Oneshot inspired by the song I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor

I do not own any of this song. All rights go to the original creators. Due to copyright issues I can not post this fanfiction with the lyrics included. For better clarity for the story please listen to the song or read the lyrics.

Lucas walked into the small apartment, locking the door behind him expertly. He dropped his keys on the counter and walked to the fridge. He absentmindedly ran his hand through his hair and went to grab a beer when he heard a soft sob come from Maya's room. The protective instincts he felt when his best friend was sad or in danger instantly kicked in. He closed the fridge and quickly but quietly made his way down the small hallway to her door. He knocked lightly.

"Maya?" He heard her soft curse and a sniffle.

"Yeah, what's up?" She sounded like she was okay, a technique she mastered years ago.

"Can I come in?" She was shuffling on the other side of the door.

"Yeah come on." He opened the door to find Maya hunched over in at her vanity mirror, applying makeup. "What can I do for you huckleberry?"

"You going somewhere?" He knew she wasn't

"Yeah. Going out with some friends." Lucas crossed his arms and leaned against her desk. She made eye contact with him through the mirror.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Because you never go out with friends unless it's with Riley and she's out of town right now." Dammit. Lucas knew her too well. She dropped the eyeliner onto the small space and dropped her head into her hands. Her cries resumed. Lucas was instantly at her side, holding her and rubbing her back. "Hey." His voice was soft, "What's going on?"

"Josh. He—he—" She stumbled over her words, "He cheated on me." Lucas's jaw clenched and he involuntarily held her tighter. Maya twisted so she pressed into his chest with her forehead on his shoulder.

"Maya, I'm so sorry." He truly was, but that was not the foremost emotion. He was angry. Not at Maya, never at Maya. He was angry at Josh. No, he was furious at Josh. He wanted to leave right now and bash his head in but as Maya clutched his shirt and sobbed he just sat right there and comforted her.

"He was at some frat party, I don't know why. He graduated a few years ago. But he got like shitfaced and started making out with this girl. Some guys videotaped it. I don't know how it got to me but it did."

"Maya, you don't deserve him." Lucas quietly to her, "But I know how happy he made you. Have you tried to hear him out?" Maya backed out of his grasp and glared at him. She tried to turn away. "No, Maya!" He kept her tightly to him, "I don't mean it like that. Trust me, I'm as mad at him as you are but you love him and he was drunk."

Maya shook her head, "There's more." Lucas's stomach dropped. "he took her upstairs and he had-" The sentence hung in the air as she sobbed again but he knew where she was going with it.

"I'm gonna kill him…" Lucas muttered.

"No." Maya responded although Lucas didn't even realize she heard him, "I'm gonna kill him." Lucas smiled at his little shortstack and picked her up. Carrying her the few feet to her bed and laying her down. He sat down next to her, leaning against her wall. Maya pressed into his side, her head on his chest. Lucas just rubbed her back trying to soothe her as she calmed down and eventually fell asleep.

~.~.~.

"You know what really sucks?" Maya said suddenly as the two ate dinner in silence. Lucas looked up and shrugged, not really sure what she was talking about. "It wasn't the first time he did that." Lucas nodded in understanding. Anytime 'he' was mentioned, Lucas knew just to let her rant it out and comfort her afterwards. "Like he is such a douchebag. What did I ever see in him? Why did you let me date him?" Maya pointed a finger at Lucas's face but he just took the tip and wiggled it. She laughed causing Lucas to smile. Her laugh was rare these days and he was happy that he caused it this time.

"I don't need him." Maya's yell startled Lucas out of his nap that was taking place on the couch. Maya was sitting by a window sketching aimlessly.

"Huh? What?" Lucas shot up looking around until his eyes settled on Maya who was laughing at him, "Are you happy now? You woke me up!"

"Yeah I am. That was hilarious." Maya smiled widely and Lucas just shook his head and laid back down.

"You're right though. You don't need him." Lucas couldn't see her but knew that her smile was present.

"Thanks Huckleberry."

"Anytime."

~.~.~.

"No, there is no way!" Maya laughed as walked through her apartment door.

"I'm serious!" Lucas laughed back just as loudly. They both just ambled through the apartment, basically dying of laughter. It wasn't until Lucas heard Maya quickly stop and suck in a breath that he walked into the living room curious. His mouth fell open and his eyes narrowed when he saw Josh standing there a few feet from Maya.

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" Her tone was deathly slow. Josh gulped, visibly nervous.

"I wanted to apologize." He started softly, "And I was hoping you'd take me back." Lucas saw Maya's fist clench and knew she was about to charge. And although he would love to see Josh get beat up, he was worried how it would affect Maya afterwards. As Maya bounded towards him, Lucas grabbed her from around the waist. He pulled her back as Josh backed up.

"You should go." Lucas warned, still holding Maya back.

"look, Lucas. I appreciate you being there for Maya but I'm back now, she doesn't need you."

"You're back now?" maya questioned

"Well yeah, I wanted to explain." He took a cautious step forward, "That video from that one night a few weeks back. I was really drunk and I would never do that to you if I had any idea what I was acutally doing. C'mon Maya, you know me! You know the type of person I am!"

"Yeah, I thought I did." Maya was calming and Lucas slowly let go of her, however he kept his hand on her back as a way of emotional support, "Why were you even at that party?"

"A few friends of mine invited me to celebrate the fourth of july. That's not a crime."

"No, it's not." Maya said, "Who?"

"A girl named Natalie. She's an intern at my workplace. You've met you, you liked her."

Maya's eyes narrowed, "Is this the same Natalie you were sexting? The same Natalie that you made out with that night? The same Natalie that you fucked?"

"How did you know about that?" he was obviously talking about the first accusation, "Did you go through my phone?"

"One, don't put this on me! Two, I didn't have to." She crossed her arms, "You were in the shower and your phone kept going off so I checked it just in case you were missing something important. It was her. She sent photos of herself and kept asking you for 'body again'."

Lucas decided to step in, "How did you even get in here?"

Josh held up a shiny piece of metal, "I still have this." Lucas calmly took a few steps towards him and took the keys from his fingers.

"Not anymore."

"Look Friar," Josh started harshly but Maya just stepped into his face.

"No! You don't get to treat my friends like they're trash. In this room there is only one piece of trash and that isn't us."

"Whatever, I don't need to explain myself to you." Josh's entire demeanor changed, "it's your loss."

Maya laughed sarcastically, "yeah a real loss."

"Whatever Maya. I don't need you."

Josh brushed past the two, making his way towards the door but Maya's voice stopped him.

"Why did you do it?" Her voice was soft and sad, like his smile had been when she first walked in, "Like honestly. Why did you do it?"

"You never wanted to have sex!" Maya's mouth fell open

"So instead of talking to me about the problem, you went and slept with anything that walked?" Maya spat at him

"I had standards." He defended weakly before gesturing to Lucas, "Though I see you don't."

"You're right I don't but that isn't shown by Lucas, who I'm not sleeping with. That is shown by the fact that I ever dated you!"

"You don't mean that." Josh teased rudely

"Oh I do. I don't know what you were trying to accomplish by coming here but I'm not gonna cry over you. You're not worth it." She huffed, "You're not the center of my universe nor will you ever be. You may be the one saying the actual goodbye but I'm the one ending it. So sorry if you expected me to fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness but that's not gonna happen. I'm not gonna fall to pieces and scramble to put myself back together. In fact the missing piece came together once I finally got over you."

Maya finished her long confession and stared at him. Josh just shook his head and left the apartment without speaking. Once the door closed, Maya slumped and dropped down to her knees.

"You okay?" Lucas asked sweetly

"Yeah, of course."

"You sure?"

"I'll survive." Maya said with a small smile though no tears were shed. Lucas held out a hand for her to take and she placed her small one in his. He gently lifted her to a standing position.

"Want a beer?"

"Fuck yes."

~.~.~.

"Lucas?" Maya's voice was soft and barely audible but he was still up and everything was silent except for her.

"Yeah?" He rolled over in his bed to see her silhouette standing in his doorway.

"I lied."

"You lied? About what?" He rubbed his eyes and pushed himself to a sitting position

"To Josh. I lied to Josh." He mulled over what she had said a few days ago but made no connections, "I'm falling to pieces."

"Come here." His instructions were delicate and more suggestion like but Maya listened. She closed the door, entrapping them in darkness. She padded over to the bed but didn't move to join him. Lucas felt around the air until he managed to grab her hand and pull her onto the bed.

"I'm trying, Lucas. I really am." She sniffled, "But it's just so fucking hard. I just want to crawl into a hole and cry myself to death."

Lucas cradled her in his lap, though they were 'completely platonic'. "No you don't." she looked to him, "You may feel that way now but in a few weeks, maybe months, you'll be fine. He was douchebag and you deserve better."

"Then why do I miss him?" Maya held back a sob

"Because you miss the good in him. He was perfect boyfriend for months, then he fell apart. But to you he will always be that amazing loving boyfriend, and that's okay. You just need to know that no matter how great you see him as, he doesn't deserve you."

"Why am I so unlovable?"

"Maya…"

"No seriously, what did I do to make him do this. It is my fault."

"Please don't say that!" Lucas begged

"But it's true! You heard him say it himself. I don't have sex with him enough."

Lucas snorted, "are you serious? You don't have to put out to win his love. He should respect your body and not expect sex."

"yeah… maybe you're right."

"I am." Maya wiggled out of his grasp and stood up.

"I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night?"

Maya smiled, "This will be a nightly thing for a while. Sorry."

"Don't be. I will happily supply your reassurance and confidence until you can see it yourself." Lucas hugged her and pressed a friendly kiss to her forehead. "see you tomorrow."

~.~.~.

"I can't believe I ever felt sorry for myself." Maya sat on the rooftop, a blanket thrown around her shoulder and a cold beer in her hands.

"It was quite aggravating." Maya turned his way, "That you couldn't see just how great you are."

"shut up huckleberry." Maya hated cheesiness, that's why he always did it. Lucas laughed.

"But I'm happy to see you happy." Lucas moved closer to her.

"Yeah well you did have a small part to do with it."

"a small part?" he teased. She stuck her tongue at him shortly before turning her back to the sky.

"Okay maybe a medium part but that's all I'm willing to budge."

"Deal." He held out his hand and she shook it, laughing. Loud cheering came from the streets below.

"Hey stand up! I think the ball is about to drop!" Lucas glanced at his watch.

"One minute." They both walked over to the ledge and leaned against it. The seconds quickly passed and soon the chants rang up to their ears.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…" Maya whispered along.

"3, 2, 1!" Lucas shouted and cheered obnoxiously. Maya watched him, a smile gracing her lips. The fireworks erupted into the night sky, decorating it with enormous amounts of color.

"Where's my kiss?" Maya asked, a pout very present.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." He quickly gripped her waist and pulled her to him. He immediately pressed his lips to hers, something they had grown quite fond of in the past few months. He broke it but kept his face close. "you gonna make it this year?"

"I'll survive."

~.~.~.

She jogged down the sidewalk, sweat beading down her face. She came to a crossing and paused momentarily, letting the cars rush by on the street. She wiped her forehead on her arm and took a few deep breaths. The crossing light came quickly enough and Maya started jogging again. She ran for two more blocks before changing her course and suddenly turning to the left. She wasn't expecting the man to be standing there. She wasn't expecting to run into to him. She wasn't expecting that she knew him. And she certainly wasn't expecting it to be Josh.

"Maya?" He was clad in a very nice business suit.

Maya removed an earphone, "Josh! Hey, what's up?" Her words were pleasant but she really didn't want to talk to him

"Uh not much, just got off work."

"Yeah, I can tell." She gestured to his outfit and he nodded.

"What are you doing?"

"Just going for a jog." Maya stated obviously.

"You want to grab a cup of coffee?" Josh asked unexpectantly

"Uh…" maya was taken off guard but glanced to her watch, "Yeah, I have some time."

"alright, there's a coffee shop at the end of this street." Josh led the way and Maya followed his lead, walking next to him. They walked in silence until they got to the small shop. They ordered their coffees, which Josh paid for at his offer.

They took a seat at a small table, "So what are you doing nowadays? It's been a while."

Maya nodded slowly, "Yeah. Seven months. I've just been doing my college work. I'm a graphic designer major and minoring in studio art."

"That's amazing, maya." His words did not seem sincere. "still set on being an artist?"

"of course." Maya didn't appreciate his condescending tone. "it's what I'm good at."

"yes, you always were an artist." What was that supposed to mean?

Maya was getting tired of it, "what do you want Josh?"

"Just catching up. That's not a crime." The words brought her back to the argument they had less than a year ago.

"look, it was nice seeing you but I've gotta go." Maya tried to stand up but he put his hand over hers. She was paralyzed.

"Would you like to go out sometime?" His words thumped in her ears and rattled her brain.

"like on a date?" Her throat was dry and the words came out choked.

He shrugged and smiled the smile that used to make her melt, "Why not?"

Maya swallowed and retracted her hand, "I'm flattered Josh but I'm actually seeing someone right now."

"Oh. Is it serious?" Maya just nodded and prayed that he wouldn't ask who it was. "So there is no way I can win you back?" he joined her standing position.

"You hurt me josh, I don't think I'll ever be able to trust you again. Why would I want to love someone who didn't truly love me?" Josh was angry but he just nodded.

"Well, it's your loss." Was that the only comeback he knew? "Just tell me one thing, do I know him?"

"Yes." Maya nodded confidently, "I love him and he loves me. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. So I will see you around." Maya left without letting him get a word in. She walked briskly out the door and began her jog home. She was running in time to her latest song when her phone rang. She slowed to a stop and answered it.

"Hey Maya!" She smiled at the sound of his voice, "Are you on your way home?"

"Yeah, I should be about twenty minutes."

"Okay I will see you there. I love you." Maya's heart bubbled and she bit her lip.

"I love you too huckleberry."

I will survive