Chapter 25

"Farkle. Farkle." It was early in the morning and Riley rushed to waKe Farkle up. She had a plan, and he was going to help her. If only, he would wake up. He was a pretty heavy sleeper and the fact that it was so early in the morning, wasn't helping the cause.

"Farkle!" She said a little louder while shaking him.

"What? I'm...I'm awake." He shot up, blinking rapidly and trying to wipe the sleep away from his eyes.

"I have a plan and I need your help."

"Riley, what do you want me to do now?" He asked, groaning. Riley shot him a look and he regretted his action immediately. "I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?"

"Ok, babe, listen to me. Maya and Lucas are miserable and it's our job, as their friends, to help them out. Maya still loves Lucas, she just needs a little push."

"Are you sure she still loves him?"

"Of course I am! Those two have been through so much together and they need each other, Maya is just to stubborn to admit it."

Farkle laughed nervously at this. Knowing Riley, she would come up with something bizarre and he was to scared to ask her, but he did anyway. "Ok, count me in. What's the plan?"

"Yay!" Riley shot up and gave Farkle a kiss on the lips. Whispering quietly, Riley told Farkle her plan and they went over basics. She was good at making plans, the problem was, if they succeeded. They only had one shot. If they messed this up, Maya would hate them forever.

"Think you can do that?" Riley asked, waiting expectantly.

"I can do that. Don't worry, this is going to work. Maya and Lucas will be back together in no time, and we'll be the core four again but best of all, we won't feel divided about picking sides. You take care of Maya and I'll deal with Lucas"

They high-fived and headed into the kitchen, being careful not to wake Maya up.

Later That Day

Farkle was gone and the plan was in motion. She had one job. It was going to work, right? Yeah, it had to work.

"Hey Maya, I'm gonna need your help today. Mr. Carson asked me to help clean out his storage room and I can't do it alone. You think you can help me?"

"No. Sorry Riles." She answered, not taking her eyes off the window as she saw a little girl cross the street.

No? Yes. You need to say yes. The plan won't work if you say no.

"Peaches, please? I really need your help."

"I can't Riley. I have other things to do. Plus, Carson hates me, there's no way I'm stepping in that guy's apartment. Why don't you ask Farkle?"

Damnit.

To:Riley

From:Farkle

Hey Love, how's it going on your end? I got Lucas to meet me tonight, so everything's going according to plan. What about you, did you convince Maya?

"No. This cannot be happening." Riley said outloud, covering her face with her hands. There wasn't much she could do. If she kept insisting her, Maya would get suspicious and Riley couldn't have that. How could she forget that Mr. Carson hated Maya when she used him as an excuse. That man loved to hold grudges and he could not forgive Maya for running over his cat, Skittles years ago, with her skateboard.

To:Farkle

From:Riley

Babe I messed up! Maya said she was busy, but don't worry, I'll fix it.

Maya put in all of the clothes in her laundry basket and headed to the elevator so she could head back to her apartment. Riley said she needed to talk to her, so she had a few hours to get ready and meet her at her favorite coffee shop. She pressed the button and waited for the elevator door to open. When it did, she stepped inside and let her body hit the wall and she slid and sat down on the floor.

"Hold the door!" She heard someone say, as she saw an arm reach out.

"Maya?"

"Lucas, what the hell are you doing here?" She asked exasperated.

"I came to see you. We need to talk. What are you doing here?"

"I was doing laundry downstairs." She answered, pointing down at her basket.

Suddenly they heard a thud and the elevator stopped. The building was pretty old but this had never happened to them.

"What just happened?" Maya asked, wide eyed.

"The elevator stopped." Lucas said calmly.

"What do you mean it stopped?"

"I mean...it's no longer moving."

"No. No, no, no. This can not be happening." She got closer to the door and started hitting it with her fists and with as much force as she could possibly muster.

"Stop. Maya, calm down."

"Calm down?! How can I calm down? I don't know if you know this Huckleberry, but we are stuck in an elevator. We could be here for hours before someone finds us. The doors are to thick for anyone to hear us, the building is pretty much empty and the Emergency button doesn't seem to work. And I can't be stuck in here, much less with you."

Lucas couldn't help but laugh at this. It was pretty funny to see Maya upset over something like this and, at least one good thing came out it.

"Why the fuck are you laughing? None of this is funny. Like, at all."

"Nothing. It's just, well, you called me Huckleberry again."

"Are you serious? We have more important things to worry about." She said, in between labored breaths.

"Do you have signal on your phone?" Lucas asked after a few uncomfortable silence.

"No." Maya answered dryly.

"I don't either."

Maya couldn't take this anymore. They had been stuck in the elevator for thirty minutes, but to her, it seemed like thirty hours. She was getting sweaty and it was getting hard to breathe.

"Well, we're gonna be here awhile so I think now is the best time to talk about what happened."

Maya rolled her eyes at Lucas and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Maya, I'm sorry. I know that I'm always apologizing, but I mean it, honestly. I lied to you about my mom. She was able to understand that I love you and that you're my life. She gave me her blessing though, she understood that no matter what, you and I were going to be together."

"Did you forget the part when that girl's tongue was down your throat?" Maya asked, staring at the wall with a blank expression.

"No. No I didn't." He responded sheepishly. "That meant nothing. I was drunk. I made a mistake and I'll do anything for you to forgive me, because I love you."

"Stop talking Lucas." She ordered, getting up.

"You're right. No more talking."

And just like that, he pulled her in and pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her. He kissed her with force and hunger and desire. He missed her and couldn't take it anymore. She pulled away abruptly and wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"Don't ever do that again!" Her eyes were wide and she was pissed!

"Maya."

"Get away from me Lucas." Her breaths were labored and she was sweating. "I need some space."

"Don't you think we've had enough space?"

"No, I need space." She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing, but she was having difficulty.

"Maya? What's wrong?" Look at me. What's wrong?" Lucas asked, cupping her face.

"I can't b...breathe."

"Stay with me. Why can't you breathe?"

"Clau...stro...phobic." She responded. She was dizzy and she needed to get out of this stupid elevator.

"Maya, I'm right here. Stay with me, we're gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine."

She was feeling weak and she felt like everything around her was moving. 1-2-3. She couldn't do it anymore. She gave in and welcomed the darkness.

"Damn it." Lucas cursed under his breath.

Some Coffee Shop In New York

"No! It goes straight to voicemail." Riley said, letting out a deep breath.

Her and Farkle were trying to get ahold of Maya and Lucas, but they wouldn't answer.

"Of course only I would mess this up! She probably decided not to come because she knew we were up to something."

"Maybe, but what about Lucas? He didn't suspect a thing and he didn't show up either."

"What if something happened to her?"

"Riley, don't freak out. Let's head back to the apartment, alright? Everything will be fine."

They both got up from their table and headed to the apartment.

Farkle and Riley opened the lobby doors and were horrified to see men working on the elevator doors and even more when they saw Lucas walk out of the elevator, with Maya in his arms.

"Lucas!" They both called out and ran after him. "What happened?" They asked in unision.

"We were stuck in the elevator and Maya fainted. She regained consciousness but she fainted again." He replied, caressiing her cheek.

" Lay her down, let me check her." Farkle said, going into doctor mode.

Lucas did as he was told and layed her down on the lobby carpet. Farkle got closer and told Riley to get him some alcohol and cotton balls. She got the supplies, handed them to him and watched as he worked. Dipping a cotton ball in the alcohol, Farkle told Lucas to hold Maya's head as he brought the cotton ball to her nose. It seemed to do the trick because she started coughing.

"Peaches?"

"Hey Riles." Maya answered, trying to sit up.

"Take it easy Maya. You fainted and you're dizzy." Lucas spoke up, holding onto Maya and using his thigh as a pillow so she could rest her head.

"Lucas, I think you and I need to have that talk now." Maya said, looking up at him.

"Maya, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear that." Lucas responded, moving hair away from her face.