"I'm back," Lucas said unnecessarily as he re-entered the bedroom, balancing a tray easily in one hand. "Your mom's already talked to my mama. I'm staying for dinner."

"That's good," she replied, setting aside the yet to be named teddy bear that she'd been playing around with in his absence. "What did mom want you for?"

"To open up a couple of jars and get a pot off the high shelf for her."

Maya raised a brow at that. "She could have done that."

Lucas' face reflected his amusement as he responded. "She said that since Mr. Hunter isn't home as yet and there was a teenager around there was no need for her to make the effort. Why strain her delicate little arms when she has someone else capable of doing it for her?"

"Shawn's spoilt her," she explained ruefully. "He always tells us to make a list of the things that need doing and he tackles it once he's around. Last time he was here he emptied out all the jars into containers so that we wouldn't have to do it. You'd swear that we haven't been doing it ourselves all these years."

"Well that's exactly the point," Lucas replied as he set the tray down on her desk. "You've got male folks around now to pass off all those miscellaneous tasks to. It's the same with my mama. As long as one of us is home, the task is ours. That's the gentlemanly way to act."

"That's the Huckleberry way to act," she teased, before making grabby hands for the brownie he held out. She was definitely getting spoilt this week, but there was no way she was going to complain about it.

Eventually, done with her treat, she made to stretch her arms contentedly over her head only to yelp and drop it hurriedly. "Dammit," she grunted as she reached her hand up to rub at her shoulder. "I keep forgetting not to move the bloody thing too much."

"Let me see," Lucas bid, instantly on alert. She let him, wincing only slightly when he prodded carefully at it through her shirt. "It's definitely inflamed," he commented. "You've been accidentally straining it a lot, haven't you?"

"Like I said," she grumbled, "I'm forgetful."

Lucas frowned thoughtfully. "Riley mentioned a sling. Why aren't you wearing it?"

"Because Ginger loves it a lot more than I do," she replied pertly. "It's not that bad."

"Yeah well, it'll get a lot worse if you don't allow it to heal properly," he scolded gently, as he got up and knelt on the floor, starting to reach under the bed.

"Hey, you don't just go under someone's bed!" she protested, and (carefully) kicked at him.

"It's not like I'm digging around in your underwear drawer," he responded, his voice a bit muffled as he pulled himself under a bit more. He would have to work to get it out, she thought with some satisfaction. She had tucked it back there real good for Ginger's convenience.

"Don't touch any wet spots," she singsonged. "And don't wake her up if she's under there. She'll be a grumpy puss and I like your face scratch free."

"She's under here?!" Lucas squeaked, and, despite what he was looking for, Maya chortled.

"Maybe," she answered playfully.

Truthfully, she didn't know. Ginger wasn't technically her ferret. She'd crawled in through the hole in her wall in the summer before sixth grade and Maya had just…let her be, eventually putting together a box for her to sleep in and finding out what she ate. Ginger came and went as she pleased – probably returning to her real owner - going through the window now that the hole was closed.

Lucas emerged from under the bed after a bit, clutching the crumpled sling. He was surprisingly dust free, she noted, even as she worked on a convincing pout when he held it out to her. He didn't even respond, instead simply arching an eyebrow at her, until, with a roll of her eyes, she snatched it from his hand.

"Good girl," he praised, as he sat back down beside her. "Ginger took good care of it but she'll appreciate it more if it's used for its real purpose."

"I'll consider wearing it," she grumbled, setting it down beside her.

"Maya," he said, with a hint of exasperation. "I know you think it's going to make you seem weak, but unless you want some serious complications own the road, put your stubbornness aside and just use it okay? It's just going to be two weeks at the most, so just behave."

"Yes sir!" she quipped, saluting him.

He snorted at that. "You're absolutely ridiculous, you know?"

"Yeah well, it's one of the reasons you like me," she returned, flashing him a bright grin.

"One off," he agreed, as, almost absentmindedly, he reached over to brush her hair back over her shoulder. "I'm glad you know there are more than one."

Maya nodded, feeling a wave of shyness overtake her at the way his tone dipped as he said that. She met his gaze briefly, a small smile pulling at her mouth at the warmth she saw there. "I'll be back Monday," she said after clearing her throat. "Adams is expelled and Zander's still under evaluation but none of us really see the point of me going back for a day alone."

"I'm glad they're gone," Lucas said sincerely, although looking at him, Maya could see residual anger briefly flicker in his green eyes. "It may sound hypocritical of me to say this, but violent people really have no place in a school."

"You're not violent," she responded seriously. "Not anymore, and even back then, you had a valid reason for doing it. Maybe there was another way you could have helped Zay, but your intentions were good. And that's the major difference between you and them Lucas. I don't even understand why you were expelled for helping your best friend."

"Because you didn't see the other guys," he answered grimly. "The only reason their parents didn't press charges against me was because the abuse towards Zay was well-documented and they'd already started laying into him when I got them. Zay's parents threatened to press charges against their kids if they did against me and so the law was kept out of it. I got expelled, they were suspended and that was that. There was nothing good about what I did Maya. If I had just been protecting Zay I would have stopped after I'd pulled them off him. I went way too far that day, and I paid a heavy price for it."

"But you learnt from it," she rebutted gently, resting her hand on his knee. "You aren't that person any more Lucas. Your temper is under control now. You know that."

"Yeah well being Pappy Joe's farm hand for nearly a year was as good way of cooling my head and building patience," he answered. "And…my control isn't as concrete as you'd think. If it wasn't for Mr. Matthews I would have gone after them for what they did to you," he admitted. "I still have more growing to do."

"We all do," she replied. "And you stopped; that's important to note. Younger you mightn't have managed to do that."

"Yeah well younger me also had a lot more control when it came to you."

Maya's eyes widened as she stared up at him, wondering if she'd actually heard him correctly there. Lucas met her gaze for one long moment, before he sighed, looking away.

"I think that came out wrong," he muttered.

"I know what you meant," Maya responded, striving to keep her tone normal as if that statement had not caused her heart to flutter. "You'd do anything to keep your friends safe. I guess we're similar in that way, except unlike you, I have bruises to show for my efforts in trying to."

"Bruises?" Lucas said sharply, his head whipping back to look at her. "You're bruised?"

Maya nodded, albeit reluctantly. She only realised now that she hadn't mentioned that little detail to any of them yesterday. And, seeing how Lucas' jaw was now clenched, she wished she had kept it to herself. Instinctively, she started to rub the hand still laying on his knee over it, trying to relax him. "They'll be gone soon," she tried to reassure.

"They shouldn't be on you in the first place," he grated out. "How did you get them?"

It was new information, and looking at him she saw the way his jaw clenched and his body tensed. Instinctively, she started to rub her hand over his knee, trying to soothe him while she cursed herself for even mentioning it.

Maya sighed and pulled away, knowing that there was no way out of this conversation. She stood up and after looking at him for a moment decided that showing him would be a lot easier than trying to explain. There was a reason she had been wearing this jersey-shirt combo – the sight of the bruises bothered her tremendously. It was proof of how tight Adam's grip had been on her, and, seeing them tended to throw her mind back to those terrifying moments when he was far too close to her, his hateful eyes boring into hers. She barely resisted a shudder.

"Don't tell Riley," she requested softly. "She'll find bubble wrap to put me in."

"I won't," he promised, although his face showed no reaction to her attempt at humour.

Bracing herself, she shrugged out of the shirt.

Lucas swore, actually full on swore and Maya bit at her lip. She didn't need to look down to see what he was looking at. There were dark, mottled, finger sized bruises all over both of her arms from where Adam had grabbed at her or gripped her. Lifting a head she hadn't realised she'd bent, Maya's eyes widened at the cold fury etched on Lucas' face.

"Lucas?" she asked tentatively, uncertain if there was anything she could do to stop him if he decided to barrel out of here in search of her attackers.

It took him a second, but then he blinked and took in a deep shuddering breath, visibly calming. "I should have been there," he said gruffly.

"I'm glad you weren't," she rebutted. "I want you here with me, not shipped back to Texas in disgrace."

He stared at her arms for a moment longer before asking, "Come here?" while looking at her with suddenly gentle eyes.

Not for the first time she found herself struck by how in tune Lucas was to her. She had no doubt that he knew how she was feeling right now – vulnerable and discomforted with having the bruises on display like this and that even though she trusted him, right now, she might have reacted badly if he had approached her. And so, he had given her that agency, let her know without speaking what it was that he was offering, so that she could choose whether she wanted the comfort or not. Without a thought, she stepped closer to him, tensing but not flinching when he reached out and gently ran his fingers over her marred skin. Somehow, despite the fact that his fingers were roughened from years of yard work, she felt no pain. Indeed, his fingers left a trail of tingling skin – a sensation she acknowledged was vaguely familiar.

"I know that these will fade," he said softly, meeting her gaze. "It's the ones on the inside I'm more worried about. I know you will be okay Maya, but right now, you definitely aren't."

His words slammed into her and Maya found herself reaching up to brush the back of her hand against her nose. "I let this happen," she told him weakly. "I could have stopped this from happening if I'd said something."

"Don't," he said firmly. "The only person who deserves any blame is those two jerks who came after you and your friend."

"People keep saying that," she answered, her eyes starting to burn, "but I don't feel that way. I feel like it's my fault, like everything's my fault and that none of this would have happened if I wasn't around. Everyone would have had a great week, but instead all of you are worrying about me. I caused this. I don't deserve your concern."

"Maya," Lucas breathed out, shocked. "You can't possibly mean that."

"It's what I feel," she repeated, as a tear slipped free. She knew how morbid what she had just said sounded, but it was the truth. She really was feeling that way. She thumbed away the tear, and sniffed, determined not to start full-out crying. "I know that's a bad thing to think," she told him, her voice a bit watery. "I guess that's why they're swapping gym for meetings with the counsellor for the rest of the semester at least."

"Yeah well it is a bit of a red flag," he agreed as he lowered his hands until they curled around her wrists. She looked down at it, marvelling at how much larger his were and how comforting she found the pressure. She twisted her wrists enough so that she could rub her thumbs against his skin.

"I think what you said goes beyond this week," he said carefully, "but I'm way out of depth here. I can tell you it's not your fault, but I can't make you believe it. Hopefully the counsellor can help you get there, but I want you to know this. I worry about you because you mean the world to me and I want you safe. I want you around. I was an idiot for a few days and I'm always going to regret the time I lost with you by being a stubborn fool. You are so important to me Maya, more so than you'll probably ever know, so believe me when I say I will never not want you in my life. I will always want you around me, Maya Penelope Hart and I hope that you can believe that."

Maya sniffled at that, his words a soothing balm against the ache she felt. Before she really realised what she was doing, she pulled her hands free from his, only to wrap them around his neck. His arms wrapped around her and he spread his legs so that he had the room to pull her in closer. She sighed when he started to rub at her back and nestled closer to him. Hugging him was way better than hugging the teddy bear, she thought, and considerably much better than trying to hug herself. She didn't feel capable of vocalising her own thoughts, but somehow, she knew that it was unneeded. Lucas knew that she felt the same. That she enjoyed his presence and that he meant a lot to her as well. That she would always want him to be with her.

That last thought had her tightening her grip on him the slightest bit more as she accepted exactly what that meant, what she was feeling right now and the reality that that feeling was not something she could build upon. And so, she took a shuddering breath and turned her head so that her cheek was now pressed on his shoulder. Just for today she would forget about reality, about everyone else and the things she should or should not be feeling. And then, tomorrow, she would lock all of that back away and re-focus her attention on the guy she was supposed to be feeling these things for.

Shane.

"So, you're going to tell me what's wrong or not?" Zay asked, as he stopped spinning Lucas' desk chair around as he had been doing for the past few minutes. He braced his hands against the chair arms as he was hit by a wave of vertigo. It really hadn't felt that bad while he had been swirling.

"Why do you think something is wrong?" Lucas replied, briefly popping his head out of the closet where he was hanging up a couple of shirts. "Can't I just invite my best friend over for a sleepover?"

Zay scoffed at that, sliding down in the seat so that he could rest his neck comfortably against the back of the chair. "Hey, you're the one who keeps insisting that people can have more than one best friends. That usually means that a certain boy genius always joins us for sleep overs which is why we have 'em at his place since his bedroom's huge."

"Well he did mention having plans with Smackle," Lucas rationalised.

"Yeah, she told me," he answered. "Some new revolutionary thingamabob that's only on display for this weekend. Poor soul tried to explain it to me but no dice. She gave me one of her books to read so hopefully it'll make more sense when I'm done with it."

"Wow," Lucas said, once more sticking his head out of the closet to look at him. "You're willingly reading a textbook?"

"Yeah well a guy's got to get some education in sometime," he replied, tone slightly defensive.

Lucas eyed him weirdly for a moment before shrugging and returning to his task.

"Anyway," Zay said, "you not inviting Farkle over means you don't want him to know about whatever it is has been bothering your behind all day. That means it's either Riley or Maya that's on your mind and you don't want him involved as yet because he's way too invested in them to give you an objective response."

"You know me way too well," Lucas replied, as he finally emerged from the closet, closing the door with relief. That would definitely pass inspection come tomorrow, he thought with satisfaction as he scanned the room to ensure that everything was as it should be, air mattress aside.

"Perks of knowing you my whole life," Zay responded cheerfully, "so, spill."

Lucas sighed deeply, his chest heaving with the effort as he dropped heavily down onto the bed. "This does not leave this room," he said seriously, pinning him with a firm look. "I mean it Isiah," he added, using his full name for emphasis. "What I have to say is big and it cannot get out until…well I don't know. There may never be an until but you can't breathe a word about it. Promise me or I shut this discussion down right now. We've all been through enough lately. Let's not rock the boat again."

Zay whistled at the severity of his tone. "Okay," he said, sitting up straight. "Hit me. What's going on?"

Despite his promise, Lucas still hesitated to respond. Even though they were safely in his bedroom and he knew that Zay would keep his word, it felt wrong to give voice to the thoughts that had been plaguing him since his afternoon yesterday with Maya, when suddenly he had felt a monumental shift within him, one that finally gave him a word with which to label the feeling that had been building up within him for a while now when it came to that particular blonde. He wasn't sure if it was something he should put out into the open for fear that that alone would lead to a disaster. But still, he felt as if he himself would go crazy if he didn't tell someone, anyone, and who better than his childhood friend?

"I like Maya," he said, his voice cracking as he made the admission. "I really like Maya, Zay," he added, with a helpless shrug. "I may even more than like her."

Absolute silence met his admission, one that surprised him. He hadn't expected that from Zay, after all, he had been the one who had been ribbing him from the get go about his and Maya's relationship, and how cosy they seemed to get with each passing day. He looked at him, confused, only to frown at the expression of profound sympathy on his friend's face.

"Oh Lukey," Zay intoned sadly, "what are we gonna do? What can we do?"

"Wait," Lucas said, confused. "Where's the gloating? The 'I told you so'?"

"I'll save that for your wedding," Zay replied, "and when I'm telling my nieces and nephews how much of a dumb-dumb their parents are. But right now we gotta figure out how to get you two there."

"Zay."

"Look Lucas," Zay explained, "I've only been teasing you about everything because I wanted you to realise what was happening. But we both know I ain't too good about long term planning, and it's bitten me in the ass a lot, like right now. I don't got a clue what you should do now Lucas. You love Maya. You've always loved Maya, and the girl's crazy about you too. I just don't know what the next step is. This won't just rock the boat if it gets out you know? It'll sink it right to the bottom of the sea if you don't handle this right."

"Maya loves me?" Lucas inquired, disregarding the rest of his words. "You really think so?"

"Naw," Zay said sarcastically. "The girl loves you just like she'd love a brother. That's exactly why she walked around like a kicked puppy for days when you had your head right up your behind and is willing to risk the wrath of Shane to keep on talking to you now. Really think about it, will ya? The blinders are finally off. You can probably list ten things right now that shows how smitten the girl is with you."

Lucas indeed thought about it, leaning back on his hands as he reflected on their quiet moments together. Maya had clung to him desperately the day before as if he had been the only thing anchoring her to reality and had spoken of topics he definitely knew she had not told to Riley because there was no way that the brunette would have kept something so deep to herself. She had pushed him back until he was leaning against her wall afterwards so that she could just snuggle close to him, her head resting comfortably against his chest until they'd been summoned to dinner, and even then she had let out a regretful sigh, as if leaving his side was the last thing that she wanted.

He thought of that moment in the subway station when they had finally put their issues to rest. Lucas recalled now the half-sob that she had let out when she'd heard exactly what he had meant to say, remembered how she had buried her face for one long moment before squaring her shoulders and stating firmly that it changed nothing between them. Except that it could have. Lucas felt so stupid now. In that moment, Maya had realised that by walking away at the lodge she had inadvertently lost the chance for the two of them to have been together, and then, selfless person that she was, instead of speaking her mind then, she had pressed on with the current situation, refusing to take away the happiness that Riley had.

Lucas swallowed heavily at that, his heart swelling that much further for the blonde who even now doubted herself. Maya had sacrificed her chance at a relationship with him for the sake of Riley, and, in order to avoid temptation had turned her attention elsewhere, even though, inevitably it seemed, they were being drawn back towards each other. Except that just couldn't happen, he thought dismally, coming right back to the dilemma that had been bothering him ever since he had left Maya's apartment. They both had feelings for each other, but there was no way they could have each other with a huge fallout, a fallout that neither of them wanted.

"She loves me," he finally said sadly, "and I do her, but there's absolutely nothing we can do about it. She'll never hurt Riley in that way and Riley…I still care about her Zay," he admitted. "She's my first real girlfriend and she's Mr. Matthews' daughter. I can't do her wrong. I can't do either of them wrong."

"I know you care about Riley, Lucas," Zay replied gently. "It's why you've been trying to give her your best. But Lucas, let me be honest with you. It just isn't working out buddy. And if you're honest with yourself, you'll admit that you know that."

"Maya had to tell me to take her on a date," he admitted ruefully. "It was as awkward as the first time we tried it. I don't think either of us had any real fun until we were just walking about talking-"

"Like you always do?" Zay interjected wryly.

"I guess Maya was right about that," he said reflectively. "Riley and I are best when we're talking…as friends. It's awkward otherwise. And you're right as well. I don't…feel like doing anything with her, you know?"

"Aye, let's keep this PG you pig," Zay joked.

"I don't mean like that," he snapped, tossing a pillow at him. "I mean the regular stuff, hand holding…kissing. I just don't feel it. She's adorable but sometimes I have to keep myself from chucking her under the chin like I'd do with Mary Beth. God, why hasn't Riley complained?" he asked, perplexed. "I thought I was being okay with her, but thinking about it…I haven't. And she's so vocal usually. Why hasn't she called me out on this?"

"I've got a theory," Zay replied with a shrug, "but trust me when I say I really don't think you've been hurting the girl in any way. She's been as vocal as you about how normal you and Maya are together and how stupid it is that Shane has a problem with it."

"Exactly," Lucas replied. "She'd say if she wasn't happy, and you're so right. She always equates me and Maya to her and…ohhhh," Lucas finished, his eyes widening. "You don't think…?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," he replied, lifting his hands defensively, "but yeah…I think there might be something there. I know you hate Shane, but the dude really does have a reason to be concerned. You and Maya act like a couple most of the time you know and maybe if Riley was more into you it'd be a problem for her as well. But I don't think that's either of your faults really. From what I've seen it's just always been that way with the two of you."

"Does Farkle like Riley?" Lucas couldn't help but ask, trying to wrap his mind around the new unfolding dynamics that he really hadn't paid much attention to thus far. Now that he was really considering it, he supposed that he could see signs of Riley liking Farkle, something, he noted with amusement, would have rendered seventh grade Farkle unconscious for a week. And, he supposed that it was a testament of his feelings towards Maya that he had absolutely no issue with her turning her attention elsewhere. The more he thought about it actually, the more he could actually see it working.

"I can't say definitely," Zay replied carefully, "but if what Smackle's been saying lately is anything to go by, she at least suspects it to be the case."

"She's said something to you?" he asked, curiously. "I now realised that you two are spending a lot more time together."

"Yeah well we sort of bonded over being companions on the periphery."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Zay shrugged. "Nothing."

"It is not nothing Isiah Babineaux," Lucas responded. "Tell me."

"It's just something Smackle came up with," he explained reluctantly. "She and I are the weakest links among the six of us with her being up for snipping before me.

"Why the hell do you think that?" he demanded, shocked.

"Because it feels like that sometimes," he muttered looking away.

Lucas stared at him for a moment. "What can I do to fix this?"

"There's not anything to be done," Zay responded. "When I first got to New York I felt like I'd lost you okay? I was so excited to get here, wanted to surprise you and you were far from happy. Look, I get it," he pushed on, preventing him from speaking, "I threw a bit of a spoke in the whole Lucas the Good bit you had going but you weren't the only one who changed Lukey and we were fine once you realised it. But it was still hard for me. I felt like the only reason Farkle and Riley let me join was because I was your best friend. I don't think Maya was bothered about it either way."

"She admitted once that she was glad that I'd gotten a piece of Texas back," he revealed.

"She'd say that," Zay acknowledged with a small smile. "I stopped feeling that way after a while but Smackle sort of brought it all back up when she admitted that she doesn't feel like she has a firm place. She's Farkle's girlfriend, and she's not sure what she'd be in the group if that goes away. I think that's why she keeps sizing herself up against Riley but more and more, I get the sense that she feels like she's losing."

"Smackle's our friend in her own right though," Lucas said, "at least that's how I feel and I know that Riley and Maya feel the same way."

"Yeah well we're sort of the first actual friends the girl's ever got, so excuse her for being protective of it."

"So that's why you're hanging out more?"

"Naw," Zay replied. "She's a great gal. That's why I like spending time with her. She got a spunky side underneath all that science stuff. It's fun to see it come out," he said with a small grin before growing serious. "That's why you're not in the clear Lukey," he said, pointing at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, honestly confused.

"Oh don't think I didn't notice how happy you got once I told you that Riley may not be into you romantically. What's not going to happen is you going happy go lucky to her place and declare that you two need to break up but it's fine because she likes Farkle so go for it! For one, there's been way too much outing of people's feelings in this group. People need to realise these things on their own and admit it in their own time. But besides that, I won't have Smackle thrown under the bus just for you to be happy. She deserves more than losing her boyfriend just because he likes someone else. Hell, even Shane deserves that.

"I know Maya forced your hand Lucas. She told you to choose Riley and you listened to her and did it. But that's the bed you made and now you've got to lie in it until you fine a proper way out of this mess. Because you had a choice. You could have torn that letter in two, told Riley who that your choice wasn't her and gone after Maya. But you didn't. You chose to commit yourself to Riley, and buddy if you realise now that you don't love her that way then fine, you don't deserve to be in a relationship with someone you don't care about romantically. But you can't just tell her that it's fine because she likes someone else as well. She doesn't realise that she likes Farkle and Farkle's up to his eyeballs in science. He probably still doesn't know that you can love people equally but not the same."

Lucas nodded, accepting the wisdom in his words. "I went into this thinking that me loving Maya meant nothing as it wouldn't change things. You've just shown me why. Besides, it doesn't change anything with Maya. She's at Crawford's all now fixing things with him."

"You mean cementing the lie?" he asked wryly.

"I know that it's going to blow up in our faces eventually," Lucas said tiredly, "but it's hard to tell her no when she's so desperate for a solution. Maya committed herself to Crawford just like I did to Riley, and even if I told her I love her, she wouldn't break up with him. She doesn't want to be her father. She's not just going to quit a relationship."

"So where does that leave you bud?" Zay asked sadly.

Lucas sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "It leaves me taking a page out of Maya's book," he responded. "I'll be the best boyfriend to Riley that I can be. I owe her that much. And, I'll continue to be there for Maya in any capacity that she wants and needs. Maybe the stars will align eventually and things will work out in my favour…but it's definitely something I need to let happen on its own."

"You know that won't be easy, right?" Zay said,

"I know," he answered gruffly. "But if Maya can do it, then I can as well. Loving her means wanting her happy. Me giving Riley my all will add to her happiness. I can live with that."

"For now," Zay remarked.

"Until," Lucas answered with a shrug, as he tried to convince himself that he would indeed, be okay.

A/N: As of tomorrow I start a new, full time job and will be balancing that with completing my coursework project due March 31st and preparing for exams soon after that. As a result, I'm going to give myself a more manageable schedule and set uploads for every other week rather than weekly until, I at least get the project submitted. I will be writing of course, but I don't want to put myself on a Sunday night 'deadline' for uploading. In the interim I will be combing through the story, looking for unresolved plotlines and also doing some superficial editing (mostly typos etc).

Also, for those curious, plotwise the story is about 60% complete. I honestly cannot say how much that translates to chapter wise (probably 15-25 more chapters) but for those wondering, that'll give you a possible figure.