I hate to lie. But to lie for someone I love or care about was worth it. The problem with lying though is that sometimes, you find yourself slipping too easily in the lie and all of the sudden, you arrive at the bottom where the truth lives. There's nothing more dangerous for a lie than the truth. I can lie. I can lie easy. I just worry that when I do, my truth will come screaming out and everyone will see it for what it is.

"Mom!" Maya called as she came down the stairs, fixing her thin gold hoop earrings in. She was going all out tonight to make sure and sell it. She wore a tight, ribbed lavender dress with thin straps and a slit that came up to her thigh. She threw her fitted jean jacket over the dress and cuffed the sleeves so that the gold bracelets Jeremy gave her and the beaded one Paul gave her were on full display. She finished it by threading her gold trio necklaces around her neck.

She wore her thick hair down in billowing waves and tapped on some peachy lip tint that paired well with her peachy blush. She looked like springtime. At the bottom of the stairs, Maya spotted her mom coming up the hallway as she slipped on her brown ankle boots.

"Oooh! You look nice!" Her mom said.

"Paul is picking me up so we can go to the bonfire together. Is that okay?" she said casually. To sell this, Maya had to make sure all of her actions seemed normal as if it were a request she'd make any other day...even if it most definitely was not. Her mother's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh! Yeah...sure I mean, that's totally fine! Are you two—?" Rish started to ask conspiratorially. But Maya just gave her a noncommittal shrug and an elated smile that told her she had a secret. Rish swelled up like a balloon. Clearly, the council had gotten to her as well. "Well, have fun!" she said, the smile nearly cracking her face.

"Thanks mom!" Maya said as she threw her bag over her shoulder and darted out the front door. Paul was pulling down the driveway. Maya walked up to the car with purpose and before Paul could put it in park to open the passenger door for her, she had yanked it open and climbed in. Paul was wearing a long sleeve dark green shirt and dark wash jeans. He hadn't bothered shaving the stubble growing in on his jaw and Maya loved it.

"Hey," she breathed.

"Hey," he said, taking in the tight dress that clung to her body. "You ready?" Maya gave him a reassuring smile and nodded.

"Let's do this."

Maya had made sure to text Keye and Becks to tell them what was going on so that 1) they wouldn't be totally thrown off when Paul and her showed up being more affectionate than they'd ever been and 2) to help sell it.

When they pulled into the clearing, Paul gave her one last look—one that she couldn't quite read: was he nervous?— before he hopped out and came around to the passenger door. When he opened it, he extended his hand to her and she slipped it into his easily.

She stepped down and threaded her fingers through his tightly and tried to settle the rush of butterflies floating around her body. It felt electric holding his hand and she tried to squash the feeling from rising to her face. You do this everyday, remember? She told herself. Easy.

"My!" Keye said across the clearing, giving her a wave. She was already amongst the throng of Sam's pack. Maya returned the wave and gave Paul a bright smile. The council was there on the other side already watching them carefully.

As Maya pulled Paul forward, she threaded his arm around her waist and did the same to him to set the stage. His fingers gripped her waist instantly, sending a rush through Maya. When they reached the group, Paul kept Maya firmly in his grasp as they carried on. He gently moved the hand on her waist gently back and forth across her back sending shocks up and down her spine, but Maya kept he face even, smiling and talking with the group.

At one point, Paul looked over her shoulder, she assumed to see if the council was looking, and then brought his lips to the side of her head, planting a kiss in her hair. Maya sucked in a sharp breath and her hand gripped his back. She looked up at him, a soul looking upon it's match. He gave her a soft smile that sent shivers down her spine and Maya's lips parted momentarily at the electricity that shot between them. Being this way with Paul was easy. And best—or possibly worst—of all was that it felt good. Maya already felt her slipping too easily into this and knew she'd have to work hard to keep her feet on solid ground. But the look in Paul's eyes made her ache and she felt her resolve slowly sink in favor of this rush of excitement he gave her.

When they gathered around the bonfire for the tribal announcements, Maya slotted neatly next to him. The council's eyes were clearly on them now, watching their faces, a look of satisfaction flitting over them. During Chief Black's updates of the town's community revitalization process, Paul leaned over, pressing his lips to her ear softly as he said "You look beautiful tonight by the way."

Maya blushed, goosebumps sprouting on her arms and legs at the softness of his lips on the curve of her ear. She turned to look at him, their faces inches apart. She could feel his warm breath on her face. Without thinking, she brought her hand up to touch along his jawline. His eyes closed softly at the touch for a moment as she said, "Thank you." He held her hand there for a moment and gave her a knowing smile before tugging her body closer to his, leaving his hand on her hip. Too easy.

Maya only left Paul's side that night to attend to the food table where she caught up with Becks and Keye. He watched her carefully from across the clearing as he carried on a casual conversation with Elder Leo who was patting him on the shoulder in some sort of congratulations.

"Seems like they're buying it." Becks said under her breath as they spooned some wild rice, sweet potatoes, and beans on their plates.

"Yeah, I think so," Maya said, glancing up at Paul every chance she got. Every so often, their eyes would connect and he'd flash her secret smile that she would return before dropping her eyes.

"You guys play it really well," Keye said with a look in her eye that said she knew why it came to them easily.

"We have to make it convincing. Don't get it twisted," Maya shot back, looking at Keye now. Keye held her hands up in surrender.

"Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just saying you're doing a good job." Keye replied.

"Yeah. You two look really really real," Becks confirmed. Maya glared at her and Becks let out a little laugh.

"Well, I've had enough practice with Jeremy," Maya muttered.

"Ouch," Keye said, looking at Becks. Becks shrugged.

"At least I get head in my not-fake relationship," Becks retorted.

"OUCH!" Keye said looking back to Maya who just rolled her eyes.

Just then, she spotted her mother at the other end of the row of tables talking to Elder Mila. Maya had a flash of inspiration and wondered if she should act on it. Glancing around, she met Paul's gaze again and he gave her that burning look that sent a rush through her. That was all she needed. Maya beelined for her mother and without addressing Elder Mila, she said,

"Um mom, can I ask you a question?" she asked politely.

"Of course honey," her mom said, turning toward her. Elder Mila watched her with a warm look on her face.

"Would it be alright if I stayed at Paul's tonight?" Maya decided to shoot her shot. Her mother would say no and Elder Mila would think that Maya and Paul were sleeping together or at the very least spending the night together. Maya gave a smile to Elder Mila just to sell it more.

"Oh!" Rish said, surprised. Come on, mom. Do that thing you do. Rish's eyes darted to Elder Mila and hesitated before she said, "Well….I suppose that would be alright considering.."

Maya's eyes went wide. ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING!? Never in a million years would she have imagined her mother, the woman who BIRTHED her for christ's sake, would say yes to her spending the night with her 28 year old fake boyfriend. Had the world turned upside down? Maya opened her mouth in surprise and quickly recovered to ensure that this seemed like a totally normal request.

"Okay, thank you!" she squeaked, before turning on her heel and speed walking back to her friends.

"Be safe!" her mother called after her. Maya went bright red.

"What the fuck was that?" Keye asked between bites. Maya scanned the crowd.

"Have you seen Paul?" she asked to no one in particular.

"He's with Sam I think," Becks said idly. Maya spotted him and waited until he made eye contact with her. Her eyes were still wide and wild with what she'd just done. She realized now that she may have gotten a little carried away in the spirit of the lie and now she had gone too far.

Seeing the look on her face, she watched as Paul excused himself and strode over to her, worry planted in place of the burning she saw earlier. Her heart skipped just seeing him come toward her with purpose, with need. He easily wrapped an arm around her and pulled her off to the side.

"Everything okay?" he said, keeping his voice low. She turned to face him, his hand still gripping possessively on her waist. She would never admit how good it felt. Maya placed her hand softly on his chest and he pulled her toward him a little in response.

"So...I did something," Maya said, looking up through her eyelashes at him. The burning was back in his eyes.

"Oh?"

"I might have accidentally asked my mom if I could stay with you tonight," Maya said quickly. Paul's eyes widened in pleasant surprise and she quickly explained. "No see… Elder Mila was with her and I thought 'Oh perfect, I'll ask to stay the night with you and then Elder Mila will think that we're most definitely sleeping together' and then my mom would say no and the lie would be sold...but," her hand had creeped up his chest to loop around his neck absently.

"But she said yes?" Paul asked, searching her eyes. Maya bit her lip and she felt Paul's hand squeeze her waist while the other planted on her hip. They were almost tangled in each other now.

"Yes…" Maya looked at him uncertainly. So many things flashed across Paul's face—joy, confusion, disappointment, hesitance. She lowered her voice to a whisper, "You can just drop me off at Keye's if you're uncomfortable, I know that was kind of—"

"No," Paul said firmly. "You can stay. It's not like you haven't before."

"Okay," Maya breathed, her eyes connecting with his. Something about it felt different though. "I'll stay with you then."

"Good," he said giving her a teasing smirk.

"Good," she repeated back at him, letting her hands fall.

"So are you ready to go now or?" Maya let out a laugh at this and the sound seemed fill Paul up with joy. She nodded her head.

"Sure, let's go. I think our work here is done." He took her hand. Maya wasn't sure if anyone saw them leave but at this point, she really didn't care, she was just enjoying getting to touch and be touched by Paul. She'd figure out what it meant later, but for now, she was going to lean into it.

Back at Paul's place, Maya kicked off her boots and hung up her jacket feeling completely at ease. It felt like home to her now. Paul watched her appreciatively as he discarded his shoes and set his keys down on the ledge by the door.

"I meant what I said tonight," he said suddenly.

"Hmm?" Maya asked over her shoulder.

"You look beautiful tonight. I really like that dress," he said confidently.

"Oh!" Maya's face warmed and she ran a hand through her hair absently. "Thank you. Since we were putting on a show, I thought I'd dress the part of the enamored girlfriend…..Oh fuck," she said suddenly realizing something.

"What?" he asked as he walked past her to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"I just realized, I literally have nothing here to change into."

"You can wear one of my shirts again," he said casually.

"Great, but like, what about the bottoms?"

"What are you not wearing underwear or something?" he joked, turning to face her while he took a sip of water, leaning against the counter. Maya's mouth fell open in mild shock before she said,

"You can't really wear underwear with this dress," she taunted. Paul tensed at that, his hand holding onto the counter so tightly that she saw his knuckles whiten. His eyes swept down her body and lingered on her lower half for a minute. Maya smirked at him. She enjoyed throwing him off.

"I'm sure you've left something over here at some point. Go check my top drawer," he said, swiveling back around to the sink to refill his water. Maya let out a skeptical noise and turned to climb up the stairs.

When she pulled open the top drawer it was filled with neatly folded shorts, shirts, and sweats. She pulled a pair of sleep shorts out and looked at them. They were her size, but she didn't recognize them. But maybe she had left these over here. Curious, her eyes scanned the contents of the drawer. It was filled with stuff that looked like something she'd wear. After closer inspection, all of the clothes in the drawer were her size, but almost none of it looked familiar. She quickly changed into some sleep shorts and pulled on a tank top from the drawer and padded back downstairs.

"Paul?" she asked, coming around the corner. He was dropping a wet rag from behind his neck and Maya raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah?" he said quickly, dropping the rag in the sink, "Sorry. Hot."

"Umm, what's with all the stuff that's my size up there? Did you...?"

"After Friday's incident, I just had Emily pick some things up in your size to keep here. Just in case. Came in handy." He quirked a smile and walked past her patting her hip. She followed him upstairs.

"You just...got a bunch of stuff for me to keep here?" She said still confused.

"Yes." he said easily.

"That's….sweet," Maya said, crossing her arms and sitting on the bed. Paul went into the bathroom to change.

"They don't call me Paul Sweet Beef Lahote for nothing," he called from the bathroom. "I got you a toothbrush too." Maya walked into the bathroom now.

"Do they really call you that?" she laughed. Her eyes flitted to his bare chest for a moment and then up to his face before grabbing her toothbrush.

"No, of course not," he laughed and stood beside her. They brushed their teeth in silence. Afterward, as Maya crawled into bed, Paul walked toward the bedroom door.

"I'll be downstairs on the couch if you need me," he said, his hand hovering over the light switch. Maya opened her mouth and stuttered out.

"Or..or you know y-you could stay up here with….me?" Paul watched her carefully for a long moment and her heart beat rapidly in her chest.

"Okay," he breathed. Without a second thought, he flipped off the light switch and padded over to the bed, climbing into it.

You two look really really real. Becks had said. Maya realized she was never worried about Paul slipping into the lie and losing himself. He was good at understanding the difference between real and fake. He always seemed to be in control.

It was herself that she didn't trust.