A/N Here is a one-shot sequel to 'Loophole' which sets the stage for the continuation of the story. I hope you continue to enjoy! Reviews make my day!

Fine Print: noun, content of a contract set in small type, often containing unfavorable conditions that the signer might overlook

January 15, 2017 11:45PM

Maya Penelope Hart sat at the bay window of the Matthews den curled up with her sketchpad and pencil in hand. Part of her wondered what she was even doing here, it had been so long, but another part of her knew there was nowhere else she would be. She mentally chided herself for being such a sucker. There was no way he was coming. Too much had happened this year.

Her last birthday weekend had ended in such a hopeful way with kisses, a now well-worn hoodie, and promises in the form of an NYU keychain. But hope wasn't something Maya was used to, so holding onto it was harder than she realized.

Her 8th grade year had ended well enough, to be honest. The keychain sat in a place of honor on her nightstand to remind her of him before she went to sleep. She and Josh were able to see each other at Matthews family events with minimal tension outwardly, but inside her heart was breaking. To have had him as hers for such a brief moment in time was a beautiful and amazingly realistic dream, but like all dreams it ended in the harsh morning light. It wasn't his fault. After all, it was her idea and she basically trapped him with her cunning logic. But the heartache was there just the same.

The hope Josh gave Maya lasted until about May of last year, when she was casually looking through Facebook and saw prom pictures of him and a beautiful, tall, leggy brunette. They weren't a surprise to see, obviously, because he was a senior and was popular and of course would attend his high school prom. She just hadn't anticipated the sting of white hot jealousy that shot through her. Immediate and irrational comparisons were made: blonde to brunette, short to tall, curvy to stick thin; and all ended with Maya losing every time. How could she compete with a girl who was Josh's actual age? She took the keychain and threw it across her room in anger. Maya knew she was being unfair, but the anger was there regardless. Josh hadn't posted the pictures at all, he was just tagged in them, and the girl wasn't doing it to be cruel. It was just another reminder that she couldn't be in his life. And it hurt. She was able to bury the feelings deep enough to look okay enough when he came to their graduation later that month.

Maya stayed stuck in New York for the summer and helped her mother at Topanga's. She started saving money for a car, in which she no longer believed Josh would teach her to drive. She would never be able to fully extinguish her feelings or hope for him, she was in it for the long game after all, but the key chain still stayed buried in a desk drawer so she didn't have to be reminded of him every night. Of course she thought of him anyways, so it didn't make much of a difference in the end.

Josh went backpacking through Europe with some of his friends so she couldn't even call or text him if she wanted to. They exchanged emails and he sent her pictures of great buildings, heartfelt reminders that the sun in Europe crosses the sky in the same way it does in Manhattan by casting a golden shadow at 5:30, and observations from the art museums he went to while his friends slept off their hangovers. Like typical 18 year old boys they moved from hostel to hostel in the bustling centers of Europe's greatest cities. Maya opened her Facebook feed one day in late July to see an album of nightclub pictures. Slutty girls, no, women, were draped across Josh and his friends. His eyes were red and she could tell he was high as a kite when she saw the caption "What happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam" (which was so cliché that Maya swore she would have laughed if not for the tears that fell). She missed him. She missed his voice, his presence, his stupid jokes, and his cocky attitude. He was living a life without her, full of experiences she would never share.

Maya then made a decision. Joshua Matthews was living his life in a happy oblivion without her? She would do the same, starting now

It wasn't a perfect situation. Josh knew that. He also knew he missed her. He knew they couldn't be together and that sucked. He knew she missed him too. He knew he gave her hope and then had to act as if nothing had changed the other 300 plus days of the year. There was also a lot Josh didn't know.

Josh didn't know Maya would react so emotionally to the pictures of him with his prom date, who was totally JUST a friend, as he would later argue. Didn't Maya know his friend Blaire wasn't his type? Didn't she know that if he had the ability to choose the short blonde who haunted his dreams over his tall brunette friend it wouldn't even be a competition? Josh didn't know Maya's deep insecurity kept her from realizing any of those things.

Josh didn't know Maya would see those pictures his friend Andrew posted from Europe when they were doing pub crawls. He would deny it to the death but he was as addicted to social media as she was, and seeing her smiling face through others' posts was just as much of a punch in the gut to him as his pictures were to her. Especially painful were those posts towards the end of the break.

Maya's summer of independence and empowerment came with wild parties and screenshots of selfies featuring her cozied up to juvenile boys he would have no issue punching the drunk grins off of, were he given the opportunity. It may seem narcissistic but sometimes it was almost as if her cheeky grin was pointing at him directly, taunting him on purpose. Josh didn't know that it was.

Josh didn't know how to start over, but he knew he needed to. He began his freshman year at NYU with a clean slate because, to him, Maya had clearly moved on. He enjoyed his time with Cory and his family, and Maya conveniently was never around during most of those moments. When they were thrown together from time to time, they were civil and friendly. Nothing of their escapist longings was spoken of. He was a freshman and she was a freshman. Even if they could be together, the timing continued to be an impediment to them. They both knew that.

Josh didn't know the impact of his decisions on her still was as profound as ever. He acclimated to college life well enough by focusing on making friends and doing well in school. It was almost kismet that in his English 101 class Lydia would catch his eye. She was tall, red-headed, and southern. Her drawl made him feel warm inside, like a crackling fire. Falling into a relationship was easier than it should have been, all things considered. He made sure things weren't too obvious on social media just to be polite to his "family" (although deep down he knew the real person he was sparing). He only hoped she was taking it well. Josh didn't know that she wasn't at all.

Maya had managed to avoid most awkward encounters with Joshua during the fall, but she wasn't stupid. She knew what was going on. Riley's parents and even Riley herself tried to spare her the pain she would feel learning Josh had attached himself to an "age-appropriate" southern beauty, but it was all for naught. All it took was one picture from one sorority event with one caption to bring her world spiraling down around her.

Maya knew her coping mechanisms were childish, but she couldn't bring herself to care enough to change them. Suggestive pictures in the summer were just the beginning. She fully embraced the "bad girl" label bestowed on her by life's circumstances, and Riley remained her steadfast and most loyal friend through it all. Maya went from boy to boy and acquired enough dates to almost maybe forget about him. Of course, she never actually did any of the "things" gossips like Missy Bradford assumed she did, but when has that ever mattered in high school? If Joshua Matthews could forget her and their time together so easily, then so could she. At least that's what she told herself.

After one particularly wild party in the fall Riley had no choice but to call her reliable uncle because there was NO way she was letting her parents see Maya in such a drunken state. He brought the girls home and they all crawled in through Riley's window. Maya sprinted to the bathroom and hugged the toilet bowl wile sobbing uncontrollably. Josh stood helplessly and attempted to help by holding fistfuls of blonde hair with one hand and cold towels to Maya's head with the other, while Riley took charge in what had become an all too established ritual.

"Why are you HERE?" Maya screamed amidst her sobs at Josh, any filter for her emotions gone in the haze of her drunken stupor as she continued "WHY can't you just LEAVE me ALONE? WHY DO YOU CARE?!"

Josh couldn't contain the strain in his voice as he pressed the cold compress against Maya's forehead and softly reassured her "Because I DO, Maya. I do."

Josh held her tightly as she cried and slumped into sleep, and then carried her to Riley's bed. His niece had already curled up in a ball on her side and was breathing deeply. He smoothed Maya's hair and kissed her forehead before he felt her hand curl around his own. As he turned to leave he heard her soft voice call out into the darkness.

"I just…I miss you so much, Josh" Maya whimpered, more asleep than awake.

Josh felt his heart break in two as he watched her furrowed brow struggle with her unconscious thoughts "I miss you too, Maya."

Contact between the two was limited after "that night" as it became known. Maya woke up with a groggy head and sudden clarity that morning. She saw herself as a petulant child, throwing a tantrum because she couldn't get her way. Maya knew she could be better than that. Not just for Josh, but for herself and for the people she loved. She could be better and she would. Maya steadfastly avoided social media, was repairing her relationship with Riley's family, and worked on improving her reputation at school slowly but surely. The "bad girl" label was difficult to shake, but those who loved Maya knew the truth and supported her without doubt.

Josh woke up with a sense of clarity the next morning as well. What kind of an ass was he? How had he not seen someone he cared about more than anything spiraling down into this depression? He knew the distance would hurt, knew this whole 'loophole idea' had the potential to be disastrous, but he never knew how much worse seeing Maya in pain would be than anything he experienced on his own. Her anguished sobs pierced him like a thousand knives to the point where the mere memory of them made it difficult to breathe. He felt nauseous that he caused her pain and knew things had to change.

So a more mature girl and boy met each other that day in December of 2016 for Riley's 15th birthday. They went through their own journeys to get there and didn't realize that the whole time Josh and Maya were working on themselves, they were becoming the person the other already thought they were, through the eyes of love.

"Maya, hey, it's really good to see you" Josh said with a smile as he pulled the blonde into a warm and prolonged hug.

Maya's hesitation melted away in his embrace "Josh, hey, it's good you see you too" she tried to hide it but her eyes were full of tears and her throat was tight as she spoke. He noticed. They clung to each other for what felt like an eternity, exchanging silent apologies and understanding between them. Reluctantly they stepped back from each other but locked eyes.

"Well, Hart, I didn't think it was possible but you continue to be more and more gorgeous every time I see you."

Maya shook her head and said softly "Josh, you don't need to say that. Besides I doubt your other half would like to hear you talk like that about someone else."

"I wasn't aware only half of me was here. Question: which parts am I missing?" he joked.

"You know what I mean, Josh" Maya reached out and brushed his arm with her hand, warmth radiating from the spot she touched him as she looked down, avoiding his face as she wished could avoid his answer.

Josh knew he couldn't keep teasing her "Oh, you mean Lydia? We aren't together anymore. Did social media or my chatty brother not spread the news yet? It's been a few weeks."

Maya's head snapped up and her eyes met his again "Really? What hap-? I've been staying off of social media and your brother's family has adopted a strict 'no Josh talk' policy with me at my request."

Josh laughed "And that worked? With Cory? How did you manage that?"

"I can be pretty convincing when I need to be, Matthews, you of all people should know that" she joked, relieved to be falling back into their pattern of familiar banter.

"Oh believe me, I know" Josh said with a smile, as they both lost themselves in memories of their time together. He had to literally shake his head to bring himself back into the moment "Weren't they curious why?"

"I think they just kind of figured it was something I needed for me, and they respected that. Although they have been acting stranger than normal recently so it makes sense there was some kind of news I was missing. Are you OK?" Maya asked.

"Oh, about Lydia? Yeah. I mean, she was a great girl, but it just wasn't working out anymore" Josh answered.

"Would it be insanely inappropriate of me to ask what happened?" Maya asked with a smirk, hoping she hadn't crossed any lines.

Josh laughed "Um, it's tough to really say…I guess I figured out she wasn't the right person? I don't know; you know I suck at talking about this type stuff, Maya."

He was looking for an out but she had to press while she had the chance "How did you know? How did you know she wasn't the right person? You guys were happy."

Josh looked down and rubbed the back of his neck, shifting awkwardly "Well, if she were the right person I would have been more upset when I thought about ending it. In the end it was almost like a relief or something. I had been feeling guilty for a while that I didn't see us the same way she did."

Maya nodded as he lifted his head, and he knew she wanted him to continue.

Josh continued "What kind of an asshole dates a girl seriously when his heart's not really in it?"

Maya looked at him and realized what he meant. Funny how such a crass line out of the mouth of a college boy could seem like the most romantic thing she had ever heard. She knew could continue to push him, perhaps taunt him to admitting the real truth like the old Maya would have, but she learned that things need to happen when they're supposed to happen. This still wasn't their time and she didn't want to push him away and lose the delicious feeling of having him in her life again.

"That's a stand up move, Matthews. Now, do you want to go get some cake before Auggie eats it all? He's going through this 'eat everything in the house' phase because he's growing like an inch a day."

Josh, pleasantly surprised he was let off the hook, answered "You know me and cake, Maya. Let him try and take my piece and we'll see what happens. It won't be pretty."

The rest of the evening was spent eating Riley's favorite foods and watching her squeal with delight as she opened her presents in front of her friends and family. They left the apartment and paused outside on the stoop to share one last hug, both happy their friendship had been re-established. Neither spoke that night about the loophole, or her upcoming birthday.

Back to the present, 11:59 pm, January 15, 2017

So here Maya Penelope Hart sat, one minute before her midnight, staring at the night sky more than she was sketching it. On her lap sat the NYU keychain he gave her a year ago, with promises to share this day with her. She picked it up and rubbed it softly, as if trying to release some kind of magic from it like a genie from a lamp. She let out a slow breath she didn't know she had been holding when she realized midnight had come.

Remembering the long year behind them she knew it was a long shot he would come. She wasn't even sure if she wanted him to come. After all, the loophole had caused so much pain. Well, not so much the loophole itself, but the part of the scheme they didn't want to acknowledge until it was too late, their separation. That was the 'fine print' of the deal. In any contract there is a part written in really small print so that you overlook it and sign your life away. The 'fine print' has the information people should read but no one ever really wants to. It has the unfavorable information. It's the reality check. In this case, the 'fine print' was their painful time apart.

The 'fine print' remained, and this time (were there to be a next time) it would be less easy to overlook. They had lived the consequences of their actions. They had seen the pain caused by not considering the 'reality check' in the contract. They (people who are wiser and more experienced than she) always say that if you read the 'fine print' you never would sign the contract. For rational and mature people, knowing the consequences should keep you from making mistakes.

Still, here Maya sat hoping against all reason he would come to her now. She knew she was probably making a mistake, knew the potential for even more heartache ahead, but it didn't matter. When it came to Joshua Matthews even if she knew she would regret it later she would take the chance to be with him every time. She had always felt that way and was now realizing that she always would. If 363 days of misery could give way to even a moment of bliss with him as her own, she would do it in a heartbeat.

So for now she was helplessly trapped, waiting to see if he felt the same.

The End

To be continued…?