Title: Sooner or Later
Category: Television Shows » Girl Meets World
Author: And The Moment's Gone
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Words: 5,952
Warnings/Spoilers: The kids are freshmen in college, Josh is a senior, Cory still lives in denial.
Official Disclaimer: All Girl Meets World characters and plots belong to Disney Channel, Marc Jacobs, and April Kelly, I do not hold stock either the company or the people. Maya Hart, Joshua Matthews and any other character featured are NOT mine. The title comes from the Mat Kearney song Sooner or Later and I don't own that either.
On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Joshua Gabriel Matthews received his first official job offer as a Junior Architect at Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill.
It was contingent on his completion of study at New York University and graduation with a Bachelor's degree in Architecture. He's presented with an incentive worth another eight thousand dollars a year if he also finishes the other line of study he was working on that will give him his BS in Environmental Policy and Management.
Amy goes crazy for the benefits package that comes with the offer; Full health and dental, discounts for a gym membership, and an offer to pay for a third of his moving costs when he transitions from student to official employee. They also offer Josh three weeks –unpaid- vacation after graduation before his job starts so he can destress. Alan is impressed by the fact that they offer him a signing bonus on the condition that he entertain no other offers from a competitor. He's offered a 401K and the chance to buy into stock options after he's been there for two years.
Josh was just relieved that his immediate future after graduation was officially certain.
On Friday, March 20, 2020, Joshua Gabriel Matthews realized that absolutely none of what happened the day before matters when trying to pull Maya Hart out of bed so they can meet their families for lunch before they start their journey through airports to spend their Spring Break in Italy.
He'll admit that it's most likely his fault. Austin was also flying out that morning to meet his family down in Cabo San Lucas, Smackle's plane arrived from Dartmouth just after dinner, and Lucas drove down after his last midterm, which made it really easy for Maya to convince Josh that they all needed to have a relaxing movie night before the rest of the horde descended.
They turned off the television at quarter after midnight. He had no idea what time he finally convinced Maya that if she didn't let him sleep she wasn't allowed to spend the night anymore.
There was a tap on the apartment door, and Josh was thankful that the packed bags hadn't made it out of his bedroom yet. That was only because he didn't really want to explain both sets of suitcases to anyone that didn't already know that Maya was currently dominating his bed.
He gave up trying to tempt her with the promise of caffeine –they'd have to leave the apartment to get it, after all he was working on the last of the pot that he made when he was up at eight thirty- and pulled his bedroom door closed behind him, not paying any attention to whether or not it clicked. Another knock and Josh dropped his own mug off the table on his way to the door.
"Is she at least conscious?" Lucas said in lieu of 'hello' when the door finally swung open. He handed Josh a bag from Topanga's and a to-go cup, keeping one for himself, and laughed when the older man just stared at him.
"I've been awake long enough to log hours at the office," Josh took a sip of his cup, hoped that none of the family was there when Lucas ordered his and Maya's favorite drinks, and moved back to the kitchen island. His laptop was still open where he'd left it, the login screen for S.O.M. displayed next to his email. "I've also submitted the next set of chapters of my thesis to Ritter and emailed my employment offer to Topanga for her to look over." He gestured in the direction of his bedroom. "She has yet to open both eyes."
The younger man laughed, shaking his head. "Maya will never be a morning person."
"It's ten-thirty," Josh reminded Lucas. And that didn't say that he didn't have a surefire way to wake Maya up. Had he been prepared to spend another hour and a half in bed with her, he could have found a way to open her eyes just fine. But he'd already had his shower and gotten dressed, and if they both showed up late and disheveled to the Minkus lunch, there would be more questions than answers. It would have also made Lucas showing up just slightly more awkward. "I think we've passed the morning part."
When he looked up, Josh realized he'd been talking to himself.
Exactly three minutes later Maya scurried across the hallway to the bathroom in one of Josh's hoodies. Lucas emerged a few seconds later, smiling to himself.
Josh just shook his head as he moved around the counter, dumping the contents of his mug into the sink and then dropping it into the dishwasher. There were officially no more dirty dishes to haunt them when he and Austin returned from their respective vacations. "You're going to have to teach me how you do that." He threw out as he turned the device on.
"The secret is the fact that Maya hates to be cold." Lucas reached into the bag that he'd originally handed Josh and pulled out two scones. He handed one to the dark haired man. Half of it went into his mouth before he grinned. "Flip the fan on then steal the covers."
"How in the hell do you know that?"
There was a beat and both men looked at each other. "Riley." They said in unison. Josh made a mental note to see if he could discretely pick his niece's brain for more things that he should know about the woman who was in his bed more often than not.
Lucas finished his scone just as the shower turned off, neither man saying anything. When Maya emerged from the bathroom, clad in a flowing wine colored maxi skirt and a white camisole, Josh was back to going through his inbox and the younger man was playing minion run on his phone. She snagged the black longline cardigan off of the back of a kitchen chair and swung it over her shoulders, flipping her messy French braid out of the way.
"You two aren't ready to leave yet?" She slipped into her sandals and huffed. "I just texted Farkle, Lou's already on his way."
Whether it was allowed or not, Josh laughed at the absurdity of Maya lecturing them about their current positions while she'd been in bed up until twenty minutes ago. Not that you could tell it by looking at her. Maya had snagged the only Danish in the bag and was bouncing on her toes as she leaned against the counter to rest her empty coffee cup there while she munched on her treat. She wasn't wearing makeup –which would probably be rectified when they got into the Minkus's town car- but her hair was pulled up away from her face and she leaned her head against Lucas's shoulder to mutter commands to his minion.
"Have you decided which sketchpad you're taking with you?" The night before she'd argued on the phone with Riley for twenty minutes as she debated taking one she'd already been using as opposed to a brand new one. Zay had dumbly asked why she didn't just take both, and they had all been treated to fifteen minutes of Maya explaining –rather loudly- as to why that was not the best idea ever.
Maya shook her head. "I went ahead and grabbed both," she said reaching for Lucas's half full mug completely unperturbed with the fact that both men were now staring at her.
"You're gonna owe Babineaux an apology," Lucas plucked his cup out of Maya's hands before she could take a sip.
The blonde shook her head, snatching the cup back. "If it'll make you happy." She decided, finishing it off and tossing it in the direction of the trash can.
Closing his laptop, Josh slipped it into its sleeve before reaching for his Samsonite boarding bag. He unzipped the top, double checked the contents, and then slipped the sleeve on top to make it easier to pull out while moving through security. His toiletry bag was just underneath the bag that held his tech accessories and his passport case was tucked into the side.
Lucas's face scrunched slightly as he watched the older man set the bag on the kitchen table, moving to the bedroom just to come out both his and Maya's suitcases, her second carry-on strapped to the handle of the larger bag. "Both Katy and Shawn are going to be at lunch." He started, using his finger to gesture to Maya and Josh, and then back to the luggage. "How are you planning on hiding the fact that you slept here last night?"
"Who's hiding?" Maya slipped her phone from the oversized leather and straw bag that she was using as a purse that day. "We had movie night, it was bound to run late, so I brought my stuff with me so I wouldn't be rushed." Josh noticed that she left off the part where Katy had already begun to suspect the two of them.
Josh just shrugged. While this wasn't what he'd had in mind when he stipulated that they didn't lie, he couldn't disagree with Maya's logic. He also couldn't fault the fact that she had come up with it all on her own.
"What?"
Shaking his head, Lucas stood. "I'm just wondering how many people habitually underestimate you." The phone in his hand buzzed, and Lucas tapped the 'home' button. "Lou's here."
Lucas was the first out the door, pulling Maya's bag with him. He heard Josh spin his keys around his finger, pulling the door closed and securing the bottom lock and the deadbolt. He completely missed the way Maya reached for the older man as they headed to the stairs.
Maya physically stopped when they entered the Minkus penthouse forty minutes later, watching Lou take her bags across the entryway to where everyone else's had been situated. Josh was cc'd on the email that had informed everyone that two chauffeured SUVs from Stuart's car service would be arriving promptly at two-thirty to transport them to the airport. Once Josh slid his own suitcase across the room there were eight different rolling bags –most with their carry-on close by- neatly lined in rows waiting to be taken back downstairs.
The look on the blonde's face announced that this trip had just gotten a lot more real to her.
It wasn't that she wasn't used to traveling. Being Riley's best friend, Maya had taken plenty of summer trips with a large number of people. She wasn't even new to traveling abroad. Last summer she'd spent three weeks on a student visa in Paris. While she was there her host family had gotten together with a few of the organizers and took them on day trips to wherever sounded fun at the time. Her Instagram that month had been full of sightseeing in London, shopping in Calais, even a few days lounging on the beach in Saint-Malo.
Josh wondered if it had to do with the fact that before she had been alone. Yes, she had her host family, and the other young adults in the program, but there had been no one there that had known her. Certainly, no one who had watched her grow up. For those four weeks, she had simply been Maya.
And while her group was the biggest homage to the Non-Judging Breakfast Club that Josh had ever seen, there were expectations that were to be met, and sometimes it got to her.
He wished he could reach for her, run his hand down her back and drop a kiss to the spot behind her ear. Josh was half tempted to do the first part anyway. At least until Lucas slid up behind her, bending her over frontwards so he could wrap both arms around her legs and flip her up into him, practically racing into the dining room.
"Sorry, we're late!" Josh heard the Texan call to occupants. "Someone didn't want to get out of bed this morning."
"Someone was comfy, bastard."
"Language!" Cory shrieked as Josh caught a glimpse of Lucas holding Maya steady beside her best friend so Riley could drop a kiss to the crown of Maya's head. "And put her down!"
Lucas dropped her into the nearest chair in the dining room, winking at her as he moved around the room to take a seat next to his mother. Unlike Cory, who still looked scandalized, Carol Ann Friar just laughed at the way Maya stuck her tongue out at her former teacher. Josh scanned the table before finding a seat on the other side of Will, sidestepping Cory to get there.
"Now," his brother went on, arms crossed against his chest as he pointed to Riley. "Your mother and I may not be there, but you are far from unsupervised!" Topanga shook her head beside her husband. There had probably been no way to avoid this lecture, and the look she sent the kids told them that she at least hoped that they could take what he was saying with a grain of salt. "Your uncle will be watching you the whole time. Isn't that right, Josh?" Cory managed a sip of his sweet tea as he pointed down the table. "You're going to keep an eye on them?"
"Sometimes even two," Josh's phone vibrated in his pocket and he skipped over whatever picture Austin had sent him to read his mom's quick message. "As often as I can spare them."
"And I trust Josh." While Will was paying rapt attention to the crazy man, Riley bypassed her father's look to start a conversation with Farkle about their first hotel. "Because unlike the rest of you, Josh is not a slave to his hormones."
Lucas cut his eyes to the other end of the table. Josh barely looked up from his phone.
Maya spat her sip of lemonade onto the floor as she tried not to fall out of her chair.
"Sorry." The blonde righted herself, setting her glass back on the table and accepting a napkin from Smackle. Lucas just shook his head as he tossed his napkin down the table as well. "Wrong pipe." Maya motioned to her throat vaguely as she dabbed at her lips with the cloth, glancing up at Stuart to try to apologize.
Josh didn't look down the table at her. Especially when he realized that Katy was patting her on the back, whispering something in her ear.
"What exactly do you think is going to happen in Italy that couldn't happen in New Haven?" Riley had her arms crossed now, and Josh realized that he apparently missed something. Cory sputtered. "No offense Uncle Josh," she threw out while the rest of the adults turned their attention to her. "But there are seven of us and one of him." He could understand her logic. Even if he'd decided to police the young adults while they were a continent away from their parents, he wouldn't be very effective at it. "And we're all fairly brilliant people, if we wanted to find a way to get away with something, we would have done it already."
Maya nodded in agreement, this time forgoing the grin that would have effectively stated that she'd already found a way around many of Cory's policies –and was currently carrying on quite well behind the parent's backs. Topanga smiled at the blonde. "I'm pretty much the poster child for 'if they want it bad enough, they'll find a way'."
"Not really helpful, Peaches." Riley reached out to her father before he could start back up again. "Daddy," she slid out of her chair, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "The time has come for you to trust us."
"Even Mr. Feeny let you go out into the world by yourself." Farkle leaned back in his chair, gesturing to the adults who had gone to school together.
Cory took a breath. "You will call every day,"
Both girls nodded in unison. "Yes, sir."
"You will update social media so we can keep track of you," Shawn was watching Maya now, who nodded quickly.
Stuart leaned against the table, making eye contact with his son. "I'm expecting confirmation emails for every flight, every check in, and every train."
It was Farkle's turn to nod.
Smackle just shrugged, smiling across the room at her parents. "Father just activated the GPS tracking software in my smartphone." She threw out nonchalantly.
Cory and Shawn's eyes lit up.
"No." Katy laughed as she reached for her daughter. "Am I the only parent who isn't going insane that my kid's leaving the country?"
"If I can trust Lucas in Ithaca by himself," Carol Ann Friar took a sip of her sweet tea, smiling over at Maya. There was no way that she hadn't figured out that Lucas and Maya were together at some point. Josh noted the way her eyes softened in her direction and wondered if she hadn't realized that they weren't anymore. "Then there's no reason not to trust him on Spring Break."
Topanga smiled over at Farkle's mother reassuringly. "Now that Crazy is done, should we feed the kids?"
The rest of the meal was generally tame, all things considered. Stuart and Farkle took the time to sync apps to make sure everyone had their boarding passes. Extras were also printed to make sure that they had a contingency in case of a problem. Riley was handed the Matthews emergency credit card –this time to actually be used in the event that the world is ending- and Shawn called his bank to make sure that Maya's card was authorized to be used abroad. Josh had already taken care of that part for his own cards, as well as signing up for his phone carrier's traveling program that ensured that he won't be paying an arm and a leg for international calls.
Riley and Maya take five dozen selfies as the bags are loaded, and Josh pretended not to notice Maya tear up when Shawn handed her an envelope full of Euros before there's a group hug and the young adults are loaded into the waiting vehicles.
Amazingly enough, the hardest part about getting eight people through airport security was the fact that four of them won't stop talking to each other long enough to go through the checkpoint. There's also the fact that Maya is half tempted to try to go through the scanners on Lucas's back because 'I had to take my shoes off and the floor is icky!'
Josh was incredibly thankful that he didn't have to play the adult in that scenario, and that Lucas set the blonde firmly on the floor so TSA wouldn't impede their travels any more than they already had to.
Farkle led them to their correct terminal, and once they located the gate it seemed to be a free for all as to how they wait for the boarding call. Josh can't help but be impressed at how –while everyone else discussed whether or not they need to grab a snack or Will contemplated grabbing yet another magazine- Zay simply sat down on the floor in front of the oversized window and pulled his carry-on bag underneath his head, promptly falling asleep. He wakes up long enough to decline Farkle's offer of an actual pillow, props his feet up on Lucas's duffel bag because it's there, and passes out again.
Josh set up his laptop while the girls did whatever it was that they wanted to do. It takes them twenty minutes to decide to settle in for the hour and a half wait, Josh allows himself to take a breath, leaving them to their own devices in front of the gate and to stretch his legs for a bit.
When he's grabbed on the way out of the bathroom, all it takes for Josh not to try to fight his attacker is the scent of cinnamon and a low-key giggle.
Maya pulls him into the closest actual shop and he found himself pressed up against the backside of the window display in Hugo Boss while Maya ravaged his mouth. It took Josh a minute to reach for her –if he wanted to sink his hands in her hair and shift them so she's the one with her back to the wall but that would mean she would need extra time to fix the damage- but when he does his fingers slip around her cardigan and underneath her lace trimmed camisole to graze the tattoo there.
He loses count of the number of breaths they completely bypass, Maya pulling back just long enough to moan, before it all becomes too much and he wrenches his lips from hers.
"Not that I'm complaining," her hand slid up his chest under his tee. Would there ever be a time where he would get enough of Maya Hart? "But what do I owe the pleasure of this ambush?"
"We're an hour away from spending the next eight days trapped in close quarters pretending none of this exists." Another kiss, this one sweeter, as Maya fiddled with his belt. "I was hoping to stave off withdrawal just a little longer."
His smile was not at all cautious. "Is this you telling me that you'll miss us?"
Maya indulged him with that, sliding her other hand up his chest to cup the back of his neck. "I may have gotten a little addicted to you, Matthews."
Josh gripped both of her hips now, bringing her closer to him and shifting so her back was to the glass. Maya brought her arms to band around his neck and he kissed her forehead to breathe in her hair. "Would it make you feel better to know the feeling is mutual?" Nuzzling her nose against his pulse point, Maya whispered a kiss or two on his jaw. "And according to the emails I've been forwarded, I'm getting my own room this week." He could feel her smile against his neck. "If you get too desperate I think I can accommodate."
Her body stilled for a moment, shifting to allow herself to just be held by him. Josh had to take his own moment to adjust. In the three months that they had started seeing each other, this was the first time she'd done it outside of the bedroom, much less in someplace as public as John F. Kennedy International Airport.
When she didn't rise to the bait, Josh brushed his lips across her brow. "Where'd you leave the others?"
"They're all at the gate." Maya laced her fingers through his, looking down at their hands. "Riley started a game of 'Senseless Survey',"
It was the party game that Josh had always tried to avoid for one reason or another. The biggest was the fact that it was truth or dare, only without the dare part. Someone asked a question and everyone took turns answering it. Questions could range anywhere from 'what's your favorite animal?' to 'what's your biggest fear?' to 'say one nice thing about Zay'. The last time he'd gotten caught with the group he'd been asked to describe the perfect woman.
It was the first time since Christmas that Maya's poker face had been better than his.
"What question made you run away?" Even though she was probably telling the truth about wanting a few more kisses before they boarded, that wouldn't have been the only reason for her to leave their group of friends.
"Zay asked who the last person we kissed was." Maya shifted on her feet, dropping his hand as they stepped into the terminal. "Someone made me promise I wouldn't lie, so I asked what was taking you so long and hopped up to find you."
Josh laughed, spotting their group of friends by the window Zay was previously sleeping next to. "Another smooth Hart move."
A quick shrug and Maya took half a step away from him. "I didn't think Cory would actually say it!" She defended, stepping back to nudge him with his shoulder. "' Josh is not a slave to his hormones!'" Riley looked up from her place in Will's lap at that, watching Maya's eye dance.
Shaking his head, Josh sighed. "He's not wrong." He dropped his voice and turned his head, bringing his hand up to scratch his nose to make it harder for Riley to read his lips. "I'm not a slave to my hormones."
Maya tried to hide her grin under the guise of biting her lower lip. She was unsuccessful. "You're going to regret telling me that." She whispered, skipping ahead to step over Farkle's legs so she could plop down on the other side of Lucas.
The Texan shifted to his right to make more room, and Josh had no choice but to put himself between Lucas and the blonde that had just sat down.
"Addicted, Saving Abel." Lucas couldn't hide his smile.
Confusion apparent, Josh turned to Riley. "What's the question?"
Isadora looked up from her textbook, "You have to describe the person to your left using a song title."
He didn't know which of the young adults that bookended him started humming, but it was Maya that picked up the chorus. "I'm so addicted to all the things you do." He rolled his eyes at her, not bothering to hide his grin.
"Josh?" Riley leaned forward to steal some of Farkle's gummy worms.
Maya's eyes were on his now, and Josh had to stop to actually consider his answer. There were many ways that he could take it. Lucas seemed to be referring to both lyrical content and the title itself. He also couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed at the younger man's assessment. The question then became what song he would use to describe Maya to someone else. Then he realized he was overthinking it. "Jacob Whitesides," He smiled over at her, reminded of one of the artists that she'd introduced him to. "Not My Type at All."
Someone laughed when Maya's face fell before her eyes swept up between her lashes and he could swear she winked at him. "Break my heart, why don't you?" She almost shouted, clutching her heart and falling into Riley and Will.
"Eh," Josh was unsympathetic. "You'll live."
Maya rolled her eyes at him and then stopped holding herself upright so Will had no choice but to shift his hips so they all didn't roll onto the floor. "And it's not really fair to require me to narrow down all my feelings for Riley with just one song."
"Thems be the rules, Peaches!" Will nudged her off of him with his knee, and Maya flopped forward onto Josh before she could regain her balance.
"Fire and Gold." She said quickly, "Bea Miller."
There was a noise in the back of Riley's throat. It served as little warning before Riley launched herself at her best friend, knocking them back into Josh. "I love you too!"
"Good afternoon passengers," the overhead speaker cut off whatever Maya had said back, and Josh watched Zay perk up. "Attention ladies and gentlemen, this is the pre-boarding announcement for United – Lufthansa flight 474 to Paris, with service continuing on to Venice." Riley pulled herself off of Maya now, reaching for the wall to help steady herself. "We are now inviting those passengers traveling with small children, and any passenger requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time." A look was shared all around, and Zay pulled his headphone case from his pack to start putting his things away. "Please have your boarding passes and identification ready. We will begin regular boarding, starting with our first class and priority members shortly. Thank you."
Will shoved his latest magazine purchase into his pack and thumbed open his phone, pulling up the United app. "Is this the part where I tell everyone I want an aisle seat during take-off?"
That prompted Josh to pull up his own app, noticing that he had actually been assigned an aisle seat for the first leg of the journey. "I'm sure we can swap around once we get on the plane." The only two people guaranteed to actually have the seats they wanted, were Farkle and Isadora, and that was because they had been the ones to plan out the travel arrangements.
"I want a window!" Zay popped up, reaching to help Lucas off the floor. "I plan on sleeping the entire way there." He seemed proud of himself. Then again, it was an eight-hour flight to Paris, and another hour to Venice after their layover. "My Mama says it's the best way to combat jetlag."
"Are you sure she wasn't just trying to help us combat murdering you, mid-flight?" Maya allowed herself to be pulled into a backward hug after she'd said it, and Josh took a moment to notice that she was incredibly short against everyone without her heels on.
He wondered if she'd actually packed any.
Babineaux dropped his head onto Maya's and wrapped both arms around her. "How'd you get so far in life being a tiny little fluff ball of rage?"
The blonde just plucked the ball cap off of his head, pulling it down over her brow as she used Lucas to help her extradite herself. "It's a skill."
Lucas picked that moment to reach for Maya's carry-on, slinging it up onto his shoulder. "If you murder him," he started off sweetly. The shorter blonde stepped back into him with a frown. "Then you learned Italian for nothing."
"You make a very convincing argument, Friar." Maya tilted her head up, and Josh held his breath when Lucas met her halfway. Their foreheads bumped, and then the taller man nudged her temple with his chin. "Okay!" Maya announced, breaking contact and finally pulling her bag open to find her phone. "Zay gets to live!"
There was another ding above them, and Zay's cheer was cut off but the gate attendant. "Attention ladies and gentlemen. We will now begin the boarding process for United – Lufthansa flight 474 to Paris, with service continuing on to Venice." Will helped Riley with her bag and Maya hopped up next to her best friend, arms automatically wrapping around each other. "We would like to begin with our first class and priority passengers."
Again, Farkle took the lead, stepping up to the gate agent with his phone and his passport. There was a moment before Isadora cut in front of Will, wrapping an arm around the genius and snuggling into his back. Zay stepped in between Riley and Will when he noticed that he was the only one who hadn't made it into the line they'd started. Riley laughed, Maya pulled the brunette backward so neither of them would get stepped on, and Lucas shoved him out of the way to take his place.
It was entirely possible that Josh had just witnessed the embodiment of how this trip was going to shape up to be in three minutes before they'd even gotten on the plane.
And then they stepped onto the ramp.
Farkle took two steps to the side the second they cleared the gate, not even letting go of Isadora as Riley and Maya pushed past the two other men and sprinted down the jet-way. They were squealing and laughing even as the brunette came up short and the blonde slammed into her anyway, both girls reaching for the other's purse to make sure that neither one had lost anything in the collision. There wasn't a single person who wasn't laughing when Riley started groping her sides because she'd forgotten that she wasn't holding her purse.
Will let her freak out for exactly fifteen seconds before holding it up for her.
"We have pods!" Zay couldn't keep it in when they stepped into the first class cabin, skipping down the aisle. "Look at 'em! Pods!"
And it was true, to an extent.
There were two seats per row on each side of the aisle. Each seat had its own arm and footrests, as well as a small partition to make ignoring your seatmate easier.
Josh did a quick count, surprised to discover that there were only sixteen seats total in first class.
"We officially take up half of this part of the cabin." It was Will that actually said it, stopping next to the row at the very front, popping open the overhead compartment and slipping his laptop bag in along with one of Riley's two carry-ons. He made sure to grab a bottle from the side pocket before stepping back to let the brunette ruffle through her bag, though, and Josh really hoped that Maya would curb her urge to pick on him during the flight. Poor kid had signed up for an international trip with his girlfriend while being terrified of flying.
Zay checked his phone to make sure they were in the same two rows and then popped the overhead compartment behind Farkle, shoving his bag in it and grabbing for his headphones and his charger. "And we have pods!" He skirted past Lucas, who was stowing his own bag, and dropped himself into the window seat behind Farkle. "This one's mine!"
"If he passes out before take-off, can I have his dinner?" Maya grabbed the bottle of water that Riley was holding out for her as she dropped her purse in the window seat behind Riley and Will. Lucas dropped his headphones and his tablet into the seat next to Zay, shaking his head. "What?"
"Because no one thought to grab snacks that were low in sugar and salt so you wouldn't gnaw someone's arm off." Farkle tossed a green food storage bin across the aisle, and Josh caught it and handed it off to keep it from hitting her.
Maya shook the frozen grapes with gusto. "I still want his dessert!" She shouted out, daring anyone to question her.
A travel pillow was thrown behind Josh's back, and Lucas handed him a second one after Maya had retrieved the first. "You sure you don't want to sit next to Zay?" The younger man offered.
He considered his options for a moment, knowing that he could probably even ask Riley to switch with him if he felt like it. Will might look like he was going to jump out of his skin, but he'd still be a pretty decent seatmate. And then Maya pulled her sandals off, tucking them in her bag and the bag under the seat even as she pulled a pair of socks out. She had absolutely no idea that she looked like a little kid who had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and all she was doing was making herself more comfortable.
"I think I'll be okay." Riley popped up over the back of her chair, and the hand Josh was reaching for the blonde with changed directions, thumbing the plastic cover off of the power port between their seats. "I reserve the right to change my mind."
Smackle handed Will a soda, and Lucas watched her and Farkle change seats before they settled. "Something tells me we're in for a few rounds of musical chairs."
A hand came up from the other side of Lucas, clamping over his mouth. "Could ya keep it down?" Zay asked with a huff. "I'm trying to get to sleep. It's an eight-hour flight, and I'm gonna sleep for seven of 'em!"
The two on the aisle shrugged to each other. Maybe keeping Maya from threatening him was a bit premature.