So this is going to be a collection of different Joshaya one-shots I've written. I may post an actual story I've been working on, but haven't decided yet. If you don't like the ship, don't read. I don't need reviews like "It's creepy" "I hate them." "Lucaya is better".. I hope everyone here is a Joshaya shipper and will respect it.
Josh is in town for his pre-college program and sees Maya out with a guy friend. When said guy friend takes things the wrong way and starts hurting Maya, Josh becomes protective and a fight breaks out.
Josh was glad to be in New York for the summer, having two and a half months of doing what he loved at NYU. It would be good practice to get him away from home and be in school. He had moments of being homesick, but for the most part, he was having a good time. He got to see Auggie pretty much whenever he wanted, got to hang out with Riley, and see Cory and Topanga more. It was making him even more comfortable with the idea of moving two hours away from home in a year. If he got in, of course.
His dad offered for him to take his car to get around, but Josh decided against it, saying he'd be better off taking the subway. He tried driving in the New York traffic before, and he was pretty sure he'd get places faster by walking than driving.
Josh had the day off and decided to grab some lunch and then go see his brother, niece and nephew. While it was cool to see all the college students, it made the cafes super busy, so he decided to go to what was formerly Svorski's, was now Topanga's, owned by his brother and sister-in-law. It was also easy since it was under the brownstone where his New York family lived. Knowing that, he shouldn't have been surprised to see that Maya was there. But one thing did surprise him; she was with a guy. It wasn't Lucas or Farkle, or anyone he knew. He didn't know a lot of the people his niece and her best friend hung around with, but last time he saw her to tell them he'd be spending the summer in New York, she'd nearly fainted and was still clearly into him. Had she been trying to move on? He shook his head, trying to ignore it and went to order something to eat. She was facing away from him and focused with her partner, so he was hoping he could go in and out without her noticing and having some awkward exchange.
He sighed a little, trying to shake off the thought. So what if she saw him there? He'd be in the same part of New York as her for the next few months. Maybe last time he told her he was too old, she took it to heart. So maybe they'd be friends and she'd moved on. He wasn't going to hide from her. So instead, he paid for his lunch and sat down at a table to eat before he would go upstairs.
"Ha, you're funny," he heard a voice he knew too well say. He glanced up to see that Maya had started to raise her voice. She looked amused, but the guy didn't.
"Funny? I'm not trying to be funny, Maya," the guy responded.
"When I said it's a date, it was just an expression, Ethan" she answered, still having a light expression like she didn't think this Ethan guy was serious.
"You were flirting and laughing a lot," Ethan responded, putting his hand over hers at the table. "You like me." He didn't state it like a question. Josh knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping, but he didn't trust the way their conversation was turning.
"Don't," Maya said, pulling her hand from his. "Yeah, you were being funny, but I wasn't flirting. I don't even know how to flirt," she stated.
"Well, you're pretty flirty for someone who doesn't claim to know how.." Ethan said, his ego clearly wounded and he was a bit upset.
"Look, I'm sorry, I really just thought you wanted to be friends and hang out," Maya said, starting to stand up, her face serious and apologetic. She clearly didn't know what she'd done.
Ethan was quick to get up, and reached for her hand again. "Okay, okay, this wasn't a date, but maybe we can go on one? A real one where we're both on the same page?" he asked.
"I don't know.." she said, clearly trying to wriggle her hand out of his. Josh had completely forgotten about lunch and was focused on the exchange. He was really starting to get a bad vibe from this guy and wanted to see what he'd do.
"I like you, Maya. You're cute and funny and you don't take crap from anyone. I bet you'd like me too if you gave me a real chance," he said, moving his hand from hers, but moved them to her arms.
"You're right, I don't take crap from anyone. Including you. I don't want to go out with you," she stated, trying to pull away from his grip, which tightened. "Ow, you're hurting me."
That's all Josh needed to hear to be out of his seat and over there in a minute. "Let her go," he stated, gray eyes dark with anger.
"Josh," Maya breathed. Even in the serious situation, it was like she melted in his presence, especially since he was defending her.
"Or what? Isn't she a little young for you? Or are you into cradle robbing?" Ethan snapped. .
Josh resisted the urge to agree, or inform him that he was only three when Maya was in a cradle, but he was trying to defend her, not any sort of feelings. "I don't have to be interested in her to be defending her from some asshole who can't take no for an answer," he spat back.
"This really isn't any of your business, dude," Ethan said.
"It is when she's a friend of mine. Even if she wasn't, she said it herself, you're hurting her. Let her go, and don't touch her again," Josh warned, glaring at down at the boy.
Ethan returned the glare, but never the less, let Maya go. He held his hands up in defense. "Fine, how about I touch you instead?" he said, before pushing Josh back.
Josh barely budged, anticipating it coming. "Get out of here, Maya," he told her, more concerned about her safety. He knew how to hold his own. He didn't want her getting hurt on accident for being around.
Maya paused and glanced between them, but instead of actually leaving, she just moved behind Josh and made sure there was some distance, so she wouldn't get any back end.
"Are you really going to fight me because of a girl who doesn't like you?" Josh asked, not backing down, but he was trying to give him time to back out. He had history in self defense training, so it wasn't like he was worried about being beaten.
"I'm going to kick your ass because you don't know how to mind your own business," Ethan responded, going for a swing. Again, Josh anticipated the movement, grabbing his fist and twisted his arm behind his back, pushing him against one of the tables.
"This can all end before anyone gets hurt. All you have to do is walk away and leave Maya alone," Josh said, having the struggling kid still pressed against the table.
Instead of responding, he slipped out of Josh's grasp, and pushed him back again, this time making Josh stumble back a few inches. The guy swung again, and Josh dodged it, before swinging his own, his fist connecting with Ethan's nose. There was a loud noise and blood.
"What the fuck, I think you just broke my nose," he explained, holding his nose that was gushing blood.
Josh shook off his hand which was burning from the impact. Ethan still tried to lunge, and Josh just tossed him toward the door. "Stop trying. Just get that taken care of before it tries to set wrong," he said with a roll of the eyes. he wasn't trying to have this big brawl. He was just defending himself and didn't want to swing anymore than he needed to.
Ethan clearly weighed his options. He was already bleeding pretty bad, and Josh had only been pushed and had a sore hand. He was starting to be blinded by the pain too. "This isn't over, dick," he said, mostly for his own bravado, before pushing his way out.
Josh waited before rubbing his hand, which was covered in both his blood and Ethan's. It would be sore for a little while. He didn't get in many fights and mostly didn't train much, so his hands had gone soft. "Damn that hurt," he murmured.
"Josh.. I.. Thank you for standing up for me," Maya said, still in shock of the who situation. "Are you okay?" she asked, seeing the fact he'd hurt his hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured her, giving her a small smile. "Are you okay?" he asked, wanting to make sure Ethan hadn't really hurt her.
Maya nodded, smiling back and rubbed her arms. "I'm fine. Want to head upstairs and put some ice on that?" she asked, nodding to his hand.
"Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea," Josh answered. He'd eaten most of his food and wasn't worried about the rest, appetite gone with all the adrenaline going on in his body.
Maya smiled and went out, holding the door open for him and they headed upstairs to the Matthews apartment.
"Hey Josh," Cory greeted when they went inside.
"Hi, Uncle Jo- Oh my god, what happened?" Riley asked when she saw his bloody hand.
Cory looked up when he heard his daughter's exclamation "Are you okay?" he asked.
Josh waved them off with his good hand. "I'm fine. Some asshole was trying to hit on Maya and wouldn't take no for an answer. I defended her and he swung, so I swung back." he answered, going to kitchen to rinse off his hand before getting out an ice pack.
"Ethan tried to put the moves on you?" Riley asked, mouth wide. "And he seemed like such a nice guy.." she said with a small frown, clearly upset she hadn't seen it coming.
"It was just a misunderstanding. He thought we were on a date and got upset when he found out I wasn't interested like that," Maya said with a small shrug.
"Good thing that Josh was there. That was a nice thing you did," his brother said, giving him a proud smile.
Josh shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I was taught self defense and he was hurting her. There wasn't a chance of him hurting me," he said.
"It was a big deal, to me, I don't know what I would have done without you there," Maya said, giving him a big smile and hugged him. It was a genuine thank you hug, not one where she was trying to hit on him or anything.
Josh smiled, and hugged her back. "Anytime, Maya."
Note: I wrote this before Girl Meets The Secret of Life, and I've had the headcanon about Josh being in martial arts since Game Night, because Uriah did martial arts too.