First of all, thanks so much for the reviews y'all. I really appreciate the time y'all took to do that :)

B) Just so you know, there will be more time between chapter posts, I've got a lot of projects and papers and GISHWHES and events coming up so I just don't have as much time to get stories out as quickly as I was in the beginning. Thanks for the understanding.

III) Just a reminder, this story works within the premise of screen shots. Each chapter is just a single look into the relationships of Lucas, Maya, Riley, Farkle, and the rest of the GMW characters at various points, following a certain timeline. There might be a bit more lapses of time between chapters as I write them so I've decided to throw in what month each chapter is taking place in. Just to give a better idea of where everyone is :)

Okay...enough from me now - Enjoy

July

The line for the Coney Island Cyclone hadn't seemed to move in ages. Lucas leaned against the metal railing with Maya standing just in front of him, his hands resting on her waist. Coney Island was a requirement for any New Yorker, at some point or another. Normally Maya went with Riley and her family and while that was still the plan at some point this summer, their five month anniversary just happened to land before the Matthews vacation day.

"We're never gonna move are we?"

"Nope, we'll stay in this spot for the rest of our lives."

"How am I supposed to call you Hop-Along if you are incapable of hopping along?"

Lucas' eyes rolled and tugged lightly on Maya's waist so she tumbled into him. His arm wrapped around her tightly. Leaning down he planted a kiss on her forehead. They had spent almost all morning together already and by the end of the night it would be the longest time they had spent alone together. It had been going far too well in Maya's mind which worried the small part of her mind that was still believing she was not allowed to get what she wanted. In those moments though, she just had to look up and meet Lucas' eyes. That tended to do the trick.

"You know if you're that concerned about the wait we could always go on a different ride. We've been on this one before…a few times."

With a look of offense on her face Maya took a step back. Her eyes narrowed in and she poked Lucas' chest.

"We will wait. It's not possible to go on this roller coaster enough times."

After a short pause she smiled shyly.

"This might only be the second summer I've been able to even go on it."

A snicker escaped as Lucas grinned. In response to his laughing Maya made a motion to punch him. With ease he grabbed her fist then tugged her forward again. Wrapping his arms around her tightly, she attempted to wiggle away with no avail.

"Really shortstack? Never would have guessed you'd be too short to ride a roller coaster."

"You shut your mouth Ranger Rick."

"You know you lo…"

Before the words escaped his lips though, Maya rose on her tippy toes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. He was getting dangerously close to saying the L word. While he wasn't saying he loved her, he was setting it up for her to response with a resounding yes. Five months was far too soon to say that, she was very certain about that simple fact. Lowering down, Maya turned as the line finally started edging forward.

"You didn't shut your mouth, so I just had to do if for you."

Glancing over her shoulder Maya grinned at the smirk that appeared on Lucas' face. A few inappropriate comments flashed through his mind, instead of saying any of them though, he just decided to follow Maya's suggestion and shut his mouth. His arm wrapped around her shoulder and the continued to wait for their turn on the roller coaster, the first row always seemed to take the longest.

As the roamed throughout Luna Park their fingers were entwined, despite the complications it caused while attempting to eat their Nathan's hotdogs. All day they felt as if they were in their own little world. Almost as if they were back to when they were first on their way to being something. Summer with Riley and Farkle has been nice, Lucas and Maya would never dispute that. But this, hand in hand, just the two of them, well it was great. After finishing their lunch Maya dragged Lucas toward the carnival games. Finally stopping in front of Break a Plate, she turned her back to the game and grinned.

"Am I supposed to win you a prize?"

With a scoff she shook her head.

"Come on, we both know I'm the better pitcher. I'm gonna win you a prize. "

Paying the man behind the counter, Maya was able to break all 5 plates with ease to win a prize. After forcing Lucas to turn around and close his eyes, she picked out the perfect prize for her boyfriend. Standing in front of Lucas, she shoved the stuffed animal in his face before finally letting him open his eyes.

"TADA!"

Laughing Lucas grabbed the soft white horse with pink mane and tale from Maya and examined it closely. There was a look of pride on his face. Not for a moment did he think she wouldn't be able to win, smashing plates was something Maya had a strong aptitude for, but still he was proud. Though he said nothing about it, he knew exactly where in his room the horse was going to go.

"Do you like it Cowboy?"

"I do."

"I thought it would remind you of home."

"Oh it does, my horse back home looks exactly like this."

"I figured Huckleberry. At least this horse will fit in our house."

"Not to mention she'll match the décor in my room perfectly."

With the stuffed animal tucked under his arm he grabbed Maya's hand and started looking for another game. More specifically though, Lucas was trying to find the right prize to try and win for Maya. A stuffed ferret seemed too obvious, not that he could find one, though the thing he really wanted was a ridiculous 10 gallon hat. It would seem like it would be a perfect fit with what she got him too. After looking through all the prizes, he finally found what he was looking for in the corner of the Whac-A-Mole. Guiding Maya, Lucas pulled out his wallet to pay when a voice pulled their attention away.

"Mr. Perfect and Miss Rebel. Such the cute widdle couple."

"Della."

Maya groaned when she had heard the voice and the name escaped her lips before she could stop herself. Slowly she turned around to look at Joey Ricciardella. Lucas felt his hand clench at the sight of Joey. It was been five months and he had still actively avoided the guy. Each time he saw Joey in the hall all he could see was the way he had Maya pinned against the wall and each time he still wanted to punch the guy. As if aware of the mental struggle doing on in mind of her boyfriend, Maya took a step in front of Lucas, placing herself between the two boys.

"Couldn't win a prize for your girl so you had to have her win it for you?"

"Pretty much yea."

The bait hadn't worked as he had expected. Lucas had messed with Joey's reputation a few too many times. It began to spread that first time in the hall with the other new kid, that Lucas Frair, Moral Compass, could kick Joey Ricciardella's ass. Always in whispers and hushed tones, whenever either of them walked passed one another, and there was nothing Joey could do about it. Not in school at least. Not without too many risks. Here though it was supposed to work. Here they could settle the score.

"Do you really want to do this Joey? I thought we've already been over this. We go our separate ways and both of us hold onto our reputations."

"Who cares about middle school reputations anyways. No adults around to stop us either. Scared?"

Stepping out from behind Maya, Lucas shook his head. It was so clear to him that Joey was just trying to bait him. Knowing that made it very easy for Lucas to just ignore the bully in front of him. After all, he spent over a year dealing with Maya's baiting and he was able to easily avoid that rabbit hole. At this point, Joey was nothing. Grabbing Maya's hand Lucas began to walk past Joey.

"Not even slightly."

As they passed the boy, Maya felt a hand grabbed her arm tightly and pull her backwards. The force the pull ripped Maya's hand away from Lucas's and she tumbled down to the ground. Falling with a loud crash a gasp of pain escaped her lips. Before she could even acknowledge anything else though she heard a loud crack from above her. Next to her someone else came crashing down to the ground, Joey. His hand reached up to his nose, blood seeped through the small spaces between his fingers. Maya's eyes widened as she looked from Joey to Lucas who was standing and shaking out his right hand, a few specs of blood appeared on his knuckles. Lucas squatted down to be level with Joey. The bully attempted to scoot away while still covering his nose, the blood trickling out more rapidly.

"Don't you ever touch Maya again. If you do, I'll break more than just your nose. And that reputation you care so much about will be the last thing you have to worry about."

Lucas' voice was low and deep, nothing like his usual tone. That tone mixed with the darkness in his eyes made everything about his stance menacing. Lucas jerked forward as if to hit Joey again, with wide eyes Joey scrambled up and ran off in the other direction. With the bully now gone, Lucas turned his attention to Maya, whose hand was covering the red mark that was growing on her arm. Gently he removed her hand and ran his fingers across the mark. A deep frown grew on his face.

"Are you okay?"

Sitting up Maya nodded. Her butt was a little sore, as well as her arm, but nothing would last longer than the afternoon. Grabbing his hand in hers, Maya examined it closely. Pulling at the bottom of her shirt she whipped away the tiny specs of blood before pulling it into her lap.

"You shouldn't have done that. He's not going to let that go."

"Let him do whatever he wants. Maybe a few more punches and he'll get it through his thick skull of his not to touch you, or anyone else for that matter again."

Maya eyes narrowed in on Lucas and he just shrugged. Moments ago his tone was menacing, now it was just anger. He had changed a lot since leaving Texas. Though he always fought to defend his friends, even though often it was their own fault, that wasn't the same anymore. Before he would fight first and ask question later, if at all. Now though, he tried diplomacy first. Punches were definitely the last option; Lucas had just expelled all his other options with Joey. It might take him longer to get to that mind set, once he was there though, it was still difficult to get out of it. Maya continued to stare until finally the hard look on Lucas' face softened.

"I can promise you he won't do anything about it. I use to be him, kind of. After that, he won't risk me hurting him more. That three times I've won, moment's pass for him to regain control."

As he spoke, Lucas sat down next to Maya, so now they were both just sitting in the middle of the game section of Luna Park. Despite the occasional near steps, the rest of the crowd simply walked around them. As the past few moments started settling in his mind, Lucas found himself frowning again. He was disappointed in himself.

"I'm sorry by the way. That's the second time I've taken things too far. I am working on my anger."

Maya held on tightly to Lucas' own hand and just smiled. She didn't want to go as far as telling him how much his ability to defend her exciting him, she doubted that would actually help anything. Still she didn't wanted Lucas to feel even remotely bad about what he had done. It was clear it wasn't like it was his first reaction when seeing Joey.

"You have nothing to apologize for Lucas. You tried to take the higher road, you can't control if the other person doesn't."

Leaning forward Lucas responded with a deep kiss. It would always be odd hearing Maya say his name, but in the end it always meant what she was saying was utterly sincere. And right now, that sincerity was exactly what he needed. Despite not wanting it, he pulled away from her and placed a quick kiss on her forehead.

"I don't know how I feel about you calling me Lucas."

"That's your name."

"Um, pretty sure it's Huckleberry, or Ranger Rick, or Hop Along, or Cowboy, Or Sun…"

Throwing herself across to Lucas, Maya's lips crashed into his before they toppled over onto the ground. Anything to keep him from saying more names. It would take a long time if he was to go through all the names she called him. Lucas' arms wrapped around her waist as the kiss continued, with Maya lying atop him. One of his hands began to roam up her back, pulling her in closer. It wasn't until a loud crowd member shouted out GET A ROOM, that they remembered where they were again. Pushing up against Lucas' chest Maya smiled shyly. Finally standing up she reached out her hand to help Lucas up as well. Shoving the stuffed horse under his arm again, Lucas grabbed Maya's hand. Before he could say anything though, she began to tug him along.

"To the cyclone!"

"Again?"

"Absolutely."