A/N: Two warnings for future chapters of this story since I never clarified at the beginning.

1) This story is High T.

2) This is a drama. I cannot stress this enough, because I don't hold back, so prepare yourself in the future.

Alright! Enjoy this little chapter because after this, the fun really starts.

Shout out to the reviews! Definitely much appreciated! I love you all :D

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW, but Lucaya is bae.

Maya walked down the sidewalk, staring at the photo of Jellybean with a sort of bounce in her step. The sun was shining bright in the sky, cascading its gorgeous rays of sunlight despite it being mid October. She had prenatal vitamins in her bag, a little pamphlet that explained details of what was happening to her body in her pocket, and her stomach felt fine.

This was the first time since she found out that she was pregnant that things finally felt like they were working out for the best. She was in a great mood. Not even that biker that had almost mowed her down could damper her spirits. Maya's attitude could even rival that of her happy-go-lucky best friend's. Maybe she'd grab some ice cream to commemorate this experience. No. She would grab ice cream. Ice cream sounded great.

It was almost like, it was the first day of a brand new her. The beginning of something beautiful in life. And Maya was ready to take it by its horns! Life could throw whatever crap it wanted at her. She was ready.

"Maya?"

Shit. I take it back! I take it back. Life, please don't be a bitch!

Maya stuffed the picture of the ultrasound deep in her pocket and smiled, trying to feign a bright and cheerful attitude to mask the way her face had fallen. Lucas was leaning languidly against the crosswalk pole, a convenience store bag in his hand.

"Oh, hey… Didn't see you there."

"Did you just come from Riley's?"

She frowned in confusion, "No. I'm on my way there right now."

He looked confused as well, "Then where did you come from?"

Shit. Maya had forgotten that she didn't live anywhere near Riley's neighbourhood or the hospital and therefore, it wouldn't make sense to find her walking down this sidewalk in the least.

"That's none of your business." Maya said, unable to think of a quick enough excuse. "Well, I've got to head on to Riley's so…"

"Maya wait." Lucas said, straightening up and walking over to her with a look of exasperation, "Look, I know you've been avoiding me."

She snorted, though she could feel herself starting to sweat, "Don't be ridiculous."

His eyes narrowed in annoyance, "You know as well as I do that you've been avoiding me since we slept together. Do you think I'm stupid?"

She took in a sharp breath at his blunt words and stammered, "I-I…"

"You're the one who said to pretend like nothing happened, and I've been trying, but every single time I approach you, you run off. We don't even hang out anymore. So what's your damage?"

"Okay. Look. I was just really busy." Maya lied breezily, "I have a little bit of time right now. Why don't we catch up and get some ice cream or something?"

Truthfully, they were across the street from a great place, and Maya couldn't lie that she had ulterior motives. She just really wanted some ice cream. Badly. And she hoped that if she pacified his irritation, he would leave well enough alone and eventually forget about his questions.

"Uh." Lucas's eyebrows were a little raised, and he looked surprised by her proposal. "Okay?"

"Yeah. And then we can chill in the park nearby. It's not going to stay warm forever." She said somewhat cheerfully, beginning to cross the street when it was safe. "You're buying, by the way."

Lucas stared at her in confusion, completely floored by how quickly she had gone from sour to almost bubbly. He shook his head and followed her across the street. Was she skipping?

Maya yanked open the door to the ice cream store and nearly melted into the floor in bliss. It smelled heavenly. The aroma of caramel and milk chocolate and waffle cone and just overall ice cream scent was exciting her. Her stomach grumbled imperceivably, and she patted her abdomen placatingly.

Guess what Jellybean? You're about to have some damn good ice cream for the first time.

Thankfully the line wasn't very long, so Maya told Lucas what she wanted—double scoop of Rocky Road and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, extra caramel; Pistachio Chocolate Chip for him—and pushed him to get it quickly. It didn't take too long to get the ice cream, and as Lucas brought it over, she felt a slight twinge of guilt. He was completely clueless, but only because she was keeping it from him. Topanga was right. He deserved to know since he was the father. But first...

Maya eagerly picked up a spoonful and popped it in her mouth, moaning in happiness at the gooey caramel goodness and sweetness of the vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips.

"This fucking rocks…" she moaned again, talking around a mouthful of ice cream.

Lucas watched her with barely concealed amusement, "You really look like you're enjoying that."

She nodded in complete mental bliss, "Let's go."

As they left, she tilted her head and smiled happily up at Lucas. He returned it with an easygoing one of his own. For a second, she didn't feel nervous around him, and it felt like they had recovered a semblance of their prior friendship. (Except for maybe the fact that she had the unmistakable urge to slide her hand into his and lace their fingers together).

It felt that way, at least, until they walked a little way down the street and two annoying tittering girls caught sight of them—or rather, of Lucas—and walked over. Maya recognized the two as underclassmen at their school. And the presidents of the Lucas Friar fan club.

"Hey Lucas," One of the girls with caked on makeup giggled, "Fancy running into you here!"

"Great job at the last football game!" the other gushed, "You're like, the greatest quarterback ever."

"Thanks, that means a lot." he said genuinely. "I still have a long way to go, though."

"Are you serious?" Cake-face exclaimed, slapping him lightly. Maya wanted to barf, "You're incredible."

Maya scoffed under her breath and turned away from the conversation in annoyance. How disrespectful could those girls get, flirting with him right in front of her face like that?

Maya froze mid spoonful.

What the hell was she talking about…

She was acting like a nut. Or some possessive girlfriend, and she and Lucas weren't even together. Of course they were flirting with him. Lucas Friar was quarterback of their football team, a straight A student, charming, and very, very undeniably attractive. Maya knew he was a catch. It wasn't uncommon for particularly fearless and confident students to want to try and snag him. Or fuck him. Either one she supposed. Getting to say they hooked up with or were dating the star of their school was bound to boost them high on the popularity chain.

"I take it you guys have made up. So are you two dating or something?" One of them asked offhandedly, but clearly trying to check the status of his availability. "There's some rumours circulating at school that you two are together and had a fight."

"Maya and I aren't dating." Lucas responded easily, "She's just my best friend."

Maya felt her mood sour further. Of course they weren't dating… Why would he think so? After all, she's the one who had put a stop to anything that might and could have been. He'd done exactly what she asked, so why was she getting so pissed now when it was her fault? She knew her irritation was completely unreasonable and irrational, but it still stung to hear him clearly define the fact that they were no longer associated in any way aside from their friendship.

The conversation finally ended when the girls went on their way, and Lucas turned to Maya. She was sporting a rather stormy expression on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Maya grunted, "Let's just go to the damn park."

Confused by her sudden change in behaviour, he followed her as she stormed down the sidewalk and to the public park about a block away. Maya paid no mind to his confusion and walked to a free bench, plopping onto it ungracefully and eating a few more spoonfuls angrily. She wanted to be sitting on her couch right now, curled up in a blanket and ranting to Riley. Lucas came up to the bench and sat down tentatively next to her, wincing when he saw her expression.

"…Are you mad at me?"

"Not really." She said, looking away from his imploring gaze. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Maya, you're pissed off and avoiding me again. And I don't know what else could have been the problem, so I'm assuming it's me. Can you just tell me what I did?" He growled in irritation, "I mean one second you're happy, the next you're acting scared, and then you're mad as hell. What is going on with you?"

"Lucas…"

"Are we even okay anymore? If this is how we're going to be from now on, we should never have slept with each other."

Maya's breath hitched when he said the exact words she had hoped he would never say. Her stomach felt like it had dropped to her feet. She swallowed hard, forcing herself not to let those tears crawl into her vision. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of Lucas. Especially when he was being a complete dick.

"What the hell, you asshole?" She spat coldly, glaring at him with fire in her eyes. "How could you say that?"

"Shit, Maya…" He let out a deep sigh, turning to face her directly and running a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. It's just… It's frustrating! I want to make our relationship work, but you're making it hard to maintain our friendship at all. You've been avoiding me for longer than a month. So excuse me for thinking there's something you're hiding from me."

He was right. The longer she kept this up, the worse their friendship became. Maybe it was time to tell him.

"Lucas, there's something I have to tell you." She closed her eyes. "The truth is… I'm… I-I…"

Pregnant! Knocked up! Have a bun in my oven! Swallowed a watermelon! C'mon Maya! For fuck's sake, say something!

But the words died in her throat when she met his gaze as he watched her anxiously, sea foam eyes alight in genuine concern. She lost her nerve before she could even muster up the courage to tell him. Why couldn't she just get this shit out of her system?!

"I… just thought you didn't want anything to do with me anymore… You probably thought I was a terrible person after that night. You probably hated me."

He released a breath of relief and gave Maya a look of fond exasperation. "Maya I didn't think you were a terrible person. Sure, I was a little mad for a while, but I got over it. I could never hate you. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Barely, Sundance." She quipped, finishing off her ice cream and tossing it in a nearby garbage can. At least she'd dodged that damn bullet, but now she'd missed yet another opportunity to tell him what was going on with her. She needed to get her shit together.

"There's the Maya I know and love." He said with a smirk.

Maya knew he didn't mean it in that way, but she couldn't help the elation that went through her entire body. She wondered if he even realized he had indirectly said that he loved her.

Maya chill… Even if he knew he realized he said that, it wouldn't mean anything.

She eyed his ice cream hungrily, still not satisfied with what she had just finished. She was starving. Not even hungry for real food. She just wanted some nuts. And chocolate chips. Which he had in his ice cream.

"Are you gonna finish that?" She pointed to the cup in his hand, licking her lips.

He raised a brow, a little nervous from the intensity of her gaze on his ice cream, "I was planning to. But, uh, you look like you really want it."

"I do." She confirmed, "Give it here, Huckleberry."

He gave her his ice cream, and she took happy bites out of it, happily sighing at the relief she felt from it. Yup. Ice cream was definitely her best friend. She made a mental note to remember to buy jugs of it to keep in the Matthews fridge for future visits. But the ice cream was kind of lacking something in it. Something like honey mustard or ketchup. Or both.

"Ice cream and honey mustard and ketchup?" Lucas asked incredulously, a horrified look on his face.

Maya froze when she realized she had said that out loud.

"Wow. That sounds like the kind of thing a pregnant woman would eat." he looked amused.

Oh shit…

Her stomach reeled, and she felt that tickle in the back of her throat that usually warned her that she was on the cusp of tossing her cookies once again. Maya took in a sharp breath and stood up abruptly, dumping the empty cup in the trash can.

"I have to go."

"Not this again." Lucas groaned, hopping to his feet. "I'm sorry. Was it something I said?"

"No…" she grimaced, trying to walk around him. She needed to find somewhere and fast. "I just… have to go."

"Dammit Maya!" Lucas stopped her, catching her wrist and pulling her back around before she could run off. The jolt in her motion only served to increase the nausea, and she fought the urge to gag with every ounce of her body. "Stop. Running. Away. Look, if there's something you need to get off your chest, you can talk to me. How can I help you?"

The last time she'd been about to vomit, Lucas' scent had fixed that mess up right quick. Struggling to hold it in, she walked right into his open arms and wrapped her arms around his torso, closing her eyes and just taking slow, deep breaths. She felt his breathing falter, no doubt in surprise. Maya Hart was not a hugger, unless you were Riley. She let herself relax and calm down with the steady beats of his heart and his fresh, clean scent.

"You smell like aftershave…" she mumbled happily into his chest.

"Maya?" He sounded completely and utterly bewildered.

"I'm just… going through some stuff."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he said at last, resting his chin on her head and his arms around her back.

"Not yet. But definitely one day..."

"Okay."

Maya sighed softly and tightened her hold on him. She wished things could stay like this forever, but eventually, she knew she would have to drop the baby bomb. She only hoped she and Lucas could survive a friendship after that.

Lucas… I've decided to keep Jellybean to raise. Would you want anything to do with us if you found out?