A/N: This is the first one-shot in a series of one-shots! Every story will be different but will obviously be Lucaya. I'm hoping to get a new one-shot up every week! This first one is Christmas themed to suit today being Christmas. This isn't the best story I've ever written but I just really wanted to do a Christmas story and this is what happened lol But I hope you guys still like it!

Also I always feel it's important to know how old the characters are in the story so at the beginning of every one-shot I'll have a 'timeline.' I can't always find a way to casually get that info into the story itself so that will be there so you guys always know what era of their lives the core 5 are in!

I don't own GMW, just the plot of this story.

Timeline: early 20s.

Summary: It's a Lucaya Christmas! But will something get in the way of it being perfect?

Under Our Tree

"It's a little crooked," Maya commented.

"What about now?" Lucas asked as his fingers pushed the star a little to the left. A huge smile grew on Maya's face.

"It's perfect!"

The two always helped each other decorate each other's Christmas trees. It was a tradition that went back to when they were in high school. Even though the two blondes had only started dating their junior year of college, they formed a close bond back in high school.

The couple stood back to look at their handy work. As an artist, Maya was very particular about the color palette of her tree and it changed every year. This year was blue, silver, and white. Lucas always go a chuckle out when Maya would go on and on about how she wanting each tree to be special. It was a different experience decorating the tree at Lucas's apartment. He insisted the tree be just how it was when he was a kid, overflowing with tinsel and little handmade ornaments placed anywhere. Each tree was so different, but so perfect in its own way.

"You know I think this might be the best tree we've ever done," Maya reveled. "And the star is perfect. Thank you," she said, placing a small kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. His strong arm wrapped around her shoulders, a delicate smile on his lips.

"Just doing my job," he laughed. It had become Lucas's official job to put the star on the tree every single year. The very first year he went over to her place to help with her tree, he noticed there was no star on top. Maya revealed she and her mom hadn't put a star on their tree since Maya was 9. Both were too short to reach on their own and when Maya tried to use a ladder to put the star on top, the ladder wobbled and she fell off and was forced to spend Christmas Eve in the ER with a huge head bump. And now she was too freaked to use the ladder to put the star on, so they just never had a star. Lucas didn't want to laugh when she told him the story but he did. Never in his life had he heard of a Christmas tree with no star on top. So he corrected the problem by taking Maya to buy a brand new star and he himself stuck it on the top of the decorated tree. It became his duty every year after that.

Maya was pulled from her thoughts by the 'ping' sound of her phone. Reluctantly she pulled away from the warmth of her boyfriend's arms to grab her phone from its spot on the coffee table. Lucas moved over to the empty bins that housed Maya tree décor and attempted to clean up some.

From: Pumpkin

Do you and Lucas want to come to dinner with me and Farkle tonight?!

"Huckleberry?" Maya spoke to get Lucas's attention. He looked up, wide-eyed. "Dinner with Riley and Farkle tonight?"

"Yeah! Any special occasion?" he asked, moving the bins to one side of the living room and lining them against the wall.

"I don't know. Riley just asked," she answered, moving her fingers fast over the screen to reply to her best friend.

To: Pumpkin

Absolutely Honey! Anything special?

From: Pumpkin

We have a little news that's all;)

It was the little winking emoji at the end of the last text that made Maya curious. Riley and Farkle had been dating for less time than herself and Lucas. But they seemed to be in the same place emotionally as Maya and Lucas, which makes sense considering they had known each other almost all their lives.

"Dinner just got interesting," Maya commented. Lucas stared at her confused. She moved close to him to show him the screen with the texts from Riley. Immediately after reading them quickly, Lucas shared her curiosity.

"Maybe she's pregnant," Lucas laughed. It earned him a playful smack on the arm from Maya, a little chuckle escaping her lips too.

"Lucas that's not even funny!"

Like Maya and Lucas, Riley and Farkle didn't live together yet. Again, like the blonde couple, they spent a ridiculous amount of time together. So much that they probably might as well live together. They even had keys to each other's apartment, but all four of them had keys to each other's apartments. Even Zay had a key to all their apartments. They played pretty fast and loose with the keys. But technically, they weren't living together yet. Maya had trouble even imagining her best friend being pregnant right now.

Hours passed before Maya and Lucas arrived at the small Italian restaurant Riley had asked them to meet at. The two blondes threw ideas back and forth, pondering at what the news Riley had could be. 'Maybe it's about work?' 'What if Riley's moving away?' 'What if Farkle's moving away?' 'I still think she's pregnant.' Back and forth the two went until they walked through the doors of the little bistro and stopped their friends sitting in a booth by a big window. They walked up quickly, eager to get answers to their questions.

"So, what's the big news?" Maya asked after the 4 of them ordered a couple large pizzas to share. She watched in anxiety as Riley and Farkle shared a knowing look. The blonde could only take a guess and say the news was good. But then she was crowded with the thought that maybe something that was good news to Riley and Farkle wasn't going to be good news to her. Something about the smirk the two of her friends shared told her that this wasn't the kind of news that had even a chance of disappointing her.

Lucas must have been in as much suspense as Maya because he suddenly burst out in excitement. "God just say it!" he shouted.

"We've moving in together!" Riley beamed. Maya and Lucas could only stare in shock. It would seem a bit fast for anyone who didn't know the couple, since they had only been dating for about a year. Maya and Lucas knew them better than that, but it was still a little bit of a shock.

"We found a great place in a neighborhood just down the street from Riley's childhood apartment. We're going to make it ours," Farkle went on, staring in awe at Riley.

Maya was happy for the two of them. She knew she was. But she couldn't explain the odd, but daunting feeling she had in her stomach. Trying to ignore it, she got up from her seat and hugged her best friend. Riley looked so happy that Maya didn't want to dare ruin it by focusing on that feeling she had. She made her faint smile as bright as she could. Lucas went on to ask question after question about the apartment they had picked out. The cheerful brunette had no problems answering each question with enthusiasm.

Dinner went by with not much of a topic change. The new apartment was the big subject that everyone seemed focused on. Everyone except Maya. Don't get her wrong, she tried hard to focus on the good news and get wrapped up in it like everyone else. After a while though it became harder. Her eyes kept making their way up to the handsome blonde boy sitting next to her. Somewhere along the line of feeling his thumb glide up and down the skin of her hand and their fingers interlaced, she caught on. The feeling deep inside of her was none other than the green eyed monster of jealousy. She didn't want to be jealous but it was hard when she and Lucas had been together more than twice as long as Riley and Farkle. Lucas had never even mentioned moving in together. They were at each other's places all the time but never did the words come out of Lucas's mouth that he wanted to move in together. Maya had thought about it before but she figured they were young and had time, but 3 had gone by and the two of them seemed to be in the same place in their relationship.

"Are you ok babe?" Lucas asked her later that night as they walked through the hallway to Maya's apartment door. She had been a bit distant since the news at dinner. Less and less words were coming out of her mouth as the meal went on and by the time she and Lucas were on the subway coming home, she was completely silent.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just tired, I guess," she answered, keeping her eyes from meeting his. She didn't want to tell him. Maybe once she thought it over she would drop the jealousy thing. Maybe she just needed to let it sink in that Riley and Farkle were moving in together. Lucas slowly moved his hand up to her chin and moved it up so her eyes were forced to meet his.

"Come on Maya. Talk to me. What's going on?" he insisted. Those green eyes looked as sweet and safe as ever. Maya had underestimated how well he knew her and the difference between her 'I'm tired' act and her 'something's wrong' act.

"Do you think it's weird that Riley and Farkle are moving together after only dating for a year, when we've been dating for 3 years now and we've never even talked about moving in together?" she asked carefully. She had never voiced a need to move in with Lucas. She didn't know how he would react. Those green eyes, so face and warm, deviated away from Maya, finding a new place on the ground to stare at.

"Well we do have keys to each other's places," he mentioned. Maya couldn't help but laugh.

"Everyone has a key to my place! Everyone has a key to your place! That doesn't really mean much Lucas," Maya said. She didn't know when this started turning into a fight, but her voice felt raised.

A frustrated hand ran through Lucas's hair. This had gone from being never really discussed to suddenly being a huge problem in Maya's head and Lucas couldn't understand why. He had his reasons, but he didn't feel like he could tell Maya. In a way he was embarrassed and in another way, it was a huge reveal to something he just wasn't ready to tell her. He didn't think it was something she would be ready to hear either. Trapped in between a rock and hard place, he tried to talk her down.

"Look I just don't think it's something we need to talk about right now," he said. His arms moved up to grasp her small hands. Before she could get a word in, he spoke again. "I gotta go ok? I have work early in the morning," he said quickly. "I love you."

His lips gave a quick peck to Maya's lips and she watched him walk down the hall and disappear into the elevator.

"I love you, too," she whispered to no one.

That was barely a conversation. He passed off her questions and concerns so quickly like he didn't care at all. She stood in the hallway, her back against the wall. Eyes wandering the room, she tried to piece together what had just happened between her and her boyfriend. Never had he just waved her off like that. It was almost like he had already decided firmly that he did not want to move in with Maya.

It would be so much easier for Maya if she could get this off her brain. If Riley had never invited them to dinner, if she and Farkle hadn't decided to move in together, than Maya wouldn't have this thought plaguing her brain. It was like no other thoughts could seep through the thick thoughts that surrounded this one subject. It was taking over her brain. For two whole days, she dodged all Lucas's calls. Then when she finally decided to call he back, she started to feel like he was dodging her calls.

Secretly, they were both scared. They were both frustrated. They both wanted the same thing, but they couldn't communicate it. This was unfamiliar territory for them; they always knew how to talk to each other and communicate. They could be vulnerable and open up. But now they each had this dark pit in them that wouldn't let them form words to the other person. It was unbearable.

Until Maya had decided she couldn't just sit on her couch and avoid it anymore. Her brain heaved with this one thought. She had to face him. The keys fumbled around in her hand as she tried to find the one that unlocked Lucas's apartment. Finally she found the correct one and stuck it in the door. As soon as the door swung open, she saw Lucas standing in the kitchen, mixing cookie batter. Every year he made her a huge batch of Christmas cookies using his mom's recipe. Part of Maya wanted to drop the entire moving in conversation and sit and eat those cookie with her boyfriend, who had never been anything but good her. But this was important, suddenly this was the most important thing in their relationship. Lucas glanced up from his cookies with wide-eyes as Maya closed the door behind her.

"Can I ask you something?" she said before Lucas even had a chance to say anything. The couple had barely spoken in 2 days and Lucas had a lot to say, stepping out of the kitchen to stand in front of Maya. But Maya had a lot to say too and the harsh, sharp tone of her voice made it known she was going to be the one to talk first. Not even waiting for a response to her question from Lucas, she went on. "Why don't you want to move in with me?"

Hesitation. Lucas looked almost terrified to answer that question. It was like he wasn't expecting it. At least not so bluntly. He had an answer, but he didn't want to give it. So he racked his brain for a new answer.

"I just don't think it's the right time for us Maya," he let out low and quiet. He tried avoiding her eyes, settling for glancing around the room or straight down at the floor. In the corner of his sight he noticed the small girl start pacing the floor. Finally he looked up and caught sight of her blue eyes lit up with the same intense fire they always were. The normal determined, inspired fire had changed to a bit of anger.

She fiddled her hands around trying to get her thoughts into coherent words. "I've been thinking a lot about this. And I've been trying like hell to think of a reason that a guy wouldn't want to move in with his girlfriend, a girlfriend that he's known for 10 years and has been dating for 3 years. I've been trying to think of a reason and the only one I can come up with is that that guy," she stated sadly, her eyes turning sad directly at her boyfriend, "just doesn't see that girlfriend being the girl that he's going to end up with in the end."

It almost broke Lucas's heart completely in half to hear that come out of her mouth. As much as he tried, he just couldn't bring it in himself to tell her the truth. But he moved closer to her, bringing his hands up to her arms.

"Maya that's not what this is about! Ok I promise that's not what this is," he tried to convince her.

"Then tell me what it is about Lucas!" Maya pulled away from Lucas's touch. If she stayed in his embrace for too long she would crumble. The warmth that radiated from him was always her weakness.

"I just think we should wait!"

"How much waiting do we need to do? Lucas you're not even giving me a real reason! Which only makes me believe it's true that you don't see this relationship going all the way. It just makes me believe it's me," she choked out, fighting back a couple tears that she really didn't want to fall.

An inner battle took place inside of Lucas that felt like a terrifying fire. "Maya please don't think that." Those were all the words he was able to get out.

"Either give me a real reason or consider yourself single. Because I'm not waiting around Lucas, not if you don't even see us ending up together," Maya grumbled. Lucas was only able to stare blank-faced at the blonde girl he loved walk back out the door. The loud slamming as it shut behind her echoed in his ears. What did he just do? He let the best thing in his life walk out and he couldn't even speak the words that would stop her. He had to fix this. With tomorrow being Christmas Eve, he was determined to do it fast.

…..

It took Lucas all day Christmas Eve to find what he needed. It would have been quicker had he been able to find places that were even open. But now it was almost midnight and he was shaking nervously in the elevator going up to Maya's apartment. He wasn't even scared to ask her. He was more scared that she wouldn't want to listen to him, that he had screwed up too much the day before when she came over. The elevator doors opened on Maya's floor. He walked slowly up to the door with the handmade wreath on it that Maya had worked on for days. He knew she was still up. He could hear the sounds of Santa Clause Is Coming to Town on the other side of the door.

He had one object in his hand and another in his jacket pocket. They were both important. The object in his hand was a small, scruffy dog with the intent to express apologies to Maya from Lucas. Maya always talked about getting a dog, but she just never went to go pick one out from the shelter. His hope was that the innocent face of the puppy would butter Maya up to hearing Lucas out when he started talking. He set the little dog down on the mat in front of the door and knocked. When he heard footsteps coming on the other side, he hid behind the corner, waiting for the sound of the front door opening. An ecstatic gasp was heard that he knew came from Maya's mouth.

"I'm sorry," he said, revealing himself in the hallway in front of Maya. The girl was holding the dog tight in her arms, petting his little head as he laid it on her chest.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to give you your Christmas present," Lucas said.

"The dog?" Maya asked, setting the dog down inside her apartment. The scruffy little guy ran straight in, like he knew this was his new home, and settled himself into the blankets laid out on the couch. Maya giggled at the sight before turning her attention back to her boyfriend.

"No," Lucas answered, now standing right in front of her. "No the dog is your 'I'm sorry' present. This," he said, pulling the little box out of his pocket and handing it to Maya, "is your Christmas present."

Maya looked unsure as she took the box from his hands. She wasn't sure about what to expect at all when she pulled the wrapping paper off of it. "What is this?" she asked, pulling a tiny silver key out of the box.

"A key," Lucas answered bluntly. He still couldn't read the look on Maya's face. If he had to take a guess, he would say she was just confused.

"I already have a key to your apartment," she frowned.

"I know," Lucas started. "This is a symbol. You have a key to my apartment. But this is a key to our apartment. If you want it to be?"

Maya finally showed a glimpse of a smile pressed against her lips. "You're not just doing this because I made a big deal out of it right?" Maya only wanted this if Lucas wanted it to. A bit of regret rushed through her the day before after she left he boyfriend's house. She didn't mean to make him feel like he was forced into moving in with her. It was just something she wanted to talk about, have a conversation. It just made her angry when Lucas brushed her off like this topic and her feelings didn't warrant a conversation.

"No. This is because I love you. Look I didn't mean to make you feel like I didn't think we're going to make it all the way. It's the opposite actually," he said, pushing a loose strand of blonde hair out of Maya's face. "I was just freaked out."

"About what?" Maya asked. It didn't make sense to her for Lucas to be freaked out by her. But in her defense, she didn't understand the intense fire she always set inside his stomach when he looked at her.

"Moving in together is that last step that we take before…you know… marriage. And I know that you're going to be the girl that I marry. It just freaks me out a little bit. But I do want to live with you. I practically already do," he laughed. They both knew that they spent more time at each other's places as much as they spent at their own. Often times Maya would buy groceries for Lucas and Lucas almost always was the one to do any kind of handy-work at Maya's place, even if it was just changing a light bulb, Lucas did it.

"Are you sure you really want to?" Maya smiled. Everything in her wanted this exact moment to happen. She gazed down at the key in her hand. The key to their apartment. Their apartment. All she could do was repeat that to herself in her head. Their apartment.

"I promise you this is what I want. You, me, and that yet-to-be-named dog in there under one roof," he chuckled, pulling the smaller blonde in close. Maya returned the laugh before nodded her head wildly.

"You, me, and Sundance!"

"Sundance? Really?" Lucas laughed.

"It seems right." Maya pressed a quick peck to Lucas's cheek. But the cowboy didn't think it was enough and pulled the blonde in to kiss her lips. They collided with such an excited force that neither of them could hold back smiles that trailed into smaller kisses.

Maya felt all of her weight lift up as Lucas's strong arms picked her up. Her legs wrapped around his fit torso and continued their kiss. A sigh released from her as felt his mouth pull away from hers.

"Do you want to start packing?" Lucas smirked.

Maya just laughed at the request. They had only agreed to move in together all of 2 minutes ago and he already wanted to pack.

"I think we should celebrate first," she smirked. A knowing grin appeared on Lucas's face. He knew exactly what his girl had in mind. Happily he carried a giggling Maya inside quickly. He planned on beginning to pack up all her stuff in the morning, excited to start this time in their lives together. So tonight, they figured they should get one more use out of her bed.

"Merry Christmas babe," Lucas said once they were inside. He caught a glimpse of the clock as it read 12:01AM. One kiss later, Maya reciprocated.

"Merry Christmas Huckleberry. Best Christmas ever."

A/N: Merry Christmas to anyone who celebrates it! And I hope you enjoyed the story (like I said it wasn't my best writing) but see you next week with a brand new one-shot! Be sure to subscribe and review!

Also if anyone has any Lucaya one-shot prompts please either put them in the reviews or message me! I'd be happy to write them!