A/N: Alright! It's been decided. Riley's fiancé is an OC; that's the only way to be fair (because voting closed with chapter one & it was a tie) :3
Anyway, I had an interesting conversation with the lovely Maya Phantom about what kind of roommate she would be. So I want to know: if you've read both 'prospective roommates' oneshots, which type of roommate do you think you would be more like? A Maya? Or a Lucas?
Thank you all for being so sweet! I appreciate the kind words and I hope this story can remain entertaining for you! I appreciate you reading the story! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own GMW, buuuuuuuuut I do love tiramisu! That has to count for something, right?
Maya considered herself a very patient person. Most people who didn't know her would think she most certainly was not, hell, she tended to try to attack people at times and she wasn't opposed to yelling at neighbours through the walls to pipe down when she could hear them. But Maya was incredibly good at holding herself back when she was pissed off. Yes, when she lost her temper and snapped she became something like a rabid dog, ready to sink her teeth into people's arms and she usually had to be held back, but in general, Maya was pretty good at keeping her irritation and anger at bay. She had Riley to thank for making her a bit better than she used to be, of course. Her best friend had been helping her for years to try not to be so volatile towards… well, general humanity.
But she was absolutely fed up with Lucas Friar.
Maya had been trying to be unbelievably patient with him for so long, but everything he did was grating her nerves and only serving to remind her yet again why a) she never wanted to room with any guys, b) she'd thought it would be a bad idea to let him live with her the second he had walked through her door, and c) she couldn't stand him.
His rich suburban seeming upbringing. His annoying country twang. His good boy, Mama's boy personality. The way he would always act faux polite, speaking slowly and calmly when she was close to raging as if he was speaking to a child. The condescending looks he would give her and disdainful comments he would make. The subtle 'I'm better than you' vibes he would give off towards her, as if she was a hot mess who didn't have her life together.
He ticked her off.
And every day having to deal with him was just a right pain in the ass. She tried to be as nice as possible—which wasn't very nice at all to be honest, but it was nice considering how she usually treated people she didn't like—but everything he did got on her nerves for some reason.
He was so clean cut and acted so damn perfect to the point that it almost seemed fake, and it bugged her. Even more than that was the way he sometimes talked down to her as if he believed she should be living up to his standard and what he constituted a good life. Maya liked the way she lived, and even if it was unconventional, it worked for her. She didn't like him coming in and trying to act as if things weren't okay and they needed to change. Maya had been fine for all these years with Riley.
Lucas seemed like the annoying kind of person who'd had it easy their whole life and while Maya wasn't usually judgemental and didn't hate people for having it easier, she didn't particularly try to get to know them either. Other than Riley and some other childhood friends, Maya avoided people like that at all costs because the fundamental differences in their attitudes toward life usually resulted in tensions in relating with each other and underlying irritation at times from careless comments made.
And Lucas was a prime example of the reason why she tended to stay away from people who'd had different backgrounds than her growing up.
"He's annoying, Riley. I just don't like him. And we don't work as roommates. Not like you and I did, anyway."
"Maya…" Riley sighed on the other line. "Some of the stuff you said he does sounds like he's almost exactly the same kind of roommate that I was to you."
"There's no way. You and I always got along as roommates. We had a system that worked. He's trying to change things!" Maya growled, rolling over under her covers for a better position when she felt something hard in the pile of clothes she was sleeping on top of. "A couple days ago, he came in my room looking for something without permission and then started complaining about the way my room looked. Not only was it none of his business, but it's also not his room! He obviously thinks he's better than me for some reason. If you met him, you would think he's terrible too. And you'd definitely see what a bad roommate he is."
"I don't know why you're acting like we had the perfect roommate relationship, Maya. You were horrifying as a roommate to me."
"What?"
"Let me put it this way so you can understand it in your way." Riley cleared her throat dramatically. "My relationship with you as a roommate—just a roommate; I love you in every other aspect of life—is akin to the ire Michelangelo felt towards Leonardo Di Vinci. A lingering annoyance and prevailing distaste towards you."
"You've actually studied up on art." Maya chuckled. "I'm proud of you."
"Thank you. I want to remain connected with you even though we're not together anymore." Riley giggled. "But that's beside the point. I didn't like living with you for a very long period of time, Maya. Do you not remember all the fights we used to get into at the beginning when we first moved in together during our senior year? At some point, you were even putting paint in my shampoo bottles. And then I took all your white clothes and turned them pink."
"Oh yeah." Maya snickered as she remembered how the end of college had been rife with arguments between them. "You were really bad at pranking and getting revenge."
"That's also beside the point. What I'm saying, Maya, is that I eventually gave up because I knew you wouldn't try to change the way you wanted to live and I knew fighting that would make things worse. And then by the time I moved out, I had gotten so used to you that it was such a shock to live in a civilized apartment with someone who actually lives like a human being. There weren't garbage bags to the ceiling in the bedroom, and for some reason, I found that surprising, which makes no sense. This Lucas guy sounds like he's not going to give up either, Maya. But the fact remains that from my standpoint, you're the worse roommate. Sorry, Peaches."
"Why didn't you say anything for the past years then?"
"Like I said, we were both stressed and trying to become adults in a difficult setting and struggling. We were already agitated enough as it was, and I didn't want us to have a falling out over it, so I sucked it up and dealt with it as best as I could. Sounds to me like you're having problems with Lucas because you're both just as hardheaded as the other. Where I was more of a passive roommate, he seems like he's pretty aggressive too, just in a kind of opposite, more polite way than you? And maybe too condescending—which really does sound annoying. Either way, you both need to sit down and talk about this because if you don't it's going to be a mess. Trust me on this."
Maya yawned as she sat up, scattering articles of clothing off her bed as she kicked the covers off of her body.
"I'll think about it."
"Good. Now I've gotta go. I'm going to dinner to meet Hector's parents, and I'm nervous. I need to make sure I look perfect so they love me."
"Riley, they'll love you. Everyone does."
"Thanks, Maya. Remember, talk to your roommate. That's the best way to squash whatever problems there may be early on. And later, tell me more about his looks. I couldn't help but notice that you deliberately left out what he looked like except that he's much taller than you so either he's so average it's not worth a mention, or he's so attractive to you that you don't want to say anything without sounding like you're gushing about how hot he might—"
"Go get ready for your dinner, Pumpkin. Love you. Bye."
Riley giggled on the other line.
"Love you too."
Maya set her phone on her pillow and stretched languidly, cracking her stiff limbs from being asleep in a strange position for so long. She knew Riley was right. If she didn't talk about her issues with Lucas from the start, she was sure she was going to try to kick his ass in the future, and though she was confident in the training she'd gotten when she was younger, Lucas was a lot taller and broader than her and she was a little worried that he'd be able to snatch her up like a doll and toss her on his shoulder to make her stop.
(Terrified of that actually. Maya was not a fan of high places).
Maya ran her hand through her tangled hair, resolving to maybe wait it out just a little bit. To wait to have the conversation in a couple days so that the odd tension of annoyance that always seemed to be lingering between them could subside a bit first. Otherwise, she knew her instinct would be to yell at him.
Was what she thought.
Until Maya entered the bathroom and pulled open the sink cabinet to find a plethora of things in there, almost filling it to the brim. Some cologne and an aftershave and then some other spray thingies that Maya didn't even know. A jar of cotton balls, his razor bag. Another bag. Some cream thing. And then another one. His toothbrush and toothpaste. And right in the bottom corner was Maya's meager stuff, her own toothbrush and toothpaste and her makeup bag.
His stuff took up almost three quarters of the entire cabinet, and Maya barely had any space for her own stuff. It was ridiculous. It was absolutely ridiculous and the more Maya stared at her cabinet taken over by his things, the more furious she grew. None of his stuff had been in the cabinet before, and all of a sudden, it was taking up all the room.
Maya stared incredulously as she snatched up a tube of shaving gel and a different can of shaving cream.
"What the fuck is all of this…?" she muttered, feeling her irritation mount exponentially.
Taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself down, Maya stalked out of the bathroom, products in hand as she approached the living room. She could hear noise from the kitchen and as she got closer, her stomach suddenly erupted in a growl from the mouthwatering smell drifting through the air. Maya forced herself to keep her mind off of food and focus as she rounded the corner and stomped angrily into the kitchen.
Lucas was standing in front of the stove, still in his casual business wear for work, meticulously pinching some salt into a steaming pot bubbling on the stovetop as he mixed the contents. If Maya wasn't so angry, she would have been drooling over the aroma travelling into her nose. But she was.
She stopped right beside him, holding up the gel to him with a cocked eyebrow.
"What the hell is this?"
"Morning, Sunshine," Lucas drawled, his attention still on what he was cooking. "Nice to see you finally up. Thought I'd make my gran's chili for dinner. I hope you don't mind, but I put a bit of cayenne pepper in it to give it a kick."
"Don't call me Sunshine, Hopalong." Maya snapped. "And answer my question. What the hell is this?"
He barely spared her a glance out of the corner of his eye, slight irritation passing through his gaze momentarily. It was always the same. He tried to act superior and unaffected, but the minute she responded to his patronizing behaviour, he got snappy and sarcastic too. He was no better than her, and if he thought he had the upper hand, he had another think coming.
"That's shaving gel," Lucas responded slowly, as if she was an idiot. "It says so on the label."
"So what is this?"
"Shaving cream. Also on the label."
Maya's eyes narrowed. "Why the hell do you need both if they're exactly the same thing?"
"They're not the same thing. One helps cut the hair more cleanly and the other one helps to moisturize the skin and protect it from the razor."
"Seriously? Soap will do the same job and you don't need two damn bottles of the same fucking shit!"
"Soap won't do the same job if you have sensitive skin," he responded through grit teeth, his eyes on the pot and clearly trying to dismiss her.
Maya fought the urge to chuck the stuff at him, grab his face, and make him look at her. She did not like being ignored.
"Your shit is filling up almost all of the bathroom cabinet! I don't have any room for my stuff."
"It was basically already empty before I put my stuff in there. What's the big deal? You clearly don't need the space, and I have a lot of things to keep up with."
"You're high maintenance is what it is. I don't like it cluttering up my cabinet."
"Your stuff was already in one corner anyway. I just filled the spaces." Lucas growled, gripping the handle of his mixing spoon more tightly.
"You took over is what you did. Can you clear up all that crap you left in it and keep it in your room or something?"
"Oh that's rich coming from you. You're seriously asking me that question?"
"Yeah. I am."
"Well do you think you could refrain from leaving your underwear on the bathroom floor all the time and keep it in your room or something?"
"Do you think you could refrain from spraying your fucking cologne in the bathroom? It's nauseating."
"I haven't gotten any complaints."
"Really?" Maya scoffed. "They lied to you. It smells like shit."
"Yeah, you would know since that's what your room smells like."
"My room smells fine."
"Have you actually taken a whiff of the stench in there?" Lucas spat, turning to face her. "There are piles of fucking garbage in a corner and mold on every surface!"
"So what?"
"So you're a slob, and I can't imagine what kind of depraved childhood you had to have had to grow up this way."
Maya felt herself stiffen sharply, rage boiling up in her and coursing through her veins before she could even stop it from happening. That was it.
"Shut the fuck up before I beat the shit out of you." Maya snarled, dropping the products as she grabbed the collar of Lucas' button down and yanked him down so they were face to face. "You don't know my life or me at all. You've got some nerve."
"I don't even need to know you to know that you've obviously got screws loose and would never be able to function in the real world. You're lucky you're an artist because no sane industry would ever want to hire someone like you." Lucas' eyes narrowed treacherously, his words low and sharp. "How hard is it to just be nice? It's like your brain short circuits at the concept for some reason. Being nice should be second nature!"
What an asshole.
"We weren't all raised as a country hick town, Dudley-Do-Right, good little Mama's boy, you know?"
"I've had it." Lucas growled, brushing her hands off of his shirt and cutting off the stove with a sharp snap. "Can you stop being such a damn bitch all the time?! You insult me every second we talk! I don't even know what I did to you, but your attitude stinks, and I've had enough of being the punching bag for your toxic bullshitting. Grow the fuck up."
"And I've had enough of you, period." Maya shot back. "You make me sick with all that 'I'm so perfect' behaviour and all your condescension and the way you act as if you know best from whatever stupid idea you have in your mind that growing up how you have makes you better than me. I don't know why I wasted my time on you. I didn't even want you to live here in the first place!"
"Well then why don't you just kick me out?!"
"Maybe I should!"
"Yeah, maybe you should!"
"Maybe I will! Take a hike, Huckleberry! Find a different place to live because this arrangement is over!"
"Fine! I've wasted enough time in this hellhole with you!"
Lucas brushed right by her, fists clenched and seething as he disappeared in the hallway.
Maya rolled her eyes.
Good riddance.
She no longer had to worry about the stress of having to live with him, an asshole through and through. She couldn't for the life of her understand why he carried himself in such a way as if he was morally superior when he was just as much an ass as she was. He just masked his better and put on airs and false fronts.
At least now he was going to leave though, and Maya wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Somewhere in the back of her mind, there was a voice—Riley's voice actually—that was telling her to apologize because she'd found a decent enough roommate that could contribute a lot to their living environment, and if she lost him, the difficult search would begin again. Maya disregarded it, deciding she would rather go through all that trouble to find a roommate once again than have to live with this Huckleberry dumbass for another damn day.
The doorbell rang, and Maya walked over to it, wondering who could possibly be bugging her at this time of the evening. She unlatched the locks and pulled open the door. Her landlady, Marie Leblanc, was standing there in her cotton candy pink dress, not a single jerry curl out of place on her head. She had a tight smile on her face, a tight smile with a gleam of distaste that only seemed to grow after Maya opened the door. She looked down at Maya's current state—her baggy sweater and hair completely disheveled—in slight disgust before she met Maya's eyes again.
"Good evening, Maya."
"Marie." Maya stifled a yawn, wondering why the old bitch was coming to visit her.
She'd paid her rent on time and as far as Maya knew, there shouldn't have been any issues or concerns that merited a visit from the owner of the apartment complex.
"I thought I heard yelling from down the hall."
"Yeah I was just… on the phone."
"Right, well." Marie cleared her throat and straightened, her hands clasped in front of her. "Maya, I didn't happen to see you at the monthly tenant meeting earlier this afternoon. Were you there, and I just missed you or…?"
Shit. Maya had forgotten. After she had finished a piece for her gallery, she'd gone to bed just as the sun was rising and Lucas was getting up to get ready for work. She had stayed asleep well into the evening. The meeting had completely slipped her mind. Back in the past, Riley had been the one to keep up with all the meetings and events and would take care of making the appearances for their tenantship.
"Right…" Maya chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head. "I forgot. I was working late finishing up a piece, and I slept through the time of the meeting."
"Dear, your underwear is showing." Marie whispered, looking around as if scandalized.
"Oh." Maya readjusted her sweater, yanking it further down and fighting the urge to roll her eyes. She just wanted the anal woman to scram so she could go back to her own matters. "So, what did you want?"
"Well, Maya, I came to inform you that a lovely couple planning to have children came looking for an apartment for the future this afternoon."
"Well that's great for you. More tenants."
"Yes, well…" Marie briefly hesitated, twiddling her thumbs. "I don't have any apartments to spare at the moment. Two bedroom apartments are what they are looking for. And I had just the most wonderful conversation with them about their professions. The man is a public defense attorney and his wife works nonprofit. What a delightful couple."
Maya shifted on her feet, wondering why the old bat was still talking after all this time. What the hell was the point of all this? Could she get on with it already?
"Okay…?"
"Now I come here because as much as I love the artwork you produce, Maya, I would like to lease them an apartment. And truth be told, I want to lease them this apartment at the end of your contract date."
Maya's breath caught in her chest and her brows rose, alarmed by Marie's comment. Had she heard her right?
"Wait, what?"
"Now don't take this the wrong way, but I feel like you will no longer require it since you live alone. This apartment is quite large and would be better suited for people who can use it in productive ways. I know it's a lot to ask—"
"You didn't ask though."
"—but I'm going to give you until your contract expires so you can find somewhere else to live."
So that was that. Marie was going to evict her, whether Maya wanted to or not. She felt sick to her stomach.
"Look, Riley and I spent years here. Are you really going to make me move out after this has been my home for so many years?"
"But Riley's gone now. And I don't want this to become a bachelorette pad. We value family and wholesome living here, and while I tolerated your activities and single life at times because you and Riley are sisters and family, now you're living alone and I think this apartment would better benefit a couple who are willing to expand our little community in a… positive way. You're in your mid-twenties and have long since finished college. I'm sure you'll be able to find affordable apartments of this quality pretty easily now."
Maya knew what this was. It wasn't just because of the "community" bullshit Marie had just told her. Riley had always been Marie's favourite for making her brownies for her birthday, always asking about her wellbeing and her family, her holiday programs and how sweet she was to everyone in general. Riley was an exemplary tenant. And Maya was just not. Now that Riley was gone, Maya had nothing to distract Marie from her subtle desire for bitter revenge.
She would be lying if she said she hadn't been expecting this at some point or another. Maya knew Marie wasn't particularly fond of her ever since Maya had tossed a bucket of dirty water she'd been using to rinse her paintbrushes out the window, and it soaked Marie and her puppy to the bone. This was just the most inopportune time for her to decide to get rid of Maya. She really needed Riley to appease their landlady. She'd always been partial to Riley's innocent, Bambi like qualities and her social graces.
"Listen, Marie—"
"I'm sorry, Maya," she said, cutting her off. She honestly didn't look sorry at all though in Maya's opinion. "I hate to do this, but I feel like this apartment would better benefit a different tenant. I'm going to bring them by next week and show them around. If you could tidy up the living room and the guest bedroom a bit, that would be great."
"Marie, you can't just do that." Maya frowned. "I live here."
"Technically, you only live here until your lease is up. Your lease isn't automatically renewable," she said matter of factly. "There's nothing really to discuss, Maya. I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind."
Maya chewed on her lower lip, closing her eyes momentarily and forcing herself to remain calm and not try to cuss this woman out or even worse, rip her hair out of her head. This was not the day for this crap. She was sleep deprived, she had to deal with all the annoyances from Lucas, and now this bitch. What was she supposed to do?
Maya took a deep breath, just about to try to argue her case again when Lucas suddenly appeared beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to his side. Maya nearly jumped in surprise, stiffening immediately when she was all of a sudden snuggled up to him, his scent invading her nose.
"Something the matter, honey?" he asked.
She stared up at Lucas, a little bit shocked, and he quirked a brow, clearly telling her to play along.
"Oh my… And who is this strapping young man?" Marie asked.
"Lucas Friar." He took Marie's hand and shook it. "I'm Maya's fiancé."
Marie looked shocked. "Maya, you're engaged?"
"…Yupp." Maya chuckled halfheartedly, her smile kind of a grimace as she rested her head on his chest, her arms draped around his waist. "I'm engaged. To this guy. We're together. And engaged."
"Well why didn't you tell me?"
"It was kind of unexpected. Didn't even see it coming." Maya grumbled, and Lucas' grip around her tightened minutely, one of his fingers wedging into her side.
Maya clawed one of her hands into his side in retaliation, taking pride in the fact that he bristled, his grip on her loosening up the slightest bit.
"When are you planning to get married?" Marie asked with some twinkle in her eyes that made Maya particularly uneasy.
"We're still getting used to life with each other." Lucas replied. "We don't want to ruin this thing we have before we're ready to get officially married, you know? Maybe next year. Or the year after that."
He smiled down at Maya charmingly, reaching over and tucking a loose coil of hair behind her ear.
"I'm just happy I can finally be with you. Because I love you so much, Cupcake."
It was so saccharine, so corny and it made Maya nearly cringe in disgust at how fake the amourous undertone laced in his words were. She smiled tightly, leaning closer to him to better reinforce the image of a couple deeply in love though she and Lucas were all but glaring at each other with their eyes.
"I love you too, Princess." Maya forced out, her teeth nearly cracking from how clenched her jaw was.
Lucas' gaze darkened, and Maya nearly started laughing from the thinly veiled irritation in his expression.
"I love you more than life itself, baby," he murmured, stroking her cheek, a sharp glint in his eyes. "Every time I look in your eyes, I fall in love all over again. Your smile makes my whole world light up in colour."
Maya's face started to curl, feeling utterly sickened by his disgustingly sweet comments. She couldn't even think of anything to say, not after that. She only hoped Marie thought it was due to some sort of love spell she was under and not the fact that she felt like retching on everyone's shoes.
"You two are so cute." Marie swooned, her hand on her heart. "You're very lucky to have found someone who loves you, Maya. He is quite handsome and charming. What a gentleman."
"Gee thanks…" Maya muttered, wondering if Marie was honestly insulting her or not.
"Anyway, I've been meaning to properly introduce myself to you," Lucas said, "but I've been moving all my stuff into the apartment since I moved to New York to work at a vet clinic in Greenwich Village, and Maya and I have just been so busy lately. We were long distance for years—I was in Texas, you see—but now I've moved here for good to be with my short little stack of pancakes."
Maya wanted to punch him for nickname.
"We hope to maybe someday change our family of two to a family of three. Or more if she wants more kids with me. I'm not opposed. We always thought this would be the perfect location to raise our future children, but I guess we'll have to start looking for a new place."
"Oh no! Of course you don't have to start looking for a new place! This is the perfect location for you to raise your family." Marie stated empathically, looking extremely apologetic. "I am so sorry for bugging you, Maya. I wouldn't have told the couple about the apartment if I knew you were planning for your own family in the future with your fiancé. I wish you two all the luck for your impending nuptials. Please excuse me for my transgressions. You both should come to my apartment sometime and have dinner with my husband and me."
"We would love to." Lucas answered, and this time, Maya really did stab him sharply in the side with a fingernail. He grunted slightly, masking his pain well by clearing his throat. "But we'll have to get back to you on a date though; we've got a lot to do at the moment."
"No, I definitely understand. You two have a nice evening now."
Marie walked away, Lucas and Maya smiling as she disappeared down the hall. But as soon as Maya shut the door of her apartment, he let go of her abruptly, and she pulled away from him as if he were on fire, the smile dropping from her face immediately as her eyes narrowed.
"Any thanks in order any time soon?" Lucas snarked. "Or are you just going to stand there glaring at me when I just saved your ass from eventually getting evicted?"
"Saved my ass? You made it much worse! You do realize that now you absolutely cannot leave because of this lie?"
"On the contrary." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I can leave whenever the hell I want to. The one in danger of losing the apartment is you. You need me to stick around now or you're screwed."
Maya stared at him in shock, her fists slowly clenching as Lucas cocked a brow. So he had done it to extort her? What an absolute tool. This was why Maya never trusted anyone. Everyone in the world only cared for their own agendas without thinking about what their behaviour could to the people they took advantage of. Maya may have acted that way sometimes too, but she used to let everyone in and look what happened to her there. People leaving. People using her. People breaking her heart. She had every right to be as bitchy as she wanted. And with good reason since people were always disappointing her.
Like this. She'd known Lucas was some kind of asshole, but she hadn't expected him to be this despicable to this extent. It was honestly disappointing to know this was his true character.
"You must be so proud of yourself, I bet." Maya spat, her lip curled in disgust. "Congratulations. You got me. What, do you want me to beg you for forgiveness now or you'll blackmail me? You're a sad excuse for a human being if this is your idea of some kind of revenge."
Lucas sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Calm down. That's not why I did that, Maya. I wasn't trying to extort you. I don't want you to lose your home, okay? Also because I would lose my place too."
"So why did you say that then?" she growled, though part of her couldn't deny that she felt some inkling of relief.
"I just wanted to shut you up for a bit. You're so calculating and you always think you're right. I just needed to be ahead for once." Lucas said honestly. "All I want is for you to stop being so rude all the time."
"Only 5% of the time will work for me, Huckleberry."
"Why are you so… like this?"
"You wouldn't understand, Sundance. It's pointless."
"I'm trying to. All you have to do is tell me."
"I don't want to talk about it with you of all people. Like I said, telling you is pointless. You would never understand, Mr. Perfect."
Lucas' jaw clenched in annoyance, his eyes narrowing angrily.
"That's right, I don't understand. But you can't fault me for that for possibly growing up differently from you. Just because we had different backgrounds in our upbringing doesn't mean that we both haven't experienced difficult things in life. You act like I would be judgemental about your past, but you're turning around and being judgemental about mine without even knowing it. You're a damn hypocrite.
"Hate me because you know me and my story and decide you don't like me. Don't hate me just because I resemble some certain trope of male that you may heavily dislike. It makes you look like a terrible person, which I'm hoping you're not, because when you're not biting my head off you seem like you might actually be cool to hang out with or get a drink with or something, but I'll never know because you shut me out and growl and snap at me like you have a personal vendetta against me when we've only known each other for about five days at this point."
He stopped talking abruptly, staring at her with furrowed brows as a heavy silence fell across the room. Maya rolled her eyes in boredom.
"You done?"
Lucas looked exasperated. "So nothing I said even—"
"You moving all your stuff in the bathroom cabinet only serves to drive the point home that my best friend really has moved out and is moving on with her life. It was like a slap to my face and a reminder that it's officially true that she's going on to the next chapter of her life and leaving me behind. There's no going back now that you've settled in. And part of me was hoping that maybe this was temporary and that things would just go back to the way they were before."
"…Maya—"
"We're not talking about this right now." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Consider this your lucky single glimpse into my mind. Make of it what you will and figure out what you want about me from that, but that's all I'm telling you. I'm clearly making an effort, and this is my thanks for helping me with Marie."
Lucas rolled his eyes, leaning back against the kitchen counter.
"If you don't want to talk about it, can we at least start over on the right foot this time? And try to make this roommate thing work? If you tone down your whole Medusa thing, I can try not to bug you too much about the way you choose to live."
Maya cocked a hip. "But you already broke that agreement."
"How? What did I possibly do?"
"It was the way you said 'you choose to live'. As if my way of life is some disgusting thing and you pity me for it. You don't even have to be actively condescending. It's the way you say stuff that puts me off."
"Then I'll work on my tone. Look. My point is that we could stand to benefit from each other as each other's roommates, but neither of us are going to like living in general if we keep making each other miserable. So let's both make an effort to make this work. What do you say?"
Maya glanced at the abandoned pot on the kitchen stove before she brought her gaze back to Lucas' expectant one.
"I say… it'd be a shame if all that chili you made went to waste."
Lucas stared at her for a second, searching her face for a few beats of silence. Then he snorted and shook his head in amusement, walking towards the stove.
"Alright. I'll take it."
Maya's stomach growled.
"Good. I'm fucking starving, and it smells amazing."
"You know?" Lucas said as he turned the heat back on. "Maybe a new chapter of your life has started. Just not the same way as your friend's. You might not have recognized it because you were still stuck on the past and wanting your friend to come back."
Maya didn't respond, heading over to the fridge to grab a beer.
She was still annoyed by him—and she didn't think she would ever like him; they were way too different for them to ever become friends—but for a moment, it felt like some weight on her shoulders had been lifted. She had to admit, it did feel a little nice to be able to tell someone other than Riley what was going on with her. She didn't really know what had compelled her to confide in Lucas, but she was glad she had. And she was even more glad that he had listened.
Maya opened the fridge and froze, her eye twitching in annoyance.
She was appalled to find water and fresh squeezed juice and other healthy atrocities filling the shelves that never used to be there before. Hell, the day before, all Maya had had in there was some old takeout, moldy cheese, a bowl of unfinished cereal with a green blob in the center of it and her beer. All of which was wedged in one little corner of the fridge to make room for all the other stuff.
"…Fucking hell."
