Riley supposed she should have seen it coming. She had always known of her best friend's misguided feelings towards her uncle, she just never could have imagined her uncle returned those feelings. Albeit she would have preferred to find out in a slightly less awkward way than walking in on them on the eve of her nineteenth birthday making out in their dorm room, but she was actually quite happy for them and the more and more she thought about it, her uncle's intention towards Maya were, to be completely honest, a little bit obvious.

She tried to think back to a time that Josh let slip the façade and let people see the feelings he harboured for the young blonde, said blonde's sixteenth birthday was the first memory to come to mind. There was no party, no big celebration only family and close friends for dinner and cake. She would never forget the look on her best friend's face as she opened josh's present, pure happiness.

"Thanks Josh" she said, elation evident on her face "I love it!" she gave him a brief hug and both pulled away with a suspicious shade of pink in their cheeks.

"You promise?"

"I promise!"

It was almost impossible not to notice the look they shared. She had assumed they were simply flirting Maya and Josh had been flirting for years but she had always thought that it didn't mean anything, Josh flirted with everyone. When she picked up the gold locket her uncle had gifted the birthday girl, which now that she thought was a bit extravagant, she was even more confused. It was a simple gold heart with an ellipsis engraved in the middle, beautiful but it made absolutely no sense whatsoever. After catching them in the act Maya would eventually tell Riley about the promises that she and Josh had been keeping up until there freshman year of college when they finally started dating.

Their junior prom was another obvious example of the feelings the young couple harboured for each other. At the time both Josh and Maya were in relationships, Josh had just started seeing Annie a month before and Maya had been with Kyle for just over six. That's why it was such a shock when Maya came through her window the morning of prom with her cheeks stained with dry tears.

"Oh my God!" she yelled, forgetting everything else in the world other than her best friend "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Not really" in that moment her heart sank because of the obvious pain that filled Maya's voice. "It's Kyle, I went to the bakery this morning and he was making out with Missy Bradford, like really making out"

"What!"

"They've been dating for three months!"

"Maya I'm so sorry! I had no idea, otherwise I would have killed him!"

"Yeah well I guess I'm not going to prom!"

"Maya you have too! We've been planning this for a month!"

"Yeah by myself? No thanks!"

"Okay then I'm staying here!"

"Riley you can't. You haven't talked about anything else all year and Lucas is really excited to be going with you!"

"Lucas understands that you're by soulmate!"

"Riley its fine. I'll sit home an eat ice-cream, maybe even watch a soppy film" it was at that moment that her uncle decided to come to her room to let her know that her mother had arrived with the altered dresses but as soon as his eyes landed on Maya all other thoughts left his mind. All thoughts other than the one urging him to make the sorry sun of a bitch that made Maya cry hurt… a lot.

"What happened?" he asked kneeling down beside her "It was that douche bag boyfriend of yours wasn't it? I'LL KILL HIM!"

"Ex-boyfriend" Riley clarified "and relax Josh that won't be necessary!"

"Yeah Josh, it's fine."

"It most certainly is not!"

"I'll be okay I promise"

"Yeah because we are going to stay in tonight and have a girl's night"

"No, I am going to stay in. You are going to go to prom."

"And you're not?" Josh asked raising his eyebrows slightly.

"I'm not really in the mood for a party anymore."

"So you're going to let that ass hat ruin your prom?"

"It's a rite of passage Maya."

"Riley I was only going because you wanted too. To be honest I think it's kind of lame. Right Josh?"

"I'm actually with Riley on this one. It's a rite of passage Maya, one you deserve." It was at that point that Riley began to understand just how much Josh new about Maya. After having come from a broken family that eventually left her, Maya finally found happiness and a family with Shawn and Riley knew that after having found that stability with Shawn she longed for the normality and things she never got a chance to do before. Apparently Josh paid more attention than she had thought because he also knew just how important prom was to Maya. "And I happen to know someone who looks excellent in a tux."

"It would be a bit strange if she took Shawn to prom"

"I meant me!" he answered torn somewhere between offence and confusion at how is incredibly intelligent niece could be so dense. "What do you say gorgeous? You want to go to prom?"

"What about your girlfriend?" and although Riley didn't realize at the time but there was quite a bit of hostility in her voice.

"I don't think she'll mind me going to an eleventh grade prom. I promise"

"It's settled then! You're going with Uncle Josh!" and with that the quirky brunette.

"I don't need your pity Josh!"

"What are you talking about Maya? we're friends, I want to spend time with you!"

"Friends?"

"Of course we are! I promise, we will always be friends. No matter what."

"You make a lot of promises."

"Yeah well, I keep them all." They both leaned in slowly. They're lips touched for only a minute before they both pulled away.

"You have a girlfriend josh!"

"And you're only seventeen"

"I'll be eighteen in five months!"

"You're also incredibly venerable right now" Josh said seriously "Come on! Go get dressed we have a long night of dancing ahead of us!"

"I know you think prom is lame Josh!"

"Not if it's with you Hart!" he smirked and left. Unbeknownst to both of them Riley, who was standing on the fire escape waiting for Lucas, had witnessed the entire scene. As she stood there, her jaw almost hitting the ground, looking for a rational explanation to understand what had just happened, she thought that despite their age difference they actually wouldn't make a bad couple. She kept an eye on them all night and the weeks that followed but nothing seemed to change. Josh dated Annie for almost a year and Maya returned to her life as a single person and the slew of dates that came with it. She started to think that maybe it was just the heat of the moment and then she started thinking that maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her and it just didn't happen. After a while the memory faded to the back of her mind and she completely forgot about it.

But no matter how obvious they were, nothing and she did mean nothing, could prepare her for the sight of her best friend and uncle making out.

"OH MY GOD! She yelled after turning on the light of her dorm room and finding them on Maya's bed. "Oh my God! What's this? What are you doing? OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!"

"Riley relax!" Josh said calmly walking over to her.

"RELAX! How can I relax when I just saw you making out with my best friend?"

"Riley…"

"How long?"

"Riley…"

"HOW LONG?"

"Three months" Maya answered.

"What? You've been dating for months and haven't told me!"

"We were worried you'd freak out! And now I see we were right"

""How could I not when my uncle is doing my best friend?"

"Riley it's not like that"

"Really? Because half the buttons on your shirt are undone" the young blonde looked down and started buttoning her shirt but not without shooting Josh an exasperated look. "I mean are you even dating or is this just sex?"

"Riley! I love her!" Josh screamed, effectively shutting his niece up.

"You love me?" Maya whispered smiling.

"Of course I do! Although I was going to tell you tomorrow after dinner."

"I love you too" she leaned up and pecked him on the cheek.

"Oh my God you guys" Riley said this time happy instead of shocked "you're so cute."

"Yeah well we try" he said pulling his girlfriend into his side and kissing her temple.

"I'm so happy you know Riley! It was killing me to keep it from you and now I finally have someone to talk to"

"Yeah… I don't know if I want to hear the details of your sex life with my uncle"

"Agreed" Josh said "Although for the record we haven't had sex."

"Not for lack of trying"

"Too much information!" Riley said "I can't wait to tell people!"

"Yeah I would rather Shawn and Cory didn't murder me so I think we'll wait a while before putting it in the family newsletter"

"That's probably for the best yeah… maybe wait until they're both really happy, like really happy!" they all laughed. "Now you" she pointed "leave and you" she pointed at Maya "start talking."

"I'll see you later babe" he briefly kissed Maya and left.

So that's the second chapter. As always, please leave a review and let me know what you think or if you have any ideas.