Chapter Text
JANUARY 2016
“You once said you were playing the long game,” Josh said as a reminder, watching Maya carefully.
“I like you, Josh,” Maya repeated in a more somber tone, “It’s you I like.”
“I like you too,” Josh stated honestly, not sure how these words were coming out of his mouth, but they were, and they were honest. It didn’t change the fact that he was still three years older than her, but he knew it would change the dynamic of their relationship, whatever that was to be going forward, “And I never want you to not be in my life. So how about we try this—”
“Boyfriend and girlfriend right now!” Maya exclaimed excitedly, interrupting him.
“No.” He was shutting that suggestion down real quick.
“Boyfriend and girlfriend eventually,” Maya amended without missing a beat. Her tone was playful but there was spark in her eyes when she realized he had paused that time. “You’re not saying no...”
Josh grinned and shrugged his shoulders. There was something about this girl he just could not figure out. He was hardly ever like this with anyone else, but she knew exactly what to say and how to say it to make him relent. He put his head in his hands, partly to hide the grin that was erupting on his face. He got his smile under control and looked at her. “I’ll play the long game. Live your life, I’ll live my life. I know you’re out there and I’m out there too.”
“That’s your deal?” Maya asked.
“That’s my deal,” Josh confirmed. He reached out his hand for her to shake, “Someday?”
“Someday,” she agreed, wrapping her hand in his.
***
AUGUST 2016
It was a gorgeous summer day in New York and Maya had decided to take her art supplies out into the city and let inspiration come to her. It was a solitary activity that she could immerse herself in for the majority of the day. Riley and Lucas had offered to tag along, but Maya wanted to do this alone, and as much as she loved her friends, she knew they didn’t always have the...patience required for such a task.
She set up shop in the shade of a massive oak tree, off the path so that she would not be in anyone’s way. She had a decent view of the park in front of her and the various people who frequented it. There was a yoga class taking place a few yards to her right, and a game of basketball taking place in the court a little to the left. She watched the cyclist wiz past the joggers and happily took in the chaos around her, letting it inspire her.
She sketched her surroundings in an abstract manner, stopping to add colour to the pieces that really captured her attention. She was so absorbed in her work that she didn’t even notice the man walking up to her until he was practically in front of her.
The first thing she saw was a gloriously well defined abdomen that was coated in a thin sheen of sweat. Her eyes wandered upwards until they met with a familiar dark blue that sent her heart in a bit of tailspin.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Josh said with a grin as he plopped down next to as ungracefully as he could possibly have managed.
“Could say the same for you, Uncle Boing,” Maya teased with a sense of bravado she wasn’t really feeling at the moment.
“Not your uncle,” He reminded her with a sigh. It gave her immense pleasure to get under his skin, “I was just shooting hoops with a couple of my new friends.”
Maya looked up and noticed the game of basketball had wound down and most of the guys were now gone, with just a small cluster sticking around to take some shots.
“Come here often?” Maya asked with a grin.
“Often enough,” Josh said, returning her grin with one of his own.
“Noted,” Maya said with a cheeky wink.
Josh laughed. The sound was like music to Maya. She would probably listen to that sound all day if she could.
“I’ve never seen you out here before,” He stated as he watched her return to her sketching.
“It’s my first time,” Maya answered as she watched an older gentleman playing chess with who she assumed was his grandson. “I just wandered into this place and just knew that I had to capture it in some way.”
“It looks like you’ve succeeded,” Josh noted as he glanced at her work. It was pretty spectacular. Maya felt her lips quirking up at the compliment, but her mind was already on trying to figure out a way to show the sheer concentration on the little boys face.
It had taken some time, but Maya finally felt as if she had done her piece the justice it deserved. It was just a sketch with colour thrown in here and there for now, but it would be the guiding point for a bigger piece. She glanced over at Josh who was sitting next to her, still incredibly shirtless, looking enthralled in something that Maya thought resembled a textbook.
“Whatcha reading?” she asked in a sing-song voice. She nudged him softly with her shoulder.
“Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry,” Josh replied, nudging her right back.
“Sounds...interesting,” Maya stated in a tone that heavily implied the opposite.
“It’s pretty dry reading,” Josh admitted, “But it’s required reading for my chem. class this fall, so I thought I would get a head start on it.”
“You don’t even start school for another few weeks!” Maya exclaimed, completely outraged at the idea that someone would willing study for school before it even began. Even Farkle hadn’t stooped to that level yet.
“Yeah, well tell that to college,” Josh laughed, “It’s easy to fall behind with the coursework...or so I’ve been told.”
“I bet it doesn’t help that you’re a nerd who chose pre-med as their major,” Maya teased.
Once again Josh let out a laugh that had Maya grinning from ear to ear, “You’re right, that doesn’t help at all.”
“I bet you’ll be the most prepared freshman at NYU,” Maya teased happily.
They fell into a comfortable silence after that. Josh returned to his book, while Maya opened up a new page in her sketchbook, this time choosing to draw a realistic portrait of the man beside her.
It wasn’t until the sun set that Josh insisted that he walk her back home.
“I’ll be fine,” Maya protested gently, “I’ve been out much later than this. You don’t have to walk me home.”
“I want to,” Josh replied with a level of sincerity in his voice that Maya couldn’t argue with. True to his word, he walked Maya right up to the front step before bidding her goodnight.
“Thanks for the fantastic company, Maya Hart,” Josh said with a wink as he walked away.
***
MARCH 2017
Josh rubbed his eyes for the third time in a span of a few minutes. The words in his books were starting to blur, letting him know it might be time to call it quits for the night. He stretched out his arms and let out a yawn, glancing towards the clock on his desk. 1:21am.
He closed the book and headed to the tiny bathroom he shared with his three other roommates. He had gotten extremely luckily with the dorm draw. He was able to score a spot in the apartment style dorms where he and his roommates got their own closet sized bedroom. He wasn’t complaining though. The last thing he wanted was to share a room with a stranger. He had enough horror stories from his friends who hadn’t gotten so lucky.
He returned to his room shortly after and noticed the notification light on his phone was flashing. He picked it up and saw that he had four missed calls from Maya. He felt his heart drop in his chest as he fumbled to call her back. She answered on the first ring.
“Josh?” She asked through the speaker. She sounded vulnerable and scared. Two things he hardly ever associated with Maya Hart.
“Maya, what’s wrong?” Josh asked feeling frantic, “Are you okay?”
“I..I’m,” She couldn’t seem to answer the question, “Can you please come get me?”
His keys were in his hands before she had even finished asking. He didn’t even bother getting a coat as he left his apartment in a hoodie and loose pair of sweats and headed straight for the student parking lot where his car sat.
“Where are you?” He asked. He hated hearing her sound so small.
“I’m upstate,” she said quietly, as if she was ashamed, “I went to a party, but…”
“But what, Maya?” Josh prodded. His heart was already hammering a mile a minute in his chest.
“But I don’t want to be here anymore, can you please come get me, Josh?”
“I’m on my way; just tell me where you are.”
He plugged the address into the GPS and peeled out of the parking lot faster than he probably should have, but he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to him at this precise moment was getting to Maya and making sure she was okay.
He stayed on the phone with her for the entire drive over. They rarely spoke, but it was enough just to have the constant connection. There was no way he was hanging up until he saw her.
The house he pulled up in front of was nothing out of the ordinary, save for the fact that it had a good forty to fifty kids milling about outside. None of them were Maya.
“I’m outside,” he told her as he watched the scene in front of him. It made him feel exceedingly uneasy. There were red solo cups and beer bottles littered across the lawn. Clusters of kids were smoking cigarettes and he was pretty sure there were some illegal substances being passed around between them. What the hell was Maya doing at a place like this?
He saw her dart around from the side of the house. She was walking fast, with her head down, but it didn’t stop come of the guys outside from whistling at her appreciatively and making lewd comments as she passed by. Josh frowned as he noticed she was wearing a sleeveless black mini dress and not much else. He wasn’t one to judge people for what they wore, but it was still very much the middle of winter in New York. He reached into the back seat as Maya got into the passenger side. He tugged out his old high school swim team sweatshirt from under a pile of books and handed it to Maya. She tugged it on gratefully.
He watched her wordlessly, still trying to figure out what he wanted to say. She looked to be in one piece, and he couldn’t see any visible signs of her being hurt physically, but he was still feeling on edge. She met his gaze for a brief moment but looked away. She wore more makeup than he was used to seeing on her, and it made her appear much older than the 16 year old she actually was.
Josh pulled away from the house, driving much more carefully this time around.
“Riley? Lucus? Farkle?” He asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting her confirmation anyway.
“They didn’t come,” Maya replied with a bit of an edge to her voice. She appeared braver now that she was with him. “I was on a date.”
The weight of those words settled between them for a moment.
“Some date,” Josh muttered, directing his anger at the dumb kid who would bring Maya to a place like this. “Where is he?”
“Still there,” Maya replied evenly, “Completely wasted out of his mind and making out with some other girl.”
Josh glanced over at the blonde beside him. She didn’t look heartbroken, she looked pissed off. Josh let out a sigh. He was feeling so many things at once: infuriated, relieved, exasperated, exhausted, that he wasn’t sure which one to really focus in on.
“Maya, what if something happened to you?” Josh asked softly, “What if I hadn’t called back? What then?”
“I don’t know, okay Josh?” Maya said in frustration, “I don’t know. I was stupid. I wasn’t thinking straight. I’m sorry.”
“Tell me what happened,” He requested, and so she did. He listened as she told him about this guy named Connor who was a senior to her sophomore. She told him how she didn’t know what he had planned, other than that they were going to a party. She assured him she hadn’t drunk anything she wasn’t supposed to and almost immediately wanted to go home, but Connor had gone off to do his own thing. She found him an hour later wrapped up in another girl. She told him how a majority of the party goers were significantly older and she felt uncomfortable with what was going on. That is when she called him.
“You know that I’ll always be there for you when you need me,” Josh stated adamantly. He meant it with every fiber of his being. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I know,” Maya whispered, burrowing deeper into the seat, “I really am sorry.”
With his eyes still on the road, he reached over and wrapped her hand up in her own. He let their intertwined hands rest on the console between them. It wasn’t a romantic gesture, it was one of comfort.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence after that. He didn’t speak up until they were back into the city.
“Where is it that I’m taking you?” He asked carefully, watching Maya chew on her bottom lip for a moment as she mulled over her options.
“Home, I guess,” she said with a sigh, “That’s not going to be fun.”
“Where do Katy and Shawn think you are right now?” Josh asked as he headed into the direction of Maya’s apartment.
“At a sleepover,” Maya grumbled. He could see that she didn’t want to do this, but she was doing it anyways, which made him smile. This was the Maya he knew, the girl who was bold and adventurous, but always owned up to her mistakes.
He had offered to come in with her, but she was adamant about doing this herself.
“Thank you, Josh,” she said honestly, “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t…”
“But I did,” Josh said cutting her off. He didn’t want to think about what might have happened if she hadn’t called. He watched her until she was safely inside before driving back to campus. The clock on the dashboard told him it was 3:30 in the morning, and he knew that getting up for his 8am biology class was going to be a nightmare, but it would be worth it, knowing Maya was safe.
***
DECEMBER 2017
Christmas was at Cory and Topanga’s this year. Josh and his parents arrived armed with gifts on Christmas Eve. Eric and Morgan were already there, and it was the first time in a long time that the entire family was all together.
“Uh,” Josh said as he glanced around the apartment. Apart from the usual Christmas décor, there was another addition. Mistletoe. Everywhere.
Auggie leapt into his arms as soon as Josh shed his coat. “It’s all Riley’s fault,” He said with an exaggerated eye roll when he realized what his uncle was looking at.
“There is nothing wrong with spreading love during Christmas,” Riley said as she came into view, obviously having heard the comment from her little brother.
“Lucas is coming tonight,” Auggie added in explanation.
“Ahhh,” Josh said as everything made a little more sense, “I guess that means things are going well for you two?”
“He told me he loved me,” Riley said giddily. Josh laughed at her enthusiasm. It was one of the best things about his niece. Her optimism was infectious, and he was glad that she had a guy like Lucas in her life.
The afternoon progressed with lots of laughter as they all caught up on each other’s lives. Eric was still doing the Senator thing and Morgan was still traveling around the world and ‘finding herself’ as she so eloquently put it. He could see his parents brimming with pride as they looked around at all their children and the things they had accomplished.
As evening approached, more of the guests started to arrive and the apartment got a little more crowded but with them came more laughter and love. Josh stood in the kitchen eating straight out of the chips bowl and watched Ava trying to trap Auggie under one of the many, many mistletoes that were hung up.
The door opened and Maya walked in followed by Shawn and Katy (the two having been married over the summer). Shawn was practically a Matthews anyways, so it only made sense that he was here with them to celebrate. He watched his parents greet him like one of their own, and giving Katy the same amount love and welcoming.
Maya winked at him, but didn’t make a move to approach him. Instead she headed into the corner where the rest of her friends were hanging out. Josh felt his lips quirking upwards as he turned away.
He spent a good part of the night talking to his sister and listening to all her wild stories that had him in stitches, especially the parts that he was absolutely certain his parents didn’t know about. He had missed Morgan the most since she was the one he saw the least. He appreciated the holidays a lot more as an adult than he did when he was younger. He didn’t speak to Maya, but the two of them were never too far away from each other and shared glances a number of times over the course of the night. He pretended like he didn’t see the knowing looks that Morgan shot him.
*
Josh found her on the roof a couple of hours later when the party had finally died down. She was spending the night, crashing with Riley and Morgan in Riley’s room while he was bunking with Auggie for the night. His parents had the guest room and Eric; well Eric had built himself a camp site in the living room that no one had the energy to question.
“Boing,” Maya said in way of greeting. Josh just shook his head.
“You know, I’ll be 17 in a few weeks,” Maya said coyly.
“And I’ll be 20 a few weeks after that,” Josh countered easily as he approached her.
“Still playing the long game?” Maya implored dryly.
“I’m still out there,” Josh answered with a shrug, letting her make of it what she wanted. The truth was that he had become quite invested in this long game of theirs. Every conversation they had made the bond between them grow a little bit more. She was more than just his niece’s best friend. She was one his own best friends. He cared for her more deeply than he was comfortable admitting, even to himself.
Maya looked at him and then shyly bit her bottom lip as something caught her attention. Before he could look to see what it was, she tugged him towards him and kissed him. It was perfectly innocent; the barest touch of her lips against his own for the tiniest of moments before she pulled away.
“Mistletoe,” She said with mischief shining brightly in her eyes. He could tell she was proud of what she had done. Josh was unable to think of much, his brain short circuiting a bit. It wasn’t like he hadn’t kissed girls before, because he had. But that had been different in a way he wasn’t ready to think about just yet.
“That’s just a teaser of what could happen if we make it to ‘someday’,” Maya promised with a smug little wink. With that, she was gone, most probably back to the apartment to fill Riley in on what she had managed to accomplish.
Josh walked over to the sturdy railing, peering out over the city that was more lit up than usual to celebrate the upcoming holidays. Maya Hart was going to be the end of him. He felt the barest hint of a smile tugging on his lips.
***