A/N: Ahahaha I'm going through a slight withdrawal... I need Lucaya... Must... not... watch... episodes... Also, I know something in this oneshot will seem weird, but yes, people do go skiing during the early summer (at least, they do where I'm from I guess).

Enjoy! Thank you for the reviews everyone! I really appreciate the kind words and I'm glad you guys are enjoying the oneshots! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW.


Title: Observation
Pairings&Characters: Josh, Lucas, Maya, Lucas/OC, Joshaya (false ploy), Lucaya (observed)

Genre:
Friendship, Humor, Fluff, Wangst, damn idk..., AU
Rating: Low T/K+ for
Keeping An Eye On Two Stubborn People
Summary: Josh is convinced that Lucas and Maya are in denial.

Direct continuation of Speculation. (Part 2/3 of Josh noticing Lucaya chemistry and interaction)

Request by notasbigajerkasicould'vebeen, wawawawa12, crookedcheshire(juiceboxxes) for more Josh observation of Lucaya chemistry. Thank you for your patience with me! And thanks for the request! :D

Request by Isazu for Maya getting boiling jealous over Lucas. It's not quite boiling jealousy, but she definitely is jealous. Thank you for your request, love! :3


Josh was kind of annoyed.

He knew he didn't have romantic feelings for Maya. She was the best friend of his niece; in essence, something like a little sister and despite all her attempts for him to see her as anything else, he knew it would never happen.

But he couldn't lie. It was a little weird not having Maya's infatuation every time he walked through the door. He was by no means interested in her, but he liked being liked. It was just a part of human nature.

So he did kind of miss all her bright goofy smiles and silly little goofball antics to try to get him to notice her.

It started out as little things like she would stop trying to casually touch him. Then her hugs when he walked in the door slowly dissipated. And then her eyes lost their extreme sparkle of excitement. And then it was just casual waves. And before he knew it, she would be too preoccupied to notice when he entered the apartment, and when he did, she barely acknowledged it or just jutted her chin in greeting.

But Josh wasn't clueless or dense. He could see as plain as day why she slowly started changing her behaviour towards him.

It had a little something to do with Lucas. And the brand new girlfriend he got.

And that was why Josh was annoyed.

~.~.~

Josh was spending his summer in New York City because of a summer class he was taking at NYU, and as expected, he stayed with his brother. And coincidentally, he ended up hanging out pretty often with Riley and her friends.

So he was there when Lucas got a girlfriend at the end of their junior year of high school.

Samantha Morley was nice. Pretty. A smart and sensible girl. The kind you could easily bring home to your parents who would bake muffins and even remember to bring some treats for the pets. Josh figured Lucas scored in terms of a girlfriend. Lucas could do a lot worse, seeing as how everyone and their grandmother was basically in love with him.

(Josh figured it was the biceps. Girls couldn't seem to get enough of his biceps).

So Josh was rather surprised when Maya's behaviour subtly changed.

Lucas brought Samantha with them to the summer fair, so they could get to know her. Josh wasn't sure if he was right or not, but he was positive that Maya was pissed off. She all but forced Josh to go on all rides and play all the games with her, but he noticed that she only ever wanted to go somewhere where Lucas was headed with his girlfriend.

Not only that, but Maya would purposely hug Josh all the time and hold his hand and she would laugh unbelievably hard and loudly whenever he would say anything, even if it wasn't even funny. He told her at some point that he was going to hurl after she'd made him ride the spinny cup thing multiple times, and she had cracked up so hard, people around their area had turned to them in confusion and intrigue at what could possibly have been so funny for her to laugh that hard.

Josh just thought the whole façade was weird and wondered if Maya was starting to do the whole obsession thing with him again until he glanced over at Lucas and noticed the baseball player was staring at the two of them. Lucas' eyes briefly met his, and then Lucas blinked and looked away quickly, responding to something Samantha had said.

When Josh looked at Maya, she looked triumphant and then proclaimed loudly to Josh (and in Lucas' direction) that she wanted to ride the Ferris wheel with Josh so she could fulfill her fantasy of getting kissed at the top. Josh had told her quietly that he wasn't going to kiss her and she shrugged, unaffected by his rejection.

But a quick look at Lucas' somewhat clenched jaw and narrowed eyes told Josh that Josh hadn't been the target of that comment. And that said comment had its desired effects.

At the end of the night, Josh offered to walk Maya home, but she refused, wanting to walk on her own. And then Lucas had asked if she wanted a ride, saying that he could drop her off after Samantha's.

"No thanks." Maya all but spat. "I wouldn't want to intrude on your couple time."

In the end, Josh had walked her home anyway, but Maya sulked the whole way, didn't say a word, and she barely said goodnight to him before slamming her apartment door in his face.

And Josh knew Maya was sour about Lucas.

So Josh observed.

~.~.~

Samantha became something of a tagalong member for most of the summer, due in part to the fact that she was dating Lucas. She fit in with the group well enough—she was like a less hyper version of Riley with the sweetness of Farkle and the integrity of Lucas—but it became obvious to Josh that Maya was not particularly fond of the girl.

Josh had first assumed her irritation was because she hadn't gotten into that summer program out of the country, but as days passed, it became apparent to him that she was frustrated only when Lucas or Samantha were around.

And then he realized it was really only Samantha who Maya was annoyed with.

That afternoon, he, Cory, and Shawn had been putting the final touches on the trip to a ski resort their huge group would be going on when Maya had barged in, laughing with Lucas.

"C'mon Huckleberry! Give it back."

"Hmm… I don't know if I want to."

He was holding her cellphone over his head and being a full head and then some taller than Maya, Josh could already see that she wasn't going to be getting that phone anytime soon.

"I'm not afraid to climb you like a tree, you know?"

"Go right ahead."

"You're a pain in the ass!"

It had been a typical interaction between the two of them, playful, goofy, with just enough sass and sarcasm to keep one entertained but not annoyed.

And then Shawn spoke to Lucas.

"Everything is all set for our trip, but we have an extra seat. Why don't you bring along your girlfriend, Lucas?"

It was only by chance that Josh happened to glance at Maya instead of Lucas after the statement.

Because in a split second, he saw her stiffen. Saw her face darken in annoyance when Lucas agreed. Saw her lips turn down in a frown. And then she walked away from Lucas, sitting with Farkle on the couch.

She was oddly quiet for the rest of the afternoon.

And when Josh and the rest of them decided to go out for ice cream, she decided to just go home.

He thought it was strange.

And even stranger was, when as she left, she and Lucas glanced at each other briefly before she snapped her gaze away and stormed out the door.

~.~.~

Josh knew Maya was jealous.

He wondered if she herself knew.

Because he could see it on her face plain as day. And he was pretty sure everyone else could too.

After all, Maya tended to have a peeved look on her face whenever Lucas and Samantha were together.

When they were taking a stroll through the snow and Samantha and Lucas held hands. When at the restaurant, Lucas and Samantha were talking really closely. When at the cabin they shared little kisses.

But above all, Josh knew Maya was jealous because she clung to Josh like nobody's business. Anytime they paired up for anything, Josh was guaranteed a partner because Maya stuck to him like glue.

And Lucas definitely noticed.

Late one night, Josh had walked downstairs to grab some water because he was parched, and he had heard some hushed voices in the hallway.

When he peeked around the corner, he saw Lucas and Maya arguing, their voices hissing in that way one wanted to be heard, but stay quiet at the same time.

"Can you tone it down with the sarcastic responses to everything? You're making Samantha feel uncomfortable."

"I'm sarcastic. It's what I do." Maya said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "It's not me who needs to tone it down. Maybe your little girlfriend should toughen up."

"What's gotten into you? Every time I try to talk to you, you bite my head off. And every time I see you, you're always all over…"

Lucas tapered off with a frown, but Maya grinned sardonically, picking up on what he had been a few seconds from saying.

"So that's what this confrontation is really about. You don't care about me being snarky to Samantha. You're just jealous of all the time I'm spending with Josh."

"No. I'm not jealous."

"Whatever Huckleberry."

"You're the one who's jealous. I know what you're doing. You're using Josh to try to make me jealous."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are. Admit it."

"I don't have to admit anything."

Josh knew they were supposed to be mad at each other, but he could have sworn, through that unbelievably thick tension between them, they were having eye sex. It was almost crazy how any second it looked like they were going to make out. It made him unbelievably uncomfortable. They weren't saying a word, yet it was like Josh was watching them tear each other's clothes off and screw each other.

But then they turned away from each other with scoffs and rolls of eyes and stormed back to their rooms.

~.~.~

By the fourth day of the trip, it became obvious to most everyone that Lucas and Maya were having "relationship" issues. And it was annoying everyone. And the funniest part to Josh was the fact that they weren't even a real couple, yet it seemed like they were bickering like one. Josh felt a little bad for Samantha, who had no idea what was going on between the two of them. Josh had always suspected there was something between them though. Turned out he was right. But this whole fighting thing was just sad, and it was putting a real damper on everyone's summer time excursion.

So Josh devised a plan to get them to cool it a bit with the snippy comments and caustic jabs during an evening where a blizzard kept them lodged in the cabin. Doubles trivia with another cabin next door.

(Josh did have other ulterior motives though. They had a daughter his own age who was pretty damn cute).

And knowing how competitive the two were, everyone forced them to be on the same team, because no one sure as hell wanted to be on a team with them. Not only did they get too intense, but being on teams against each other would only make it turn out into a full on war.

And it proved fruitful, because it didn't take long for Lucas and Maya to turn into a dynamic duo, kicking butt in the trivia and sharing high fives and acting like good old pals once again.

In fact, they kicked so much butt that about an hour later, everyone left for their own personal activities, tired of losing to the two, and it was only Josh, Maya and Lucas left. (The girl turned out to have had a boyfriend, so nothing had happened there unfortunately). But Josh was just about dead asleep on his feet and decided he needed some shut eye if he didn't want to fall asleep skiing the next day.

"Alright kiddies. You two have fun." Josh said as he left the lounge.

He didn't know what compelled him to turn around and glance at them before he left, but he did.

"I bet I could so beat you at this one on one." Maya snarked, "Let's go. You and me."

"Then we're upping the stakes." Lucas said, a serious look on his face, "If I win, you have to tell me the truth."

"The truth?"

"What's going on with us, Maya?"

Maya clammed up, staring at Lucas wide-eyed, a faint blush painting her cheeks rosy red.

They sat there in front of the fireplace for a long time, just staring at each other and not saying anything. Josh stood there for a moment, absolutely confused, wondering what they were conveying with their gazes.

But he knew with that question, something between them had indubitably shifted.

~.~.~

Josh wasn't sure what had been said between them or how the rest of their evening went because eventually he'd grown tired of the silence and left, but Maya was noticeably nicer to Samantha, giving her tips on how to ski and promising to show her some of her sketches.

Maya kept away from Lucas, though, and Josh could tell she wasn't cheerful or very happy. She kept to herself, not really participating in some of the tomfoolery and antics and sometimes just staring off into space contemplatively. She didn't even try to seek out Josh, and whenever Lucas wasn't looking, Maya would stare at him forlornly.

What she didn't know was that whenever she wasn't looking, Lucas would look at her the same way too.

Josh thought it was ridiculous. They obviously both liked each other.

And then Maya actually got injured on the slope. Samantha had taken a nasty tumble and lost control of her skis and Maya had taken it upon herself to help Samantha make a cleaner stop, at the cost of running into a rock herself and suffering a pretty nasty compound fracture on her lower leg and getting a concussion.

And Lucas flipped a shit.

Josh could honestly say he had never seen the usually calm and controlled Lucas act so out of control and frightened and worried and anxious in his life. And judging by everyone else's shocked reactions to his behaviour, they'd never seen him that way either.

Everything was okay though. Maya was taken to a hospital, had a successful surgery to realign her bone and after a couple days in a recovery room, was casted, given crutches and allowed to come back to the lodge to rest. She was hopped up on painkillers and thinking she was a dog, but at least she was comfortable.

(Josh would not lie. It was the most hilarious thing ever to see Maya yipping and barking like a dog. Lucas took a video and Josh knew she would never live it down).

Josh had come up with the idea that one person stay with her every hour or two to keep her company since she couldn't ski the rest of the trip and was ordered bedrest, but before anyone else could hop aboard that plan, Lucas had volunteered to stay the whole time with loopy Maya and watch over her.

And then Lucas had picked Maya up bridal style to take her to her room, against her protests.

"Put me down! I can walk, Ranger Rick!"

"On what leg, Shortstack?" he snorted.

Maya blushed and buried her face in Lucas' jacket when Zay and Katy kept teasing her that she was like a young bride.

Josh had forgotten all about the ordeal as he had left to go back to flirting with the coffee shop cutie, but when he came back to the lodge in the evening and everyone was chilling in front of the fireplace doing their own thing, he noticed Lucas wasn't there. He headed to Maya and Riley's shared room to check on Maya.

The door was somewhat open, and he peered in. Lucas and Maya were lying on top of the covers, facing each other and just talking. He knew it wasn't right to eavesdrop, but Josh wanted to know what it was that they were talking about for Lucas to look so affectionate and Maya to look so bashful.

"Yeah, you did lose it, Lucas… You were freaking out so badly, I forgot I was the one who had gotten hurt."

"You got hurt, Maya. Of course I was freaking out. You were in a lot of pain. I was terrified for you. I'm still terrified now."

"I'm okay…" She muttered, but it didn't take a genius to see that her face was definitely red even in the limited light.

And then Lucas took her hand, lacing their fingers together. Maya didn't pull her hand away.

"…Are we okay?" he asked simply, his gaze trained on Maya's.

And then Josh knew he was really overstepping boundaries. He felt embarrassed to be watching them the way he had. This was a really private conversation, and it wasn't his business to know Maya's response.

So he left.

Late that evening while the teens were reclining in the hot tub (sans Lucas and Maya), Samantha asked Josh to tell her honestly if there was something going on between Lucas and Maya. She was tired of all the others skirting around the question and giving her non-answers that only served to make her suspicions grow. He had wanted to lie for a second and tell her there wasn't, but she would notice eventually. And it would hurt more the longer it was put off.

"Yes."

~.~.~

A week after their return from the ski trip, Lucas and Samantha broke up.

Josh didn't know the details behind it, but he deduced it had been amicable and mutual, because when he ran into Samantha one random afternoon a few weeks later, she asked about Maya with a wide grin on her face, wondering if her leg was healing up nicely.

And then she asked if Maya was dating anyone.

It was an altogether strange and random question, but one that Josh understood perfectly. She was wondering about the Lucas and Maya situation.

Which honestly, nothing was going on there.

Maya was keeping her distance from Lucas. At first, Josh had thought it was because she was trying to be respectful about his breakup and give him some time, but then he noticed that even for simple things like pickup games of softball at the community center or baseball games at the stadium—simple things even friends did together—Maya was avoiding Lucas like the plague.

And Lucas wasn't particularly attempting anything either. He wasn't keeping his distance, but he sure as hell wasn't making any efforts to try to go after Maya.

But the too long stares and wistful looks and gazes never stopped. They got worse. To the point where any time Josh walked into a room the two of them were in, he was almost knocked to his feet by the sheer amount of unresolved sexual tension between them.

And then it came to Josh why nothing was happening despite them both being single and all the hints their friends kept dropping that they should make a move.

It was during the Fourth of July celebration, watching the fireworks on the roof with everyone, that Josh realized it. Maya had been standing near the edge, gripping the railing and watching the fireworks wide eyed with a dazed (and possibly tipsy?) smile on her face. And then Zay and Farkle had pushed a protesting Lucas over to her. It was awkward between them for a moment as Josh watched their lips moving as they spoke, but then Maya laughed at something Lucas said and playfully punched his arm.

Josh hadn't thought much of it and went back to watching the fireworks.

After they'd ended, the afterhours partying began with most of the adults (and some of the teens, he suspected) getting wasted off of their butts. Josh had been chugging a beer with Shawn, getting into the spirit of the holiday when he glanced over to where Lucas and Maya had been. Despite the fact that the fireworks had long ended, they were still talking by the railing.

But they weren't side by side anymore.

Lucas was holding Maya, his arms wrapped around her waist. Her back was resting against his chest as he set his chin on her head. They were holding hands as they conversed, and once again, Josh had to look away in embarrassment, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment.

But regardless, nothing else happened between them that night and nothing advanced in their relationship. They were stuck in a limbo, and Josh found himself frustrated and restless over it all. And it wasn't even his business!

And so, Josh became convinced that the two of them were in denial, and that if no one stepped up to push them together, they would never make a move.