Work Text:
"seriously! this assignment is crazy" maya groans, moving to slam her head onto the table in front of her dramatically.
her boyfriend of a year brings his hand out instinctively to catch her head before she can hit the table and hurt herself, her chin landing in the palm of his hands. a soft smile on his lips as he watched the blonde fondly.
they'd been together properly since the ski lodge when maya told him to go to riley if he cared about her at all, he'd refused and confessed his love for the girl who'd teased him relentlessly and since then it's been smooth sailing.
"it's just thirty pages and five hundred word essay" farkle sighed from his seat.
"just?" maya cried sitting back up and looking at farkle accusingly before turning to lucas "oh ranger rick, kill me now"
"it'll be fine pancakes" he told her softly, his hand squeezing her knee "i'll come over and we can do it together later"
"reword that" zay muttered with a sly grin.
"why are we friends?"
"i refuse to leave" he just shot back and lucas sighed knowing it was true, not that he minded anyway.
"it won't be bad" the older boy tried, seeing maya sulking in her chair "i love you"
a pout was prominent on her face but she still murmured back "i love you too... for some unknown reason"
"go buy yourself a smoothie and next time i make a deserving comment you can dump it on me" he offered, pulling out some money for her.
"there's my reason!" she sprung up, leaning down to kiss his lips as a thank you before snatching his money and going to the counter.
"this will be the third smoothie this month" riley noted "why do you let her do this to you"
"because it makes her happy and i love her" he said confidently, looking towards the counter where his girlfriend stood "i don't care what she does as long as she's happy, even if i mean i forever smell like smoothie"
"i feel so alone" zay sighs flicking through his history book "all by myself, don't wanna be all by myself-"
"shut up" farkle threw a pencil at the boy who just smirks and dodges it.
maya suddenly reappears empty handed throwing herself onto the chair and basically onto lucas who, despite being confused, lifts his arm to wrap around her strongly and let her cuddle into his side.
"where's your smoothie?" he asked, meeting his friends concerned gazes.
"changed my mind" she answered simply, her face half hidden in his jacket but he noticed the change in tone.
"are you ok?"
"i'm fine huckleberry just... hold me, please" she adds softly and he nods, he'll bring this up later when they're alone.
~~~
"alright, that's enough work for now" riley announced slamming her text book closed which woke maya who'd fallen asleep.
her head had fallen into his lap, his hands lazily running through her soft, blonde hair soothingly. lucas had tried to let her sleep as long as possible "what's happening?"
"we're leaving, pack up your books and i'll drive you home" she nodded and sat up before excusing herself to the bathroom.
lucas had just zipped up his bag and his girlfriends bag when he heard the sound, his blood running cold. a familiar muffled scream had sounded through the cafe and instantly he knew who it was.
maya.
it took only a second before he was running forward, bags discarded. lucas went as fast as he could to the bathroom with his friends trailing behind as he rounded the corner, he didn't expect the sight in front of him.
maya was pushed against the wall beside the bathroom doors by a boy around twenty, his lips planted on her neck. one of his hands held her wrist together above her head, the other covering her mouth while a prominent hand mark was burning red on her cheek.
the younger girl was trying to fight him off desperately, tears trailing down her cheek as the man attacked her with his mouth. lucas's vision went red, never had he felt this anger before, how could someone ever touch his girl.
he reached forward to rip the slightly older boy of his girlfriend harshly, chucking him to the floor with a strong punch "what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"relax buddy, we're just having some fun" the man chuckled wiping the blood from his now split lip.
"if you ever talk or touch to my girlfriend again, no... if you ever even think about talking or touching my girlfriend again i'll fucking kill you with my own bare hands" lucas spat, his body protectively shielding maya's.
"she was into it man, hate to tell you but your girlfriends a slut"
it was like something snapped in lucas and suddenly he was back in his texas ways, slamming the assaulter to the ground and repeatedly punching him in the face leaving him bloodied and bruised.
farkle and zay rushed to pull their friend of the older boy despite thinking he deserved the beating but it was no use. maya hesitantly stepped forward grabbing her boyfriends wrist before he could throw another punch.
"maya let go of me, i don't want to hurt you" lucas muttered darkly.
"no heehaw, you've hurt him enough but now- now i need you lucas" she whispered, her voice breaking as she used his real name.
finally the wrist maya was holding unclenched from a fist and lucas pulled himself from the older boy to wrap his arms around maya protectively, shielding her from all the people watching the fight.
"can we go back to yours?" she asked softly and he nodded, pulling away for a second to shrug off his own jacket and wrap it around her shoulders.
"please don't- i just need this right now" he sighed when she went to protest and instead she nodded understandingly.
with a stern nod to his friends he wrapped his arm around maya's shoulders, keeping her safe burrowed in his chest. he led her to the car and drove home silently, his hand rubbing her thigh reassuringly helping her drift off to sleep.
~~~
when maya opens her eyes again she's in lucas's room, wrapped in a blanket as she laid in the bed. she doesn't remember getting to the house and she certainly doesn't remember coming into the house and onto the bed.
"you fell asleep in the car, i carried you in" a voice speaks and maya turns to the left to see lucas sitting at his desk, his shoulders tense and his eyes distant, she knew what was happening.
"don't do that to me ranger rick" she sighed, running a hand through to her hair to tame it "please don't shut me out like you always do"
"i didn't want to be like texas me ever again" he won't meet her eyes, opting to stair at the desk and basically burn a hole through it "i hurt someone and... i did it in front of you, i wouldn't be surprised if you hated me... or were scared of me"
"lucas, look at me" she ordered sternly and hesitantly he did "i will never hurt you and never will i be scared of you, i know you won't hurt me, or anyone else who doesn't deserve it but that guy did"
"was he why you freaked out when you got the smoothie?" lucas realized earning a soft nod, a growl left his lips as he tightened his hold on her and pulled her into his lap "what did he say to you"
"said i was pretty and he could make me feel good, i told him no and that i had boyfriend but when i tried to leave he grabbed my wrist and told me i was tease" she told him honestly.
"why didn't you tell me?"
"i knew you'd get angry and i didn't want to ruin our day, i thought the man would leave" he nodded at her words, his eyes still holding unshed fury for this man making maya feel like this "i'm ok heehaw, i promise"
"i don't regret doing it, punching him i mean"
"i don't want you to" maya stood up going to stand behind his desk chair, placing her hands on his shoulders and kissing his forehead "you were protecting me and i should be thank you, my big strong golden boy"
"anything i can do to make you feeling better?"
"i'd be better if you gave me cuddles" she grinned and lucas couldn't help but feel so completely in love with this girl, this was the maya only he got to see, when the girl was vulnerable and soft.
"of course, ma'am" he picks her up in his arms securely and carries her back to the bed, placing her down before climbing in beside her.
his arms wrap around her pulling her so her head rested on his chest, one of her arms across his chest and their legs tangled. his fingers were drawing soft patterns on her back until her breathing evened out and once lucas knew she was ok, finally let himself drift to sleep.
"i'll always protect you" he murmured to her, leaning to kiss her forehead and the only response he got was her pushing her head further to rest in the crook of his neck as he fell asleep with the love of his life in his arms.