("This is how to be a heartbreaker
Girls they like a little danger
We'll get her falling for a stranger
A player
Singing I love love love you
(At least I think I do)."

"We do whatever it will take
Cuz we don't want our hearts to break
In two
So it's better to be fake
Can't risk losing
In love again babe.")

- Marina and The Diamonds, "How to Be a Heartbreaker"

April 2017

6th year, age 18

The last semester of his time at the Operations Academy was flying by and Josh was keeping busy. And productive.

Sure, Eric had tests and evaluations for all of them - physical, mental, you name it. But he couldn't test their social abilities with each other, and that was the information Josh needed. As the team leader, of course.

He knew Riley; he knew her like the back of his hand. He didn't like what she had become, but he knew her, and he couldn't change her.

Lucas seemed to wear everything on his face, which made him appear trustworthy. Josh had learned, though, how to see past it and poke at his real personality. After all, they had been roommates for years.

It was Maya that was the wild card.

He had tried to see how well she could fair up against a distraction, and, although she hadn't been distracted enough to fail, she had definitely been distracted. She had clearly changed in the past two years; whether that change would be a positive on their team or a negative, he wasn't sure. And he needed to figure it out, especially before he graduated.

But it seemed that Maya was on a mission to annoy him.

All month she had deliberately pushed him, irritated him, during their spars, during their classes, during their mocks. She seemed to be testing his limits, and he was getting tired of it.

He had no idea what he was going to do about it, though, until the day that he finally lost his cool.

"What's wrong with you?" Riley asked, falling into stride with him as he made his way towards the gym that evening.

"It's been a bad day," Josh grunted, not looking over at his sister. "Don't test me right now."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Seems more like a bad week."

"Try bad month."

"So what's wrong with you?" Riley asked, quickening her pace to match his as he sped up, hoping to lose her.

"I've been criticized by Mom, slept poorly, and I am not looking forward to graduation," he stated shortly, clenching his fists. "Not to mention the increased number of kids in the gym and Maya's apparent mission to annoy me."

"Maya's noticed the same thing as we have," Riley said, glancing over at him as they approached the gym doors. "But you're team leader and you're almost an adult, so get it together and control your emotions like we were taught."

Josh clenched his jaw and stepped in front of her as they got to the gym door. "How about you don't follow me? I need to punch something and I don't want it to be you."

Riley rolled her eyes again, and Josh felt his fists balling. She tried to push past him, but he had had enough and he grabbed her arm and stalked towards the hall that led to the girls' dorms. Riley ripped her arm out of his grasp and glared up at him, her anger evident.

"Don't ever do that again," she bit out, but Josh was having none of it.

"Don't test me when I tell you not to," he shot back at her. "I don't want to hurt you, so leave me alone and go back to your room." He left before she could retort.

After several hours punching his anger and stress out, he dragged himself out of the now empty gym. He was exhausted and he wanted a shower and he wanted to be alone, but that wasn't what he was about to get.

When he felt her presence behind him, he swiveled around and came face to face with the exact person he didn't want to see right now.

"Not today, Maya," he warned. Any other day he could control himself and his mood, but it had been an especially bad day, he was exhausted, and he was still stressed out. His time in the gym hadn't fully expelled his barely controlled emotions and he didn't want to have anyone caught in the crossfire like his sister had nearly been.

The blonde smirked, and Josh clenched his jaw and turned back around, heading quickly to his dorm, hoping to lose her and ignore her before she did everything in her power to set him off.

"I was talking to Riley," Maya said, just behind him attempting to keep up, but Josh was fast.

"Go away, Hart," he gritted out.

"You need to stretch more, loosen up," Maya suggested.

"No, I need you to stop getting on my nerves," Josh shot back.

Maya stepped in front of him, smirking as she faced him, walking backwards. "No matter how much time we spend together, you can never beat me."

"You want to spar right now?" Josh suggested, glaring down at her. His frustration was building up and he knew he would need an outlet soon if she continued testing him. His muscles were flexing under his shirt as he attempted to control himself, but Maya wasn't going to make things easy for him.

"Not until you get your act together," Maya said. She followed him as he opened his dorm door, and slid in behind him. "Riley says you need to get your act together and relax instead of making us all miserable."

"Would you shut up?!" He yelled. "Your voice is always in my head, nagging me! Be quiet!"

"Make me," Maya challenged, leaning her chest forward, her shoulders pushed back, and that was the last straw.

He didn't even know what he would do to her, but he was out of control and his instinctive actions shocked himself just as much as her.

Josh advanced on her, grabbing her by the waist as his lips crashed onto hers. She reached her arms up to hold around the back of his neck, raising up on her toes to keep herself fitted into his form.

Maya's lips were warm, and just as soft as he'd imagined. His skin burned hot where her fingers grabbed hold of him, seeming to pull him close enough to meld the two teenagers together into one.

He could barely breathe as he moved his hands up to her cheeks, holding her close. Nothing could describe the heat he was feeling bursting in his chest, his heart beating wildly out of control, the sweat on the back of his neck. A fog was clouding his mind; the only thing clear was the image of that beautiful blonde girl.

She broke the kiss, catching her breath. She stared up at his eyes, still holding his neck to keep him close enough to touch. Smirking, she bit her lip and said, "Took you long enough."

Josh growled in frustration, shaking his head as he leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers again, pulling her close by the hips. He knew this was wrong and he needed to stop, but his rational mind had left him and his body was being controlled by his emotions. He couldn't have stopped it if he wanted to.

Her shirt rode up a little above her jeans, and Josh's hand touched bare skin.

God, her skin was smooth and soft, warmer than his hands were, and he wondered if that meant his grasp was chilling her. The bigger part of him didn't care at all, as he pushed his hands further up her body.

"Maya," he groaned, feeling the heat between them getting too hot to bear.

She pushed away from him, her skin leaving his grasp as gravity let her shirt fall back to cover her stomach. The lack of contact left both teens craving more, but they knew they couldn't.

"163," Maya panted, glancing down at her heart monitor.

Josh raised his wrist, flipping it over to see his own heart rate. "147," he said, and Maya nodded, her skin flushed as she pushed her hair back from her face.

"We can't-"

"Do this," Josh finished, and Maya nodded, wiping sweat off her forehead.

"Not-"

"Right now," Josh agreed, and the flash of a smile flitted across her expression. "Maybe-"

"Later?" Maya finished the sentence this time, but she didn't give Josh a chance to start a new one before she was out the door, the only thing left behind her scent, imprinted on Josh's skin.

A/N: I'm very sorry for such a long wait. I'm also sorry for the short chapter, but I think the content might be consolation.

I'm finally getting into the Joshaya content and the next few chapters will be heavily focused on their plotline, while the summer will be more focused on Rucas. If Joshaya is your main love, enjoy the next few chapters as we kick into full gear. If you're more here for Rucas, be patient; they're coming.

I've been trying to sit down and write for a few months, but I just haven't had the motivation. I fell into a really deep depressive episode as my sister went to college and I was kind of left alone missing our mom. Still climbing my way out of it.

Over the summer I worked on bits of chapters here and there but never finished them. That's why I posted several chapters to several different stories today - they all happened to be finished at the same time.

I posted chapters on Anecdoche, Nodus Tollens, To Write Love On Her Hart, and Petrichor. I'm also in the works for a The Original's fanfic (I got inspired by Elijah's nobleness and protectiveness and couldn't help but write something out). So if you're a fan of TO, go check that out. If not, enjoy my GMW updates :)

I've also got ideas for an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D story and maybe a Criminal Minds story, but those are just floating on my fanfiction ideas document, so don't expect them. My main priority right now is Anecdoche and Nodus Tollens.

Please review :) Feedback means everything to me - even a single word makes a difference, trust me!

Kisses,

C

P.S.: I made a playlist for this book that has all of the songs from the beginnings of chapters. It is linked at the bottom of my bio, but you'll need to remove a space right before the word 'com'. Fanfiction doesn't let me post anything resembling a link on a story.