A Lucaya campfire scene fan fiction!

GMW might be over (a long time ago) but we'll ship Lucaya as long as we live. We don't care what others think. Long Live Lucaya!

A/N: This took a looong time to write. It was also sooo hard to write. Especially all the emotions and the kiss. The story might be kind of jumbled up and confusing, and might be repeating the same thing over and over again, but *shrugs* weeell we did our best.

Revised: 11. 15. 2018. Sorry for the mistakes and weird sentences.

Title: The Fire Will Keep On Burning, Burning.

Subtitle: The campfire feels

Description: When you discover and understand what you've been feeling inside forever, you fall hard. That's when the worries come in.

Ratings: K+ for Kept Feelings. Maybe a bit of a T for Tongue and maybe language.

Characters/Pairings: Maya H. + Lucas F., Riley M.

A story by Shoelace Coma, Maze Hidden, and Walker Watcha.

Disclaimer: We do not own GMW but Lucaya is life

They had mixed feelings about it.

Maya was furious that Lucas had ridden the bull, besides her vehement protests. She'd been livid when he didn't take off his uniform right away, trashed the contract and walked out of that stupid bull riding contest when she had defied his will. Though, saying that she would not talk to him had beenkind of an irrational thing to do, seeing that she would have to see him every day at school for two more years, and that he is a part of their friend group. But as stubborn as she is, she hadn't made any efforts to retract that statement. She thought that he needed punishment for what he had done, and she thought that her thoughts had come from the emotion of anger.

But nobody could express how relieved she had felt, when Lucas had come back to the ranch, alive and well, nobody could express the electricity that had shot through her body when their eyes briefly met, and nobody could express the sharp, swelling pain in her heart when Riley congratulated Lucas, he smiled that warm, soft smile of his at her. She thought it was anger.

Lucas couldn't believe that Maya, one of his best friends and close companion, had talked him against riding the bull, the long lived fantasy of his, and the chance to recover his reputation in his hometown. He had been annoyed that she was one of the people he was trying to impress by riding the bull, and she had (against his imagination when he thought she would holler cheers for him in the crowd) screamed at him hysterically and refused to talk to him anymore. He had looked at her now and then, and had been pained to see her determination that she would indeed not talk to him. So he refused to talk to her also. If she wanted to act immaturely, then fine. He would do the same. There was only one, strong word for what he was feeling: annoyance.

But how could anyone explain what he had felt when he saw Maya sitting at the bay window of the ranch, and had felt a pang in his stomach because he knew that Maya really hadn't been there when he had ridden the bull and broke a record? Is annoyance really the feeling he had felt when Maya acted like he didn't exist, looking past him and avoid talking to him all night? And what was the white, hot, painful thing that channeled out all of his other thoughts he had felt when Maya was talking to some random boy an hour ago, her eyes sparkling and smirk wider? Annoyance, he thought. It's all annoyance.

After the party Pappy Joe had thrown at his ranch for his grandson's amazing results on the bull riding contest, the five went to the backyard and built a little (READ: HUGE) campfire. The city girls and Farkle never had built a real fire before, just had thrown some already-cut firewood here and there, and they were psyched. (READ: Riley was psyched.)

But here in a simple backyard of a ranch, already-cut firewood was a joke. The five had fished up little branches and sticks lying on the ground, but they weren't enough for even a small fire. So they had to chop up logs in order to build a huge, bright, "country sized" outdoor campfire that Riley had kept talking about.

At first, they all took turns chopping up wood. (Maya didn't do it, judging by the fact that Lucas was to assist her and she was avoiding him like a plague). But as they all took turns, they figured that Riley was too clumsy to trust with an ax in her hands and Farkle took too long chopping up one wood. (He kept calculating on which degree of an angle he should strike his ax at with how much force to chop the wood into perfect halves). So in the end, mostly the Texans were at the job of providing the fuels for their fire.

While chopping up firewood, Lucas couldn't help but take a look at Maya. Their eyes briefly met. She looked away stubbornly.

The last wood Lucas split came out in ragged halves.

Finally, they stacked enough wood on the ground, surrounded with bigger logs, which would serve as chairs, to start a big fire that Riley had always wanted to make.

Riley wondered out loud if Lucas and Zay were going to rub two woods together to light the fire.

Zay chuckled and patted her back in response.

Everybody kind of held their breath as Lucas threw the match into the pile of wood (even though Maya would never admit it).

First, nothing seemed to happen. The little match alone was the only flickering light against the starry night sky. Then, flames flickered around where the match had fallen, and then, suddenly, with a crackling noise, the flames shot up into the sky. (Riley yelped.)

It was beautiful.

Red and orange flames, dancing in the air, making their faces burn up with heat. Riley smiled big and sighed happily, staring at the fire. Even Maya looked a bit impressed; she couldn't take her eyes of the fire. But even though drenched with sweat, Lucas' eyes shone the most: he liked it when his efforts of building something were successful. That it was beautiful was a bonus.

The five sat around in a small circle around the fire, enjoying their time together as the complete friend group. Couple of times Lucas glanced at Maya, but she never met his eyes. He noticed that she never actually joined their conversations either. She just kept staring at the fire, looking as if she was contemplating something. Only once, when Riley asked if something was wrong, she said no, that she was just observing the flames to paint later on.

The subject passed by.

After they goofed around for a bit, singing country songs led by Ranger Rick himself (it was found that he can't sing, but the fact that Maya didn't tease him for it made him feel somewhat empty in the stomach), making s'mores and throwing marshmallows at each other's faces. (One Lucas threw caught in Maya's face—accidently or purpose, nobody knew—and he was somehow disappointed by the fact that she simply chose to ignore it.)

An hour later Farkle yawned and went to bed, telling that he needed scientist's sleep so that he won't make mistakes in next day's experiments.

A few minutes later, Riley stood up, telling that the flames hurt her eyes. She blinked a few times and told everyone that she was going back to the ranch.

Maya, Zay, and Lucas sat around the fire, the boys talking about their childhood days in Texas softly, and Maya continuing to stare at the fire. She looked as if she was concentrating on the fire and fire only, but actually, she was listening to the boys' conversations and she couldn't help but smile a little at the feeling that they felt so safe and comfortable around each other. Just like she and a certain brunette did.

Finally, both Texans agreed that they needed their sleep. They stood up and Zay asked Maya if she wanted to go inside with them. Maya shook her head, and bid Zay goodnight. She said nothing to the southern blonde. Lucas felt something crawling in his stomach. Damn, she was downright annoying. Zay sensed his best friend's discomfort and practically ran towards the ranch. Lucas sulked as he followed.

Maya had planned to go to bed right after Lucas had gone, she had wanted to do nothing with the boy, she was still mad at him.

Maya kept staring at the flickering flames, her mind simply blank, having drowned out all thoughts and emotions. Her body wasn't tired, but in her head she felt tired. Emotionally tired. She felt like she wanted to curl up in her bed and sleep forever. She stared at the flames. It was soothing, and the crackling sound it made was enormously serene.

Not five minutes have passed when the two boys had gone, when a loud bang was heard from the ranch and Lucas, wearing the same clothes, tumbled out of it, a scowl clear on his face.

Maya turned around at the sound. Their eyes briefly met, and Maya's narrowed in anger, Lucas' rolled to heaven in annoyance.

Maya turned around again, staring at the fire. Seeing him had made her blood boil, and suddenly she wasn't so tired anymore. She didn't really care about why he didn't go to sleep and came out again.

She was busy with the fire. She needed to figure something out.

When Lucas first lit the fire, it reminded her of something. When he came tumbling out right now, it again, reminded her of that thing. That something had been subconsciously on her mind for a long time, but she couldn't figure out what.

When the fire grew and danced around, it was so strongly familiar to that something, she had to figure out what it was.

Lucas sat down next to her, as far as he can while using the same log.

Maya didn't even turn to look at him.

Lucas frowned. Maya's attitude made his stomach crawl. With annoyance.

"Pappy Joe said that it wasn't very Texan of me to leave a lady outside, alone, so he told me to go and fetch you or keep you company."

He didn't even know what he wanted her response to be. But when he said it, he felt something loosen in his stomach, and almost sighed. And he realized, not talking to her was affecting him. It was affecting him bad. And it confused him because all the time, when they were playing their little game, when Maya called him nicknames, the period when she was not talking to him, he thought what he felt was annoyance. He almost frowned. Did not talking to someone who made him feel annoyed cause anxiousness? If so, he was messed up, bad.

Maya did not answer.

Lucas sighed, and moved his position right next to her, so she couldn't ignore him. He could see her expression more clearly. But her expression wasn't clear. It was vague anger mixed with something else—concentration?

Lucas frowned. "Maya," Maya didn't even blink. He sighed and ran his fingers though his blonde hair. He said it again, with a slight tone of annoyance. "Maya," Suddenly, she came out of some kind of trance of concentration she was in. That meant her attention was now fully on him, though she tried not to show it. He wasn't sure that if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Maya, are you seriously gonna ignore me for the rest of your life?" He said, directly at her ear, voice low with unveiled annoyance.

Maya's eyes narrowed and she snapped her head to his direction. She felt something prickle her inside and flare up her cheeks when he spoke to her ear. Seeing his face, a few inches from hers, she was sure it was anger again.

Lucas sensed what she was feeling and suddenly sensed danger. He wondered if this was a good idea. Well, at least he got her to look at him.

A thick eyebrow was raised on the girl's face. The boy thickly swallowed, and when he looked at her eyes, he felt his blood rush.

And suddenly, he knew. It wasn't annoyance.

He had known from the start, somewhere deep in his heart. He had been ignoring his real feelings for some reason, and had classified the little nagging voice in the back of his head as annoyance.

He almost chuckled at his denseness. Oh boy, he was wrong.

A strong need to have to fix this situation formed inside him. He had to tell her how he felt, that it wasn't annoyance. Even if she didn't reciprocate how he was feeling, he thought that she had the right to know, after what they have gone through.

"Maya," he whispered, tone suddenly soft and warm. Maya's eyebrow went up even more from surprise if that was possible. "Why didn't you want me to ride in the rodeo?"

His eyes that were looking at her were soft, and Maya found herself studying the color of his eyes. It was a mesmerizing color, sea foam, she decided. It was even more brilliant in the presence of flickering flames—

Wait, what did he just ask?

Maya quickly averted her eyes and once again, staring at the flames. Who did he think he was, asking questions like that around? After he had treated her all day like she was a major annoyance? Something stirred inside of her, and she was sure it was anger. But she couldn't help but contemplate, why did she not want him to ride the bull? Because he'd get hurt. And she didn't want him to get hurt. Because she—

Maya felt her stomach drop. But now, she knew that the action wasn't from anger. God, she was messed up. Since when did she feel like this towards Lucas? Texas? No before that. Pluto…No—Halloween? No, she was feeling it before—

Maya's eyes involuntarily widened. She had been hiding her feelings for so long, from everybody else and even to herself.

And the fire…The something that had been reminded so strongly—was them, Maya and Lucas. Lucas and Maya. A slow, strenuous build but also resulting in a unbreakable bond: from brash fighting and having little arguments to building a strong, steady relationship between the two, sometimes flickering at each other unexpectedly, never quiet together, but blazing with heat, while also peaceful and heart-warming. It was them Maya had been reminded of. That something which was so alike the fire…

"Maya?" Lucas asked. He was still gazing at her gently, his voice somehow determined but soft, not prompting. Maya turned to look at him. Why did she ever think that she was feeling mad?

And most importantly, how was she going to get out of this situation?

She chose to hide her feelings. She was going to hide it little bit more, until it burst because this time, someone popped into her mind suddenly and realization dawned that she just couldn't.

She finally spoke. (Because separate from her feelings, not talking to him will be impossible in the future and she might as well lift his 'punishment' sooner than later.)

"Because I didn't want you to win and get all conceited," Maya said flatly, still refusing to look at him in the eyes. She felt a pang in her chest as she said these words, and she knew now it wasn't anger. She knew it was pain of being not able to ever confess her feelings, the pain of lying.

Maya suddenly didn't want to have this conversation. She felt so emotionally tired again, and she wanted to just go to sleep.

Lucas, who had been watching Maya carefully after he asked his question, couldn't help but think that she was beautiful. Her blonde hair flowed behind her back, her porcelain skin smooth, and her eyes, her crystal sharp blue-gray eyes—she was beautiful. He was horrified at himself for not letting him see this earlier. He of course, knew it in his heart, but he never let himself freely think it. He mentally slapped himself for have been being so stupid.

Then, he saw Maya's eyes grew wider, and he knew that she figured out why she didn't want him to ride the bull. Now all he needed was a clear answer, and he'll tell her. He'll tell her how he'd been feeling all the time, but he wanted to know first, how she felt.

When she answered, he was confused. He knew that she was lying. But why was she lying?

He could just give up trying to know, laugh, throw some witty comment back at her and continue being the best friends they were.

But he didn't. Now, he wasn't going to hold back his feelings. He had been involuntarily holding it back for a long, long time. Now that he'd registered it, he couldn't help but think that maybe, maybe, Maya had been feeling the same things as him.

"I don't think that's it," Lucas said, his voice lacking any amusement.

A look of irritation flicked in Maya's face for a moment, but Lucas couldn't help but notice that she looked…Disturbed. Guilty.

"I don't think that's it," Maya drawled, repeating him, but in an exaggerated Texas accent, perceptibly trying to get a rise out of him.

And Lucas felt it. Something rushing in his veins. His head felt slightly lighter and he had to concentrate hard not to bite back with a witty remark.

Suddenly, recognization dawned on him, again, as for the first time in his life, he finally understood what his reactions to her jabs and teases meant. It was excitement. Excitement that her attention was fully and only on him, excitement that she had bothered to come up with various nicknames for him, excitement that one day, he might break her and actually see her scowl in defeat at him—but he would know that she would be actually smiling inside.

His heart almost stopped as he also realized that Maya was never really mad when they were bickering. If he had known better, he would've thought she'd rather enjoyed it…

He almost chuckled. Now it all made sense. He had been so, so dense.

"Maya, why do you make fun of me?"

Maya froze visibly, before saying in a tense, unnaturally high-pitched voice (again, disturbed), "Because, Lucas, you're easy to make fun of. I already have told you that. Now can't you just stop asking stupid questions that you have no right to ask and let's just—I don't know, stare at the fire or something?"

Lucas, stared at her with contemplating eyes for a moment, and said, a neutral look plastered on his face, "Okay. If that's what you want."

Maya was getting so confused and tired. This whole situation was tiring, now she knew that she liked Lucas, a lot. She had liked him for a reasonably long time, but she had been misreading them for anger instead. To make matters worse, when she had been guiding herself through wrong emotions, her best friend, whom she dearly loved, had fallen for him first, and now there was something going on between them. And now, the main reason for why she was so messed up in her head, was asking questions to her that she had one clear answer to. The one answer that she couldn't ever give to him, because if she did, her best friend might get hurt, and she won't ever let that happen.

And yet…

Maya couldn't bear to look at the fire anymore. The longer she stared at it, it just reminded of how similar it was to them. And the fact that Lucas was sitting right next to her, glancing at her time to time with that undecipherable expression was too much for her.

She had to convince herself that she was still annoyed at him, still mad at him for some reason, right now. For Riley. If she didn't, she wasn't sure if she could hold it back anymore.

"Because you're a Huckleberry," She spat, as she abruptly stood up, scowling. She had to make this look real. Act it out with her real emotions, because she had to convince herself that she didn't like that miserable cowboy sitting next to her. She had no idea why exactly she was doing this, but she knew who for: Riley.

"What do you mean?" Lucas said, his face a frown and looking quite perplexed.

"The reason I make fun of you." Maya answered, eyebrow raised cockily. She had to distract herself. She would do or say anything to distract herself from that stupid Huckleberry and that stupid smile he wore and her stupid feelings for him that were threatening to spill any second. And then, later on, for Riley's sake, she would have to convince herself that she had felt nothing today, that her interpretations on her feelings were incorrect.

It would hurt her like acid, a lot more than she would expect, but it would protect Riley from getting hurt.

Another thought occurred to Maya. Maybe it would actually protect herself from getting hurt—never giving a chance between her and Lucas in order to prevent her getting hurt when he chooses Riley.

If this action will protect both her and her Honey from any possible hurt they can suffer in the future, suddenly, doing this made very much sense, and got very necessary.

"Because you're a Huckleberry," Maya repeated, certainty clear in her voice. "Because you're a Ranger Rick."

Every time she said a nickname for him, she reminded herself of the images, and tried to convince herself that she couldn't possibly like someone like that.

Lucas frowned, and rose from his seat also. "Maya…"

Maya smirked, and put on a western drawl. "Because you're Hopalong, the moral compass, Lucas the good—"

Lucas' frown got deeper, it was clear to Maya that her sudden change of behavior and mood confused him deeply. "Maya, will you stop?" He said, his tone a bit sharper than before.

"Why?" Maya's smirk got bigger. She stepped closer to him and poked his chest with her index finger with every syllable. "Can't ol' Bucky Mc' Boing Boing stand some lil' teasin'?"

"Maya, why are you saying these all of the sudden?" Lucas asked, obviously taken aback and a little vexed at the change of the situation.

Now Maya, just top it off with your catch phrase, she told herself. Just remember how much a Huckleberry he is. Then you can go to bed and persuade yourself permanently that you don't like him.

Maya took a deep breath and raised her face to his as she readied her last move.

"Two words. Har-hurrrrr—"

What she didn't expected was Lucas to pull her face closer with both his hands as if he was about to kiss her, but stopping in the last moment, head slightly cocked, and staring intensely at her, pondering whether or not to close the space between them.

Lucas had no idea why he had just done that. He had been determined to tell Maya his feelings naturally, as the silence went along. But when Maya started to walk around, calling him nicknames, sudden panic went through him. He just had to tell Maya his feelings, then and there, especially when she hadn't been there to watch him ride Tombstone, when she was flirting with a boy at the party, and when he had figured out that he had liked her all the time, but thought it was annoyance at her. He had wanted her to stop, even though he found the nicknames endearing. He had wanted her to stop, stop, so he could just tell his feelings and maybe find out hers for him.

So he did one thing that came in his mind. He was about to kiss her.

When strong consciousness about what he was about to do stopped him (you fool, you don't even know how she feels! But he had really wanted her to stop, he really did) and now, they were in this awkward position, Maya's head in his hands and his head cocked a bit towards the right, about to kiss her.

He was mentally hitting himself in the head upside down for making such an impulsive move when something in Maya's gaze turned dark and her arms slipped up to the back of his head from between his arms, and she pulled him closer, going on tip-toes. And subconsciously, Lucas found himself slowly closing the space between their lips.

It was slow at first, Maya's mind short-circuiting because of what just happened, Lucas uncertain and self-conscious at the moment. But when both of them finally and fully registered what was happening, and what it meant for them, they found themselves relaxing into the kiss.

Maya thought it was major irony that in her mind she was screaming to stop, to think about Riley, and what her face would be like if she heard that her best friend and crush made out when she was sleeping, totally unsuspecting. But her body, it was giving in to Lucas, her mind slowly going blank, enjoying every single moment of the kiss.

Maya cocked her head a little more to the right, deepening the kiss. The intensity of the kiss grew as they kissed like they were hungry, like they have been starving for the longest time. Lucas' hand dropped from Maya's face and it traveled slowly down to her waist, pulling her closer to him. Both their minds were getting cloudy by the heat between them as they poured all their emotions into the kiss. It was impossible to describe the fire they felt from it. It was pure heat, their blood was roaring, heart was beating, faster, faster, and they were both getting delirious from it.

Maya's mind briefly gripped consciousness and drifted to the image of Riley again. She felt a pang of guilt in her stomach, and wondered if she should stop.

But then, Lucas' hand wandered down and gripped her butt. He pulled her body right against him, and she could feel the hard planes of his body.

Nah, she wasn't stopping now.

Maya's breath hitched in her chest when his tongue lightly grazed her lips, teasing her. The intensity of the kiss was growing, growing, and she was so lost in the feeling of Lucas' lips and body against hers. She had kissed other boys before, but this was different. It was frantic and intense, something deep stirring inside of her, and she knew that it was something more than just…A kiss. She could feel Lucas responding to her emotions that she was pouring out in it, feelings that they both knew they have been keeping so long. Her heart was beating out of her chest. Something wonderful was happening to her. And she knew that Lucas was feeling it too.

His tongue slowly made his way through her lips and just by that motion, her legs almost gave away.

Lucas felt himself arouse slightly, as their kiss grew more intense, tongues swirling around, getting used to one another, and the battle of dominance slowly turning into one sensual, mind numbing, slow, heated, intoxicating dance. Then Maya moaned, a light, little thing, and it stirred something inside him and he felt himself grow a bit. He almost lost control of his mind when Maya slipped her hand to his hair and tugged on it slightly.

It was heat, want, and hot emotions for each other all jumbled up together. Their minds filling up with smoke by the fire between them. But at the same time, they were drowning by the reciprocated emotions by the other, the way the other felt for them, the thought that everything just felt right. They were falling hard, and neither wanted this to end.

But at least Maya knew that it had to.

She was enjoying the kiss, more than enjoying it, actually, and she wasn't going to break it. But she kept thinking of Riley in the back of her mind, and she knew that she was feeling guilt. Maya felt like a kid going around her mom's back in order to steal her wallet or something. And that made her feel a bit sick.

This won't happen again. She mentally swore in her head. We were both sleepy and exasperated and just lost in the scenery of the fire…That's how it just happened…It means nothing…Never gonna happen again…Riley…

But how the hell could fire she was feeling be described? What about the emotions that they were spelling out with their mouth, tongues and hands? They weren't mistakes. They couldn't be accidental to begin with. And the sparks she felt as Lucas' finger rubbed the small back of her waist, his kiss scorching her lips, the way her stomach was fluttering with so many feelings. They surely weren't something you can feel by mistake.

Maya closed off her confusing thoughts as Lucas groaned somewhere deep in his throat. Oh crud…

Lucas was sure that he had feelings for Maya, pushed up against him and kissing him with so much emotion and heat. Strong feelings. The kiss was making his heart swell, and the way her hands pulled at his hair…He shivered, and he could feel Maya smirk against his lips. His blood was rushing in his head and he was jubilant with every ounce of emotions she poured out to him. He gladly reciprocated.

Something was happening between them, something, he suspected, long overdue, but it was finally happening, and he loved it. He wasn't sure why she had changed her attitude to insulting him and then kissing him and then making him fall into deep bliss, but he had one guess by her eyes, her words. Guilt.

Why the hell she would be guilty, he didn't know. But what he did know was that he never wanted this to end.

Suddenly, with a shudder, Maya broke off. She took a huge step backwards.

Their breathing was both harsh, and their mind foggy. It took some time for him to recognize that Maya had stopped kissing him, and something was wrong. And the second he realized it, he missed her body on his immediately.

He frowned. "Maya? What's wrong?"

Maya averted her eyes, but one look from her confirmed his suspicions. She looked guilty.

"This never happened, Lucas."

Lucas' frown got deeper. He surely was frowning a lot today. "What?"

Maya glanced at him. His expression made her stomach drop. "This never happened, we were just staring at the fire, and we just got to emotional or something and we just kissed. Might as well erase this from the mind and make sure it never happens again."

The hurt look he gave her made Maya wanted to crawl in a hole.

"So it was…Just a kiss to you?" he whispered, hurt creeping in his voice. Then suddenly, his manner turned into complete exasperation, and his volume rose. "Maya, did you really not feel anything? I know you felt it, and you dare sprout that—"

"Lucas, stop," Maya's voice also rose. "I-it was nothing. And you know it." The way her heart painfully throbbed in her chest just proved that it was something.

Why was she being so annoying? Lucas had no idea. He liked Maya, and he knew that she liked him too. Then why was she acting like this? What made her hold back her feelings towards him?

He searched her eyes, and there was it again. Guilt.

But she also looked as if she wanted nothing more than him. Her eyes were shinning with want.

Lucas sighed. He ran his hand through his hair and sat down on a log. He looked at Maya, and unconsciously thought that she looked beautiful with swollen lips and flushed cheeks.

"Maya, what's wrong?"

That was it. What was wrong with her? She liked him, but why was she pulling away from him?

She thought about Riley. But there was something more than Riley that was keeping her from Lucas. She stared at the fire absently, trying to sort out her feelings.

The fire.

Suddenly, she got it. Riley was Riley, and she could never like him. But if they ever liked each other, she was scared, scared that they will burn out, scared that he will hurt her…

Maya sat beside Lucas, a whole human sized space between them. "Lucas…I'm…Scared."

There. She said it.

Lucas' eyes grew wide, but softer as he took in Maya's confession.

He scooted closer, and took her hand in his. "Maya, maybe you're scared, but let's face it, we like each other. Why were we holding it back? And why are you holding it back now? There's no real reason to be—"

"Yes there is, Lucas," Maya sighed. The whole thing just felt so messed up that she wanted to go to sleep and seriously, never wake up. "Two points."

Lucas raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"First," said Maya, staring at him. "What's going to happen to Riley when we get together the day she broke things off with you?"

Both Lucas' eyebrows skipped to his forehead. So that's what her guilty look was all about. Riley. But he didn't really empathize. Sure, Riley would be a little annoyed that they got together the day she broke things with him, but seriously, they had nothing between them for a long time, and when she broke things off with him, it had left no lingering emotions. Plus, Riley was an amazing friend; she would stand by Maya's side and encourage her if Maya dated Lucas.

Lucas told this to Maya.

Maya frowned, her concentration deep. Finally, she spoke.

"Well then, that just leaves us with the second point."

"Being…?"

Maya pointed at the fire. Lucas stared at it. He frowned again. He made a gesture asking her to elaborate.

Maya sighed. "We are like that fire Lucas. We always were. Sparks everywhere, hot, hard to build, beautiful in results,"

"Um…Isn't that a good thing?" Lucas sounded confused.

"Well, but it'll burn out." Maya said, not meeting his eyes.

That's when he knew what was wrong. "Maya…"

"I'm scared Lucas," she whispered. "I like you so, so much, and…If we date, if there's something between us, I'm going to be broken if you leave. If it ends. If it burns out. What if it's just a mistake? What if it—this was just a result of rash decisions?"

Lucas took her hand in his. "Maya, do you think the kiss was a mistake?" he asked in a soft tone.

"Well," She started, but he interrupted before she could say anything else.

"Maya, did you really feel nothing? I've liked you for a long time, and so did you. Yes, we are a hard, slow build, as you said. It was no rash decision that I kissed you. Or that you kissed me back. Plus," he added, interrupting her once more when she opened her mouth.

"I would—could never hurt you or leave you. I never could."

Maya did not object. He stared at him, searching his eyes, to see if he was indeed, telling the truth.

She found nothing but pure sincerity from his gaze.

"Well then," Maya said, as she scooted even more close to Lucas, leaving no space between them, and leaned her head on his shoulders. "If that's a lie, I'm going to hunt you down and beat you to death."

"So does that mean you're not scared anymore?"

"No believe me, I am, but still, I'd like to give us a chance. I really like you, Lucas. Seems like the sentence of the day, but I've liked you for a long time. And I really hope—and you know I don't hope—that it lasts." She murmured, looking at the fire.

"Yeah, I'd like you for a long time too. It's funny how it took this long to realize," Lucas said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "And it will last, I know."

They stared at the Texas night, wrapped around in each other, staring at the fire. It flickered, dancing in the moonlight, creating shadows.

That fire might die away some time later, but they hope that theirs will last, that their fire will keep on burning, burning.