She sat there, looking at him. All she wanted to do was look at him forever, draw him, hold him, kiss him. But she had to say goodbye. It was the only thing left to do to save everything. So she steeled her heart to push him away. "We all know you chose somebody," she said. "We all know what's the right choice." Because it was the right choice. They'd be happy together, and wasn't that what Maya had always wanted? Lucas and Riley happy, and now they'd have that. "And we know it's the only choice you could possibly make."
"Yeah, you're right. I don't know how I didn't see it before, really," he said, and Maya swallowed. He sure as hell wasn't making it any easier to say goodbye. "I just talked to Riley, Maya."
"Oh." So he'd beaten her to the punch. She forced a smile. "Finally figured it out, huh, huckleberry? You two… you're gonna be good together."
"Maya."
"I'm really happy for you guys."
"Maya." She forced herself to stop talking and look at him. "We talked and we came to a mutual decision that this hasn't been what either of us has wanted for a really long time." She felt her heart leap up into her throat.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that we decided that we work better as friends, not trying to force a romance that neither of us are feeling anymore."
"I thought - I was gonna tell you to go to her. I was - I don't know, I-" Maya desperately tried to form a coherent sentence. She squashed down any bit of hope that was itching to come to the surface. She'd already prepared for his rejection. What use would it do to go back on it?
Lucas looked down, wringing his hands. "I get it if this isn't what you want anymore, Maya. I get it if you still like… Josh, or if you just don't want this anymore. But, for what it's worth," he looked up, "I choose you, Maya. You're the one I want."
Maya sucked in her cheeks, reaching out to touch him. "I thought… I want this, too. I want it. I do. I want this," she said in one breath. And then, before she even knew it was happening, she was kissing him. She didn't know who initiated it, she didn't know how long it had been going.
She felt herself tense up and then dissolve into him, until she couldn't even tell where his touch ended and hers began. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer like he was the only thing allowing her to breathe. His lips were chapped, and he tasted like Christmas, until finally she pulled away.
"I've wanted to do that for…. forever," she breathed.
"Me too," he said, grinning. She felt exhilarated, invigorated, renewed, like she had been sleeping under snow for centuries and spring had finally come. Lucas tore his eyes away from her, focused on a spot above her head. She followed his gaze to where Josh was standing, arms crossed.
"Maya? I thought we talked about this," he said. He didn't seem mad, just confused, and Maya forced herself to stop smiling, though it was hard with the taste of Lucas still on her lips.
"I was wrong. I mean, I lied. I thought… it doesn't matter now, does it?" She turned around and flashed Lucas a smile. "I was wrong."
When she turned back around, Josh was walking away, jaw clenched. There would be time to deal with that later, though. There would be more than enough time. Right now, all she wanted to do was sit here with Lucas. She could look at him forever.