a|n: First, happy 2017! Second- ahhhh! First story on Tumblr! *does awkward happy dance* This is also a tribute to the amazing tiramisuspice, and the Briley shippers. Set in the same universe as tiramisuspice's You're Cute, and it's sequel, You're Beautiful. You don't have to read them to understand this fic, but I advise you to.

P.S.- The unedited (and cringe-inducing) version of this fic can be found here on FanfictionNet.

P.S.S.- The characters are probably a little OCC since I don't think that I really captured Maya's persona and Lucas is like, practically nonexistent in the plot, but bear with me, please.

P.S.S.S (or is it P.P.P.S.)- Tumblr hated this, so, this is like my sixth draft and not how I pictured it will turn out, but whateves.

P.P.P.P.S.(last one I swear)- it is P.P.P.S.

Hope you guys like this.

Sometimes, Maya wishes that she does not have the ability to hear.

And right now? The cause of that wish is Riley Matthews.

"…and when you find him, you'll just know because your stomach will be full of butterflies and your palms will feel all sweaty and you'll be blushing to your roots. And you'll start to wonder if …"

Don't get her wrong, she loved her happy, positive, innocent, sunny best friend, but her cheerful enthusiasm is sometimes a little too much.

Okay, a lot too much.

"…he likes you back because you really, really like him and you really, really want him to like you back. And when he finally tells you that he likes you back after you and he had…"

Overtime, Maya has gotten used to the overbearing cloud of happiness that always accompanied Riley (except when she was in the middle of her identity crises) and had even gotten used to it over the years, welcomed it, even. So it should be no surprise to Maya that Riley's cloud of happiness will be containing more happiness than normal after she had gotten together with Brandon.

"…that magical kiss on Bleecker Street and tells you that you're beautiful even though you're dripping wet with cheap makeup running down your face and a snotty nose, you'll feel…"

But Maya hadn't expected Riley's cloud of happiness turn into an inferno of positive emotions.

"… really, really happy and like you're on cloud nine. And you'll be so happy and proud to call yourself his girlfriend and call him your boyfriend because you guys are each others'. But …"

Before Riley got herself into a relationship with The Rebel, the only thing that she does that really annoys Maya is when she tries to convince Maya what she doesn't want to do (Maya understands that her best friend is full of good intentions, really, she does, but a girl can only take that much naivety).

"…I won't be truly happy because my Peaches hasn't found her man yet, so, in order to save you from becoming that old lady across the street and me dying at an early age…"

But now? Now when the cloud of happiness turned into the sun of happiness? Riley had unknowingly uncovered a new way to annoy Maya-

Talking.

"…due to guilt- you have to get yourself a boyfriend. And that list will help you find one because writing a list of what who want in a man will help you realize what you want…"

Why? Because Riley has somehow gained the uncanny ability to bring Brandon into every, fucking, conversation they have, and Maya understands that Riley wants to share her happiness with her, but there is such a thing as TMI between best friends. Not to mention Riley's nauseating expression.

"…and who you want, and it can be the first step to finding your one true love and stop you from chasing after a man you don't want, and when you do find him, you're definitely going to…"

Maya does not need the mental image of Riley's boyfriend's chest unwillingly burned into her mind. Maya does not need to know the story of how he, the guy who made freshmen piss their pants, turned from intimidating rebel to a confused, scared boy when Riley was on her period. Maya does not need the description of how soft his lips are when they are on Riley's. And Maya definitely does not need her dreams to be contained of the dreams Riley had described to her, just with herself and a certain Huckleberry in Riley's and Brandon's place.

"…ask him out first because of course he will like you back because he will look around your rough exterior and see the truly wonderful person you are. And you'll probably get in some crazy situation…"

The worst part? Riley's lovey-dovey behavior is somehow going on Maya because she had suddenly found herself agreeing with Riley about how hot is it to have men who get all fired upon their account with her mouth curled in the middle of a dreamy sigh while picturing a pair of vivid green eyes, narrowed in anger.

"…on your first date, but he wouldn't mind it because it will be all part of dating Maya Hart and he will accept you for who you are, and you can probably go on a double date with me and Brandon…"

A sigh.

A freaking sigh.

Worse, a dreamy sigh.

Maya Hart doesn't sigh, she smirks and laughs and snorts and teases and rebels, but she doesn't sigh.

Much less a dreamy sigh.

"…even though I don't know how a double date works, but will figure it out. And you guys will totally become boyfriend and girlfriend either by him asking you romantically or you…"

Sure, Maya sometimes checks out his butt in football practice when no one was looking, sure, she sometimes (read: always) had to resist the urge to grab his stupid face and kiss him whenever they hang out, sure, she sometimes found herself distracted by his broad shoulders in the middle of class (even art, and Maya had always paid attention in art), sure, he is a frequent visitor of her dreams, and sure, she might've stolen one of his blue shirts (no one needs that many blue shirts, Maya was doing him a favor) because it smelled like him and wore it to sleep every night.

"…grabbing him by the shirt and threatening him to make you to the official, but either way works. And when we graduate high school we will move in with our respective other halves…"

But is wasn't that bad.

(Right?)

"…and get apartments that are in the same building and just down the hall slowly grow to love them and they will slowly learn to love us back, and one day they're both gonna take us out to a romantic dinner and…"

She never thought that her feelings for Ranger Rick would cause her to sigh dreamily.

That stupid cowboy fucking messed her up.

He messed her up good.

"…get down on one knee and pull out a diamond ring and of course, we'll say yes because it's always going to be yes, and we'll kiss or now fiancees and our hearts will be bursting with happiness…"

And Maya's not one of those horribly oblivious girls who never noticed that the boy she l…likes l…likes her back.

Because if he did, he wouldn't have a brand new girl on his arm every month, because if he did, he wouldn't have given his football jersey to someone else, because if he did, he wouldn't be making out in the broom closet with girls that aren't her.

"…And we'll probably tell each other the new at the same time and laugh and cry because we are really, really happy, and we know that we both love each other and our fiancee so much…"

And no matter how hard she tried, she knows that she can't stop the hurricane of feelings that surfaced whenever she sees Bucky McBoingBoing, can't stop the pathetic one-sided attraction.

"…and we can have a double wedding and have kids at the same time and name them after each other unless they are boys then we have to think of something else and… "

But she has to stop it, because if he was any other guy she would have asked him out already but Maya didn't want to lose him, and it will definitely happen because Lucas likes Maya- as a friend and Maya wants Lucas- as more than a friend. And it will never change because Lucas is a nice guy and would never think to end up with someone broken, like her.

"Maya! Are you listening?"

And it will never change.

"Maya!"

Wait. That's it.

"MAYA!"

Maya had never wanted a nice guy when she was little before her father left, she thought that she would have a guy who's rough and tough and wear leather jackets instead of blue shirts and flannel. She wanted a man who knew New York like the back of her hand, not some Texan cowboy who was handsome and sweet and gentlemanly and kind and fierce and protective and….

Right, focus.

"MAYA!"

And just like that, the realization hit her.

All along, Maya is just in love with the idea of being in love with a person, she doesn't really l..ike Lucas, it is just her mind tricking herself believing that she does.

(It doesn't matter that a piece of her mind told her that she is just fooling herself, it doesn't matter that her heart still skips a little too fast when she thinks of him, it doesn't matter that his kind smile is still etched in her mind, because she doesn't l…like him, she doesn't.)

"MAYA HART!"

Besides, she's Maya Hart, the butt-kicking rebel who never follows the rules and sometimes goes too far, she will never be with Lucas Friar- Moral Compass, resident Prince Charming and the living embodiment of Mr. Perfect.

(It doesn't matter that she knows that he's not perfect, it doesn't matter that she knows every one of his fears, it doesn't matter that she had seen him in his most vulnerable state, stripped of his title of perfection and just being himself, but it doesn't matter, it doesn't, it doesn't at all.)

"MAYA PENELOPE HART!"

"Huh?"

"Now, Maya, you need to learn the importance of listening to people because you might miss something very important without realizing it, and who knows what that might lead to, besides -"

"I'm sorry Riles."

"- you have to learn how to listen instead of just doing, and I know you're not as dumb as you pretend, you're actually pretty smart, and you may not have to end up in ridiculous situations-"

"I'll do the list."

"-like you always do if you just- wait really?" Riley suddenly halted mid- speech, shock on her face as she mulled over Maya's words.

And before she was ready, Riley had enthusiastically thrown her arms around Maya and engaged her into a very tight bear hug, trapping Maya's arms to her sides.

"That's great, Maya, I'll get the paper and maybe some markers and glitter glue… oh, or purple paint," Riley squealed. And just like that, she was gone in a whirlwind of happiness, leaving Maya on the bay window, alone and regretting her words.

Glitter glue?

What had she gotten herself into?

~.~.~

Maya is really getting tired of the taste of pencil.

And there is only one person to blame.

In front of her, a piece of lined paper titled What Maya Wants in a Man was filled with descriptions of a tall, handsome, green-eyed, athletic, and chivalrous young man in his teens.

Scowling, Maya crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it on the floor along her other attempts at making the list. Tearing another piece of paper out of her notebook, Maya attempted to not think about a particular cowboy.

It's not so hard, right? Maya just has to make a list that will convince herself Riley and everyone else that she isn't in l..ike with Hop-Along. The empty lines in the paper seemed to be taunting her, daring her to write something that isn't related to a certain, green-eyed, ex-rebel.

Groaning in frustration, Maya started to draw, her pencil strokes showing frustration and anger at herself. Gradually, the lines came together into a sculpted jaw, then accompanied with high cheekbones with vivid green eyes.

"Maya?"

Shit.

The voice was accompanied by a hint of concern, and she can just picture his eyebrows rising on his forehead as he scanned her mess room, brows furrowed with bewilderment. Panicking at the fact that the evidence for her unrequited feelings was scattered all over her room, Maya hurriedly crammed the majority of crumpled paper into her desk drawer.

Fuck.

In her hurry, Maya had forgotten about one piece of paper, shoved into the forgotten corner of her desk. And just her shitty luck, with the mess of papers in her desk drawer, there is no way she can cram another piece of paper inside.

Gritting her teeth in frustration at herself, Maya crumpled the piece of paper into a ball and angrily threw the paper ball across the room, aiming for the trash can.

She missed.

"Ow, Maya. is that really a way to greet your friends?"

Fucking shit.

"Hey, what's this?"

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Maya, ignoring the way her cheeks are red from mortification, immediately leaped across the room at an inhumane speed at the stupid Cowboy- who was in the midst of opening a mortifying list that literally spelled out her feelings for him, snatched the goddammed piece of paper from his hand.

But, in the midst of her hurried, jerky movements in her snatching the source of her embarrassment, she missed. Which was just fucking perfect.

"Whoa," Lucas gasped, "what's up with you?"

"N-nothing, just give me the piece of paper,"

Great, he made her stutter. She's Maya Hart, rebellious blonde, she doesn't stutter.

"What's so important about the piece of paper?"

"Nothing, just… give it!"

The goddamned bastard smirked at her anger, seemly finding her fate of extreme humiliation caused by her fucking feelings amusing.

Oh, she'll show him amusing…

…after she gets her hands on the paper and kisses him senseless.

Not giving up (her dignity is on the line here), Maya jumped, her fingers just shy of touching the paper when Lucas lifted his arm in all his six-footed glory with a smile tugging the corner of his lips that looked so damned irresistible.

He laughed in amusement, standing on the tip of his toes so it would be far from Maya's reach, his eyes glittering with humor. "If you want it, come and get it," he taunted.

Growling, Maya pounced, knocking him to the floor, their jerky movement caused by the physical fight soon turned into a wrestling match, and then, the wrestling match escalated into a tickle fight.

And somehow, Maya found herself straddling HeHaw, their faces both flushed and their chests heaving.

Ignoring the fluttering of her chest when she noticed their compromising positions, Maya bared her teeth and grinned in victory. The piece of paper laying forgotten on her bedroom floor.

"Ha," she taunted, grabbing the collar of his shirt as a show of dominance and staring into his eyes triumphantly, "I win."

The air was suddenly charged with intensity, an invisible humming that seemed to flutter over their skin, piercing blue clashed against vivid green, taking Maya's breath away. They stared each other, nose to nose, head to head, face to face, their lips almost brushing against each other.

And, as if reading her mind, his eyes darted down to her lips, which parted involuntarily. And maybe he took it as an invitation.

His lips crashed aginst hers and their tounges fought for dominance, and heat danced in her stomach. He bit her lip and she bit his in retaliation, he made her whimper and she made him groan, she tugged his hair and he flipped her over.

It was a routine they do every day, one filled with taunting smirks and baiting words, but taunts were replaced with the lick of his tongue, and smirks were replaced by his strangled groan. The kiss was sloppy, wet, and rough, nothing like the ones Riley gushed about, it wasn't the best one ever but it felt right- because she's Maya and he's Lucas.

Maya's eyes flew open. He's Lucas.

Shocked by what's happening, it'stoomuch, Maya pushed Lucas off her bed and ran out the fire escape, nowayinhell, her pulse way too fast and her face way too red, whywhywhy.

And she ran.

Goddamedfuckingshit.

And she ran.

~.~.~

Maya was way too close to crying when she knocked on the window of Riley's bedroom.

She didn't answer.

Pursing her lips, Maya knocked on the window again, trying to keep her mind of what just happened in her bedroom.

If she was Riley, she wouldn't have just fled out her own bedroom window like a cornered animal, instead, she would have kissed him enthusiastically and asked him to be her boyfriend (well, Maya would ask him, Riley was too old-fashioned to let the boy ask the girl, but you get the point).

If she was Riley, innocent and undamaged with nonexistent baggage, she wouldn't run.

But she did.

And god, is she confused, because there he is, the guy her has feelings for in front of her, making out with her. Any girl would assume that it was a sign that he l..liked her back, but not Maya.

Because good things never happened to Maya Hart, except Riley Matthews.

Sure, she had a recent run-in with luck when her mother started dating Shawn (who is Riley's pseudo uncle), and sure, it was flattering that Josh (Riley's real, younger, uncle) took an interest in her and they briefly dated, and sure, her recent grades had turned from Cs and Ds to As and Bs (because of Riley, who had persuaded her to actually put in effort in her schoolwork).

And of course Lucas will suddenly take an interest in him after her years of pining (since eight grade, and they're high school juniors), nevermind the fact that he was Riley's first crush/boyfriend and the-boy-that-I-thought-I-liked-romantically-but-oops-he's-just-a-friend.

You see the pattern here? Good things only happened to Maya when Riley was involved. Shawn only knew Katy because she and Riley are best friends, Josh was only her first boyfriend because he was Riley's uncle, her grades only rose when Riley helped her with homework, and Lucas was only in her life because he was Riley's first crush.

But that makeout session did not concern Riley at all, which meant that he probably was trying to get over his recent breakup with his girlfriend of two months and thought she was easy and a quick fuck.

Or he'll propose they be friends with benefits, which will kill her because it will really suck if she gets to have him with her every night but not being to call him her boyfriend. And…

Fuck. She's been hanging out with Riley's too much.

After her fifth knock, Riley's window opened, and she climbed inside, wiping under her eyes again to make sure she hasn't completely fallen apart.

"Maya!" Riley exclaimed, her voice peppier than usual and her voice unnaturally high with swollen looking lips, which drew her attention to an uncomfortable-looking Brandon with pink smudges on the lower side of his face, looking comically out of place in his leather jacket in the whimsical decor of Riley's decor, both of them standing by the window seat.

Oh.

Oh.

At least that explained why it took so long for her to open the window.

If Maya's mind wasn't still muddled from what had just transpired in her bedroom a few minutes ago, she would've approaches Riley with a sly smile face and teased her mercilessly about the cause of Brandon's lipgloss-stained jaw.

Instead, Maya tiredly sat on the window seat and attempted a teasing grin, "Looks like you two have been…" a weak smirk, "..busy."

Somehow, Riley managed to look embarrassed and concerned at the same time, "Maya," she immediately asked, plopping herself next to Maya on the window seat "what's wrong?"

Sensing the beginning of one of their Bay Window talks (no doubt Riley told him about that) and the signs of a heart-to-heart about the terrible things called f-feelings, and t-tears, Brandon bolted for the still-open window.

Brandon's panicked face caused a snort from Maya. Ladies and gentleman, the most feared student in Abigail High.

But his actions, so much like her's from a few minutes before, instantly reminded her what she did, so the snort turned into a strangled groan. Which immediately caused Riley to unleash a hurricane of questions- all of which Maya ignored in favor of concentrating on not crying because goddammit, her vision is turning blurry and that is not a good sign.

"He kissed me," Maya finally choked out when she got her tear ducts under control. The words, spoken out loud, made what happened so much more real and Maya had to take another deep breath so she wouldn't turn into an emotional mess, "Lucas kissed me."

Riley, loyal to the core, immediately began a tirade of insults, "WHAT! That big dummy, that huge moron, that little idiot, that bogger-head, that nose-picker, that dream-destroyer, that unicorn-killer, that bunny-slayer, that puppy-stomper, t-that…" out of family-friendly insults, Riley scrunched her nose, "that grasshole."

Maya laughed.

"Wait," Riley's eyebrows furrowed after her PG-rated insults, "aren't you in lo-," Riley ignored Maya's irritated glare at the mention of the L-word, "-ve with Lucas? Shouldn't you be all…" Riley initiated a failing hand gesture that resembles a panicked chicken, "…happy and…" another vague hand gesture, "…over the moon and all…" this time, instead of impersonating a panicked chicken, Riley's arms shot straight in the air, her arms giving the impression of lava shooting out of a volcano, almost hitting Maya in the process, "YAY!" Riley frowned, goofiness suddenly gone and her hands were plucked out of the air delicately, going from chicken-and-volcanic-eruption-impersonator to prim and proper, two hands folded primly in her lap. "What happened to the YAY part?"

Maya let out a bitter laugh, one that sounded harsh and sharp and jagged and hurtful, "Good things don't happen to people like me until people like you get involved, Honey. And Lucas is definitely a good thing."

Riley's expression turned from concerned to serious, and Maya can practically see the speech she is planning, "That's not true Maya, good things happen to you because you deserve it." As if predicting Maya's protest, Riley held up a hand and stopped Maya from arguing against her.

"Maya, Shawn didn't marry your mother because of me, he married her because he loved her for the beautiful woman your mother is and the strong girl you are. Josh didn't take an interest in you because of me, his feelings- however shallow they were, was because he was intrigued by the fire within in you. Your grades are not good because of me, they're good because of the effort you put in." she took a breath, looking into Maya eye's, her tone full of sincerity "And Maya? Lucas is crazy for you, whether he shows it or not, and I'm pretty sure it's not because of me And he loves you for you, all of you, he saw you at your best and he saw you at your worst. He knows you by heart, and by god Maya, the UST in the room when you guys are in it is astonishing," Riley giggled, all seriousness now gone, "Zay had even complained about it and told me to tell you two to, and I quote 'stop it with the eye-sex already.'"

When she saw their expression on Maya's face, "Hey," she said gently, "just think about what I said, okay?"

Maya, numb with the revelations in her head from Riley's words, nodded.

~.~.~

Even with Riley's words and her sudden overnight revelation, Maya was still avoiding Lucas since Monday (he kissed her on a Friday and she ignored him all weekend), which resulted of lunches in the art room and Riley constantly nagging at her to "woman up and get your man" (Riley's recent act of becoming a feminist often were at odds with her romantic nature, which sent serious mixed signals).

Maya made it to Friday before Lucas managed caught her unawares in the art room near the end lunch time.

"We need to talk," a voice growled from behind her, his breath ghosting over her cheek and his nose at the shell of her ear. Maya shivered and almost dropped her paintbrush.

Shit.

Maya reminded herself to breathe, then, collecting her thought, she set her paintbrush aside, took a deep breath, the turned around.

Double shit.

Lucas' gaze was burning, his head tilted down so they were nose to nose, their foreheads almost touching. "Yeah, we do," Maya breathed.

Lucas hummed in acknowledgment but didn't move, his mind-numbing gaze making her knees feel weak. They stared at each other.

Sparks sizzled across her skin, and her skin burned wherever he touched, and they kept staring at each other's lips.

"We really need to talk," Lucas said again, his eyes not leaving her lips.

"Okay," Maya replied softly.

This time, they both moved forward. The kiss, unlike their last one, was filled with desperation and longing and frustration, she bit his lip way too hard to be playful and he lifted her on the sink where they wash paintbrushes. Her legs encircle his waist and their fingers were tugging at each others' hair. He broke their kiss to trail kisses down her neck and nuzzled sensitive skin at the hollow of her throat. She returned the favor by leaving butterfly kisses at the underside of his jaw. Years of pent of emotions and tension made their make-out session filled with intensity and heat.

They were in middle of another mind-blowing kiss when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, making them jump apart. They stared at each other for what seemed like the millionth time when Lucas finally broke the silence.

"Well, that was a great talk," Lucas grinned teasingly, "your conversation skills are very much appreciated."

Maya smiled, her heart thumping in nervousness at what she was about to say, "Well," she tapped her own chin, feigning thoughtfulness, "your conversation skills are so amazing that it even might make me say I love you," she grinned at him bashfully, dreading and anticipating the response simultaneously, "would you say you feel the same?"

Lucas grinned right back, "Your feelings are definitely reciprocated," he tilted his head with a blinding smile, "but, you might need to use your excellent conversation skills to convince me of that."

Maya's chest fluttered and she can't stop the dopey grin that made it's way to her face and she probably looked ridiculous.

"Yeah?" she said, intertwining her hands back in his hair, her smile sly.

Lucas smiled back, "Yeah."

a|n: Well? Tell me how you think! I don't think UST and makeout scenes are really my forte, but I gave it an (albeit horrible) shot since I feel like UST (GM Rules, GM Texas Part I/II) and making out (see Campfire Scene) plays a big part in the Maya-Lucas dynamic. The ending was a little rushed but I tried my best. Constructive criticism is welcome! :)