A/N: I got my boot off at last guys! I can wear two shoes again! YAY! (Watch me trip and fall and break something again though :/) And sorry about not updating yesterday! Truth is... I went to a fair and decided I didn't feel like updating yesterday :/ Apologies for that, but I was really just not feeling the writing.

Anyway, the fun starts now. Ready? ;3

Thank you for all of your sweet reviews! I honestly appreciate all the support and thank you for being understanding about school and my update times guys! You're all the best! :3

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW or the characters, but shit... if I did... You guys better run... ヽ(￣д￣;)ノ=3=3=3

Creak…

Maya groggily opened her eyes, looking around her room in confusion. This was the fourth time in a few minutes that she'd heard an odd creaking noise in the house. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her blanket and tossed it over her head, burrowing herself further underneath it and deciding to disregard the noise once again. She had school in the morning and was trying to sleep but the noise was preventing her from doing just that.

Thinking about her foot in Lucas' face, she sighed happily and settled into her bed, her sleep creeping up on her finally.

Creak…

And then the fairly loud creaking woke her up completely. This one had been a lot louder than the previous ones.

What the hell was that noise?

Maya grabbed her phone from the floor and peered blearily at the numbers on the screen. It wasn't even midnight yet. She'd barely gotten an hour of sleep. And now she definitely didn't want to try to go to sleep if the creaking was going to continue.

Annoyed as hell that her sleep had been ruined, she kicked the covers off of her and shot out of bed, her face set in a scowl as she left her room to go check the source of the noise. Out in the hallway, she could clearly tell the creaking was coming from downstairs. And it was much louder. It sounded like the house was moving or something.

As she passed by her mom's bedroom, Katy stumbled out, her eyes wide and hair tangled all over her head. She looked a little dazed, like she was forcefully pulled from her sleep and was holding a plunger like a baseball bat in her hands.

"Mom, a plunger? Really?" Maya gave her a dry look.

"Don't underestimate a plunger, baby girl. Nobody likes shit in the face."

Maya snorted, and they carefully crept towards the kitchen stairs, taking quiet apprehensive steps.

"I think it's coming from the kitchen." Katy said.

They went down the stairs slowly. When they got to the kitchen, no one was there. It was empty; nothing seemed to be out of place. Katy flipped on the switch, throwing them into light, and Maya squinted as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. The creaking noise erupted through the air once again, above their heads, and Maya glanced up.

Her brows lifted in surprise.

"Mom. Look. Part of the ceiling is drooping."

It was curved down in one fairly large section with a small, slowly growing crack through the plaster on the ceiling. The area surrounding the drooping part of the ceiling was darker than the rest of the ceiling.

"What the hell…" Katy said. "Is it growing?"

There was another unsettling creak followed by a soft crack as the ceiling formed a fissure. Clear liquid started spewing from the crack, hindered in its escape by the thinness.

Katy and Maya glanced at each other in alarm.

And then the ceiling suddenly broke, pieces of it flying to the ground as water spilled everywhere out of the framework of the house. It gushed out, quickly spraying the table and most of the counter with water and flooded the floor.

Katy screamed, dropping the plunger and taking a giant hop back when they were almost splashed

"Holy crap!" Maya shouted over the noise, watching as the water filled up the kitchen, "What is going on?!"

"I don't know! I've never been a homeowner!"

"Mom, what the hell do we do?!"

"Uhhh…" Katy looked around frantically. "Stop the water? We can try to cover it up with a tarp."

Maya gave her a blank look, and Katy shrugged.

"Look I don't know. You come up with a suggestion!"

"Call a company!"

"What company is going to be open now?!"

"Okay, okay." Maya gripped her hair, grimacing when water pooled near their feet. This was bad. "Salvage anything you can then!"

There was another noise of plaster breaking and gush of water and with a start, Maya and Katy ran to the next room, realizing the living room ceiling and part of the wall was also leaking water as well.

"Maya! What do we do?"

"I don't know!"

This was ridiculous.

There was water everywhere. Streaming down the walls and flooding the floor. It smelled pretty terrible too. And it looked like a lot of their stuff was going to get ruined. And there was nothing they could do about it.

"Mom… We can't stay here through the night."

"I know, baby girl." Katy said, her brows knit in concern, "Who knows where else the water will come from? This isn't safe. For now, we need to get out. Run upstairs and grab whatever you need for tomorrow quickly. And grab something for me too. I'll pull our documents before they get soiled in this flood."

"Right!"

Maya rushed back to the kitchen stairs, splashing through the water and then racing up to the second floor. Part of her was scared the floors would burst and she would fall through it, but she hurried her ass up into her room. She dumped a bunch of clothes out of her suitcase and then stuffed it with some clothes for school and some shoes. Maya was so glad she still hadn't unpacked everything. Then she grabbed her school bag and packed her electronics in there before racing out of her room and heading to her mom's. Maya packed much the same stuff for her mom and then rushed downstairs.

"Mom! Is water still coming out?" She called out as she sped down the stairs.

Katy nodded, disconcerted, and staring at the hole with a frown. "This is crazy. What happened to make this happen?"

Maya handed Katy her cellphone. "Alright. I got your stuff. Let's get out of here before the whole house crumbles to the ground."

Maya followed Katy as she grabbed their keys, a roll of paper towels and yanked open the backdoor. They made a mad dash out, squealing a little when some of the water sprayed them as well. The little flood of water spilled out on the back patio as they left. Maya shut the door behind her and near hurdled over the garden tools and other knick knacks and moving boxes in their backyard. They ran to their car, hopping into the front seats and slamming the door, breathing heavily and using the paper towels to wipe the water off of themselves.

"So what now?"

"We find a place to stay for the night." Katy punched a number on her phone, bringing it up to her ear as it rang.

"You have a hotel on speed dial?"

But even as Maya said that, alarms started ringing in her head and she knew it was a stupid question. Her mother barely knew anything in this city.

There was only one person who Maya knew she would call. Maya closed her eyes, chanting a mantra in her head on repeat

Please don't say you're calling Layla. Please don't say you're calling Layla. Please don't say you're calling Layla. Please don't say you're calling Layla. Please don't say you're calling Layla.

"Hotel? I'm calling Layla. I'm sure she would be willing to let us stay the night."

Maya groaned, banging her head back against the seat of the car a few times, feeling total despair.

"Mom no! Not the Friars!"

"Yes, baby girl. The Friars. Layla's the only one I know who can help us! Hell, she's the only one I know in the city period!" Katy said, her brows lifting when the call picked up, "Hello? Layla? Hey! I know it's late and I am so sorry to disturb you, but can I ask a favour?"

Katy paused as Layla said something.

"Yes actually. No I'm fine. My house flooded though. I don't know what's going on but the kitchen and living room wall burst and water is flooding the ground and spraying everything." Katy chuckled at something Layla said on the phone. "Maya and I are just fine. We just need a place to stay for the night. Think we could crash with you? At least until tomorrow when I can call a company to figure out what happened."

Maya fake cried next to her mom, pretending like she was in despair (but not really pretending) until Katy lightly pinched her with a grin to stop.

"Oh thank you so much! You're a lifesaver! Really thank you! We'll be by in a little bit, okay?" Katy let out a sigh of relief. "Seriously thank you! Okay. Mmhmm. See you soon!"

Katy hung up and ignited the engine, grinning from ear to ear.

"Layla is so sweet!"

"Mom! Why the Friars?" Maya groaned as her mom pulled out of the driveway. "We look like a mess right now!"

Lucas was going to have a field day with this one. And just when she had finally managed to change her image. This was a one step forward, two steps back kind of situation.

"Well what choice do we have? And at least we won't have to spend so much more money. It's free lodging. And I trust Layla."

"Thanks a lot, Mom… Thanks for ruining my life."

"You're just being dramatic." Katy scoffed, pulling into the freeway so they could get there faster. "And why are you so against staying at the Friar's anyway? What? Don't tell me you have a crush on Lucas?"

"No." Maya quickly and firmly answered, stopping her mother's devolving train of thought. If she didn't cut off that mindset immediately, her mother would jump to severe conclusions and start badgering her (and probably embarrassing her) about a crush that didn't even exist. But there was no way she could tell her mother about the bet. That would be even worse. And Katy had always been something of a gossip. The last thing she needed was every mom in town knowing about Maya's little ploy to seduce Lucas. "I just don't like mooching off of people. We've been independent and fought through our difficulties by ourselves all our lives. Even at our lowest point. I don't want that to change."

Katy smiled. "Maya, you're very strong. And I'm proud of you. I know you have your reservations, but it's just one night, baby girl. We're still independent. We're just asking for a small favour."

"Yeah, I know…" Maya said, slumping in her seat and staring out the window as they drove. "I just don't like it."

It wasn't a total lie.

Maya wasn't totally comfortable with freebies, and she much preferred the hard work she and her mother had put into their life before her second marriage in order to pick themselves up when things were really tough. It was a source of pride for Maya, having made it and defying odds even when so many odds were against her.

But she didn't mind staying at the Friar's. Their house was gorgeous and she knew she'd fallen in love with a lot of it when she had gotten a chance to see it. Especially with the art.

What she minded, was being in the same house as Lucas.

She didn't trust him at all.

She would definitely have to sleep with one eye open through the night.

Her anxiety increased tenfold when they pulled up in that familiar cobblestone driveway and Katy parked in front of the stairs. She hopped out of the car and Maya groaned, snatching up the suitcase and following her mom up the spiral steps to the door. Before they even had a chance to knock, the door flung open to Layla looking extremely concerned.

"You poor girls! Come inside. I'm sure you must be exhausted." She ushered them in. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine. Just a little distraught." Katy smiled. "I can't thank you enough. Sorry for intruding."

"It's no problem at all Katy. I've got plenty of room here." She made a motion for them to follow her. "Normally, I would let you guys have the guest house if you wanted for your privacy, but unfortunately, it's being renovated. We do have a few guest bedrooms upstairs though."

Maya followed Layla and her mother up the spiraling staircase at the front, somewhat cowering behind the two of them. She hadn't seen Lucas anywhere, but she wasn't going to take that risk and possibly be seen by him. If she kept herself partially covered, she could easily hide herself if he popped out of nowhere.

She really didn't want him to see her. She was wearing the Looney Tunes pajama onesie that Riley had gotten her the year before. They were thankfully shorts and not footed and looked more like a jumper, but it was not something she wanted him to see her in. Not to mention, her bedhead was all over the place and out of control. Maya wasn't the type to think she had to be done up at all times or she couldn't show her face, but she definitely didn't want Lucas to see her in this state while she was still in the middle of her first step and her transformation in his eyes. It certainly wouldn't help her case.

Thankfully, he never showed up though and as Layla situated Katy in one of the guest rooms and brought Maya to another, she started to feel a little less anxious. Maybe he was already asleep and she wouldn't have to see him. In a perfect world, that would be what would occur, but knowing her life and the way things had gotten incredibly messed up without her even having to really lift a finger, she had a feeling that wouldn't be the case.

"I washed the pillowcases last week. I'll be back in a minute with some clean ones for you, okay?" Layla said, heading back down the hallway, "Feel free to make yourself at home."

Maya smiled back and turned to face the guest bedroom. It was nice. Quaint. A room with tan walls with a few tasteful paintings. The comforter and sheets of the bed were a pale, soothing blue and the entire room smelled vaguely of vanilla. There was a nightstand beside the bed, a dresser, a love seat couch beneath the window, and a desk in one corner. It was a warm, cozy room but Maya felt uneasy. She felt nervous about sleeping in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar house. With a disgusting womanizing creep somewhere in said house.

Why did this crap have to happen to their house right after they'd gotten settled into their new place?

This was crazy.

Maya had been hoping things wouldn't end up stupid crazy in this city but she'd been sorely proven wrong this whole week. She thought her life in New York City had been kind of messed up, but it had nothing on this.

Why was it that trouble always seemed to follow her wherever she went?

There was a knock on the door, and Maya turned back to face the open door, expecting Layla to be there with the pillowcases.

What she found instead was Lucas in a tank and boxers holding the pillowcases and staring at her with a barely concealed look of amusement.

"Oh fuck me…"

And just as she expected, Lucas started laughing his ass off.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, you dumbass." Maya said with a roll of her eyes, though she knew her cheeks were burning with a blush.

Was the universe fucking with her on purpose or something? Every time she didn't want something to happen, it happened!

"Cute pajamas…" Lucas snorted, still chuckling.

Fuck this.

Maya was not a fan of being mocked or laughed at. Especially not by an asshole she couldn't stand. They both were in their pajamas, but while he looked like a damn underwear model, Maya knew she was looking like she just rolled out of bed.

She grabbed the door, pushing it hard and intending to close it, but Lucas stopped it, pushing it back open with a raise of his brow.

"So Shortstack. You're spending the night here?"

"Look, you nut. It's late, I'm exhausted, I've had a rough evening, you're the last person I want to see right now, and I really don't want to deal with your shit. So can I please just have the pillowcases so I can get some sleep?"

"Apologies ma'am. I didn't realize you were going through so much." He smiled charmingly, though not altogether friendly, and handed them to her. "Funny how we keep ending up in these strange circumstances though."

She took them slowly with narrowed eyes, not trusting that calculating look in his eyes.

"So what?"

"Just thinking out loud." He said with a smirk, "I'm down the hall if you need me. Feel free to knock if you get desperate. I'll make an exception for you."

"What part of I don't want to deal with your shit do you not understand?" Maya growled, slamming the door in his face, though she could still hear his laughter as he walked away towards his own room.

She sighed dejectedly and plopped down on the plush bed, laying back and rubbing her face with her hands.

This was like a bad joke from one of those cliché chick flick movies where the girl was forced to live with the guy and stupid antics ensued.

What the fuck was her life?

At least it was only one night. One night and she could shove all that had happened to the back of her mind and forget all about it.

She could handle one night.