him the truth or not.

"I'm not entirely sure. The police said you probably lost control over the car and that's how you ended up in the ditch."

"The police," Josh mumbles in disbelief. "What about dad's car?" he suddenly raises his voice slightly, just now remembering that he probably wrecked his father's car. Cory keeps his eyes on the road. 

"It's not that bad, Josh. Dad isn't mad at you either. It's fixable," Cory finishes right as he parks the car in the driveway in front of his childhood home. "Now get out and go hug your girlfriend. She has been crazy since we left you yesterday."

Josh can't help but to grin at what his brother just said. The look on Cory's face makes it even better.

"Why didn't she come with you to get me?"

"Well, she was a total wreck as we got home yesterday. She barely slept and all. Riley told me this morning as I got up to get ready," he explains softly. "I wanted to take her with me but Riley said that she finally fell asleep and that we should let her rest," Cory runs a hand over his face before opening the door. Josh mirrors Cory and gets his bag out of the car, following him up the stairs to the front door quickly. 

Before Cory can open the door however, Josh puts a hand on his brother's shoulder to stop him. The man looks at his younger brother with questioning eyes but Josh can also make out the concern in them, hiding beneath the surface.

"Is there anything I should know about before we enter?"

"I don't think there is. Mum will be thrilled to have you back in one piece but I don't think she'll say much about... well, you know," Cory drifts off as he sees Josh nodding a few times. "Well, if that is all..." Josh just stares at the door as though it would magically open itself over the next few seconds. "Right," Cory mumbles before turning the key inside of the lock. He enters first but doesn't hear footsteps behind him. 

Cory glances back onto the porch and onto his brother. Josh feels the pair of eyes on him, realizing that he had been lost in his thoughts and steps into his home quickly, closing the door behind him. 

'Here we go.'

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty-three:

Three times

Silence follows after Cory and Josh enter the Matthews' household in the early morning. Only the door makes a noise as the lock falls into place behind them and then they just stand there in the living room. Nothing happens and Josh feels some sort of hurt in his heart. 'Do they even care that I'm back?'

Cory glances briefly at his younger brother just seconds before a female voice cuts throught the thick tension hanging in the air. 

"Dad? Is that you?" 

Cory and Josh both look towards the kitchen where the voice came from and walk a few steps ahead.

"Yes, honey. It's me and Josh," Cory answers quickly, trying to keep his voice low. 

As they enter the kitchen they see Riley sitting at the table with a glass of orange juice in one hand and her smartphone in the other. The brunette looks up and a grin starts to spread across her face as she catches Josh's eyes. Quickly she places her phone and the glass onto the table and stands up, embracing her uncle tight. Overcome with surprise, the brown-haired boy lets go of his bag and throws his arms around his niece, embracing her as well. 

Cory watches the exchange between his daughter and brother with a genuine smile on his face before it turns into a frown. With questioning eyes he casts a look around the kitchen and the living room, glancing shortly at the staircase. 

Josh and Riley let go of each other, still smiling brightly, but as soon as Josh felt some happiness coming towards him it's gone again. He catches his older brother looking around the house before he quickly turns his head again, trying to hide the disappointment that overtakes his emotions. 

"Hey, Riley. Where are Mum and Dad?" he dares to ask the question that has been running through his mind ever since he entered the house. The brunette stares at him surprised, her smile long gone as soon as the question had been put into the open. Her eyes drift towards her father's who's already looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face. 

She takes a deep breath and ends it with a small sigh, turning back to her uncle who's looking past her through the door to the garden. His eyes are fixed onto the flower field, she notices fast. 

"They're not home. I don't know where they went but... Grandma said it was an emergency and grandpa didn't want her to go alone because he was worried. So he went with her," she finishes with a sad smile but Josh is still refusing to meet her eyes. It's like the flower field is all he can see at the moment and Riley isn't even sure, if he listened to her until he gives a sharp nod several seconds after her voice faded away. 

"And Eric and Morgan? Where are they?" he tries to hide the bitterness in his voice, he really does but he can't help but to feel a certain sadness washing over him. 

"They're grocery shopping with Topanga and Auggie. They already were as dad left to get you," she says quickly, trying to give her voice the usual reassurance and helpfulness but instead she just sounds even more tired. Josh nods again, slower this time but still keeping his eyes on the flower field where he had seen and watched Maya two nights ago. 

"How's Maya?" he finally looks at his niece and the small light she sees in his eyes as he says his girlfriend's name, makes her smile. 

"She's still asleep in our room. Believe me, if she would have been awake as dad left she would have begged him to take her to the hospital." The corner of Josh's lips twitch slightly. "It was all she talked about last night and over the last two days, really," Riley says, smiling more than before as memories of her best friend worrying herself to death flows into her mind. 

"Did she now?" her uncle asks and she breathes out in relief as his usual self-satisfied tone manages to break through again. 

"Yeah, she wouldn't let me sleep all night and annoyed me all day!" the brunette exclaims with a soft laugh and even Josh is smiling now. Cory watches his brother and can't help but to smile at his reactions. 

If there's someone who can put Josh out of his misery, it's Maya Hart. 

Later that evening, as Josh finally makes his way into his old bedroom he walks up the stairs with a smile. Over the last few hours he had listened to Riley's many stories about how Maya nearly yelled at everyone who came near her since they came home after leaving Josh at the hospital. 

She was either crying unconditionally and could have filled thousands of buckets only with her tears (Riley swore Maya really cried that much) or she was furious at everyone who dared to just breathe around her. The worst was when you mentioned her boyfriend; she didn't talk to you for at least an hour and only glared at you from across the room. She refused to eat most of the time and when she did eat, she pouted through the whole meal. At night it was the worst and the cutest at the same time because Riley listened to Maya talking about her favourite moments with Josh (which was about every single moment they ever had with each other, really) for hours. 

This morning the blonde finally fell asleep and Riley had never been more happy that her best friend had finally shut up. 

"As much as I love this fierce, amazing force of a girl Maya is, sometimes she's really overwhelming," his niece had told him with a smile that was full of affection for Maya. 

With a happy sigh he drops his bag onto the floor and lets himself fall onto his bed, smiling to himself like an idiot who's experiencing his first crush. During the storytelling from Riley, Morgan and Eric had come back with lots of food and lots of bone-crushing hugs for Josh. They ate together and cracked lots of jokes just like they did in the past. After Auggie hugged Josh for several minutes, Topanga tucked him into bed and joined them downstairs afterwards. 

His parents still weren't at home and at some point he stopped thinking about their absence and the cracks it left in his heart. Now he was smiling again and there was only one thing, more like a someone, who could make it perfect. 

With a huge grin he stands up and walks over to the bedroom across from his own. The door is closed and Josh curses under his breath as it squeaks when he opens it slowly. Faintly he can hear the rest of his family talking downstairs and even two new voices that weren't there as he was still with them - Katy and Shawn were back as well. At some point he asked Cory were they are and he told him they're taking a walk through Philadelphia. Shawn grew up here as well and wanted to show Katy some of his favourite places out of his years as a teenager. Now they're talking about that one time as Topanga asked Shawn, if he had ever fallen in love.

'Five times a day,' he had answered with a grin. 

He could hear his family laughing after Shawn repeated these words, trying to sound as his younger self. Maya's mother asks question after question, eager to know more about Shawn's past. 

With yet another grin Josh moves forward, closing the door behind him and listening how the voices of his family fade away quickly. He's standing in the darkness, only a few shafts of light come through the closed blinds. The room is bathed in a light orange since the sun is already on its way to settle in for the night. 

Her blond hair glows in the light and he vaguely hears her snoring in the silence. Slowly he walks further into the room, each step bringing him closer to his girlfriend and letting his smile grow a little. She stirred a little but besides that she didn't move. 

Maya is curled up into a tiny ball, her head gently placed on top of her hands but he can't see her face; her hair is all over it. Josh chuckles lightly at the sight he's presented with and stares at her for a few seconds before sitting down on the bed. He starts to stroke her head gently and smiles as she moves slightly. One of her hands reaches up, tugging her hair out of her face and behind her ear. The blonde cracks one eye open just to see who has disturbed her peaceful sleep. 

Josh gazes fondly at her and cracks another smile. Maya closes her eye again and just continues to sleep, confusing Josh. He gapes at her, his hand stills on top of her head. 

Suddenly she's wide awake, startling her boyfriend and tugging at his wrist. Before he knows it, he's lying face-first on the bed, letting out a muffled hrmpf. Her bright laughter rings in his ears and leads him to wonder how she can do these things after she literally just woke up. 

"Boing! You're back!" she says happily.

"I am," his voice is still muffled from the pillow but he has no intention of turning around. It's quite comfortable to just lay there.

"How are you?" she asks in a small voice. Josh turns his head to the side so he can look properly into her face while having a conversation with her. The look in her eyes shocks him slightly; It's full with worry. 

"No need to worry, Ferret. I'm perfectly fine," he flashes her another grin and is relieved as she returns it, moving her hand carefully away from his wrist and towards his hand so she can intertwine them with each other. 

"I'm so glad you're back again," she offers him a shy smile and he sees the slightest blush on her cheeks. 

Shy.

Maya Hart.

What a weird place the world is sometimes.

"Missed me, or what?" he teases in a light tone, the left corner of his mouth twitching in amusement. The blonde nods slowly, biting down onto her lower lip. 

"Of course I did," she whispers into the dimly lit room with huge, doe eyes gazing into his own. "Now you have to say that you missed me too," she jokes with a twinkle in her blue eyes. He chuckles briefly before squeezing her hand. 

"I really did miss you, Maya."

The smile on her face is so pure, it makes Josh's heart skip a beat. His girlfriend snuggles her head against his chest, letting their locked hands rest in the middle of them. Maya falls asleep again but this time without any trouble as Josh's steady heartbeat pounds into her ear, letting her know that her boyfriend is alive and right next to her where he should be. 

Josh stays awake and only closes his eyes as he's sure that Maya's asleep. Before he drifts off into a calm sleep, he squeezes Maya's hand exactly three times and feels a slow smile on his face. 

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty-four:

Almost Sorry

It's always easy to walk away if you're having problems. You can run as long as you want, it just won't change a single thing, because you can't escape. No matter how fast you run. 

With all the drama that had happened over the last few days, it was easy for Riley to pretend nothing happened before their trip. 

To pretend that Lucas never left her because he's in love with her best friend.

To pretend that Farkle and Smackle didn't break up and made the hole inside their friend group even bigger.

To pretend it doesn't feel like everything is going to fall apart before they finish school. 

It was easy to pretend these things didn't happen but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows that it happened at some point. She can't deny that nor can Maya.

The blonde had so much to deal with already so Riley mostly kept quiet about her worries. The brunette wanted to let her best friend have some peace before it's going to crash down once again. 

Though she just couldn't have known that it'd be so soon. 

The adults sit in the garden, enjoying the sunny day together with a picnic and lots of jokes. Riley is walking up the stairs, wanting to see if Josh and Maya want to join them for lunch outside, since she hasn't seen her uncle nor her best friend ever since he came back from the hospital and that had been some hours ago. 

"Josh?" she calls for her uncle as she knocks on his bedroom door. It's open so she walks in but her uncle is nowhere to be seen. The brunette sighs but thinks he might be just in the bathroom so she walks over to the bedroom she shares with Maya, thinking she's probably still asleep.

Riley opens the door carefully and walks into the room. "Maya?" she whispers into the silence and isn't prepared for the cutest scene ever she sees right in front of her; her best friend is asleep and in the embrace of Riley's uncle. They're holding hands and cuddle.

Riley's eyes widen slightly but she can't help but smile at them. This has to be the cutest thing she has ever seen in her entire life so far. Both had exhausting days so she doesn't want to disturb their time together. Quietly, she walks out of the room and closes the door. Just as she's on her way back downstairs she hears the front door opening. 

Everyone else is in the garden so they can't be it. Riley slows down a little and tries to get a look at the front door. Who she sees shocks her and almost knocks her down the stairs. 

Amy and Alan Matthews, her grandparents, are standing in the living room, though Amy looks completely out of place. The concern is written all over her face and it looks like her hands are shaking. Alan closes the door quickly and walks over to his wife, pulling her into a long-lasting hug. 

"You have to talk to him," Alan says to his wife. Riley already knows who they're talking about. Amy nods slowly.

"I know," she responds. "Believe me. I just don't think he wants me to." Riley's heart aches a little for her grandmother, but she still can't forgive her for the way she talked to Josh and Maya as she found out about their relationship. 

"Amy," Alan starts with a sigh. "Of course he wants to talk to you. You are his mother." Amy just shakes her head. 

"I don't think he wants to see me right now... or ever," she whispers into the thick silence. Riley can feel how heavy the room feels right now and it's scaring her a little. 

"Come on. Go upstairs and talk to him," Alan lets go of her and turns her around so she is facing the stairs instead. Amy carefully takes a deep breath with every step that she goes until she reaches the first step. 

Riley panics as her grandmother starts to walk up the stairs, completely oblivious to her grandchild perching at the top of them. The brunette stands up as quietly as she can and walks back onto the floor, quickly slipping into the room where Josh and Maya are currently sleeping in. Not knowing how much time she still has left, she walks over to the bed and grabs a pillow, hitting Josh and Maya with it alternately. 

Josh is the first to wake up and grabs the pillow from his niece who was getting ready to hit him again. 

"Goddammit, Riley!" her uncle hisses with his sleepy voice, though she can't take him seriously with his ruffled hair. It takes a lot for her to fight the smile tugging at her lips, threatening to break out.

"You're welcome, Josh," she says in return while walking to the over side, trying to wake Maya up. 

"What's going on?" he questions his niece who's shaking her friend from side to side. 

"Your mother, that's what's going on," she whispers. "She's back and she wants to talk to you and I don't think it would do you any good if she saw you and Maya like this," she explains quickly. Maya blinks her eyes open and a confused expression immediately falls onto her place.

"Riley, what the hell are you doing?" her voice is quiet but Riley can still hear how annoyed her best friend is. 

"Probably saving your life. Now get up! I'll cover for you two," the brunette finishes just as they hear Amy's voice from across the floor, calling for her youngest son. The blonde looks at her boyfriend with a horrified expression and stands up fastly. Josh pulls the covers back and gets up as well, trying to fix his hair while Riley opens the door and slips out onto the floor where she sees her grandmother making its way into Josh's bedroom. 

"Hey, granny!" Maya and Josh hear Riley saying with a cheery voice. 

"Oh, hello, Riley," she says back, though much quieter. "Do you happen to know where Joshua is?"

"Uhm, I think he's in the bathroom," she says, pretending to think about it. 

"Did he want to take a shower? I can't hear the water running. Maybe he fell!" she exclaims and was about to run into the room, but Riley stopped her just in time. 

"Oh, no, no! He said that he... Uhm, a bath! Yes, he wanted to take a bath. That's what he said," she rambles a little, she knows, but it seems like Amy doesn't notice. 

"Oh, well, then I won't disturb him, of course," she gives her grandchild a close-lipped smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes. Riley returns it nevertheless. "And where's your friend?" she asks after some seconds of uncomfortable silence pass. 

My friend has a name, Riley thought but didn't say anything. 

"She's asleep," the brunette says, pointing at the closed door behind her back. Amy looks at the door and nods slowly. 

"At this time? It's a little late, isn't it?" Riley keeps her smile, although it's getting hard. 

"She was rather tired since she hasn't slept much the last few days. Maya was too worried about Josh to get any sleep," Riley decides to go with the truth since she's not a great liar and she already lied once during the conversation. She can't take another one. 

Amy doesn't answer. She just nods again and goes downstairs where her husband waits for her. The brunette takes a deep breath and opens the door behind her again, to give the couple a small update. 

Walking into the room without looking at them, she stops midsentence as her eyes fall onto her uncle and best friend holding each other tight and making out like there's no tomorrow.

"Are you kidding me?!" she shrieks once the door is closed. Maya and Josh jump apart with wide eyes, staring at the girl who just saved them before Josh's mother could march in. "That's how you're thanking me?!" the brunette grimaces and almost laughs at their guilty faces. Josh avoids her stare at all costs while Maya looks straight into her face, though she's rather red in the face. 

"Sorry," both mumble as quietly as possible. 

"It's okay," Riley rolls her eyes playfully. "Just be glad it was only me who walked in," she glares at both of them before turning towards the door again. "By the way, Josh, you're taking a bath, and Maya, you are asleep."

"But I hate baths!" her uncle protests as she's about to open the door. One last time she turns around and looks into her uncle's eyes with her sweetest smile.

"Now you love them," and with that, she's gone. 

Before anyone could question if Josh was bathing he quickly took a shower before walking downstairs. He walks into the garden with damp hair and changed clothes, knowing his family is still outside and enjoying the sunny weather. Maya is still in her bedroom pretending to be asleep so it won't be obvious that Josh stayed with her.

Before he reaches the door however his mother stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Josh, it's good to see you so healthy again," she smiles at him. 

"Hey, mum," he greets back with a nod. 

"Since when are you back?" she questions though he's pretty sure his mother knows the answer since she disappeared right before he came back this morning. 

"Surely you know that," he says with a cold stare. 

"Uhm... Can we just talk, please?" Josh doesn't know what to expect so he just nods and gestures for her to go ahead. 

His mother goes outside and motions for him to follow her. He does and sees the confused stares from his family as he steps out onto the stone path and follows his mother across the garden and into the flower fields Maya had observed the other night. 

Maya.

A small smile appears at the thought of his girlfriend and how he spent the last few hours with her. It was the best sleep he has had in a long time since college started and his nights were mostly spent writing long essays and preparing for tests and exams. When he was tired and stressed, Maya was a calm presence in his life and made sure he takes breaks and doesn't drown in his school work. She might be chaos for most people, but he only sees beauty in her storm. 

"So," he starts. "What did you want to talk about?"

His mother doesn't meet his eyes, instead, she stares at the grass beneath their feet. 

"I wanted to apologize to you," she gives him a sad smile. "For the way, I acted when I found out about your... relationship with your niece's best friend." Josh stares at her in suspicion, knowing damn well how she only pointed out the fact that his girlfriend is his niece's best friend just to remind him, to show him how messed up it is. 

"Then apologize," he says and his mother finally looks him in the eyes. She quietly clears her throat and observes the flowers surrounding them. 

"I'm sorry, Joshua. I said some hurtful things and want you to know how sorry I am for acting as I did," she says. The look in her eyes is pleading, begging him to accept her apology. 

"Except that you're not," he finally says. Amy's head spins so fast, as she gives her youngest son a look full of hurt and disappointment. 

"How dare you?" she asks into the thick silence.

"You're not sorry for the things you said or the way you acted, mum. I can see it in your eyes, you don't regret it. Right now, you're doing what you always do; you apologize because you see that you did something that hurt me, but you don't think you did anything wrong."

"Josh-"

"You might be sorry for hurting me and for that I am grateful, but you're not sorry for the things you said, just for the things they caused. You still believe Maya and I shouldn't be together, am I right?"

"Josh, I-"

"Am I right?" he asks again and can see the battle his mother fights with herself. She's not used to him talking back to her, but he's done doing everything people want from him. 

"Yes. I am still fully convinced that what you two are doing is absolutely childish and that you could do better," she answers in a cold tone. "But I hope you know that I, as your mother, only have the best interests when it comes to you."

"Doesn't feel like it," Josh answers truthfully. 

"Maybe not, but it will," she starts walking back towards the house. "You may not see it right now, but when things between the two of you fall apart, don't come crying to your mother, because I warned you. Multiple times."

Josh is stunned at his mother's words and wonders when she became this cold. He stares after her until she's out of his sight and just then he sees the concerned looks he gets from his siblings and niece. Riley smiles at him, trying to lighten the mood, but sadly she can't fix everything like she wants to. 

He's about to walk back into the house so he can hide in his room as his beautiful blonde girlfriend steps into the garden with worrying eyes. In an instant, she tries to find him and as their eyes lock, the world stops for a few seconds. 

Maya slowly starts to smile at him and lets out a sigh of relief as he returns the smile, letting it morph into a grin at the sight of her. 

How did he get so damn lucky?

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty-five: Auntie Maya, Black Leather Jackets & Date Night

Dinner is awkward, to say the least. 

After Josh talked to his mother Maya had walked into the garden and instead of telling everyone about the unpleasant conversation he just had with his mother, he just grabbed Maya's hand and sat down with her, trying to enjoy the time left in Philadelphia. They talked and laughed like they always did and so the time passed by quickly. 

As the time for dinner strolled around, everyone exchanged some concerned glances but no one said anything. They had walked into the kitchen and saw Amy putting food on the table. Shawn and Katy went to help her while everyone else sat down as quietly as possible. The order was the same as last time though this time Josh sat down next to Maya. Riley huffed in annoyance since Josh took her place but quickly accepted it after seeing the way Maya beamed at her boyfriend. 

How could Riley say anything against that?

Everyone eats in silence, unsure of what to say. Maya feels like all eyes are on her and Josh and as she looks up and glances around the table quickly she sees that they are. While Shawn and Katy smile secretly to themselves, Topanga and Cory exchange a small grin with each other; Eric raises his eyebrows a few times meanwhile Morgan shakes her head slightly and smiles; Riley smiles softly at the young couple and Auggie is doing the same; even Alan has a small smile on his face. 

Maya sends a questioning look to Josh, only to see him smiling, too. She puts down her fork and that's when she sees it. 

Josh is holding her hand.

On the table. 

For everyone to see. 

Her eyes widen a little because 'When did we start holding hands?!'

One glance at Amy and Maya feels her heart beating faster. She stares at their intertwined hands but doesn't say anything, she just continues to eat like nothing is going on. Maya picks up her fork again, trying to ignore the nervousness coursing through her veins right now. 

"So is Maya my auntie now?" 

"AUGGIE!" most of the adults yell at the same time, but he just grins at Maya and Josh in the most adorable way both have ever seen. 

A few days pass with Maya and Amy ignoring each other as best as they can; Josh taking lots of walks with his siblings, hoping to find a way to make this somehow okay; Riley trying to tell Auggie that Maya isn't his aunt just yet; Topanga and Katy organizing something for the young couple. 

"Josh!" Topanga opens the door to his room where she knows he's sitting on his bed, reading a book. The poor boy startles so bad that he lets go of his book and screams. 

"Topanga was that necessary?!" he yells at her, clutching his chest with both hands. 

"I'm sorry, Josh," Topanga apologizes while trying to hold in her laughter. She just grins at him before making her way over to his bed. On her way, she picks up his book and places it back into his hands. "I have something for you."

"What? What do you mean? Do I need to get Cory?" he rambles with a horrified expression on his face. Topanga chuckles briefly before getting back to business.

"No, there's no need to panic," she says. "Katy and I were thinking..."

"Oh no," Josh mumbles.

"Yes, and we came up with something for you and Maya." At that, Josh's scared face changes into a mix of confusion and curiosity. "We realized you two never actually had a date together."

"I mean-"

"Crashing a college party doesn't count, Josh." The stern look she gives him then shuts him up. "Now, change into something more outgoing and elegant and you'll be just fine." Josh stares at her agape, not knowing if he should feel insulted or not. 

"Where are we even going?"

"Please, if I'd tell you now there would be no surprise," Topanga rolls her eyes with a smile and gets up from his bed, making her way to the door. "You have ten minutes to get ready," she informs him over her shoulder and leaves him alone afterward.

For a minute Josh only sits on his bed, mentally trying to prepare for whatever these two ladies organized. Then he panics after realizing he wasted a whole minute and has only nine minutes left to get ready in time. 

He stumbles to his closet and decides on a white shirt, pairing it with black jeans and his black combat boots. Looking into the mirror to style his hair a little, his eyes fall onto the reflection of his black leather jacket currently hanging over a chair. The last time he wore this jacket had been to a college party - not just any party though. 

It was the college party Maya had snuck into with those two college girls. He briefly recalled his conversations with Maya and how he almost lost her after just finding her again. The thought of how she had yelled at him and kissed him later brings a smile onto his face. 

With a determined nod, he puts the jacket on and grabs the door handle. He takes a deep breath and reminds himself that he doesn't need to be nervous - it's just Maya, his girlfriend. 

----------

"Hello, little butterfly," Katy says as she opens the door to her daughter's current bedroom. Riley is there as well, smiling upon hearing the voice of her best friend's mother. Maya smiles sweetly at her mother.

"Hey, mum." She puts her sketchbook aside and scoots forward on the bay window. "What's up?" Riley and Katy exchange a look before the brunette walks over to her and Maya's clothes, already putting a few pieces out for her friend. 

"Maya," Katy sits down next to her daughter. "Topanga and I-"

"Well, that's never good," the blonde says immediately, making her mother laugh.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad," Katy assures Maya. "As I said, Topanga and I planned something for you and Josh, and I need you to get ready."

"What?" Maya asks, completely flabbergasted at her mother's words. 

"Yes, Riley already had an idea for your outfit," Katy says while standing up. Before she leaves the two girls alone she turns once more, looking at Riley. "She has fifteen minutes to get ready."

Riley nods a few times, smiling as she answers, "Don't worry, she'll be there in time."

The door closes and the brunette continues with make-up, grabbing her bag and putting a few things on the table carefully. 

"Riley, for what am I getting ready?" the blonde asks, a scared undertone in her voice.

"Don't worry, Peaches," was all that she says. Riley grabs the clothes and orders Maya to put them on. The blonde grumbles but does what she's told nevertheless, rolling her eyes while putting on her short, white dress. Black high-heels follow and, even though Maya insists she can't walk with them, Riley knows better. 

Maya practiced it a few times already, and Riley knew that, though the blonde would never admit it out loud. 

"Alright, I found this cute black denim jacket," Riley starts with a happy face. "I think it would look pretty good." Maya walks over to the mirror and looks at herself, brushing her hair with her hands. As she stares at her reflection another jacket catches her eyes. 

"Riley?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you hand me this one over there?" she points at her bag, where a black leather jacket is showing. 

"This one?" Riley asks as she picks it up. Maya nods and reaches out to take the piece of clothing that holds a few memories, great memories. A smile tugs at her lips as she recalls this one fateful college party she had snuck into. It wasn't even that long ago but it still feels like yesterday she saw him again in-between all these drunk college students. 

Maya puts the jacket on and smiles at her reflection, "Yeah," she whispers, "This one."

----------

Josh waits downstairs in the living room, checking the time over and over again. He had walked down the stairs as soon as he was ready but no one was there. He briefly considered walking around and looking for any of his family members but quickly shut this idea down, too scared of missing something. 

Did it take too long for him to get ready?

Did he already miss his girlfriend and now they were gone?

Was this just a prank?

Josh annoys himself with those thoughts every single time but he can't help but overthink in situations like these. He's so deep in thought, he doesn't even notice the beautiful blonde walking down the stairs five minutes later. 

"Josh?" her sweet voice gently fills the silence around them. 

"Yes?" his gaze quickly finds his girlfriend and his jaw drops at the sight of her. Her hair falls in waves and her make-up brings out the blue of her eyes. "Maya," he manages to choke out after some time, getting a few giggles out of her.

"Thank you, you look handsome yourself," she grins at his facial expression, taking it as a way of saying 'You look great'.

Josh shakes his head to get out of his trance and finally smiles at his sweet girlfriend, loving the way she just gazes into his eyes with a small smile gracing her face. 

"So, where are you taking me?" Maya asks with a glint in her eyes, her smile changing into a teasing grin. Josh flushes and laughs it off while shaking his head at her joke. He takes her hands into his and intertwines them, squeezing her. 

"He's taking you to the famous garden restaurant," Katy suddenly announces, scaring the young couple and making them jump apart. Maya recovers first and raises an eyebrow, looking rather skeptical.

"Oh yeah?" she smirks. "What's it called?" 

Katy's signature smile drops as she tries to come up with something but before she can respond, Topanga jumps in, "It's the Topangarden," she sings happily. Josh's and Maya's eyes widen, meanwhile Katy glares at her best friend. 

"No, it's not! We've talked about this!" she mutters loudly at Topanga who's grin is frozen in time. 

"And I told you I'm the cook so I decide the name," she mutters back. Josh and Maya exchange a smile with each other as both women continue to argue about the name. Josh is sure they could argue the whole evening and while it was amusing to watch his sister-in-law and girlfriend's mother discussing the name of an imaginary restaurant, he was promised a date with his lovely girlfriend, so he decides to put an end to it.

"How about you just take us there? I'm sure it's great, no matter what you call it," the brown-haired boy exclaims, getting a smile from Maya and a sheepish look from both, Katy and Topanga. They first look at each other and slowly start smiling, before nodding at Josh and gesturing to follow them. Maya takes Josh's hand again and together they walk out into the backyard of Josh's childhood home. 

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty-six: Date-night, Apologies & Too Much Cuteness

"They didn't forget a single thing," Maya says as she looks around the garden of the Matthews' household. 

"No, they didn't," Josh, her boyfriend, agrees as he, too, looks around. 

The young couple is seated on a white table along with white, comfortable chairs. Above them there's some white fabric and attached to it there are bright chains of light to create a nice and romantic mood. Lanterns and flowers surround them as if they are in some fairytale and, although Maya doesn't believe in stuff like that, she appreciates it nevertheless. 

Topanga and Katy are currently getting their dinner ready so they brought Maya and Josh some lemonade and crackers in the meantime. 

"So," Josh starts, looking back at Maya. The blonde raises her eyebrows as she grabs some crackers and eats them, leaving small crumbs everywhere. He starts to laugh as she finishes, revealing all the crumbs around her mouth. 

"What?" she asks with a small smile, confused by her boyfriend's behavior.

"It's just, Uhm," helplessly he gestures with his hands towards his mouth, and soon enough Maya gets the message. With an embarrassed laugh, she quickly wipes the crumbs away with the back of her hand. 

"All gone?" the blonde asks.

"Yes, all gone," Josh nods while he answers and grabs a few crackers as well. They fall back into silence. The conversation has never been trouble for the young couple, they talk about just anything at any given time. Today though something is different. Although they already established their relationship, they still cannot avoid the awkward tension and nervousness that comes with the first official date.

Josh smiles at Maya. It's simple yet it causes Maya's heart to race as she just continues to look at him. Maybe they don't need words to spend a great time together. 

Katy walks out into the garden again, carrying a small basket with her. 

"Hey there!" she greets cheerfully. "Hope you're having an amazing time together! I brought you some bread to eat!" Katy places the basket filled with bread on the table and smiles widely at her daughter and Josh. "Okay, great, you're doing amazing!" Maya and Josh share a look filled with laughter in their eyes as Katy walks back into the house, still grinning brightly and giving them a thumbs-up before closing the door. 

"Seems like my mom's on a mission to embarrass me," Maya jokes as she chuckles at her mother's odd behavior. 

Josh nods and laughs as well, "Nah, she's just happy to see you happy."

"Yeah, well, still. She could be less enthusiastic about me being in a relationship," the blonde continues joking, gesturing with her hand in the air. Josh laughs even more. "What's so funny, huh?" Maya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing. Just enjoying the weather," Josh says.

Maya stares at him with an unimpressed smile. "Is that so?"

"Oh, for sure."

"Well, then you probably won't care if I just go," Maya teases and acts like she gets ready to leave. Josh is quick to reach out, intertwining their hands. 

"I am only joking." Maya sits down again, smiling at him. "Who cares about the weather when someone as gorgeous as you is sitting right in front of them?" Josh asks. Maya blushes furiously at the compliment and doesn't get a response out. Josh only laughs. "Well, it is easier than I thought to render you speechless."

"Not funny," Maya mumbles with a pout. Josh's laughing only increases.

The teasing continues until Topanga and Katy serve them their promised dinner half an hour later. It's a simple meal consisting of a delicious burger and fries, some dips and sauces, and more lemonade. 

Dinner is filled with jokes, friendly banter, and remembering funny moments from the past. But it doesn't take long until they finish eating and the topics turn into more serious ones. 

"Josh?"

"Yes, Ferret?" Josh asks, sensing the change in her mood. 

"I just-Uhm, I wanted to... I guess, what I am trying to say is," Maya lets out a frustrated huff. "I've been meaning to tell you, that I am... well, I'm... I wanted to, uh, I wanted to..."

"Maya," Josh interrupts her mumbling. "Don't be afraid, just tell me."

The blonde closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. As she opens them again, Josh is smiling softly at her. 

"Okay, yes," Maya nods. "I wanted to... I've been meaning to apologize, yes, that's what I wanted to say." Josh's eyes widen and his mouth suddenly dries out. "The accident... It was my fault. And I'm sorry for putting you into that position, I should have stopped us from running away. It's just... I was scared, really scared and I couldn't think straight and, and I, It's my fault. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said yes, I shouldn't have just jumped into this. It's my fault we got into this mess and, I mean, I-I didn't for this to happen. I am so sorry, Josh."

Josh keeps staring at his girlfriend, not saying anything. In the meantime, Maya has stopped talking and feels Josh's intense gaze and it makes her more nervous. The longer the silence goes on, the more Maya thinks she just made a big mistake. Her eyebrows draw together as her thoughts scare her away.

"You think this is your fault?" Josh asks quietly and Maya looks at him confused.

"Well, yes. Because it is," Maya says. "It's completely my fault. As I walked through the hospital after the accident, I was so scared. And I felt so guilty because of what I did. I was almost too afraid of seeing you."

"You really believe that it was your fault?" Josh asks again, louder this time. He sounds angry and Maya doesn't understand why. "Maya, this is hardly your fault. You weren't the one driving the car. Heck, you weren't even the one suggesting to leave. That was me. I did this to us, to you! Maya, I put you in danger. If anyone should apologize, I should be the one. Not you."

"But I-"

"No. No, this is on me. You didn't do anything wrong. I was irresponsible and dumb and just completely wrong. I should have known better and I am deeply sorry for putting you into that situation," Josh explains. "Please know that I never meant to hurt you."

Maya feels her heart breaking at the sight of a guilty feeling Josh. His eyes are downcast and filled with sadness and regret. Maya smiles and stands up but Josh doesn't look at her, not even as she's standing right next to him. 

"Josh?" He looks up at his girlfriend. "You don't have to apologize. I'm right here and I am okay." She takes his hand into hers. "I don't blame you for anything, okay? I'm fine and so are you. That's all that matters."

"You never fail to amaze me, Ferret," Josh says and gets up to hug Maya. They stand close, holding each other and not letting go. 

In the kitchen, both Katy and Topanga try to dry their cheeks as tears of joy just keep running down their faces. 

"Aren't they adorable?" Topanga asks with a huge smile. 

"Yeah," Katy agrees wholeheartedly. "They really are."

----------

Maya and Josh brought their plates into the kitchen where Maya placed them in the sink. Topanga started to wash them while Katy cleaned the basket and the cups. Maya offered to clean the table and didn't take a no as an answer so her mother quickly grabbed a bucket filled with water and handed her daughter a washcloth. 

Now Maya softly hummed a melody while cleaning the table. Josh is standing in the kitchen and forced to listen to Topanga and Katy swooning over the date they just witnessed.

"I really loved the way you held her hand," Katy says. Topanga nudges her shoulder and nods. 

"Yeah, that was my favorite part!" She grins brightly. 

"Or just anything, really," Katy shrugs and claps Josh on the back. "You did a great job." Josh smiles uncomfortably at her.

"Thank you, Katy."

"You make my daughter happy," Katy says as her eyes display affection towards Josh. "I should be thanking you."

Josh is stunned at Katy's words. He has always admired how openly she can show her feelings and this time is no different. Topanga hugs the blond woman quickly and Josh sees that as an opportunity to slip into the garden where his girlfriend still is. 

The girl in question admires the night sky as lots of stars start to make an appearance. Josh knows that Maya has always loved the night more than the day and sees the soft smile her lips pull into. Slowly he makes his way over to her and when Maya sees him, her smile only grows.

"Hey there," she says. Josh stops next to her and gazes into her eyes.

"Hi," he whispers. 

"Finally managed to flee the kitchen?" Maya asks with a teasing grin. Josh starts to laugh at the look on her face. 

"Yeah, it was pretty rough though," Josh says. "Almost didn't make it."

Maya laughs as well. "So how did the interrogation go, Boing?"

"Let me think," Josh says playfully. "Not too bad. I think I passed the son-in-law test."

"Already?" Maya asks with a fake pout. "But I was so hoping for more tests and tricks." Josh laughs at her joke and grabs the bucket as Maya throws the washcloth into it, being finished with the table. 

"Alright, let's get inside before it's getting cold," Josh says.

"Cold?" Maya turns towards Josh as she walks backward and looks at him offended. "It's summer, dear Boing, and I am wearing a leather jacket. I won't freeze and I certainly won't catch a cold." Josh raises an eyebrow at her. "Also, if I should get cold, which I won't, I still got you to keep me warm." Maya smiles satisfied and turns again before jumping into the house. Josh watches after her and laughs again, shaking his head at his girlfriend. 

----------

As Maya and Josh walk up the stairs to call it a night, they stop in front of Maya's temporary room. She smiles up at him as he bends down to kiss her softly. 

"I enjoyed our date," Josh says.

"I did, too. We should do that more often," Maya says with a shy glance up at him.

"Definitely," Josh agrees with a firm nod. 

"Well, it's been nice," Maya says. "Goodnight, Josh."

"Goodnight, Maya."

Josh waits until Maya disappears behind the wooden door, hearing his niece excitedly saying her best friend's name upon her coming back from her first official date with her boyfriend. Josh smiles softly before retreating into his room just across the floor. It's been a crazy time since he came back home and, while the date with Maya has been a nice change, he's tired of the drama. The conversation with his mother still doesn't leave him in peace, so he locks himself in the bathroom and takes a shower before another sleepless night will force his mind to pick everything apart.