Title: Sooner or Later
Category: Television Shows » Girl Meets World
Author: And The Moment's Gone
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Words: 6,419
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.
"Today is supposed to be my day."
He hadn't snuck up on her. There may have been a hitch in Maya's breath and a slight shake when he stepped up behind her, but Josh knew that Maya was well aware of their proximity every time they were in the room together. They were too alike that way.
One eye on the rest of the room, Maya leaned back into his front. "Is it not?" The hand not holding her drink gave the room an elaborate flourish. If Josh didn't know better, he would think that she was mocking him.
The last month had been one of the most hectic of his adult life. He defended his thesis the first week of May. Then he buckled down, signed the lease for his new apartment and crammed for finals the second. The third week was spent buried in books and pamphlets, or with scantrons and essay packets. He didn't see anyone that wasn't at work, his home, or in class. And in the middle of that mess, before grades were even posted and he was still in and out of classrooms and staying up all night revising essays, his family descended.
Amy had spent the entire week in the city, pretending to be as unobtrusive as possible as he finished his classes. She slept in Cory's guest room and spent her days looking at furniture for his new apartment and coordinating graduation parties with Topanga, Austin's mother, and Chris and Allie's parents. It was also Amy who decided that the boys needed to get a jump on their packing, organizing the collection of boxes and starting in on the apartment. This was probably the only time that Josh had been glad that his brother couldn't keep his mouth shut. Amy hardly batted an eye when she discovered Maya's stash of beauty products under his sink or the few articles of her clothing in his closet.
His father had arrived midweek post-finals. He brought with him dinner invitations and Josh's older sister, Morgan.
There simply was no peace after that.
And very little time for himself.
It didn't need to be said that he hadn't had much time for Maya as well. She'd returned from Atlanta with a pile of work that she needed to catch up on, a mother to take care of, and Shawn, who was still trying to wrap his head around her perceived lack of love life. Admittedly the first two were easier to deal with than the last.
Josh was pretty certain that if Maya hadn't been trying to avoid her roommate –and Shawn- by spending the nights she wasn't with her mother curled up on his couch studying for her own finals, he probably wouldn't have seen much of her before graduation.
His left hand ghosted her hip, using his thumb to apply pressure to the point just to the left of the base of her spine. "Well, you've had my attention all day."
Another smile, this one directed across the room to where Austin was sneaking a shot with Christian while Christian's father pretended he wasn't paying attention. "I haven't been with you all day." She corrected him without turning.
"You and Riley made 'Felicitations on Finishing your Matriculation' signs." Tapping his fingers against her hip again, Josh pointed to where Riley had propped the signs up against the wall. "I knew where you were the second I entered the stadium."
That wasn't to say that it wasn't pretty easy to find them. Due to the fact that there were over seven thousand graduates of the class of 2020 at NYU, the university's 188th Commencement Ceremony took place at Yankees Stadium. The graduates and faculty took over the Field Seating while their friends and family crowded into the main and terrace seating. Underclassmen took over the Grandstand, hosting their own graduation parties.
Thanks in no small part to Topanga making partner, the Matthews clan –along with Austin's mother, grandparents, and two younger sisters- got to watch from the comfort of her firm's luxury suite. He hadn't seen any of his family since breakfast that morning, and even then, it was only his parents and Morgan, but Riley had been very easy to find in the box's window, holding her bright pink sign in front of her peach flared dress and standing between Will and his 'summer suit' and Maya.
Maya, who had surprised him.
He knew the family was dressing up. It was almost a requirement to be allowed into the stadium. His sister had also narrowly escaped a lecture on proper attire when she admitted that she packed light and only had one sleeveless maxi dress with her at dinner when she arrived. It didn't stop his heart from jumping when he saw Maya leaning against the glass with her own sign, in a variated yellow to green sleeveless cocktail dress and a pair of white heels that she could probably kill someone in. Despite the sign in her hand –a very colorful '#UncleBoingFinishesCollege #AchievementUnlocked #Adulting' in her brilliant flowy script- she wasn't paying the field the least bit of attention during the President's Address. Instead, she and Morgan were sporting matching champagne flutes that most likely contained mimosas and Josh could see them skirting on the edge of his mother's patience by talking through the ceremony.
She rolled her eyes. Josh's lip quirked. "There's only one I in 'achievement'."
"I'm an art major." Maya shrugged him off.
"I'm pretty sure that Ma was going to murder you and Morgan." His sister was on the other side of the room now, tucked in a corner on her phone. There had been a bus accident the day after she had left Portland, and with her on the other side of the country, the hospital was short-staffed to handle the emergency.
Her flippant attitude was countermanded a bit by the smile across her lips. "Amy's all talk." She decided as she took another sip of her grenadine and coke. It may have been an open bar, but both Riley and Shawn had begged Maya to be on her best behavior. "And I happen to be sleeping with her favorite son. That gives me a free pass."
"I'm not so sure I'm her favorite anymore," Josh chuckled against her ear, nodding to where Amy had advanced on Morgan in the corner. His sister rolled her eyes and waved off a plate of veggies as she continued her conversation on the phone. "She's also talking about vacating Cory's and spending the next two weeks on an air mattress in my new apartment to help me get settled in while I start work."
Maya's eyes widened a fraction of a second, her smile never leaving her face. "Riley's back in town anyway." She tried to shrug off.
"Moesha!" On the other side of the room, Eric's hands were outstretched, and he gestured to Maya with a smile.
All thoughts of his mother and niece forbidding privacy for the next few weeks fled as Josh watched her smile widen, nose scrunching slightly. "Eggnog!" She shouted back, skipping across the room to wrap him in a hug.
"That's quite a girl you've got there." Josh forced himself not to jump when his father seemed to appear from nowhere. He handed him a bottle as he used his to point across the room to where Maya was twirled next to Eric before he physically inserted her into a conversation with Shawn's brother and his wife.
"We're not together." Josh attempted for casual. The grin on Alan's lips as he took another sip of his drink told him that he'd failed.
Alan was still nice enough to play along. "Oh, I know." Maya had now physically put herself between Austin and one of their friends, announcing that their argument was boring and Josh's roommate was now contractually obligated to dance with her. "I just wondered if it was possible for you to say that in a tone I'd actually believe."
"You're as bad as Ma." Josh couldn't deny the smile a second time.
Alan just shook his head. "There's a reason you're the youngest."
"You mean, other than the fact that I was born last?" Their shoulders bumped, and Josh grinned up at his father. "Surprise."
"I had to put up with your mother and Cory ranting about this for the last month and a half," Alan reminded his youngest. "You should be nicer to me." He nodded over to the corner where his mother had been caught in a conversation with Austin's grandmother, keeping one eye firmly on the corner that Morgan had retreated to. "You also owe your sister-in-law a thank you for convincing your mother not to inform Morgan of all this."
He wasn't sure where Maya had gotten the phrase she muttered every now and again about God and small favors, but Josh figured it applied right about now. Topanga was a saint. In more ways than one. As much as he would love to have his older sister weigh in on this, there was no way Maya was ready for the full-frontal assault that would be Morgan Matthews Howell
Josh wished that all conversations with his family were as easy as those with his father.
"Noted," Josh caught Topanga's eye as she gave the buffet table a scrutinizing eye. She nodded when he did. "You planning on staying when Ma does?"
"As long as I've got working internet, I can afford to stay for a little while." Josh could now add that to the long list of sentences that he never thought he'd hear come from his father's mouth. The store had done so well over the years that Alan had been able to add a second. Both of them had excellent managers, so all he would need to do is check emails, check the till totals, pay the bills, and handle any big customer issues while he was away. "Your mother apparently has big plans for your move."
"I'm starting to believe it's less blessing and more curse that this family seems to insist on importing strong women." Laughter cut off his last word, and both men were drawn to the sight of Maya shoving an entire cupcake into her mouth as she dodged Eric by skirting another table. While his older brother was focused on the blonde, Riley relieved the plate he had passed off of the second cupcake, taking a dainty bite with one eye on her the spectacle.
"So how does this work, exactly?"
Alan's voice was far more casual than the subject matter led him to believe that it should be. Eric had caught up to Maya, slinging her over his shoulder –keeping one arm against her knee to make sure her skirt stayed down- and forcing her back to the dessert table so she could pick a suitable replacement cupcake for him to atone for her crime.
He was ashamed to admit that it took him a good minute to realize that his father had returned to the discussion of him and Maya. What Josh wouldn't give for a full night's sleep?
When he didn't respond, Alan nodded to the other side of the room. "Riley's home for the summer," he continued. "And those two have always been joined at the hip." In complete disregard of the chastisement that she had just received, Maya stole a cookie off of Will's plate when he passed. He knew his smile was huge. And it had everything to do with the fact that the last time Josh saw that look in Maya's eyes, she was crawling over him on the couch demanding they both take a well-deserved study break. "Are you two just going to hit pause and pick back up when Riley heads back to New Haven?"
"We managed well enough during Christmas Break." Admittedly that sentence came without Josh actually thinking about it. He also hadn't been much of a facilitator during that period of time. He pretty much just followed Maya's lead. It also served as a reminder that this time next week, he and Austin would no longer be sharing an apartment. That was going to take some getting used to. "Italy didn't suck either." That statement earned him another shoulder bump from his dad. Josh had no idea what his brother had told him, but something hinted at it not being remotely close to what actually happened. "And Riley's got that week in Tahoe coming up, Maya's gonna be headed upstate for her weekend with Katy." He also officially started work the Monday after they moved him into his new place. "We'll manage."
"The last time I saw this much determination on one of my boys, your brother was making an argument for hiding your sister-in-law in his bedroom when she ran away." It was said absently. Josh wondered it Alan even realized that he'd said it.
"That's not entirely true." He wasn't sure when his brother appeared, leaning against the pillar with both shoulders. Eric finished off his unmolested cupcake and pointed at their father with the hand that held the wrapper. "Do you remember the PowerPoint presentation this one came up with for why he should be allowed to knock the wall out and appropriate Morgan's room when she graduated?"
Oh, the things from his childhood that Josh wished his family would forget. "He even offered your mother a bigger closet." Alan's smile was back full force now. On the other side of the room, Amy smiled and waved at her husband. "Speaking of," Alan dropped his empty bottle on the table closest to them.
"You have fun, Dad!" Eric called after him. "My baby brother just graduated from college." There was a melancholy tone to Eric's voice that Josh didn't care for. Probably because Eric had always been the bright spot of the Matthews kids. "God, I feel old."
"You are old." Josh dodged Eric's arm, sidestepping the pillar. "Could be worse, though." He nodded over to where Cory was enthralled with a conversation with Riley and Farkle. "You could have an eighteen-year-old daughter of your own in college."
Eric nodded with a smile. "Cory's always been older than me anyway." Logistically the sentence was absolutely absurd, but Eric seemed to make it work.
In front of them, Maya lured Morgan onto the makeshift dance floor as Austin plugged his phone into the speaker jack. Both men contemplated the scene in front of them for a little longer than was necessary before Eric clasped his brother's shoulder.
"Are you gonna tell me about that?" He asked, the light-hearted tone returning to his voice.
Josh officially wanted to throw his brother out of the nearest window. "Cory got to you too?"
Eric's brow rose. "I have eyes, bro." He followed Josh's gaze to the floor again. Riley had pulled Will to the floor, and Austin was twirling Maya around just to see her skirt flare. "And I've never seen that look in yours before."
Josh drained his beer, rolling the bottle between his palms. "That's," he took a breath. "Complicated."
"That's easy." His brother laughed, nodding when Maya took notice. "She's complicated." Eric turned so he was facing Josh now, and he slid his unoccupied hand into his pants pocket. "No one says you have to have it all figured out right this second. You do you, Joshie." There was a pause, and Eric seemed to re-evaluate his sentence. "Well," he decided, "You do her, and she'll do you." If there was anything wrong with the way it sounded, Eric was far from concerned. "It'll all work out."
His neck swiveled in order to look his brother in the eyes. "That's really all you have to say about it?" Amy had talked his ear off about his future, his father smiled and nodded because anything Alan had to say was already said. Josh didn't even want to think about the three stunted conversations that Cory had tried to have with him.
Eric just shrugged. "I like Maya," he stated plainly. "She's been niche adjacent for –what- fifteen years now? And under that bravado," Eric trailed off as the blonde approached. "Don't lose that." He advised sagely.
"Wasn't planning on it." Was all Josh could get out before Maya made a show of stomping up to them.
"Old man Matthews." She announced, arms crossing over her chest. "You realize you just graduated college, right?" If her lower lip jutted out anymore, Josh was going to kiss her. It didn't matter who was in the room. "Why the hell are you standing over here in the corner?"
He wanted to point out that she had started it. After all, this was where he had found her. Instead, he glanced at Austin and the rest of the group in the middle of the floor. "I hadn't been asked to dance yet." Eric grinned at him when he winked at her.
"I don't ask." Maya's voice was dangerously low, and she threaded her hand into his, tipped an imaginary hat in the good Senator's direction, and pulled him out to join the rest.
Growing up twelve years younger than the closest sibling to you meant that there were a lot of moments in the life of a normal younger child that you never get to experience.
It also could mean that you get the mortifying moments later down the road. Like when your older sister can't seem to remember which one of the only two doors on your side of the apartment leads to the bathroom.
"Really Morgan?!" Josh shouted, balling up the dress shirt he had just pulled from his body and flinging it at his sister, who was still standing in his doorway gaping at him. He stepped over to his desk to grab the shirt he was changing into, considering dropping his pants just to see if it would motivate her. "Jesus! Get out of here already!"
"What the hell is that?" She countered, tossing his shirt at his bed so she could step closer to him.
Josh groaned. "My chest?" He offered helpfully. "It's been attached to me all my life! This can't be the first time you've seen it."
He had his shirt over his head and had almost managed to pull it across said chest when his sister's nails stopped him. "I've seen your chest, dumbass." She pulled the shirt back up over his shoulder, catching his left peck with one of her nails. "I'm talking about the thing on your chest!"
"There's a thing on Josh's chest?" Riley shouted from the living area. Austin barked out a laugh as Josh threw his eyes around the room to make sure anything that could possibly be Maya's was out of sight before his mother and niece could turn the corner.
Taking a step away from his sister, Josh just went ahead and shed his shirt again. If he was going to be scrutinized, he refused to have it done with his arms over his head.
"It's a tattoo." He called back out to the living area where Austin was joking with his father about 'some growth'. "Morgan's got one on her ass if we're getting touchy about it!" He didn't catch what Maya's comment to that was, but his sister cracked her knuckles against his stomach as his mother moved her out of the way so she could see it properly.
"Dude!" With his shirt out of the way, Morgan apparently had a better look. His mom traced the dragon's tail, and Josh shook his head. "This artwork is sick!"
"No one says 'sick' anymore." Josh cut Morgan off with a huff.
Another tap to his stomach and Josh wondered if there was a way to accidentally pop her back without getting caught. "Maya! You have to come see this piece!"
The grunt of disinterest got another laugh from Austin. "Unless there's a Pikachu suddenly riding that dragon, I'm pretty sure I've seen enough of it!" He could just imagine her rolling her eyes as she scrolled through her Instagram while waiting for everyone to be changed and ready for dinner. She and Riley had made a pit stop at Shawn's on their way to the apartment to ditch their graduation gear in favor of something a bit more comfortable for the low-key Matthews family dinner that Senator Matthews had decided to treat his family to.
Amy's eyes widened comically as Morgan laughed. "I take it this is one of yours?" She called back.
Apparently tired of shouting, Maya appeared leaning against the door jam. "Riley's got my handwriting on her foot. Topanga's got one of my pieces on her ankle. Josh has me on his chest, and Shawn's got a piece on his wrist." She didn't seem too interested in revealing the fact that her 'piece' that Shawn was wearing was actually her name. "If I keep it up, all of the Matthews clan can have their own piece of Maya."
Again, Amy appeared scandalized, which only caused Morgan to laugh harder. "I'm totally buying you a drink tonight!"
"She's nineteen!" Alan shouted from his place on the lounger.
"I'll buy myself a drink!" Morgan called back. "And just let you drink it." A quick wink and she stepped back, handing her brother his shirt.
Before Josh could work his arms through the cloth, Riley was taking her aunt's place. "This looks so much better than the drawing." Josh shook his head as Maya guffawed. It was literally the exact same work. Maya had helped convert it herself. "Are you sure I can't convince you to design me one?"
"Can I please have the room so I can change?" Josh spat out before Maya could answer her. Amy nodded once, satisfied that her son had merely marked himself and wasn't disfigured now -which the more Josh thought about it was a bit more disappointing than he thought it would be- and slid back from the room. Morgan merely winked at him as he donned his shirt, earning herself a giggle from Riley and Josh's middle finger.
"Daddy! Josh just flicked me off!"
Maya was the last out, shaking her head at his family as she pulled the door shut.
An hour later had Josh wondering if his brother understood the meaning of the phrase low-key.
He was fairly certain that contracting an entire Japanese Tapas Bar just outside Little Italy was nowhere near that description.
Josh supposed it was just his brother's way of celebrating him and Austin, and Alan did point out that with the edition of A's family, Will, Lucas, Farkle, Isadora, Ava, and Dewy they would have had to try to find a place that would be able to fit 25 comfortably, which while not impossible would certainly be a feat.
He had to hand it to his brother, though, he chose a pretty amazing place.
"You give it to her yet?" Austin was propped over the back of his chair after the entire bar was treated to Eric betting his baby sister that she couldn't eat a spoonful of wasabi without crying.
Morgan won, which only seemed to add to the absurdity of the challenge. It was probably par for the course, seeing as his roommate didn't seem to understand the concept of whispering or personal space.
"Of course I did." Josh spun on his stool, making sure to pull the glass of sake that his sister ordered for him out of Maya's reach since he turned his back to her. When Shawn's brow rose on the other side of the bar, Josh leaned closer to his best friend. "Because I can't think of anything that would thrill my commitment-phobe non-girlfriend more than me offering her a key to my new place while literally surrounded by my entire family."
Austin's mouth hung open for a moment as if he was trying to figure out whether or not answering sarcasm with sarcasm was a good plan at this juncture.
He apparently decided against it. "I could do it." Josh had long since had it confirmed that Austin had been the one to offer Maya a key to the place they were moving out of. He'd laughed himself off of the couch when Austin admitted that it was based entirely on the fact that his room was closest to the front door, and he was getting tired of her waking him up. "It'll be just like old times."
"Can it really be 'old times' if it was five months ago?" Josh asked without thinking. When his best friend's mouth opened, Josh shook his head. "Don't answer that."
"This doesn't have to be nearly as complicated as you think it does." Austin caught the attention of the bartender, nodding to his almost empty beer bottle.
Josh didn't have an answer for that.
Mostly because Austin was right. Giving Maya the key should have been as easy as breathing. A smile, a joke, and a comment about her running away from her roommate really would be all that was needed. Then again, Josh knew that Maya still hadn't decided whether or not to put some of her scholarship toward another housing allowance, or if she was just going to move into Shawn's –after all, she was there every night she wasn't with him anyway- full time. As much as he hated to admit it, they'd done such a good job of ignoring the elephant that his family had shoved into the room with the revelation that they were together that he was afraid to push his luck.
"This is easy," he paraphrased Eric's sentiment from earlier that day. "She's complicated."
Austin accepted the fresh bottle with a smile and a nod. There was a giggle from the other side of the room, Morgan, Maya, and Riley had wedged themselves into the same two feet of a booth with Will, Farkle, and Lucas. Josh completely missed his best friend studying his profile, watching as her face softened at the image of his sister and his lover animatedly whispering to each other.
"Just give her the damn key, Matthews." Austin offered before taking a long drag of the bottle.
As much as he wanted to follow his best friend's advice, Josh knew it probably wasn't going to happen that night. He shook his head eyeing the leather jacket draped on the back of the chair closest to his mother. His keychain had gotten heavier as he had taken to carrying around the one he got for Maya as well, a simple stamped metal disc with the words 'I hope your day is as nice as your ass' that they had found last time he allowed her to drag him back out to the Brooklynn Flea. He hadn't even had the apartment when he bought the keychain, and no aspirations to actually give it to her. Now it seemed to be mocking him.
Josh missed Austin abandoning him at the bar. He'd also somehow missed Austin sliding into the open seat beside Maya, and then being used as a chair when the blonde realized that the three women couldn't eat –or move- while sitting on top of each other.
She seemed less than concerned about inhibiting his roommate from being able to reach his beer in the middle of the table.
There was a shout, Austin grumbled, and Lucas stood carefully, deftly swapping seats with Farkle in order to pull Maya from the older man's lap, dropping them both in the same chair and then nodding to whatever draft beverage was in front of him. Topanga and Katy joined the crowd –more critiquing from the sidelines- and Josh came back to himself around the time Shawn stepped up to the bar.
Josh took a deep breath and counted to ten before he shifted in his seat, acknowledging the man who might as well be another older brother.
"She's been avoiding me." Shawn took a long sip of his beer as Josh contemplated the words.
The 'she' in question was obviously the vivacious blonde who had managed to talk Morgan out of her cocktail. Maya had relinquished Lucas's drink and was sharing a plate of something with Will while the conversation flowed.
"She just finished her first year of NYU with a 3.5." Josh reminded the older man with a smirk. "And didn't you spend a week in Cali and the next two in Spain?"
The look Shawn spared him was a blatant reminder that those three things didn't mean that his initial assessment wasn't correct. Then something cracked in the traditional Shawn Hunter façade. "I've been told I owe you an apology."
Josh followed Shawn's gaze across the room, noting that both his sister-in-law and Maya's mother were watching them from the corner of their eyes. "You've been told?"
"You're a good kid," Shawn started. "Responsible, with a decent head on your shoulders." Shawn had glanced down at him again before scooting his eyes across the room. Josh didn't turn this time, letting the softening around Shawn's lids tell him who he was looking at. "And I may not understand it," there was a quick intake and Shawn muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'makes no fucking sense to me'. "But your current 'arrangement' makes sense for you." Maya jumped from Lucas's lap, shouting about something Riley had said while the brunette's cheeks flushed. "I've certainly never seen her as happy. So, I'm sorry."
Josh nodded, signaling for a beer as he drained the sake glass he'd been holding. "Thanks," he nodded, hoping that this would mean the end of whatever tension between him and Shawn that they had been working with the last few weeks. He accepted the bottle –and a glass that he hadn't ordered that looked suspiciously like the one Maya had just drained- and turned back to the table. "But we both know I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to." Shawn gave him one quick nod, and Josh slid across the floor, trying to figure out exactly where he was going to park himself at the booth.
"Josh knew the first day." Maya was explaining to the table, Riley's flush only getting deeper. "Did you honestly think he wouldn't notice?" She held on to the back of Lucas's chair and waved to the table "'Goodnight Neverland!" Farkle's eyebrow rose, and Josh knew exactly what the genius would allude to if he thought he could get away with it. Riley hadn't been the only one who thought she could slide into someone else's room unnoticed.
Riley sputtered a few times, curling into her boyfriend, much to everyone else's delight. Morgan glanced up at him as he replaced Maya's drink and slid into the empty, backward chair to the other side of Farkle.
"You really thought you could 'chaperone' this trip?" Her smile was apparent.
Josh shook his head, nodding to Riley and Will. "I thought I could chaperone nothing." A quick sip of his drink and he angled his head to the side of the table where Maya was now bookended by Farkle and Lucas. "I had one job in Italy." Morgan's eyebrows rose, Lucas sputtered against the lip of his beer, and Maya's eyes lit up. "To make it back to New York with the same number of people we left the country with."
"Then I'd say you did a splendid job!" Farkle raised his drink with a flourish.
He wasn't sure where the 'hear, hear' came from. The next thing he knew there was an entire flight of fresh food being dropped onto the table while Maya slid off of Lucas's lap. Josh watched her cast a glance over to where Riley was feeding Will, and her mother was mock scolding Cory and Shawn for something before she stepped up behind him.
She skimmed her fingers between his shoulder blades, stopping when she brushed the nape of his neck. "You got a minute?" Josh still didn't understand how her breath could brush his earlobe without her being right next to it, but Maya managed it all the same.
By the time he had made it onto his feet, Maya was already rounding the staircase that separated the restaurant from the landing that led to the street. He grabbed his jacket out of habit, not entirely sure they would need it at the end of May,
Maya accepted it with a smile, pulling it on over her tunic top and leading him onto the sidewalk and down to the end of the building.
He stopped when she came up short, turning and sliding her hand across the top of his belt and pulling him toward her. "I didn't get you a graduation present." She whispered against his lips as she backed up to the side of the building. His hand dropped to her hip, making up the height difference by lifting her slightly so she was pinned to the building by his hips.
"This is me not caring."
Her hand slipped beneath his shirt, nails biting into the muscles at his side. While this wasn't the first time they had seen each other since finals, Maya hadn't spent the night in the week that Riley had been home, and with his mother breezing in and out of his apartment, they hadn't tried to chance time alone during the day.
One of them groaned, and Josh could feel her fighting the urge to slide her left hand down to join her right. The sound came again as Josh slid his hand further up her thigh, pulling her roughly against his hips.
"I'm not going to last another week," Maya muttered against his neck when they both needed air.
The words were on the tip of his tongue now. The only reason they were making out against the side of the building was because Maya hadn't told Riley yet. One little push could solve that problem.
Maya's lips trailed down his neck and Josh shuttered under the realization that one little push could also be the end of this.
"Come home with me tonight." He said instead. Maya stiffened in his arms, and Josh ran his thumb in circles on her thigh. "Mom and Dad are at Cors. Morgan's at the Regent." Maya's muscles relaxed just a touch. "I don't care what you tell Riley -if you tell Riley," he cut her off when her mouth opened. "I want you in my bed tonight."
Something flickered in Maya's eyes, an emotion that Josh didn't have the ability to name. Then the blonde in his arms was nodding. Her hand slid across the nape of his neck, anchoring herself in his hair as she pulled his lips back to hers.
"I have something for you." He said on their way back in the building. He wasn't sure how long they'd been gone, but he knew that someone was bound to notice.
Maya laugh was unadulterated. "It's your graduation," her brow furrowed.
"I've never claimed to be conventional." He pulled his keys out of his pocket, flicking the release on the oversized lock that served as the center of his keychain. Maya's key dropped into his palm without prompting and he held it out, chain first, in her direction.
"It's a key."
She hadn't taken it yet, which was Josh tried not to take as the first sign that he had made a mistake.
He met her eyes over the top of the key. "It's your key." Josh had to give himself credit. His voice never wavered.
"My key?" Maya's did.
"This time next week I'll be in a new place." He reminded her, dropping the object into her palm. "Since Austin won't be there to wake up whenever you feel like dropping by…" He let the end of the sentence drop as she turned it over in her hands. "And Shawn's taking some time off of traveling. I thought it might give you a guaranteed quiet place to study next semester."
It was entirely possible Maya had yet to blink.
"My key," she repeated again, finally catching his eyes with hers.
"I told Aus that I wasn't going to give it to you tonight." Once the words started, he couldn't get himself to stop. "So if you could not mention it, I'd be appreciative."
It seemed to give Maya enough for her to come back to herself. "How appreciative?"
He slung his arm over her shoulder, dropping a kiss on the top of her head as he pulled open the door to the bar. "You're already coming over tonight," his voice dropped a fraction of a decibel as he dropped his jacket onto one of the far tables. "Ask me again later."
"Where the hell have you two been?" Morgan was in between the bar and the table they had claimed, a beer in one hand and a plate in the other.
Maya's eyes widened and Josh shook his head. "I was giving Maya her graduation present." He shot back, reaching for the beer he had abandoned. He made sure to catch Riley's eye as he took a swig, to gauge the reaction of them coming back together.
There was none.
Morgan's eyebrow rose before she shook her head. "Confusion isn't going to make me forgive you." She was pointing at Maya, who was clearly resembling a deer caught in headlights.
"It just slipped out." Lucas had caught on the Maya's train of thought now, lifting up in his seat slightly in order to catch her eye. Seeing the Texan smile at her managed to calm a fraction of her nerves.
"Slipped out?" Maya repeated.
There was a curse, and a shake of Morgan's head as she rolled her eyes again. "Why in the hell didn't you tell me that you guys got my baby brother to sing karaoke?" The relief flooded from Maya in a breath. "I have one more call to make," Morgan held her phone out as if she needed to remind everyone that her husband was on the other side of the country dealing with a multi-casualty accident, and then pointed back at the teenagers at the table. "And then we're blowing this popsicle stand and you can show me what you've got."
Maya stole Lucas's beer as she slid back into her previous perch on his lap. "How many cabs do you think we're gonna need?" She threw out to Farkle, who had his phone out, already reserving a room.