Still in it for the Long Game

by Angelina Johnson

Five times Josh insists that hanging out with Maya is NOT a date, and the one time maybe it is,

five times josh swears it's not a date…

i.

It feels like it's been ages since Josh has seen Riley and Corey and Topanga and Auggie (and okay, Maya, too). But senior year was a complete and total whirlwind, and even when they show up to visit Philadelphia the summer after he's graduated, Josh's life is crazy. He's been trying to spend time with his friends before they all head off to summer sessions or to family vacations, and he's been trying to pack up for his own orientation at NYU, but he still makes time to spend with his family when they get there. And when Riley passes out at nine pm and Maya's sitting on the couch, alone, Josh shakes his head. "She still thinks the world ends at like ten, doesn't she?" He's about to grab a jacket and head out the door to go bowling with his friends, and then he hesitates. "Do you want to come out with me?" Maya jumps up immediately, but she doesn't jump on his back, so that's progress. Still, he adds, "Not as like a date, we're just meeting my friends, okay?" so she doesn't get the wrong impression, and then they say goodbye to the parents in the kitchen before heading out.

ii.

It's his first year at NYU, but he still goes over to eat dinner at Cory and Topanga's almost every weekend to catch up with the fam. That was part of why he went to college in New York, after all – so that he could stay close to them. He'll go over for free food, then Josh will go back to NYU in time for parties or other plans. When he gets there this week, though, he's confused to find Maya and Topanga and Auggie and Ava there. Cory's apparently chaperoning some school dance, and Maya's just… alone. Zays' girlfriend Vanessa flew in, and Riley's with Lucas and Farkle's with Smackle, and sure, being a seventh wheel sucks, but it seems really sad that Maya isn't at her first high school dance. So Josh texts his friends, says he's not coming, and plops down next to Maya on the couch for the evening. "What, no hot date tonight?" She jokes with him, but Josh shakes his head. "Nope, no date at all – just hanging out with a friend who could use my awesome company."

iii.

She's a junior now, and she and Riley start sneaking to NYU parties every once in a while. Josh actually kind of hates it. They've become really good friends at this point, and she's getting close to 18, actually… but he still just sees her as a friend.. That doesn't stop him from being protective of her and Riley anytime guys pay attention to them, though. And if he's more worried about Maya, it's totally just because she's single and Riley's not, and not because he's letting himself start thinking about that not far off day when that age excuse he's been using to combat her come-ons for year doesn't apply anymore. Single girls are totally more likely to get preyed on by creeps at college parties, and Riley's extra safe since she's gotten herself a squad of Gamma Gamma Girls. One night, his eyes keep trailing towards her, and when he sees a guy that he knows for sure is bad news, he steps in without thinking, and says, "This one's with me." Maya turns to him, more teasing than usual when she's tipsy, and asks, "Finally giving into my charms, Matthews?" Josh shakes his head, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and steering her over towards where Riley's hanging out. "I'm just keeping you away from a creep, that's all," he corrects her, even though he's always tempted to do the same thing even when she's talking to nice guys.

iv.

He's there for her 18th birthday, and he's got a pretty awesome gift picked out for her, so he pulls her aside to give it to her just after midnight. Josh doesn't think about how it seems to people watching, or how it might seem to Maya, so after he gives her the print of one of her favorite painting's that he found at a gallery near NYU, he isn't expecting her to lean up and kiss him. But once she does, his brain goes haywire – and he panics, pushing her away before he can register any other kind of feeling. She's grown to be one of his best friends, and he'd thought he'd have… longer, before she brought up the whole 'we're both over 18 now' thing. His heart's racing and Josh is freaking out as he says, "Maya, you're still in high school. I still can't date you, not now." He hangs his head, feeling ashamed of himself for reacting badly, and for hurting Maya – if it's hurt Maya. "I'm glad you liked your present," he says as he turns to go back into the main room, while Maya says, "I'm still in it for the long game." He pretends not to hear her, but the comment puts a slight smile on his face as he walks away.

v.

They've started to hang out more often one on one since she turned 18. Riley always manages to find an excuse to bail last second – although to be fair, a lot of the time before they hung out as a foursome on not-double dates with her and Lucas, and since he announced he's definitely going back to Texas for college and the pair broke up, they've been awkward to be around. Still, Maya's just a senior in high school still, and he's about to graduate from college. He's young for his year, she's old for hers, but it's still the cold, hard facts of it all, and he feels weird about the fact that he's so attached to her friendship… or the fact that it's so easy to picture it being more. So every time they go out and do something together, Maya always interrupts him before he can even say the words, and goes, "Yeah, I know it's not a date," with the tone of her voice that lets her know she can wait. She knows that someday, maybe it finally will be, but that right now it's not. Except the more times it happens, the more he kind of wishes it is. Especially when he meets up with her and Riley after their prom, and they're sitting their drinking milkshakes at a diner and he's just in jeans and a t-shirt but she looks incredible in her prom dress. A part of Josh kind of wishes he could have been there to be her date instead, but she and Riley went stag together with all their friends, and he's in college and she's not. Not yet. But soon. And finally, the thing he's been fighting for so long, the thing he's made excuses to avoid for years now because the idea of how well they get along scares him, is within his reach, and Josh knows what wants to do.

…and the one time maybe it is.

He stalls a little on doing it, though. Josh is there at her graduation party with Riley, and he sees her around when he comes to visit the family, and they hang out and just do normal stuff on their own. Then one day towards the end of June, he's asking her to go watch a Yankees game with him because she's hilarious when she heckles the umpires, even though they can't hear her, and she always tackles him to catch foul balls, and she throws popcorn at him when he says something dumb, and no one's as fun to go with as her. Most stuff in his life is better when she's around, and when he pictures big events in his future? He always imagines Maya being there. Always. So when she accepts the invite and opens her mouth to say their normal, "It's not a date!" line, Josh quickly presses his lips to hers to shut her up. It's everything he never let himself imagine – so much more than any girls he's kissed at parties, or anyone he's taken on the occasional date. She tastes like laughter and the cinnamon spice lipgloss her mom buys her (which reminds Josh of Christmas and family and home), and when Josh's eyes blink back open, it's like he can see his whole future before him. "Woah," Maya breathes, as Josh nods dumbly, and then finally he remembers he kissed her in the first place to stop her from saying something stupid, like how it's not a date. Because this time? "This time, it's finally a date," he tells her, poking her in the stomach lightly as she grins up at him, as if the kiss hadn't clued her in to his intentions. "Took ya long enough," she laughs, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him all over again.