So I thought I couldn't write for this fandom... but it turns out I just wasn't writing the right kind of things. I forgot that angst-y romance is pretty much all I'm good at and I was trying to write fluff. My bad. But honestly, this won't happen often, most of this stuff will just come out as "Newspaper Clippings"
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!
She sat at the table outside Topanga's, shivering a little in the chilly air. She was trying to draw the streetlamp in front of her with it's peeling paint and exposed metal rusting, but her fingers were cold and none of the lines were turning out right. She still had homework that only had "Maya Hart" written in the top right corner waiting, but she had cut hers and Riley's study session short when Lucas had walked in. So, rather than stay inside and talk with the two, she decided that she'd "take a walk" and give her friends some impromptu alone time. God knows it was killing her, but she had to do this. For her.
"What are you doing out here?" Maya's gaze snapped up from her paper in confusion.
"What am I doing? What are you doing? You're supposed to be in there with Riley," she retorted. He raised an eyebrow.
"Maya, it's freezing out here, come inside. You said you were going for a walk, but theres a window, did you think we just wouldn't see you?" He took a step closer.
"Just go back inside, Huckleberry. I'm fine out here." She shook her head and tried to go back to her drawing.
"Well if you're staying out here, I am too." Lucas made his way towards the chair opposite hers and pulled out the chair to sit.
"No, you're supposed to be together, she's supposed to be happy, and you? You're supposed to be there right now, with her! Not standing here talking to me! Why can't you all just let me do this for you!" Maya stood up and tried to push him back into the cafe. But he stood solidly and grabbed her wrists to stop her.
"Well, you're not supposed to be the one trying to fix everything! That's not who you are! And what about you? You know this doesn't make you happy! What about you?"
"It's not about me!" She shouted, trying to no avail to free her hands from his so she could distance herself.
"Why can't it be? When do you get to be happy, Maya? Stop being such a people-pleaser, let yourself have something for once." Lucas' voice quieted as he unsuccessfully tried to look her in the eyes. He couldn't do it if she wouldn't meet his gaze.
"How would you know the first thing about what makes me happy? I'm not a people-pleaser, I'm happy if she is and she's happy if you're with her!" She couldn't let him in, she had to push him away. But she knew by the tightening grip on her wrists that he had a strong hold on her in more ways than one. It didn't matter how many walls she put up, he was breaking through whether she wanted him to or not. Lucas never had been one to let obstacles stop him.
"That's rich coming from you! You're trying to tell me that I'm happy if I'm with her, but I'm sorry, that's not what I want!" She almost shrunk away when he raised his voice but with his last words she whipped her eyes up to meet his and glared at him.
"Well what do you want!? Why do you have to make this so hard?!" Her voice wavered and she knew she had lost.
"I want you to be happy! As I've said before! So why can't you tell me what you really want?!" He sounded more exasperated than upset by this point.
"Because if I tell you what I want, I'm scared you'll make it happen. I'm scared because what I want conflicts with what she wants." Maya's voice barely rose above a whisper and he fought the urge to just hug her tight and give her all the love she wanted deep down inside.
"What if what you want is what I want too?" he said softly, leaning closer.
"Well then you can't have what you want either," she mumbled staring up at him and shaking her head as she made another feeble attempt to free herself.
"Were does that leave you, Miss People-Pleaser?"
"Please just tell me what you want. I know I'm not supposed to want to know, but I need to. Please just tell me." As he looked down at her, his heart broke. He had never imagined how much getting what you want could hurt.
"Maya Hart, I want this." And before she could do anything, he cut her off with his lips pressed against the corner of her mouth and he felt her hands shake under his grasp. As quickly as he had done it, it was over, he pulled back to look at her. As much as he wanted to, he wasn't going to give her a real kiss until she decided whether she was going to let herself be happy, because he knew she would beat herself up about it.
"I know you won't accept this right away. You'll probably push me away a lot and avoid me, and for the record, that's going to hurt. But I understand that you need to think. And right now, I think Riley needs you. You two have a lot to talk about. So I'm letting you go for now, but I'll wait. I'll wait until you make a decision about your happiness and I'll accept whatever you decide because no matter what you choose, I know I won't be able to change you're mind whether I want to or not. Goodnight, Maya." With that, he released her wrists slowly and backed away before turning and walking away into the night. And Maya stood there watching after him, breathless and thinking that maybe it was time she had what she wanted.
But she quickly shoved the thought away and walked through the door of Topanga's where Riley had her forehead wrinkled as she tried to figure out a difficult question on her homework. And she knew in that moment that she didn't care how sad this would make herself. She wouldn't let herself have Lucas because it would hurt Riley. It didn't matter if she was dying inside, it didn't matter if Lucas wasn't happy, heck, it didn't even matter if Zay was just the tiniest bit upset that his "ship" had sunk. Everything would be okay if Riley was happy.
So from that moment on, Maya wasn't a people-pleaser. She was a person-pleaser. Because it didn't matter what anyone else wanted, Riley was going to be happy if she had anything to say about it.
Goodnight, Lucas.
Please don't hate me. '^_^ Just let the feels run their course.