Well yes, I am back! And I will be frequently updating this work. I had awful writers block but I am determined, with the joy of new spoilers, to keep this work up. Feel free to comment your feels.

P.S. This is just a filler chapter! It does get more dramatic! I promise.

Much love,
H xx

Chapter 2: Guilty Hearts | Unrelenting Bodies

Late March

The next time they spoke wasn't until late into the next month. The blonde sat with a coffee in hand as she watched the first blooms of Spring breathe into life. Central Park was buzzing with its usual electricity, yet Maya hid behind a pair of dark shades as she considered new ideas for upcoming

assignments.

The buzzing of the park soon gave way to the buzzing of her phone as the minutes clicked onwards. Maya reluctantly reached into her pocket for the object, expecting it to be Riley begging for her to bring some ice-cream home. The name that greeted her instead sent a familiar chill through her body. And she still couldn't decipher whether it was a good or bad thing.

She considered letting it ring for as long as possible in a bid not to seem hasty, but Maya soon berated herself for being so petty and let her finger slide across the answer bar.

"Josh," she breathed. It came out sounding more of a strangled question than she would've liked, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind as the man's voice filled the other end.

"Hey," Josh breathed, "How are you?"

The question sounded funny to Maya, and left a strange bitterness in the air around her. It was a simple one, but she somehow felt the question didn't fit in with their relationship anymore, so she let a scoff tumble from her mouth.

"Alright, enough of that," she wondered if her sarcasm might drip through the phone. "When do you want me?"

"Christ, Maya," Josh bit back.

"What?" She told herself she was only teasing at this point, but the word felt like like it scathed when exiting her mouth.

There was an exasperated laugh on the other end. Then a few moments of silence before Josh spoke again.

"Can you come round tonight?" his voice was soft, timid even.

Maya chewed the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit she'd developed. She debated whether to poke more fun at the situation, but something told her that it would only make the reality of their relationship sadder.

"And what do I tell your niece?" Maya could swear she felt him wince through the phone.

There was a long silence. Maya felt muscles contract that she didn't even know were tensed when Josh finally spoke again.

"Nothing," he breathed, "You tell Riley nothing."

Maya nodded in response, her stomach churning in a tumult of guilt.

"Maya?"

The blonde realised she had yet to respond verbally to the man.

"Yes. She won't know," she reassured.

"Good."

"I'll see you tonight then," Maya decided to round up their conversation.

"Yes. Tonight."

"Oh, and your roommate?" She knew she had forgotten something.

"Out of town."

"Great," She continued the curtness of the conversation.

Whatever agreement this was, had clearly destroyed their ability of usual friendly banter.

"Great," Josh echoed, "See you tonight gorgeous."

The only reply was the sound of the girl hanging up her phone.

When Maya finally pulled some casual-enough looking clothes on over some semi-nice lingerie, it was approaching 10 o'clock that evening. She came up with a convincing enough excuse for Riley in telling her that she was on her way to complete some evening sketches. Not soon after she slinked out the apartment door when Riley wasn't looking so the brunette wouldn't ask her why she wasn't taking her sketch pad.

The short walk to the boarding dorms of NYU students felt like an eternity as Maya's stomach began its usual churn. The self-berating soon followed as she began the familiar though pattern of 'Why are you doing this?' and 'You're a strong woman.'

But the phrases were powerless to the magnetic pull that Joshua Matthews' had over her, and when her knuckles wrapped on his door at quarter to 11 that evening, she found her body all too ready to be embraced by him again. And when he opened the creaky door with that wicked half-smirk, she found herself almost lunging at the man in question.

"Woah woah woah," Josh exclaimed, taken aback at Maya's wild embrace.

Her arms lingered around the young man's neck and she kicked the door shut with the heel of her boot.

"What?" she queried, cocking her head to the side. "Not so keen anymore, Matthews?"

Josh smiled sheepishly at her jest, and Maya found her own features lighting up at his expression. It was almost as if she had just momentarily seen through to the dopey, boyish Josh she had fallen in love with. She smacked the last thought away quickly.

"No, very keen." He smirked again. "But you didn't even say hello."

Maya let a small smile creep onto her face with the confusion that followed. How, even when he was striking up a relationship purely based on sex, could Josh still manage to act so impertinently like a Matthews?

"What?" Josh grinned, breaking Maya's thoughts.

"I-I just," Maya stammered. Josh ushered her on with his eyes. "Are we talking now?" she finished simply.

Josh scoffed incredulously as he broke apart from Maya's petite frame.

"Maya," he said is a disbelieving tone as he sat on the side of his bed. "We're still friends. We can talk. I'm not a monster."

The blonde crossed her arms and moved two paces closer to the man, confusion being replaced with relief. "Okay, so we're still friends," she mumbled. She saw Josh nod his head in response. "And sometimes..." she trailed off, talking two more steps toward him.

"Sometimes..." he mirrored Maya's phrase.

"And sometimes..." the blonde repeated, sitting herself down next to Josh as he turned to face her, "...friends do this."

The small blonde moved a hand to rest on Josh's cheek as she pressed her lips to his own. The fire that burnt in her stomach every time he touched her had returned in full force as she pulled herself closer to his body.

When they finally broke for air, Maya had a hand in Josh's hair and another with a fistful of his shirt.

"But we're still friends?" she panted, releasing her grip on the man's shirt.

"Absolutely," Josh assured, the disbelief that she had ever thought otherwise returning to his features.

"Good," she laughed, "Because that phone conversation was so awkward."

"Oh thank God you thought so too," Josh laughed as Maya moved to pull herself into his lap.

She smiled as she reconnected their lips. Because maybe, just maybe, she could pretend this was exactly how she wanted it.