Chapter 2

Phoenix went directly home after he finished up the paperwork in the office, trying to pick out something to wear on his date with Maya. Honestly, he still could not believe that he actually was going out on a date with her. But then his mind flashed back to his parents.

Well, they've always liked Maya, and I have the feeling they wouldn't mind at all if I started dating her, Phoenix thought as he rationalized in his mind that this date was actually a good idea.

Phoenix had to say there really was never a dull moment with Maya, so perhaps she was just the kind of person he needed to get over Edgeworth. He now turned his attention to his closet, searching in there for something nice to wear on a casual date. He quickly realized he didn't have much in the way of nice casual clothes, so he quickly fished out a black jacket and some jeans he hadn't worn for a while, and put them on.

As Phoenix looked at himself in the mirror, he thought, I don't think I've worn these clothes since I was in college! Coincidentally that was about when I had gone on my last date too.

Phoenix then just stepped away from the mirror, deciding that no matter what he put on, he'd still feel stupid. As he walked over to the burger place, he realized that he actually was feeling a bit nervous.

This is Maya…there's no reason to be nervous at all. Phoenix told himself, trying to stay calm.

But he was nervous since the context of this meeting with her was so much different than the countless other times they met with each other. Finally the burger place came into view, and Phoenix took a deep breath to relax himself as much as possible as he entered the door. He looked around the place to see if Maya was already there. He scanned the room for a good two to three minutes before his eyes fell on a girl who had black hair tied in an interesting looking bun, wearing a tasteful amount of make up that seemed to accent her skin nicely, and who had on a simple, but stylish looking purple shirt on a pair of black slacks.

His eyes suddenly went wide in recognition as he said in shock, "M-Maya?!"

She looked up and smiled at Phoenix, saying, "Nick! You're finally here! I'm starving!"

Yup, this is definitely Maya. Phoenix thought, unable to believe this was the same Maya Fey he always knew, But if she didn't say anything, I think I'd still have trouble believing it.

When Phoenix gave her a little smile in response, he thought he saw her blushing slightly as she said, "You…look nice, Nick. This look is definitely a nice change to that blue suit you always wear."

Phoenix laughed lightly and replied, "Likewise for you."

Maya gave Phoenix a shy smile at his compliment, but suddenly changed the subject.

"Anyway, let's eat! I actually already ordered for us since I hate waiting, so our order should just about be ready," Maya said, clapping her hands together in anticipation, "And I just charged everything to your account, that's okay, right?"

"Oh, okay." Phoenix said in slight trepidation, just hoping that she didn't go too overboard with the ordering…this time.

I think I should just have a special bank account for all of Maya's expenses…Phoenix thought, feeling as though he'd never even see a dollar from his paycheck.

Soon their number was called and Maya went to get their order. She returned to their table with a tray with five burgers on it, and she picked up the smallest looking one and handed it to Phoenix. He took from her, and then she did not wait to start on her own burgers. He watched in amazement and disbelief as she inhaled her food, the whole thing looking even more ridiculous since she was fairly nicely dressed and had make up on. Phoenix knew that this was something that he should be used to by now, but he had to say, he probably would never stop being dumbfounded by it.

After she finished the burgers faster than Phoenix thought was humanly possible, she told him that she wanted to see the new Pink Princess movie that was out. Phoenix wasn't that excited about its release, but he could see how much she wanted to go, so he agreed. When they got to the theater, he bought a big popcorn to distract himself with eating in case he felt like the movie was getting dull.

As he munched away at that popcorn, he glanced over at Maya a few times, and was surprised to find that her eyes seemed to be on him much more than on the movie screen.

When this continued for at least half of the movie, Phoenix thought unsurely, Maybe she wants me to hold her hand or something?

Phoenix slowly and hesitantly reached over and grabbed her hand, almost taking his hand back a couple times. When he finally had the guts to look at the reaction on her face, he found a small, shy grin tugging on her lips, making him realize that he was right. Seeing this, Phoenix also smiled in relief.

Finally the date came to an end, and Maya drove Phoenix to his apartment. When they were standing outside of the door inside the building, Maya spoke.

"Hey, Nick…I had a good time…" she said, uncharacteristically shy, not quite being able to look at him when she spoke.

Phoenix seemed to be deep in thought, so it took him half a second to realize that Maya was talking to him.

Phoenix then sheepishly smiled and said, "Oh…yeah…me too…"

Maya just smiled shyly in response, and Phoenix thought that this would be it, but Maya just stood there, looking at him expectantly, not saying anything. He felt confused for about half a second when he realized what was going on.

Oh! I think she's expecting me to kiss her…or something…Phoenix thought, suddenly feeling very nervous.

Phoenix took a deep breath and hesitantly took a step forward. It felt really strange to him, being this close to Maya under such circumstances, but he tried to push that uneasy feeling away. With another deep breath he began to lean forward, and he saw Maya's eyes fluttering closed. Just centimeters away from her face, he stopped. He didn't know why he stopped, but for some reason, he just couldn't make himself kiss her on the lips. But now, it was much too late to pull away and pretend he had no intention of kissing her, so he settled with giving her a light peck on the cheek.

When he pulled back, he looked at her, suddenly blushed, and awkwardly said, "Ahh…well…"

Maya looked back at him shyly, also not quite sure what to say or do, so she finally settled on saying hesitantly with a touch of hope, "Umm…I guess I better go then…I hope we can do this again?"

Phoenix looked back at her and wondered for a second if he really wanted to do this again. It was true that he didn't have a bad time at all, but for some reason, he felt like something important was missing. He was on the verge of trying to let her down gently, but he stopped himself.

This is what I need! I do like her enough as a friend…I just have to see if more comes out of this. Phoenix thought to himself, coming to an impulsive decision.

"Yeah. We really should." Phoenix found himself saying, giving Maya a half smile.

With this response from Phoenix, Maya seemed awfully happy as she quickly walked to her car and gave him a wave before driving off, her big smile making Phoenix feel just a little bit better about things.

He made his way back to his apartment, entering and then getting ready to go to bed, going over the entire date in his mind. He wondered why he hesitated in kissing her, knowing that nerves alone really were not what stopped him. The more he thought about it, the more clear the reason became to him. He kept trying to push it out of his mind, reminding himself this is why he went on this date in the first place. But making himself go on a date that he most likely would not have gone on under regular circumstances wouldn't change the reason why.

Maya Fey just could never and would never be Miles Edgeworth.