A/N: Here's chapter two. It's a little moment between Maya and Katy, because that's an essential part of this series of fics (there will be some Maya and Shawn moments in the next chapter, another key part), and some more Lucaya fluffiness. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own GMW.

Two

Maya was glad for the time she was able to spend with Lucas before she went home for the night. It gave her a chance to relax and de-stress, which she needed, because once she walked into her apartment it was back to all wedding, all the time. She had barely pushed open the front door before she was assaulted by the evidence of the wedding project of the day. On every available surface, there were trays of completed favors, half finished favors, and the not yet assembled parts of favors yet to be. Maya shook her head with a small laugh when she went to drop her keys into their usual place in a dish by the door only to find it filled with favors as well. It wasn't like the wedding was going to be all that big or extravagant, but little details like this had the potential to consume a lot of time and energy.

Maya pocketed her keys, kicked the door shut and locked it behind her. Her mom was at the kitchen table working on finishing the last of the favors, so Maya made her way over there. Katy glanced up as she finished tying off the favor she was working on. She cracked a smile as she took in Maya, but it wavered slightly after a second.

"I don't see a dress," Katy said and started to put another favor together.

"Nope," Maya replied as she reached the table. "I can pick it up Friday."

"The sash belt thingy wasn't taken in enough, minor thing. It's being handled," Maya said. She picked up one of the completed favors and turned it over in her hand. "Shawn's a good sport for letting you do all this over the entire apartment."

Katy laughed. "Who do you think made all these little tags? It was not me, darlin.'"

"Who knew Mr. Hunter was so arts and crafty," Maya replaced the favor on the table.

"It helped that you designed them first," Katy raised an eyebrow and pulled a ribbon tight.

Maya shook her head. "That man can't keep a secret, can he?"

Katy shrugged and ducked her head as a small smile graced her features. "I sort of love that he's always honest with me. It's refreshing, after—"

Maya nodded her understanding, even though Katy broke off without finishing the sentence. After years of having he feeling of being lied to ingrained into her skin, Katy appreciated the simplest truths, even if they were in place of a tiny fib meant to make Shawn look good. The honesty had only served to make him an even better person in Katy's eyes, so it had all worked out in the end. Maya had just been trying to help. Shawn was so lost when it came to wedding plans, she had thought he would feel more comfortable if had something to bring to the table. So, Maya had provided the designs and he just had to get them printed. He had spent so much of the last few months just nodding absently in agreement and telling Katy that she could have whatever she wanted that Maya thought he might like to contribute something substantial. Instead, he had just reminded his bride to be why he was the one for her, which was probably wildly more effective.

"Where is your hubby to be anyway?" Maya asked, glancing around as if he might spring from any corner at any moment.

"He was stolen by Cory not that long ago," Katy said. "Shawn will be staying with the Matthews until the wedding. He's trying to be a little traditional about it. I assured him that there was no reason to, but I think Cory just wanted an excuse to bogart Shawn for a week of sleepovers."

"Sounds likely," Maya said.

"Sometimes I swear those two might as well be a couple of middle schoolers," Katy chuckled as if to acknowledge what she had chosen to marry into.

"There are times when even Auggie seems to have a jump on them when it comes to maturity," Maya wobbled her head and crooked a half smile.

"It's rather endearing though, isn't it?" Katy mused.

"Only because he intersperses those moments with lengthy periods of responsibility and other grown up like stuff," Maya said.

"He just makes me so happy," Katy's hands went limp on the favor she was working on and tears were already starting to pool in her eyes.

This emotional outburst might have seemed random and unexpected, but this had become something of a routine pattern the closer they got to the wedding. Maya might have even had it marked down in her planner to be prepared for just such an occurrence this evening. Planning a wedding was a stressful business. Maya obviously knew this firsthand. She had her ways of relieving the tension and Katy had hers. The fact that Katy had it in her to shed a few happy tears in the midst of it all was something to be cherished. It was the best sign that all of this was worth it.

"I know," Maya rounded the table and patted her mom's back gently until the tears passed. "So...I guess it's just us girls for now."

Katy sniffled and reached up to give Maya's arm a squeeze—a silent thank you for the support. "I give him forty eight hours before he's desperate to be back in his own bed."

"I'd take that bet," Maya replied. "This is Shawn Hunter and Cory Matthews we're talking about. That's at least seventy two hours before Cory let's him out of his sight."

Katy laughed and gave Maya another squeeze before returning to work on the favors. "You're probably right, but he will be back. You know Shawn."

Over past few years, they had become well acquainted with Shawn's new habits. Although he still traveled for work, Shawn had gotten an apartment in the city during the summer before Maya's junior year. He hadn't been in this apartment for more than a month before he asked Katy and Maya to move in with him. He made all sorts of claims like it was too big for one man and it would be beneficial to have someone living there when he was away, so why not the woman he loved and the girl he looked at as his own daughter, but it was clear this was his intention from the start. It had just taken him some time to work up the nerve to ask. That was just his way. After that, the changes were small but too frequent to not be noticeable. His trips got shorter and further spaced apart. He found more excuses to stay in the city, taking jobs that took him no more than a few blocks away in the meantime. He started out calling it his home base, then, gradually, it just became home. All those years he had spent on the move, never settling, now it was hard to get rid of him for a few hours at a maximum. He had said something ridiculous once, when they realized it had been a couple months without a trip longer than the few hours between the city and Philadelphia, about how he was getting too old for perpetual motion, but they knew it had everything to do with them. Mr. Matthews would have said something like there was a difference between getting older and growing up. Most people confused the two and thought a few birthdays and a number were the same thing as growing up. After years of only getting older, Shawn taking Maya under his wing and falling in love with Katy had made him ready to grow up, take that final leap of faith.

"So, girls night," Maya said. "I'm thinking pizza and ice cream, yes?"

Katy laughed, "More like salad and more salad. I don't have the option of anymore alterations. I either fit in my dress or I don't. Since I'd rather not be held in by clothespins, I'm thinking grease and sugar are both on the no no list."

"Ha ha," Maya replied. "Your figure is the last thing you need to worry about and you know it. Besides, you've been doing those workouts with Topanga like crazy. At this point, a more likely crisis would be getting the dress on and having it fall right off as you're walking down the aisle—while I'm sure Shawn would appreciate the preview, I doubt the rest of the guests would feel the same."

"Maya," Katy's eyes widened, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

"If it makes you feel better, we can get that veggie combo pizza you like; that's basically a salad right?" Maya said. "Settled? Good. You order. I'm going to change and tend to my battle wounds. I'll be back out in ten minutes tops."

"No pizza," Katy called after her.

Maya peeked back around the corner from the hallway, "Yes pizza."

Katy sighed. "Fine. I'll call when I'm done with the favor I'm working on."

Maya smiled. "I love you, Mom."

"All my heart, baby girl," Katy said.

Maya was never going to get over how happy she was that her mom had found happiness again. She had spent so much of her childhood with what she considered half a mom, that it was comforting to see her whole again. It wasn't to say that Shawn had made Katy whole again, although he was a part of it. It was the fact that Katy had opened herself up again, let a little light in, let a little hope take hold, and once she did that, for all the hard work she did, she finally got something back from the world. Even though she had never asked for it, there was finally a return on all the effort she put in. The past few years had provided her with everything she deserved: Maya's devotion, love and adoration from Shawn, the relief that whatever darkness they had lived through before was going to be lost in the brilliant light of what came next. It was the happiness that was going to grow in the faces of everyone she cared about that was going to get Maya through the next week.

That and her own not so little, cowboy shaped bright spot in her life.

Maya dumped her things onto her bed, before she decided to take a quick shower. She grabbed some comfy clothes and headed for the bathroom. By the time she returned, towel drying her damp hair, she had a missed call flashing up at her from her phone where it rested on her bed. She draped her towel over the back of her desk chair and sat down on the edge of her bed to check her phone. She rolled her eyes at the name and number that popped up, but she smiled and dialed back anyway.

"While I'm honored, to what do I owe the pleasure of your missed call?" Maya asked once her call was answered.

"I missed you," Lucas said.

"It's barely been an hour since you saw me," Maya replied.

"Are you saying you don't miss me?"

Maya ran a hand over her face, trying to push away the smile that appeared there instantly. It wasn't fair that he could get under her skin that easily. "I didn't say that."

"So you do miss me," Lucas said, sounding slightly smug.

"I hardly think you called me to tease me," Maya said. "So, what's up, Buttercup?"

"Buttercup, that's cute," Lucas's chuckle vibrated through the phone.

"Lucas."

"Right, Mama wanted me to ask if you'd like my tie to match your dress," Lucas said.

"It's not the prom, hun," Maya replied. "You don't even need to wear a tie."

"Mama says I have to wear a tie. She's buying me a new tie, so, do you want it to match your dress or not?" Lucas asked.

"Gotta love Mama Friar," Maya laughed lightly. "Sure, let's match. Why not? It's not like our relationship doesn't corner the market on cheesy as it is. You know the color?"

"I have a picture," Lucas said. "The one you sent when you picked it out."

"You kept that?" Maya said.

"I have never gotten rid of a picture of you," Lucas replied.

"That sounds sweet, but also a little like the building of blackmail," Maya said. "If I didn't know you better—"

"But you know me best," Lucas said.

"I'm sure you have some adorable reason for hording my pictures hidden up your sleeve, so...out with it."

"Well, it's really quite simple," Lucas said. "You're my girlfriend and I love you. Every picture is a memory, even the ones you would probably find embarrassing, that I wouldn't give up for anything. Cue the aww."

"Aww," Maya drew out, letting the sarcasm slip into it, and Lucas laughed. "Remember that I love you too when I say I've kept quite a few pictures of you from over the years too."

"Now I know those are for blackmail purposes," Lucas said.

"I can neither confirm nor deny—" Maya started, then broke off into giggles when she couldn't even keep a straight face with a phone between them.

"You're losing your edge, Miss Hart," Lucas replied.

"It's the effect you have on me, Mr. Friar," Maya's voice softened as she murmured her response. Then, she took a deep breath and piped back up to her usual tone. "When you say you've kept every picture, do you mean you still have that one, from that one day, with the one thing that you swore you deleted?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny—"

"You better kiss Mama Friar goodbye because I'm going to strangle you with your color coordinated tie next time I see you," Maya replied, although she couldn't stop the laughter that filtered through her words.

"Sorry, Maya, I didn't catch that last part. I've gotta go. Tie shopping, ya know?" Lucas feigned distance from the phone. Her boyfriend was the most glorious Huckleberry alive. "I love you."

"I love you too," Maya said and rolled her eyes one last time before she hung up.

They were turning into that couple. The one that was cloyingly happy all the time. She never thought she would find herself in this lasting of a relationship, let alone one that filled her with so much joy that it spilled over onto everything. But here she was and, god, was she lucky. Lucky that a guy like Lucas could love her so fully, for so long, without wavering. Lucky that he wanted her love as much as she needed his. Just lucky, lucky, lucky.

Maya ran her hands through her damp hair and took a lengthy breath in. Then she resolved to return to reality. Lucas gave her moments to escape into their own little world built by and for only them, but afterward the real world beckoned. Maya returned to the main room full of ribbons and tulle and wedding favors. Before her mom could notice her presence, Maya lingered at the end of the hall, leaning against the wall and watching. Katy was smiling softly as she moved the last tray of favors into place. How it had come to be that two Hart women were blissfully happy at the same time was a mystery, but that was exactly what they were.

It was going to be a long week, but at the end of it all of the stress and effort would feel like nothing in comparison to what they got out of it.