KING LUCAS

CHAPTER 34

"Hey guys!" Maya greeted the rest of her friends as they entered the dining room. They were all having breakfast, Lucas to her surprise sat and grabbed another portion of pancakes.

"Where were you? I woke up and you were gone." Riley asked her, pulling a chair next to her so Maya could join them.

"Since all of you slept through, Heehaw here showed me how to ride a horse." She replied, grabbing a handful of grapes.

"Oh, that sounds so fun." Her friend said with a disappointed look in her face.

"Don't worry Riles, I can teach you and Farkle tomorrow morning, before we leave." Lucas calmly interrupted. "There's another place I want to show you today."

They all looked at him intrigued, it turned out that in the neighboring property there is a river that forms small pools where he used to sneak in every time he came here and that's why he made everyone bring a swim suit.

His guests helped to clean up the table and the kitchen, where Lucas' grandmother had already started making the Thanksgiving dinner. While the rest changed he stayed behind to cut some ingredients and fill the heavy pots with water, ever since her hip replacement it was better to avoid big efforts and potential dangers.

He kissed his grandma goodbye and led everyone by a path while he went to pick something up from the shed. After half a mile of walking along, Lucas finally caught up with them, carrying a big cooler.

"I went back for some snacks." He said, putting the cooler on the floor and taking out two beers, he had packed at least 20 and some chips and fruits from the farm. Zay helped him with the heavy cooler the rest of the way, it got a bit tricky when they had to pass it through the piked fence but Farkle and the girls made it easier.

The last time he had come to this creek was with some people from UTA that he had met at a party. Now that he looked back at those days, they were complete idiots and he hated them, but they always brought free booze and girls and it was an escape for him from all the work at the farm, and how cool did he sound when word spread around at school. He was beginning to understand how empty his life actually was, with fake friends lining up to ask favors in exchange of other favors, believing this was the best way to dominate high school.

The place was just like he remembered, Mr. Bell, the owner of this farm had made these pools a while back when his sons where just kids and Lucas wasn't even born, they grew up and took on other careers and somehow forgot about the beautiful gift their father had given them. At least Lucas made use of it, it was really crazy to think that this river had been here for probably hundreds if not thousands of years, just flowing and moving the dirt from underneath. It really put things in perspective, it didn't matter what happened in his life, if it was great or if it was terrible, the water would still be moving tomorrow.

The gang had a lot off fun in his secret spot, they swam a little, then had a chicken fight (being Zay and Lucas the ultimate champions), they took a nap under the sun. They cracked open some beers and improvised a drinking game that practically just had them all chugging, Farkle caught 14 grapes in a row with his mouth and Riley laughed so hard that she snorted water out of her nose. Lucas never stopped smiling.

After noon, they packed everything and picked all the garbage, the cooler was ten times lighter, so Zay carried it all the way. Lucas and Maya stayed behind, because she stepped on a branch and got a blister on her foot, he carefully got it out, but she was going slower than the rest of the group.

"You looked very happy back there." She pushed him slightly to the side.

"Is that any different from the usual?" He asked, looking down at her. She bit her lip, thinking for a second.

"Most of the times it feels like your head is somewhere else, but when you're actually there, in the moment... I don't know, it's nice." She said, matching his eyes.

He didn't say anything back and so they kept walking in silence back to the farm, far behind their friends. Lucas stretched his arm until his hand found hers and he could interlock their fingers, she didn't say anything, they didn't look at each other, they kept their heads up, looking at the road ahead, smiling like a couple of goofs.

When they got home the turkey was already in the oven, the pies were cooling, Pappy Joe was mashing the potatoes and Momma Rose was finishing the cranberry sauce. The kids helped setting the table with the fancy China that sat on Lucas' cabinet.

"Alright kids, go get changed, the bird is almost ready." Lucas' grandmother told them.

They all had brought some nice clothes for dinner, Lucas couldn't stop eyeing Maya every time they were in a room together, he learned his lesson when he grabbed a hot plate without noticing, his fingertips were all red the rest of the evening, Maya was giggling from the other side of room.

"Before I carve the turkey it's important to say thanks for another year of a plentiful harvest and good health." Pappy Joe said looking at his wife, she smiled. "I want to thank you kids for being here with us, it's obvious that you've made a big impression on my grandson and Lucas, I'm proud of you boy." He lifted his glass of wine, Lucas was surprised to hear that, he always felt like a big disappointment to Pappy Joe. He swallowed hard and joined the rest on the toast and like that they began eating.

Plates passed around all night, Lucas had at least three servings of everything, just like Zay and Maya. Farkle won the wishbone and Riley spilled her glass on the table, twice. By the end of it, the kitchen was filled with empty dishes, and the kids were laying on the couch, unable to move after such feast. They promised to finish clearing the table so Pappy Joe and Momma Rose could go upstairs to sleep.

"I'm sorry guys–" Zay said, standing up, patting his belly. "I think I'm going to hit the hay, but first I have to make a quick stop to the bathroom, you can come up in twenty minutes." He advised before leaving, Maya and Riley wrinkled their noses which made Lucas smile.

The four stayed there, the girls laying on the floor in front of the fireplace, Farkle still a bit full on Pappy Joe's chair, Lucas stretched on the couch. That day's work was finally catching up to him and his eyelids were beginning to feel heavy on his face.

He suddenly felt a pressure against his lips, his eyes opened immediately, Maya's face was above his. But what was she thinking, kissing him in front of everyone, he looked around but there was no one in the living room with them.

"Relax, you fell asleep, they went upstairs already." She said, moving his feet so she could sit next to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was so tired." He explained, stretching his neck.

"It's been a long day." She looked at him, the firelight reflected in her eyes, he hadn't figured it out yet, who this girl was. Why was her touch so intoxicating, or why her eyes could stop everything around him or why her kisses sent every cohesive thought out of his head.

He grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry I've been so quiet today, I've had a lot on my mind." He told her, wanting to avoid her eyes, but stuck to them.

"What's in that head of yours?" She asked, she had finally asked, his head went straight to an obnoxious answer that would be part of his plan, but there was a sound that stopped him, the sound of a cocking gun, the sound that haunted his dreams, he didn't want to hurt Maya. She had already been hurt enough.

"I'm always thinking about the future, how every decision I make will change it." He wanted to make himself as clear as possible.

"Isn't it exhausting?" She wondered. "To be so concerned about something that hasn't happened yet, I don't know, I guess it was easier for me to live in the present with Riley in the bay window."

"In my case thinking of a better future was the only thing that kept me sane." He said, playing with her fingers and memorizing every line on her palm. But she quickly leaned forward and kissed him, Lucas lifted his eyebrows. "What was that for?"

"To show you that you can't always predict what will happen." She said with a cocky smile, he laughed and pulled her in for more.

They fell on the couch, his hands traveling from the hem of her dress to her waist, his burnt fingers even more sensitive against her hot skin. She opened the button down shirt he had on and threw it somewhere in the living room, he suddenly had lost his urge to sleep as he opened the zipper of her dress. In one motion she pulled it over her head and disappeared like his shirt.

Maya turned them around and quickly realized they were in a couch, Lucas took the hit as they fell to the ground making a big thump. Lucas squinted his eyes a little pained, but mostly hoping that no one cared to check what had happened. Luckily for them, no one did. This night belonged to them.

Lucas woke up early the next morning, it was still dark outside, the fire had burned out, Maya was sleeping next to him, her bare back facing him, he couldn't help but smile. Last night had been more than he had imagined. He stood up and tried his best to scramble all their clothes quietly, then leaned down and kissed her softly on her shoulder.

"Maya." He whispered, planting another kiss on her cheek. "Maya, wake up." She moaned, but opened her eyes slightly. "We have to go back to our rooms before my grandparents wake up."

She complained but eventually took the blanket off to get dressed. She was half awake as he guided her to the girls room.

It was closing in to about four in the morning when he was back in his bed, in a few hours they would be packing and getting ready to leave in the afternoon. He couldn't wait to go back, he had left Austin to get away from his father and he had left Houston to build a new kingdom, he had never felt at home until he moved to the city, until he met his friends and Maya.

After having breakfast and showering, the gang began packing their bags. Lucas' Momma Rose sent some homemade cookies and jam to every family, to thank them for trusting their kids with them. Pappy Joe drove them downtown one more time so they could buy souvenirs and drop off some of the pumpkins they had sold.

While the guys helped him unload the truck, Maya and Riley went to the antiques store in front. On his way out of the shop, Lucas saw a pretty yellow flower on a bucket, he grabbed it and went outside to wait for Maya. There was no point in hiding anything from their friends anymore, if they weren't suspicious by last night, they were now aware that something was happening between them, specially after they had entered their respective rooms at inappropriately early hours of the day and the looks they exchanged at the breakfast table.

Lucas saw Maya walk out of the store, Riley was probably still looking at the antiques, he smiled widely at her when she saw him, but her face wrinkled and she entered the car hastily. Lucas frowned, he didn't understand what was happening, that was until he saw Lisa Romanini exit the same store. She was the last girl whose gleam he had taken away before moving to New York. His heart stopped, he ran after Lisa before she could disappear from his sight.

"Lisa, wait! Lisa! What did you tell her?" He asked, catching her shoulder. "What did you say to her?"

"I told her the truth." She told him furiously. "I warned her, that you are not capable of loving anyone but yourself, I told her all about your little game."

"What game?" He asked breathing heavily.

"Oh, please, don't play stupid with me. It didn't take me long after you left to understand that you were just a predator playing catch." She replied. "I told her about all the other girls and that she was just another trophy for you."

Lucas brought a hand to his forehead, he didn't know what to do. "How could you do this? This doesn't involve you." He raised his voice, the hatred flowing through his veins.

"I won't let you play with another girl." She said.

"I'm not playing when I'm with her!" Lucas yelled. He ran back to the truck before Lisa could say another word, he was so pissed but it didn't matter, he had to fix things with Maya before it was too late.

Unfortunately, everyone was waiting inside the car for him. He couldn't start a conversation in front of their friends, at least, not this conversation. But when they got to the farm, Maya practically jumped from the truck and ran towards the fields.

"Lucas!" His grandmother called him from the porch before he could run after her. "Come help me in the kitchen."

One of the pipes was a little loose and it was leaking water. He quickly grabbed some tools and layed on his back as he adjusted the pipe.

"What has gotten into Maya, running away like that?" Momma Rose asked.

"I screwed up... big time." He replied, tightening the union. "And there is no plan that can fix it." He said, sitting up straight and cleaning his hands with a cloth. He didn't see his grandmother's hand come, but she hit the back of his head, he complained.

"You dummy, no wonder you screwed up. Love can't be planned, love comes when you least expect it and hits you in the back of your head." She told him, testing the pipes by opening the tap.

"I don't think there is a way back from this." He tried to explain.

"Well, just because the sun is hiding, doesn't mean it won't be back tomorrow." She said, but Lucas frowned, she clearly got that he hadn't understand what she was trying to tell him. "Hope, Lukey, love is all about hope."

He found Maya sitting in the tall grass, when she heard him she stood up and tried to walk away, but Lucas ran and stopped her. Standing in front of her it was clear that she had cried, her red cheeks and eyes caused his throat to close up.

"You did the same thing to Missy and Jessica, didn't you?" She began. "And if I hadn't tried to stop you, you would've done it to Riley, so instead you picked me."

"No, that's not what happened." He said, his mind going back to work.

"Don't lie to me, if you've been lying to me all this time then I at least want one honest conversation with you." She demanded and Lucas knew that lying would be useless.

"Fine, I had my eyes on you the whole time." Maya rolled her eyes. "I stopped with Riley, I brought her and Farkle together." He wanted to point out that he was not all bad.

"To get us talking again, so we could forgive you." She looked to the sky, trying not to cry again, feeling like an idiot for falling for his scheme.

"They're my friends, they've become my family!" She knew he was being honest. "I broke Missy's heart, yes, but I couldn't do it with Jessica." She scoffed.

"It was all a game for you, getting me to kiss you, getting in my head, making me cheat on Josh, making my mother and grandmother love you, the paintings, even the batting cage, it was all a wicked game." She let out in one breath, wanting to get rid of that feeling in her chest.

"No." He told her. "What happened at the cages, that was real, what happened here, that was real too. Maybe at first I was playing, but that was before I truly knew you." He extended his arm to reach for her hand, but she took it away. "I wanted you because you were different, your eyes they don't shine like the others." Maya turned around, cleaning the tears from her face, she didn't want Lucas to look at her like that, so affected by him. "I finally understand why, you're broken, like I am."

"Stop, don't tell me what I am, I won't hear it from you." She said, frowning.

"When I'm with you all the noise in my head stops and listens." He walked closer to her, to no avail.

"Please, stop." She told him, pushing him back.

"I thought for so long that people like me didn't deserve to be happy and if I couldn't have that, then the rest of the world couldn't either." He explained, pained by her look. "But I don't want to be like him, he took my mother's gleam away. That's my biggest fear."

She stayed silent, forcing her eyes to match his.

"But my biggest regret is hurting you." He cupped her face, cleaning her cheeks with his thumbs. "I want you to be happy Maya."

She put her hand over his.

"I'm truly sorry, Maya." She closed her eyes in pain, and let him go. She began walking back to the house, when he called back. "I'm not losing hope on us yet."

"Hope is for suckers." She told him, softly like the breeze that was hitting his face.

His heart sank and he wanted to scream, scream until his throat broke down. His breathing became heavy, there was a pain in his chest, like his heart was trying to escape. His knees succumbed to the weight in his back, he grabbed the grass under his hands tightly, trying to get a hold of his body. He fell to his side, the sky was blue today, blue like her eyes. It took him some minutes of laying there in the grass to calm down.

The trip back to New York was awful, Zay tried talking most of the way, to avoid the uncomfortable silence that would settle between the group, but he eventually gave up, even Zay had a limited amount of stories to tell. At least Lucas' mom was waiting for him when they landed.

She took him to a Vietnamese restaurant near their apartment, so they could have dinner.

"What's wrong?" She asked, he was avoiding many of her questions and not eating much.

"It's nothing." He said, pushing his chicken around his plate.

"Don't do that, you're shutting down like you used to do for your father, don't do that with me." She told him, he closed his eyes.

"I broke someone's heart." He let out, his mother's face softened.

"Why?" She asked, he sighed.

"Because my demons finally caught up to me. I was an asshole and I thought if didn't care about her feelings I wouldn't get hurt, but her pain is making me miserable." He could do nothing but stare at his soup.

"Oh, Lucas." She said, getting up and joining him on his side of the booth, hugging him tightly. "I don't know the whole story, but if she is really heartbroken then you're going to have to wait and the best you can do while you wait is be miserable." He laughed a little, by the hopelessness of the situation

"What do I do if she never comes back?" He said, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Then you fight your way back up." She placed a kiss in his forehead and for a minute his heart didn't feel as broken.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's note: Even when I take too long to post a chapter I want you guys to know that I'm still writing. Also, I didn't double checked this, so I'm sorry if they're any mistakes.

RE Ilovechocolate:

1. I have several drafts that I can't wait to start writing, there is a one shot that is almost finished.

2. No

3. Honestly, their chemistry and potential for so many stories.

4. Their fight after they come back from the trail in Ski Lodge.

5. Yes.

6. Farkle and Riley.

7. BMW

8. Feeny, but because I love the character that gives the lessons.

9. If you can't be with the one you love/ STEM

10. I don't know.

11. Inspiration is everywhere, just start writing.