Dedicated to Melissa, thanks for the review and the prompt!
"Maya let go" he chuckled clearly not bothered by the physical contact.
"Someday" she smiled.
"You know this would be a lot less awkward if you let go," he said again after a few moments.
"If I let go" she sighed "the waiting starts and the waiting is going to be torture. I just want this moment to last a little while longer. Is that so horrible"
"No, not at all. And I'm not looking forward to the waiting either Maya but this is what we have to do so go out there and meet the world, I'll still be here when you're done"
"I don't want to meet the world I'm quite content sitting here and holding your hand"
"How about this, we have four hours until we have to be on the bus right? So how about I get us some coco and we can sit and talk and even hold hands until we have to go back"
"I'd really like that"
"So tell me about you" he handed her the hot mug and grabbed her hand "I feel like I know you really well but don't know the small things"
"Like what?" she giggled and laced their fingers.
"I don't know, what's your favourite food"
"Lasagna, it' my mom's favourite and when my dad left my mom and I made it all the time to try and cheer ourselves up. she said we needed to perfect the family recipe, we eat it everyday for like a month"
"That's really sweet"
"What about you? What's your favourite movie?"
"Star wars"
"Which one? Yes there is a right answer and yes your answer will have a profound effect on my feelings for you"
"First of all, it's so cool that you're into star wars and second, of course it's the empire strikes back"
"Correct" she smiled.
"Umm Favourite book?"
"On The Road"
"Also correct" he smirked.
"Favourite artist?"
"Banksy"
"Seriously?"
"You seem surprised"
"Well yeah, you're a Mathews and you're telling me your favourite artist is an illegal street artist"
"Exactly, street art, not graffiti"
"I'm impressed"
"Well he's a close second to Maya Hart"
"Funny"
"Seriously, what about your favourite colour?"
"Blue, the colour of Pluto"
"What?"
"It's a long story" she laughed, "I'll tell you all about it someday"
"Favourite actor?"
"Matt Damon"
"Really?"
"I love me some dad bod" she joked.
"That's disturbing"
"He is awesome in every conceivable way. What about you?"
"Woody Harrelson. Song you listen to when you're sad?"
"Friday's I'm in Love, The Cure"
"Nice"
"You"
"Heroes, David Bowie"
"That's a good one. Song you listen to when you're home alone?"
"Green Day Burnout. Shower song?"
"Janis Joplin, Maybe"
"I love that song"
"Show you think got killed to soon"
"Is there any other answer aside from Freaks and Geeks? Show you'll never get tired of"
"Is there any other answer aside from friends? Guilty pleasure band?"
"Don't laugh" he warned "Little Mix"
"Oh My God" she bent over laughing.
"Hey! They're really talented" he huffed "What about you? Guilty pleasure song?"
"Chesney Hawkins, The One and Only"
"Wow, that's pretty bad"
"Like you're one to talk Little Mix"
"I am the one and only, nobody I'd rather be" he said dramatically.
"Stop" she laughed
"I'm the one and only, can't take that away from me"
"Okay, Okay, I get it. Favourite childhood memory?"
"Trying not to laugh while hiding from Riley behind that big tree at the lake with you""
"Me too" she squeezed his hand "Favourite Riley memory?"
"A few months ago she got in a fight with you, instead of going to her parents she called me. It was the first time I really felt like an uncle to her"
"That's really sweet"
"I guess I just figured that because of how young I am it would be weird for her. I mean with Augie it's different because he's so young, he looks at me lke i'm an adult an Riley obviously doesn't but I like that she can come to me with the stuff she can't tell her parents"
"You like being the cool uncle?"
"Yeah and on that note please don't call me uncle, it really freaks me out"
"Noted, so boing is fine?"
"Provided I still get to call you gorgeous" he winked "favourite nickname?"
"Other than gorgeous?"
"And other than peaches"
"I like when Shawn calls me kiddo"
"Uncle Josh Maya, what's going on?" Riley smirked as she made her way over.
"Nothing much"
"Well we need to get going, the bus will be here in ten minutes and dad is on his way down"
"Okay"
"It would probably be less awkward if you let go of each other's hand" she widened her smirk.
"Right" Josh pulled his hand away quickly.
"Or you could let him see and risk being murdered"
"I get it Riles" he rolled his eyes.
"Or we could let my mom know and she could start planning your wedding" she snickered.
"Okay Honey that's enough"
"Could you give us a second?" Josh asked.
"Of course" she skipped towards the stairs.
"Maya, I want you to know that I meant what I said; I never want you to not be a part of my life. When we get back to the city, if you ever want to talk, call me"
"Thanks Josh"
"Anytime gorgeous"
Evidently, they were right, the waiting was absolute torture, josh wasn't sure if his increased contact with Maya was helping or hurting but he loved having her in his life nonetheless. But it was hard, boy was it hard having her so close and yet not being able to touch her. How he wished he could hold her hand, wrap his arm around her, hug her. It was worth it, that's what he told himself over and over again as he watched her grow more and more beautiful every day. They tried to keep an appropriate distance from one another, but there were days when that was impossible, like the night of her sophomore homecoming. Cory had paid him fifty bucks to dj, which thank god only meant plugging his IPod into the sound system and making sure nothing too inappropriate was played. He was lucky he didn't need to concentrate too much because his attention lied solely on Maya. She looked radiant in her knee length red dress and he couldn't keep his eyes off her. Or her douche bag of a date. That was how he saw him make a move on Riley and how Maya smacked him after. She left, that's what everyone thought but josh knew better. He left Farkle in charge of the music and set out to find her.
"I thought you'd be up here" he said as he walked out onto the roof.
"Why?" she tried to wipe her tears away.
"Because Riley would never look for you on the school roof"
"I just wanted to be alone for a while"
"Maya you're allowed to be hurt" he handed her a tissue "you can cry in front of me"
"Why does nobody ever pick me?" she whispered and his heart broke at the sheer sadness in her voice. "My dad, Lucas, Jake, you"
"Maya, I do choose you, I choose you so much. It's not me, you know that. we can't be together, not yet anyway"
"It still hurts"
"I know and I know that no matter what I tell you you're still going to feel like crap because some douche bag did this to you but he is not worth it. He is nowhere near good enough for you"
"Yeah okay" she rolled her eyes.
"No one is good enough for you Maya"
"Josh-"
"Seriously Maya, he isn't good enough, I'm not good enough, no one is"
"You're pretty perfect Josh"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah of course" she chuckled.
"Why are there fairy lights on your school roof?"
"I was planning on coming up here with Jake at some point"
"Ahh"
"I figured since I waited so long for my first kiss I might as well make it special, guess that won't be hap-"but she never finished the thought. Josh, finally giving in to what he had been feeling since he had known her, closed the distance between them and captured her lips in a kiss. He didn't know how long they kissed, it seemed to go on forever. He couldn't believe that this was her first kiss because she seemed to know exactly what she was doing. Then again, maybe it was because it was the two of them. He had never felt such chemistry in a kiss so, even though he didn't mean for it to happen, it ended up getting pretty intense. If they hadn't been interrupted, he didn't know where he would have found the strength to pull away.
"We were wondering what you got up to" Topanga smiled from the door "you should come back down, we're leaving now and Shawn's here to pick you up Maya"
"We'll be right down"
"Josh"
"Yes Topanga"
"Your hand is in Maya's hair"
"Oh"
"This might be less awkward if you let go" Maya chuckled.
"Until text time Maya?"
"Until next time" she smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek before leaving.
If he thought waiting for her was hard before, after knowing what it was like to kiss her, it became all the more difficult. Being around her was unbearable, not being with her was even worse. Why did he think he could do this? This was a terrible idea, he couldn't take his mind off her and when he was with her he couldn't keep his hands of her. In the platonic sense of course, they seemed to be magnetically attracted to one another. They sat next to each other at every chance, held each other a little too tight when they hugged, he wrapped his arm around her under the pretense of keeping her warm and she cuddled up to him while watching horror fests. Time passed excruciatingly slow but eventually they grew up. Maya was eighteen, in her senior year and turning into a beautiful young woman but still nothing. She was getting tired of waiting for him.
"Josh" she knocked on his dorm "Come on Josh open up"
"Maya I told you, I have a gross anatomy test tomorrow I really need to focus" not being one to deny her anything he opened the door to let her in.
"I brought you coffee"
"Thanks" he moaned, as the incredible aroma of black coffee hit his nose "Didn't you have a date with what's his face, Jackson?
"I called it off"
"Why?"
"I've been thinking"
"That can't be good"
"Now's not the time for jokes"
"What's going on?" he pulled her down to sit next to him on the bed.
"It's January 24th"
"Yes"
"Which used to be important but it isn't any more so what gives?"
"What...?"
"I'm eighteen now, the age pretty much everyone agrees makes you an adult, or at least in the process of becoming one. So what gives?"
"Again, what?"
"I thought we had a deal, someday, does that ring any bells?"
"Maya-"
"So what gives? Where you lying? Do you not like me anymore?"
"No! Are you kidding?" he grabbed her hand "Of course I still like you"
"So…"
"So…"
"Just kiss me Josh" she chuckled.
"Happily" he smiled and leaned in. unfortunately, like most good things, the kiss had to end. Even more unfortunately, it ended by Maya pulling away from a very enthusiastic Josh. "No-" he whined.
"Come on you said it yourself you need to study"
"And yet I still opened the door to you, shouldn't that tell you everything you need to know about my priorities?" he smirked and leaned in again.
"Josh" she pulled away again "you need to pass that exam tomorrow, get back to the books, I'll still be around tomorrow when you ace your exam"
"Do you promise?"
"Yes now get back to studying; I need to go see your niece anyway"
"And tomorrow when I pass…"
"I'll properly reward you"
"Seriously Maya, a date. You and me tomorrow night? We should talk, really talk I mean"
"I'd really like that" she smiled shyly.
"I'll pick you up at seven"
"Okay, bye"
"Bye"
"I can't go if you don't let go of my hand Josh"
"Isn't this our thing?" he smirked.
"Yeah but this would be a lot less awkward if you let go"
"Okay" he gave her a quick peck "I'll see you tomorrow"
"Tomorrow" she smiled
And see each other they did, the next day, the day after that and every other day of that week. Before they knew it, Josh's birthday had come and they had been seeing one another for a month without telling anyone. They hadn't meant for it to become a secret but after their first date they were so happy with each other they didn't want their families putting in their two cents. Besides, Riley was so busy with prom committee and graduation prep that she barely noticed the increasing absence of Maya at her dinner table, but all that changed at Josh's twenty first birthday party. The same day a heavy envelope arrived addressed to Maya with a familiar logo on it.
"What's going on?" Josh asked as she pulled him out on the fire escape away from the prying eyes of their families "it's freezing out here"
"I wanted to wish you happy birthday without being interrupted" she smirked.
"Well as much as I like the sound of that I'm pretty sure you did a pretty good job of that this morning"
"I also wanted to give you this" she handed him the envelope "it only seems fair, I opened yours"
"Maya-"
"I'm also too terrified to open it on my own"
"So if you get in?"
"I stay in the city"
"And if not?"
"Rhode island"
"Maya even if you aren't staying in the city-"
"You'll be a second year med student you won't have time for a long distance girlfriend"
"I'll make the time, I've spent my whole life waiting on you, I'm not going to let a state line come between us"
"It's Columbia Josh, why would they want me?"
"Because you're incredibly talented and one day you're going to make an amazing architect"
"Open it"
"Well" he looked at the letter "it looks like I'm going to have to start making time to travel. To travel up town because my girl got into an ivy league school and there's no way she's turning it down"
"What?" she grabbed the letter from his hands "I got in! I got in!" she flung herself into his arms "Oh my God! I can't believe it"
"I can" he kissed her "You're amazing. I love you"
"I love you too," she whispered "That was mean"
"It's like a forty minute subway ride" he kissed her again.
"I think we might have an audience" she chuckled looking through the window where sure enough their entire families were watching them.
"You're in love?" Amy asked as her son came back inside "What? When? And How?"
"Yes we're in love, since I was ten I guess and I'm not really sure how, it just kind of happened"
"Why" Riley hit him "didn't" she hit him again "you" again "tell me?"
"Hey! She's your best friend"
"She told me five years ago!"
"Riley..."
"And why didn't you tell me something happened?" she turned her eyes towards Maya.
"I didn't mean to"
"We just wanted a little time to settle into it" Josh tried.
"How long?"
"A little over three weeks"
"WHAT!" yelled Shawn.
"We were going to tell you I promise"
"Please don't be mad daddy" Maya smiled sweetly.
"Too late"
"Come on Shawn" Cory put his hand on his shoulder "the ship sailed on this one a long time ago, you know that"
"That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it"
"Me neither" Riley huffed "I am not calling you my aunt"
"Come on Riles" Josh wrapped his arms around Maya's waist "look how cute we are" he settled his chin on her head.
"He makes me happy honey"
"I make her happy" Josh smirked but was quickly put back in his place by a well-placed blow from Maya.
"Fine" she huffed.
"So can we know why you were being congratulated baby girl?" Katie asked smiling.
"This came in the mail this morning" she help up the envelope "I got into Columbia!" she was pretty sure she heard a few Oh my Gods! But that was really the only thing she recognized amongst the many many congratulatory wishes and hugs that were raining down on her.
"I'm so happy for you peaches" Riley teared up "but I'm going to miss you so much"
"It's a half an hour away Riley, we'll be fine"
"I got this in mail two days ago" she chuckled an held up a similar envelope "I'm going to MIT in the fall"
"Riley!" Topanga smiled "That's one of the best schools in the world, we are so proud of you"
"You're choosing Farkle over me?" Maya laughed.
"I'm choosing applied physics, I'm choosing my dream" she hugged her best friend
"I'm going to miss you Riles"
"Please, you'll talk everyday" Josh joked as he pulled Maya back into his arms "besides this just means that you'll have more time for me"
"I can't believe it'll only be me and Zay in the city next year"
"I can't believe you and Zay got into an ivy league school" Farkle Joked.
"Hey!"
"I had all the faith in the world in you peaches"
"Thanks, can I borrow a sweater? I'm kind of cold"
"Of course"
"Come with me babe?"
"So I'm guessing you just needed a second away from everyone right?" Josh asked once they were in the safety of Riley's room.
"You know me too well" she laughed dryly.
"You'll Skype all the time Maya and Boston isn't so far away; you'll see each other all the time"
"I know it's just my whole life plan has changed within an hour. NYU, a dorm room with Riles… that was always the plan and now we're both going to different schools and she's moving to another city"
"You can't plan every detail of your life out, plans change that's what's great about life"
"We planned this relationship when we were kids"
"That's the exception" he chuckled.
"Still now I have to look for a roommate and then she'll probably end up being some sorority bimbo I'll hate that brings home guys ev-"
"Move in with me"
"What?"
"Let's move in together. You hate the idea of living with someone you don't know and i hate living in a dorm. We can find a place half way between NYU and Columbia"
"We've been dating for three weeks"
"It'll will have been six months by the time we move in in September"
"Six months…"
"We've been friends forever, let's move in together"
"You're crazy" she laughed.
"No, I'm just in love"
"You really want to do this?"
"More than anything in the world"
"Let's do it let's move in together" she laughed as Josh picked her up and began spinning.
"Oh no" Josh groaned.
"What's wrong?"
"Our parents are going to kill us"
"We'll tell my mom first" Maya laughed, "she'll understand, the we'll break it to everyone else on moving day"
"That's sounds like a good plan"
They weren't that cruel, they told their parents a few weeks before they moved in and to nobody's surprise, they weren't pleased. In fact Shawn was pretty sure his daughter would be moving back home before Christmas but he respected her decision. After the initial shock, they agreed to keep their opinions to themselves and even helped the young couple move in. They were happy, happier than either of them had ever been so during Maya's senior year at Columbia and Josh's first year as a surgical resident, they hosted dinner on Christmas day. She had seen Riley the morning before so she was pretty surprised when her best friend tackled her as soon as she opened the door.
"I'm still not calling you my aunt but I am so happy for you"
"What?" she pulled away "How did you know?"
"Josh asked me last week"
"That's why you were acting so strange yesterday"
"Yes" she heard her reply as she ran to hug Josh.
"I can't believe you managed o keep it a secret, congrats" Maya said as she began greeting the rest of their families.
"Shouldn't I be congradulateing you" Riley laughed
"What are you guys talking about?" Topanga chuckled from her seat on the couch.
"Well" Josh walked over towards Maya and the family "we're getting Married" he pulled Maya's hand up to show them the ring shining on her finger. The hugs, "congratulations", "I love yous" and tears were countless, but things did settle down eventually and over dinner Maya's eyes shone bright as she told their families how Josh had convinced her the night before to exchange gifts in front of the tree and as she unwrapped the ring box he got down on one knee.
"You know this would be a lot less awkward if you let go of my hand" Maya laughed later as she tried to eat dessert.
"I'm not letting go, not ever again"
Just a quick oneshot I wrote, not my best work, but please leave a review and let me know what you thought.
On a second note, I'm a die hard joshaya shipper I've written Rucas in the past but I've always been a little indifferent to Riley until the last few episodes which have been pushing me further and further towards Riarkle.
Once again, thanks Melissa for the prompt!