A/N: It's time for the NYU party and I'm sure most of you can guess what will happen;) but I hope it's still going interesting to read it! Enjoy!

I don't own GMW, just the plot of this story.

Chapter 7: "NYU"

"Maya what's going on with you and Lucas?" Riley confronted Maya out of the blue. Maya stood with her wide-eyed gaze at her friend, confused about the question. Maya hadn't seen Riley all day and she was starting to think she was actually avoiding her. But here she was, in front of her face, asking her about the one question she didn't want to answer.

"What are you talking about?" Maya asked, shutting her locker.

"I saw you two yesterday at Topanga's! Maya tell me what's going on with you right now," Riley said. The tone of her voice was shaky and unsure. Maya could tell she was trying to be stern but it just wasn't coming out. It broke the blonde's heart a little bit to see her best friend so sad. But upon thinking, holding back her answer, she knew that she couldn't tell her the truth. It was too embarrassing to tell her the truth. The very boy that she always talked down about and criticized was the same boy she was asking for help from about Josh. And god forbid Riley find out that Maya actually only let Lucas help her if he promised to stay away from Riley.

"Riles it's not a big deal!"

"If it's not a big deal then just tell me why you and Lucas were together yesterday. Are you two together?" Riley asked with her voice full of sorrow.

"Ew Riley no! It's not like that!" Maya promised. Her hand landed on Riley's shoulder, trying to console her. She racked her brain trying to figure out something to tell Riley; something that wasn't the truth. "It's just that…uh… Zay! Zay's birthday is coming up and I'm helping Lucas plan a surprise party for him." Riley stared on at the blonde unsure if she really believed the explanation she was being given. Luckily, Maya was pretty good at making a lie convincing. "I mean Lucas makes me want to vomit with every word that comes out of his mouth, but Zay and I have gotten really close. So I figured I could stomach Lucas for a couple weeks until his birthday," Maya smiled.

It took Riley a minute to process. Searching for any sign of lying on Maya's face, she couldn't find one. A smile grew in the place that a prominent frown had just been. "Oh Peaches I'm sorry I accused you!" she cried. Her arms wrapped around Maya for an apologetic hug. She didn't even feel the breath on her neck from Maya releasing a deep sigh of relief.

"It's ok Riley! But I have to go, I have something tonight and I have to get ready for it," Maya said.

"What are you doing tonight?" Riley asked. Her confusion was evident in her voice. For one, neither of them rarely did anything without telling the other. And two, Riley didn't see how Maya could have plans so big she had to start getting ready for now when it was a Thursday.

"Family thing," Maya blurted out. It was the first thing that popped into her head. Before Riley could get anything else out, Maya wrapped her in another quick hug and waved goodbye, walking fast down the hall. It felt horrible to lie to her best friend. She told Riley everything and she had since they were 5 years old. But Maya felt as though she had to keep this to herself. Especially the part about Riley. She was protecting both of them.

It felt like a whole mission to get ready for the party. Maya started from scratch by taking off all her school make-up and getting in the shower. She washed her hair, using her favorite coconut shampoo and conditioner. It was only 4:30 when she finished with her shower and Lucas wasn't coming over to pick her up until 8:30. Feeling a little more tired than she wanted to be for the party, she decided to take a little nap. It was nearly impossible for her fall asleep though, with all the excitement and adrenaline she was feeling from getting to hang out with Josh all night. By the time a knock at the door came, she was already up and in the bathroom, curling her hair. Confused, she went to the door. Lucas stood there in his nice blue shirt that showed off his arm muscles perfectly. There were 4 small buttons at the top of the shirt but the cowboy chose to leave them unbuttoned, leaving a bit of his chiseled chest to be looked at. Maya tore her eyes away from his noticeably attractive body features.

"You're early," she said finally looking up at his eyes. Those weren't much less attractive than the rest of his body. Damn.

"I wanted to bring you something," he smirked. In his hand, he held out a bag in front of Maya. Suspicious, Maya took the bag from him and looked inside. She pulled out a short black spaghetti strap dress. She held it up and looked at, then to Lucas wondering if he was being for real.

"Are you serious?"

"Trust me. With that dress, you will be able to get any college guy there that you want! Including Josh." Lucas let himself into the apartment and looked around like Maya did when she first went into Lucas's apartment. There wasn't much to see, really. There was mismatched furniture around the living room and little family photos all over the place. Most of them were old, dating back to when Maya was just a little girl.

"My room is the one with the paint on the door. I'll be in the bathroom getting ready," she said, breaking Lucas's concentration as he scrutinized the apartment.

He just nodded his head, but he didn't move. He was busy looking at a collection of small framed photos from Maya's childhood that sat on the shelf by the wall. Ignoring him, Maya went back to the bathroom to finish curling her hair, which she realized must look ridiculous only half done. After a few minutes, she did see Lucas's form walk past the bathroom door on his way to Maya's room. Just as she had told him, it was the room that had paint stains and little doodles in marker and paint all over it. Much to Lucas's surprise, her room was nothing like what he thought it would be, mess wise anyway. Paints were confined nicely to little containers and mason jars that sat around the room. Completed and in-progress paintings were lined neatly against all her walls. It made him smile to see so many works of art everywhere.

More than an hour had passed by and Lucas was still sitting on Maya's bed, flipping through pages of old sketch books he had gotten from her shelf. "Come on Shortstack! You know if your tits are out enough I promise you he won't give a damn what your hair looks like!" he yelled through the apartment.

In the bathroom, Maya scoffed at his crude statement, but was no longer surprised at his attitude. "You're so charming!" she yelled back. She looked worried at her reflection in the mirror. She stood in the tight dress Lucas had brought for her and had sworn by as the perfect dress to impress Josh in. She wouldn't have taken his advice if his previous advice about how to flirt hadn't worked out so well. Josh had never invited her to a party before, or even asked her to hang out outside of Matthew's get togethers. So he had to be onto something, even if all of his advice was disgusting and obscene.

"Will you come on?! I want to get-" Lucas began to shout. His words stopped when he saw the blonde come around the corner and stand in the doorway of her room. "Woah…" The cowboy's green eyes couldn't seem to move away from Maya. Her curled waves framed her face perfectly and of course that dress fit every curve of her body as if it was made specifically for her. Words tried so hard to come out of Lucas's mouth, any words, but none appeared.

Thinking the Texan was paying more attention to her too-much revealed body, Maya rolled her eyes and made her way over to the closet. "Alright enough staring! God you're the worst. This dress is too much," she whined. Her hands dug through her closet trying to find something else to wear but Lucas stopped her.

"No! You look hot. If the college boys don't satisfy you, I would be willing to step up to the plate," he winked, returning to his normal state from his previous speechlessness.

"Fine but I'm wearing a jacket," she ignored his statement. She pulled her favorite black leather jacket from its hanger and slid it on over the dress. She put on her black heeled booties and stood in front of Lucas. In the back of her head, she knew asking for his opinion on her appearance probably wasn't the best idea, but he was all she had right now. "Does this look alright?"

Overcoming his unexplainable speechlessness, he managed to get out a "You look good."

The subway ride to NYU was quiet. Lucas didn't have much to say and was much too busy thinking about the college girls he would be able to add to his little black book after tonight. Maya was busy freaking out internally about seeing Josh. She had texted him before going down into the subway station that they were on their way and would be there soon. She wasn't sure what to expect from tonight. But she didn't have much time to think about it because soon Lucas was tugging on her arm, letting her know that they had arrived at their stop. Once outside of the station, the chilly night air hit Maya's exposed legs and a shiver through her body.

"You good?" Lucas looked down and asked after seeing the small girl shiver.

"Oh yeah I'm good. I'm basically wearing nothing thanks to you, but I'm good," she complained. Lucas shook her off and laughed at the sass she could have more often than not. And of course, he made sure to get another look at how amazing her body looked in that dress. Suddenly, he caught himself staring not at her body but at her eyes, and admiring how the way she did her make-up made them look even brighter than usual. Quickly he snapped himself out of it and started to sike himself up for the party.

"Hey! I'm happy you came!" Josh greeted them after they walked into the party. He greeted Maya with a hug, and a wandering eye with her dress. "You look really nice," he said, rubbing his hand on the back of neck. Maya smiled with a kind of disbelieving smile. It made her annoyed that Lucas kept being right though. Lucas nudged her arm, no doubt bragging about being right about the dress.

"Josh this Lucas… my friend…type thing." She realized she really didn't know how to introduce Lucas. But calling him her friend left a little bit of a bad taste in her mouth.

"Do you guys want a drink or something? I could get you a beer?" Josh offered.

"Yeah man, thanks," Lucas said, eyes already scanning the room to see the girls. Maya just nodded with an excited smile, although she was really trying to hide how thrilled she was to be here with Josh.

"Alright I'll be right back," Josh said, excusing himself. He turned back quick and laid a hand on Maya's shoulder. She was almost too wrapped up in the ecstasy of his touch to notice his words. "Don't let my brother know I let you drink tonight," he winked. Maya laughed and nodded and watched him walk out of the crowded room and into the equally crowded kitchen.

Lucas made a confused glimpse down at Maya. "Who's his brother and why can't he know about the drinking?"

Maya suddenly realized she had never gotten the opportunity to let Lucas know that Josh was her best friend's uncle. Nervously she looked around the room. "Josh is kind of Riley's uncle."

"This whole thing just got a lot more interesting," Lucas beamed.

A playful smack went from Maya's hand to Lucas's arm. "Shut up!" Lucas started to walk away, noticing a dark haired girl across the room that caught his interest. Maya pulled him back by gripping tightly onto his strong arm. "Where are you going?"

"I was promised college girls," he smirked, looking over his shoulder at the dark haired girl who was eyeing him back.

"But I don't know what to do with Josh. What if I have a question or something?" This is something Lucas saw coming. Maya was clueless with this guy and he knew she would try latching onto Lucas. Normally, he would use that to get closer to Maya and therefore closer to sleeping with her. But right now, when he had to choose between hot college girls and Maya, he would pick the hot college girls.

"What am I supposed to do Shortstack? Stand next to you all night while you hang out Josh? Or do you want to pretend like we're in some lame movie where I watch everything from behind a plant and then talk into an ear piece to tell you how to respond?" Lucas joked. Maya didn't find it amusing since she knew he was partially mocking her. But she knew he was right. She had to be on her own. Josh suddenly came back and handed a beer to both Lucas and Maya. "Can I go now?" Lucas whispered to Maya.

"Yeah just go," Maya grunted. Lucas didn't want to be around her, which normally would make her glad. But right now it just made her nervous to be alone with Josh, especially in this atmosphere where she was so out of her element. Lucas wasted no time before walking away and meeting up with the girl across the room, who was quick to wrap her arms around the tall boy's torso.

It was just Maya and Josh now. At first, Maya was nervous as hell. She wasn't too sure why, though. They had been together alone before, several times. But this felt different. It felt real. To Maya, this could be their moment, the night they both remember as the night they started some whirlwind romance. To calm her nerves, she even said yes when one of Josh's friends offered her a shot. She wasn't one to drink much, barely ever. So of course, even that first shot mixed with the beer she finished quickly started hitting her and making her feel much calmer. Five more shots made their way down her throat until she was completely wasted. The conversation with Josh kind of faded out and became fuzzy towards the end, but from what she could remember, it was going good. She kept all of Lucas's flirting tips and tricks in her mind and used them.

Speaking of Lucas, she hadn't seen him around the party in a while. Unknown to her, he was in a back room, hooking up with some college sophomore girl. He didn't think much about Maya during the party. The later it got, the more he just wanted to soak up as much time at the party as he could.

"Thanks Ashley. That was amazing," he said to the girl as he buttoned up his pants.

"It's Allie."

"Oh sorry. It was good though, babe," he smiled. He gave no care as to what the girl did after. He exited the room, on the immediate look out for his next hook-up. But instead of finding a suitable college girl, his eyes landed on a certain blonde laying on a couch. He recognized her as a drunk Maya, holding a half empty bottle of vodka in her hand. "Maya?" he called as he approached her. She looked barely conscious as she laid on her side on the couch. He looked around to see more than a few older boys eyeing her in a way Lucas didn't like. Sure, he was all for hooking up with girl after girl, but only if that girl was sober enough to make her own decisions. In the state Maya was in, she couldn't make a conscious decision to save her life. Carefully, he pulled the bottle away from her hands. Her head lifted up and her eyes met with Lucas's. Those blue eyes of hers, usually so big and pretty, had a glassy overlay to them that gave away just how drunk she was. "Where's Josh?" Lucas asked.

"I haven't-haven't…seen h-him," Maya slurred. Laughter suddenly burst from her mouth, but Lucas didn't know why. "You-you're from Texas!" she laughed, dragging out the last word until it disappeared into her giddy laughter. Yep, she was way past drunk.

"Alright," Lucas smiled, pulling her to her feet. "Let's get you home." The small girl wobbled a bit in her boots so Lucas pulled her arm over his shoulders to help hold her up. She was incredibly light, only weighing probably 100 pounds, which Lucas could lift like it was nothing. He ignored the stares from people as he walked her through the hallway. Dragging her down the subway stairs didn't seem like a fun activity to Lucas, so he splurged on a cab. It wasn't the easiest to hail a cab with Maya draped over his side, but he managed.

She mumbled little words and incoherent phrases during the whole cab ride. Even the cab driver laughed at some of the things she was saying. At one point, she begged the older man to put her favorite song on on the radio so she could sing. But Lucas kept him from doing it. The minute they pulled onto her street, she slumped over, all of her weight on Lucas, as she breathed steadily. Lucas tried to wake her up, telling her they were almost to her home, but it was no use. He paid the cab driver once they pulled up in front of her apartment building and then gathered the small girl in his arms, lifting her up. Maya shuffled until she was snug and her arms wrapped tight around the tall boy's neck. He carried her up the stairs until they reached her apartment. He was quick to reach into her purse and grab her key. The apartment was dark and silent. Pretty normal, considering it was almost 2 in the morning. Lucas tried to be quiet, tip-toeing to the room he knew was Maya's with the painted door.

"My mom's not home. You don't have to be so careful," Maya mumbled into his neck. It seemed odd that her mother was not home yet, but he didn't feel like harping on it. He wanted to get Maya into bed and then get home to go to bed himself. He laid her carefully on her bed, reaching down to take off her boots. Maya moaned in discomfort as Lucas shifted her to pull her covers over her. With her eyes still firmly closed, Maya turned over and seemingly feel into an alcohol induced sleep. Lucas stood back and couldn't believe what a light-weight Maya turned out to be. Or maybe she had just drunken a lot? He thought back to the half gone bottle of vodka she held in her hands when he found her on the couch. It was unknown to him if she was the one who drank the missing half of the bottle, but whatever happened, he couldn't help but feel a little pissed at Josh for ditching her when she was so drunk. If one of those other guys had gotten to her before Lucas did, the ones who were looking at her and probably thinking of how to take advantage of her, then this would've been a whole lot worse. It made Lucas sick to his stomach to think about that. The rage building up inside of him thinking of some guy doing that to Maya in her state, any girl really, was only consoled by his eyes looking over at Maya as she slept. She was here in her own bed, safe and sound. And tonight wasn't a total bust for the Texan. He had hooked up with 2 hot girls, not that he remembered their names; not that he cared to. He looked at his phone and saw the time as 1:41AM. School was in just 6 hours. He rose from the edge of the bed he had been sitting on, took one last look at Maya, and left the apartment, making sure to lock the door on his way out.

As he walked down the street to the subway station, he couldn't help but think about the intoxicating scent of coconut that he inhaled from Maya's hair earlier when he was carrying her upstairs. He couldn't remember the names of the girl's he had hooked up with, but nothing in his head was more prominent than the coconut smelling mess of blonde hair that had blown threw his face.

A/N: I think Lucas taking care of drunk Maya is one of my favorites lol Even when he might be a little reluctant. Next chapter will be up soon!

Thank you as always for reading! Good to know there are still other people like me who still continue to read Lucaya fics even tho the show is over:)