A/N: So, I wrote this post Girl Meets Teacher, but before Girl Meets Yearbook. I haven't actually written anything that deals with Yearbook yet, but I will eventually. So this is the first Lucaya-ish story I've written that is set in the present of the GMW show. As such, it's not entirely shippy, but it's definitely an underlying thing. Anyway, enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac
Disclaimer: I don't own GMW.
That Girl Has Love
"This is a rotten idea, Maya," Lucas hissed as he followed a half step behind her. "We're gonna get caught."
"You didn't have to come, ya know," Maya replied without looking back at him. Her gaze was laser focused on the target ahead of her.
"Yeah, I could have let you run around the streets of New York City by yourself," Lucas said. "That's the second worst plan you've come up with tonight. You need adult supervision."
"I have adult supervision," Maya waved a hand at the two figures walking arm in arm a half dozen feet in front of them. "They just don't know they're doing any supervising."
"I can't believe you roped me into this," Lucas shook his head.
Maya smirked, "And I didn't even need to borrow your lasso."
0o0
Maya decided, the moment Shawn agreed to go out with her mother, that the two couldn't be trusted to go out on their own. They had enough collective bad luck in romantic relationships between them that the odds of something going wrong were enormous. With their luck a wild Angela might appear and attack Shawn with Nostalgia and Divorce Announcements. Maya had to go with them, to run interference, to make sure nothing happened to distract the two from their date, just in case. Everything had to be perfect if Shawn was going to woo her mother from her man boycott, and if Maya had to shadow them to make that happen, so be it.
The original plan was for Maya to stay over at the Matthews and at the first opportunity sneak herself and Riley out the Bay Window. This was a far more moral cause for their rule breaking than crashing a college party and convincing Riley to commit to it would have been simple. It was a perfect plan on paper, so, of course, a wrench had to be thrown in the mix. The wrench came in the form of Corey and Topanga deciding to use Shawn and Katy's first date as an excuse to have one of their own, rare Date Nights. That meant Riley had been tapped to babysit Auggie while their parents were out enjoying their night off. Short of dragging Auggie along behind them, which was not practical for many reasons, Maya would have to embark on this spy mission without her best friend. Maya was nothing if not resourceful, though. If she couldn't have Riley, then she needed an alternative.
That was how she ended up at Lucas's door. Maya needed a sidekick to fill Riley's shoes for an evening. Farkle was likely to get over excited and blow the whole operation. If Lucas's cool under fire temperament when she flung teases and taunts his way was indication of his capability, then he would be perfect for this kind of reconnaissance. There was just the matter of convincing Mr. Straight and Narrow to bend the rules.
Maya knocked a couple times on the door and shoved her hands into her jacket pockets while she waited. She smiled when she was lucky enough to have Lucas answer the door himself.
"Can Ranger Rick come out to play?" Maya asked, rocking her shoulders and twisting along with her playful tone.
Lucas leaned against the door frame. "Where's your other half?"
"Contrary to popular belief, Riley and I are two separate people," Maya rolled her eyes. "And she's been saddled with Auggie fro the night, so it's just little ol' me on my own."
"And what sort of mischief are you up to that you ended up at my door?" Lucas stared her down with an arched eyebrow and a small smirk that made her want to rethink her decision to include him.
"Shawn is picking my mom up at Topanga's in half an hour to take her on their first date," Maya said. "I need someone to go with me to spy on them, to make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Me?" Lucas said. "You want me to go with you?"
Maya nodded her head in slow motion, so there would be no confusion. "You're not my first choice, Huckleberry, but you'll do."
"My mama ain't gonna let me run loose around the city in the middle of the night," Lucas said.
"What your mama doesn't know won't hurt her," Maya said. "Come on, do something for once. It's either that or I go all on my lonesome."
Lucas sighed and started to close the door. "Give me five minutes. I'll meet you out front."
If Maya had used a stopwatch, she would have put money on Lucas appearing beside her at exactly five minutes, if not four fifty-nine or four fifty-eight. That was just the type of person that he was. A man of his word. He stood by what he said and there was no breaking him. Maya found it rather infuriating sometimes, because it was near impossible to knock him off balance. He was so darn unfailingly reliable, it was almost nauseating. Although, it was how she had known that she could count on him to join her, so it wasn't always a bad thing. At least, she knew she could trust him.
"You ready to go?" Maya asked.
Lucas nodded and let her lead the way toward Topanga's. After a couple minutes of walking, he said, "Why are we spying on them again?"
"I told you," Maya said. "I have to make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Yeah, you said that," Lucas said, "but I reckon your Mom and Shawn have it under control. It ain't their first rodeo."
"That's exactly the problem," Maya said. "They've already been through enough crappy relationships, they've already taken more risks on love than most people would. If this goes bad, there's no more second chances. It has to be perfect. I have to know that it was perfect."
Lucas wasn't there when all the business went down with Shawn and his ex, but he had seen what hope had done to Maya. She liked to act tough and make sarcastic cracks about her life in a leaky apartment, but he could tell she wanted more. She was hopeful for something better, or something so good that all the little stuff didn't seem so bad. There was a lot more riding on this than just the romantic success of a single date.
"Come on," Lucas said. "We should hurry before we miss them."
Topanga's was closing up early on account of both its owner and manager were going out for the night, so the lights were dimmed when Maya and Lucas arrived out front. They were able to scramble up the bench to peek in the window just in time, because Shawn had just walked in ahead of them. They stayed low, so they wouldn't be noticed, and watched as Shawn greeted Katy for the first time that evening.
"He brought flowers," Lucas said. "That's a good sign."
"Her favorite too," Maya added. Then under her breath, "Nice job, Shawn."
"Your Mama looks happy," Lucas said, and his eyes followed Katy as she took the flower behind the counter to leave them in water.
"She looks beautiful," Maya agreed.
Maya had always known that her mom worked hard, even if it wasn't always easy to appreciate it. She knew that if there was a sacrifice to be made, her mom had made it to keep the lights on, to keep food on the table, to keep a roof over their heads, even if it occasionally dripped. Sacrifices like working a full shift before her date. Which meant she had to get ready in the small cafe bathroom, and still she managed to shine like the star she was meant to be in another life. And Maya wasn't the only one who saw it. Shawn couldn't keep his eyes off of her. His gaze followed Katy around the cafe as she fixed the flowers while a smile graced his lips the entire time.
"They're coming out," Lucas said a few moments later, "We should get down before they see us."
They ducked out of sight behind some of the tables and chairs and waited for Shawn and Katy to head up to the street. From eavesdropping on a conversation between Shawn and the Matthews, Maya knew that he was taking her Mom to a restaurant a few blocks away. It was a nice place, the kind of restaurant Maya and Katy had salivated over from the sidewalk and promised they would go to the second they had a little extra cash in their pockets. A quick search online had turned up great reviews and a high customer satisfaction rating. It was a perfect place for a first date, the only trouble was Maya would have to cross the same distance on foot that Shawn and her mom would travel on four wheels. Thankfully, New York was one of the only cities where that might be possible.
"They're getting in a taxi," Lucas said.
"I've got it covered, Cowboy," Maya replied, tugging him by the arm in the opposite direction. "Don't worry about it."
She had mapped out a foot path for them, that would hopefully steer them clear of the taxi's route. And with a couple of alleys and shortcuts, they might just reach the restaurant first. That was if they kept up the pace.
"Keep up, will ya?" Maya called over her shoulder. "Don't tell me you need a sheep to get any kind of speed."
"Where are we even going?" Lucas didn't rise to her bait.
"You'll see," Maya replied and made a hard right.
Lucas followed as Maya zigzagged down sidewalk and alley, dodging all obstacles at a brisk pace. He couldn't think of a scenario where they were going to catch up with the taxi, even at their top land speed—which, with Maya's short legs, topped out no where close to the minimum speed limit of this neighborhood. Yet, by chance or flawless planning, they darted out of the last alley, just as the taxi pulled into an empty stretch of curb. Maya threw out an arm to stop him from revealing them and then used that momentum to shove him half behind and half into some nearby bushes. Before he could complain about being manhandled, Maya dived down next to him. Peeking through the leaves, she watched Shawn help her mother out of the taxi and pay the fare. As soon as the two started down the sidewalk to the restaurant, Maya leaped to he feet and dragged Lucas along with her. They trailed behind their targets, hoping to go unnoticed, which would have been easy if there had been more people on that particular street at that particular moment. As it was, they depended upon luck that they wouldn't be seen.
"This is a rotten idea, Maya. We're gonna get caught."
"You didn't have to come, ya know."
"Yeah, I could have let you run around the streets of New York City by yourself. That's the second worst plan you've come up with tonight. You need adult supervision."
"I have adult supervision. They just don't know they're doing any supervising."
"I can't believe you roped me into this."
"And I didn't even need to borrow your lasso."
"I'm going to be grounded until eternity," Lucas said. "If my mama doesn't just straight up kill me."
"Don't be so melodramatic, Huckleberry," Maya replied. "They're going in the restaurant now. I just need to watch for a few minutes, then we can go home."
Maya and Lucas passed by the entrance of the restaurant and found a spot where they could sneak glances inside through the length of window that spanned the front of the restaurant.
"What if they get seated in the back?" Lucas asked as he crouched beside Maya.
"If Shawn's smart, he'll have requested a table near the window," Maya said. "My mom likes to sit where she can see out onto the street. It's something about liking to feel the pulse of the city, to see how alive it I s at all hours of the day and night."
When a hostess rounded a corner inside, leading Shawn and Katy to a table in perfect view of the window, Lucas nodded in respect, "Nice job, Shawn."
Maya grinned.
They watched as Shawn and Katy settled in and started to look over their menus. Even though their knees started to ache and their necks cramped from craning so far, they kept watching until Shawn and Katy were talking and laughing over drinks and appetizers. And then Lucas stopped watching them and started watching Maya as she watched them. He watched the small nuances of her reactions: the way her eyes went wide as the expressions on her mom and Shawn's faces changed, the hind of a smile that appeared when they started laughing over something she couldn't hear, and the hushed stillness that fell over her when Shawn reached across the table to take Katy's hand in his. It was in that moment that Maya turned her back on the restaurant and sighed in a relief that relaxed her entire body from shoulder to toe. Without a word, she walked away from the restaurant. Lucas had to scramble to his feet to follow her.
Maya found some stairs to sit down on a half block away, and folded her legs in to bring her knees to her chest. Lucas stretched out beside her and took the hint that she wasn't ready to talk. They sat together for a few minutes in silence, processing where the night had gone.
When Maya finally spoke, her voice was smaller than Lucas had ever heard it. "If they could find love after all they've been through, does that mean that I can too?"
"Of course it does," Lucas said. Something occurred to him and he stood up. "Come here."
He held out a hand for Maya to take and, once she did, he pulled her to her feet. He led her to a darkened storefront window the next building over, where they could see their reflections in the glass. With his hands on her shoulders, he turned Maya to face the window. He made her look at herself as he spoke.
"You see that girl?" Lucas said, keeping his hands firmly on her shoulders as he stood behind her. "That girl has love. That girl has a mother that loves her, that works every second to provide a better life for her. That girl has a best friend, a Riley, that loves her to death. That girl has a Shawn that cares about her little family more than she ever hoped for. That girl has a Mr and Mrs Matthews that love her like their own daughter. That girl has a Farkle, who we all know loves her with at least half of his heart. That girl has me," Lucas turned her to face him. "Everyone deserves a shot at true love." He ran his hand over her hair, smoothing down some that had come out of her twisty up-do when they dove into the bushes earlier. "And you're the kind of girl that will bring a fella to his knees, he loves you so."
Maya wasn't sure how to react to Lucas's speech, because her body was in conflict with itself. All she knew was that Lucas had a sort of half smile on his face right then, that she had only ever seen him use when he looked at Riley when she wasn't looking last year, and that smile did funny things to Maya's stomach. She had only been looking for a little reassurance that even broken girls could have a future with a little happiness in it. Lucas had given her that in spades and more. He showed her that the future she wanted wasn't just a possibility, but a certainty. He had also brightened up her present in an unexpected way. All she knew was that she was glad he was the one that went with her on this excursion.
Maya nodded slightly and twisted her lips. "We should get home."
"Alright," Lucas dropped his hands and waved her on. "After you."
They were quiet as they traveled the sidewalks back to their homes. There had been a lively buzz of unpredictability following them as they chased Shawn and Katy on their date. That buzz had settled to a thrumming static, but it was still buried beneath their skin. A shift had happened somewhere along the way, and that night had changed things—for Shawn and Katy, yes, but also, maybe, for Lucas and Maya too. They didn't see it yet, they couldn't understand it yet, but they would when they were ready.
Maya lingered out front of Lucas's, her hands shoved in her pockets once again. "Thank you, for coming with me and—everything."
Lucas tipped his invisible hat to her. "You're welcome as always, Maya."
"I hope you don't get in trouble," Maya added as Lucas headed up the steps.
"If I do," Lucas turned to look back at her one last time, "It was worth it."
Maya wouldn't say it out loud, but she thought it was worth it too.
-fin-
A/N2: So, as I was typing this up, I was thinking about the Maya and Lucas of this story and I think I might have a more shippy, Multi-chapter fic in me that continues on from this world. I'm thinking about it. It might just happen. Since, almost all of my in progress Multi-Chap stories are basically done, I might do that next. Maybe. Keep a look out. Let me know what you think! Thanks! ~Mac