A/N: My first one-shot! This is entirely in Zay POV so enjoy!
I don't own GMW, just the plot of this story.
I could see it, even if everyone else couldn't. I know my best friend. I've knows Lucas since I was 7 years old. You think I wouldn't be able to tell when he likes a girl? Please. And I could always tell that he had a soft spot for a little blonde beauty. A soft spot that coupled with emotions way beyond what one feels for 'just a friend,' as Lucas calls her. There were reasons, of course. I had eyes, even if no one else did. But if I had to list them, there were 5 main reasons I could tell Lucas had a spot in his heart dedicated to Maya.
Lucas would do anything for Maya.
One thing many people don't know about Lucas is that he hates getting sick! It's one of his least favorite things. He hates being too weak and sleepy to do his workouts and having to skip practices. He gets behind in school from being too congested to do homework. Falling behind in class is a definite fear from not being able to focus during lectures; that is if he even gets to school, since his mom usually makes him skip a day or two in fear of him getting the other kids sick.
Basically Lucas would do anything to not get sick. End of story.
Or so I thought.
I thought Lucas would avoid all things that could possibly get him sick, but that was until Maya came down with strep throat.
One week, Maya had been coughing, calling it a tickle in her throat. She shook it off. So the rest of us did the same. Lucas, however, brought it upon himself to come to school with a bag of cough drops for Maya. I didn't think much of it, none of us did. Maya thanked him, popping one of the drops into her mouth and going on with her day. It wasn't until a couple days later that I noticed something out of Lucas's norm.
Maya wasn't at school. According to Riley, the little blonde had come down with strep throat and was instructed to stay home. I knew Lucas was worried. What I didn't know?
That Lucas had ditched our third period math class to go bring Maya soup. Even when I was sick Lucas didn't bring me soup! The boy virtually chased himself out of his own home whenever one of his own parents were sick. But all he had to do was hear Maya wasn't feeling good and not only was he there with her to make sure she was taken care of, but he ditched class to do it!
Lucas walked into our next class, the phone glued to his ear. I turned to him as soon as he sat down, ready to ask where the hell he had been during math, but he was too busy smiling into his phone.
"Maya I know you can take care of yourself, but I'm just going to come check on you after school," he said, a pinch of concern in his voice. I didn't even have to ask anymore. I knew he was with Maya instead of in class, where he would have been if it was anybody else besides Maya who was sick. "Just try to go to sleep alright? And there's more tea in the kitchen. You should drink more of it if it helps your throat." I felt like my jaw was hanging open. Lucas was actually taking care of Maya. He was a nice guy and all, no one doubted that. But sickness was a sore spot for Lucas.
He soon hung up the phone, noticing my wide eyed gaze at him.
"Were you at Maya's right now? When she's sick? With a very contagious decease like strep throat?" I questioned.
"You know how stubborn Maya is. And with her mom at work and Shawn on a photography trip, there's no one at home with her to make sure she does what she needs to do to get better," he explained. His tone was casual, as if this was normal behavior for him. I thought my ears were malfunctioning when he told me. "I would do the same thing for anyone."
Lies. I knew they were lies because I couldn't think of one time when I was sick and Lucas took care of me. Actually, I couldn't name a time when I was sick and he would even come within 50 feet of me.
But I didn't bring that up. In fact, I just turned in my seat towards the front of the class. Knowing all the while, that Lucas Friar would do anything for that sharp tongued Hart. This proved it.
Even a week later, when Lucas was stuck at home with strep throat, he didn't complain. Probably because Maya took care of him, just like he took care of her.
Maya can calm Lucas down like no one else can.
It's no secret that Lucas has a bit of a temper. Yes, it had been cooled a lot since he moved to New York and found the group of friends we have now. This Lucas was nothing compared to the easily agitated Lucas he was when we were growing up back in Texas. But that part of him still existed, buried deep inside him. It was easily concealed and he controlled it well.
I know Lucas inside and out. And I know, like everyone, he has buttons. Buttons that, once pushed, sent him towards the edge. Once Lucas was moving towards the edge, once that fire was set inside his gut, it was hard to get him to calm down. Only certain people, me being one of the only ones, could get him back from the edge.
I could sense Maya was one of those people. I knew it from the beginning when I saw her pull him back from certain negative emotions. It didn't even have to be anger; it could be as tame as frustration or nervousness. But Maya could pull him back. I was impressed, I'll admit. She had such ease with it. Just even saying his name could get the tense feeling that filled his body to relax just a bit.
"Lucas you need to loosen up when you pitch," our teammate Billy went on at lunch. I could tell Lucas's day was already off to a bad start. His morning had started with him and his dad having a fight. A big one from what he told me. So I knew that when Billy came over and started critiquing Lucas on his baseball skills, or recent lack thereof according to Billy, that there could be trouble. Maya sat between Lucas and I on one side of the table. Even with her sitting in the middle of us, I could almost feel the heat rising from Lucas. Everyone at the table looked worried, knowing Lucas could snap at any second. Each of us were mentally shouting at Billy to shut up before Lucas lunged across the table to strangle him, but he kept going.
I could tell the rage was bubbling up inside of Lucas, as he stared at Billy threw gritted teeth. I prepared to have to pull him back. Maybe he would just get up and angrily walk away. That was best case scenario at this point. Even I thought there was no going back.
But out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maya's hand discreetly move over. She tucked her hand under Lucas's arm, clutching lightly onto his wrist since his hands were currently balled into tight, white-knuckled fists. It was something you wouldn't even notice unless you were sitting right next to them. But I noticed.
I noticed Lucas's fist uncurl slowly, allowing Maya's hand to slide into his own. I noticed their fingers lace together. I noticed Maya squeeze his hand, comforting him probably more than even I could understand. But more than anything, I noticed Lucas let go of some of the anger that was filling up his bones and rising in his core. His other fist slowly uncurled until it laid flat on his leg.
I had never seen his anger be subsided like that. Soon, it was like he was never angry at all. Billy ended his rant, saying Lucas was still one of the best players on the team and he was just a little off lately. We got back to normal, laughing and talking until the lunch bell rang.
I couldn't help but wonder if Maya even knew how much of an effect she had on Lucas. Did Lucas even realize? I didn't think so, considered Maya's fingers stayed intertwined with Lucas's for the rest of lunch.
Lucas would fight for that girl. Literally.
After knowing Lucas for so long, I would bet all the money I had that I knew all the things that made him angry. That I knew all the things that really pushed Lucas over the edge.
I would have lost all the money I had.
It's no secret that Lucas would go pretty far to protect his friends. But something about Maya made him go crazy. I swear he always got this look in his eye when something bad happened to Maya. A look that seemed like he would go to war for the girl. Maybe that's a bit dramatic. But honestly, I didn't even know how much he would do to protect her, how crazy he would get if something happened to her.
Little glimpses of his jealousy and protectiveness made their way through sometimes. If we were at a party and some guy would hit on Maya, I could see it. The little furrow in Lucas's eyebrows. But it wasn't until Maya started dating one of our teammates from the baseball team our sophomore year that it became a real sight. Almost every second Maya and Jeremey were together you could see Lucas struggle with his reeling jealousy. Especially when the two of them fought.
Towards the end of the year, Jeremey broke up with Maya. Let's just say, Lucas was livid when he found out why. Apparently, Maya didn't want to have sex with him as much as he wanted her too. Maya and I had to physically hold Lucas back from going to find Jeremey. She begged him to let it go. Reluctantly, he agreed.
Everything would have been fine. But Jeremey couldn't stop running his mouth. Lucas and I walked into the locker room one day before practice only to hear Jeremey talking about Maya. He eyed Lucas and didn't even stop, even though he knew Maya was one of his best friends.
"It's always the insecure girls. They're the easiest to get into bed," he ran his mouth, smirking.
I could already see Lucas's hands curl up into tight fists at his sides. The look in his eyes told me he was seeing red. If Jeremey knew what was good for him, he would've just stopped talking. But of course, he wasn't that smart.
"Girls like her, they're only really useful for one thing."
God this guy wouldn't shut up. Even I was getting angry. I cared about Maya too and I'll admit when she started dating Jeremey Waller, I was as anxious as Lucas was. Jeremey was always the type of guy to brag about sleeping with a girl, usually older. Jeremey was a year older than us, a junior in our high school. While Lucas wanted to say something about that to Maya when they first started dating, Riley talked him out of it, saying Maya was happy. It seemed true. Jeremey was surprisingly sweet to Maya, there had been no crude locker room talk about her during their relationship; it seemed fine.
Until now. When it became sort of obvious, sitting here listening to Jeremey talk about Maya, that he only started dating her and was so nice and sweet so that he could get her in bed. I could see Lucas's whole body fill with anger. I thought about grabbing him and taking him outside. But for some reason, I didn't think that would help. That might make it worse.
"At least I got to taste that tight hole of hers," asshole Jeremey said with a smirk.
Before I even blinked, Lucas was on top of Jeremey, his fist connecting to his face over and over. The two rolled around on the floor, both throwing punches and suddenly having blood appear on their faces. They had to be pulled off each other by the whole team and the coach.
A while later, we were sitting in the nurses office. I wasn't speaking; neither was Lucas. I wanted to give him a little while to cool down before hitting him with the big question. What the hell is wrong with him? Suddenly a head of blonde hair whipped around the doorframe and into the room.
"Lucas! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Maya questioned angrily, beating me to the question. She raised her tiny fist and hit Lucas in the chest, but I'm sure he didn't even feel anything. Lucas just stared in surprise, holding his bloodied tissue to his bleeding nose.
"Maya how did you even know I was here?"
"Farkle told Riley and she told me."
"How did Farkle know?"
Both of their glares turned on me, knowing full well what I had done. I guess I didn't really think too hard about the chain of communication when I texted Farkle about the fight Lucas got into.
Oops.
They turned away from me, Maya's glare returning to Lucas and his bruised face. "Lucas I told you I didn't want you to get involved with this!" Maya's eyes were filled with anger and to be honest it scared me almost as much as the anger Lucas had in his eyes right before the fight. My feet took a couple steps back, not wanting to get in the middle of the fight they might be having.
"Maya how could you not want me involved? All I'm trying to do is protect you," Lucas growled. I was still. Their voices weren't raised too much, but it still felt weird being next to them while they had this argument. My curiosity got the better of me and I stayed put.
"Lucas I don't want you getting in fights because of me!" Maya had a point and both Lucas and I knew it. Especially since he already had a history with this sort of thing and an expulsion from our old school to prove it. Lucas had gotten lucky in this whole thing. Most of the guys on the team, the guys in the locker room, they knew what an ass Jeremey was. They defended Lucas and stood up for him with the coach and the principal by saying he was defending Maya. My best friend was not in the wrong. Although the principal wishes he wouldn't have turned violent, he agreed that Lucas was trying to be noble. While Jeremey got a 4 day suspension and 3 weeks of detention, Lucas got it easy with no suspension and only 2 weeks of detention. Pretty much scot-free if you ask me.
"I'm not going to apologize for hitting him Maya! He deserved it and if he said any of that shit about you again, I would do the exact same thing I just did." The air was so heavy as the two of them just stared at each other. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought they were going to grab each other and make out.
"You're an idiot Huckleberry," A pause. I thought so hard about just backing out of the room. But instead, Maya spoke. "But thank you."
Maya plopped down next to Lucas and helped him clean himself up. I took my opportunity to slip out quietly. Honestly, I felt like an intruder. An unwelcomed guest looming over their private moment. But from that day forward, I always knew that only someone who wished for death would say anything bad about Maya around Lucas.
Comforting Maya seems to be a natural state for Lucas.
It was a Saturday. Early morning. Lucas and I had to get to the school gym for a mandatory workout and practice. It was early, barely past sunrise. Mrs. Friar let me in, saying Lucas was in his room. She hadn't seen him come out yet, so she guessed he was still asleep. I expected to walk into his room and see him up, packing his workout bag for practice. But that's not what I saw when I walked into his room.
Instead, I saw him asleep. In bed. Blondie lying in bed right next to him. Next to might not actually be the correct way to describe it. Maya's head was on his chest, her arms thrown over his chest. I noticed Lucas's hand laying lightly on the skin of Maya's lower back where her shirt had lifted up. They looked so peaceful. For a minute, I considered leaving, pretending I never saw anything. But I looked at my phone and I knew if I didn't get Lucas up now, he would most likely miss our practice. Our coach would flip out and I didn't want him to get in trouble.
Thinking Mrs. Friar for sure didn't know Lucas had a girl in his bed, I quietly closed his door. Both of them looked fully dressed, so I didn't think it would be a big deal to let Lucas know I was here. Nothing happened. I think I knew that deep down. These were two of the most oblivious people I knew. They still couldn't see the feelings they had for each other. I shook Lucas's shoulder gently. His eyes opened and I could tell how confused he was to see me.
"We have to get to practice," I said, flashing him the time on my phone. His eyes became wide and he lifted himself out of bed. While normally, if he knew he could be late to a mandatory practice, Lucas would have thrown the covers off of himself and all but run to the bathroom to quickly shower. Instead, he peeled the blanket off of himself slowly, making sure it covered Maya still. He carefully lifted her head off of him and laid it on the pillow, the same with her arm, which he tucked under the blanket.
"I'll be right back," he picked up his work-out clothes to take to the bathroom with him. "Please don't wake her up."
I sat on the edge of the bed waiting for Lucas to finish his quick shower. Per his request, I didn't wake Maya up. She barely even stirred while I was sitting there. The kid can sleep. Even when Lucas came back and started shuffling around his room, I swear Maya didn't even flinch in her sleep. Lucas made sure Maya was tucked in to the bed and even left a little note on the nightstand for her to read when she woke up, explaining her had to leave for practice but didn't want to wake her. Lucas and I walked down the street towards the subway station but Lucas hadn't mentioned anything about Maya. It was like he thought just having her in his bed, all cuddled up together, was a completely normal thing. So I said something.
"Ok man seriously? You're not going to even tell me why Maya is in your bed right now?" The look he gave me made it seem like he had been hoping I wouldn't bring it up. How could I not bring something like this up? He went on and on about how he and Maya didn't have those types of feelings for each other, but now I walk in on them having a cuddle fest in his bed. Then he has the nerve to act like it was the most normal thing in the world. And to me! His best friend of all people!
"Zay it's really no big deal. She had a fight with her mom last night and she just didn't want to be at home. So she came over," he explained. His eye contact stayed far away from me. He just looked at the ground the whole time.
"And she ended up in your bed?"
"We fell asleep talking! Zay I'm serious it's not a big deal," he said harshly. I let the subject drop. But I knew something happened. Maybe nothing huge like a kiss or anything like that. But something did happen, just in Lucas's own head. He was down playing the night before and what it meant to Maya that he let her come over like that. Hell he was down playing what it meant to him that Maya came over at all, when she could have just gone to Riley's. It was frustrating, to say the very least, see two of my best friends be so damn oblivious.
Every single one of the little things.
Out of everything that Maya and Lucas did that made me believe they were harboring secret feelings for each other, nothing convinced me down to my core like their day to day attitude towards each other.
Those little glances at each other that would turn into drawn-out stares; the smile Lucas's lips would curl into every time he saw blondie laugh or giggle; the way Lucas's hand would almost instinctively be pressed lightly to the small of Maya's back whenever we were standing in line somewhere. All of it. Every single thing these two did was filled with love for each other. I watched as they would make little jabs at each other and Maya would call Lucas 'Sundance' or 'Huckleberry' 20 times a day. But I also watched as they consistently defended each other. No situation presented itself where they didn't stand up for each other.
I watched as Lucas let Maya steals little gulps of his coffee in the morning before class. I watched as he began to bring Maya her own coffee because he knew she wouldn't get up early enough to go get her own before class. I watched as Lucas genuinely tried to help Maya with homework for classes she didn't understand. I watched as Maya let Lucas know when she was nervous or scared or worried, feelings she would never let anyone know she was feeling unless your name was Riley.
"She's like my best friend Zay. I don't have those feelings for her and she doesn't have them for me," I would get told over and over by Lucas whenever I brought it up. I watched as the two of them kept up that charade. They even dated other people. And then I got to watch as they both gave the other defeated looks of sadness when they saw them with their boyfriend or girlfriend.
But I could tell underneath everything they didn't want to be with anyone else but each other.
I was the only one who seemed to see it though. Sure, Riley was too hung up on Lucas to see straight. Especially when seeing straight meant seeing that the guy you like has feelings for your best friend. I give her a free pass on being oblivious.
Farkle and Smackle both didn't understand the concept of feelings or things that couldn't be explained scientifically. They were getting better through their own relationship to be honest. But spotting any kind of lovey-dovey feeling in other people wasn't really their thing yet.
Personally, I found it insane that none of Maya's boyfriends or any of Lucas's girlfriends ever caught the spark between them. Maybe they did and I just never heard about it. I would be very surprised if not one of them was perceptive enough to catch one of the longing looks or hugs that were much longer than necessary.
But I guess it just took them a little time to see it. It took Maya a little time to realize she trusted Lucas with a lot more than she trusted most other people with. It took Lucas a little time to realize he was never more his true self than when he was Maya. It took them time.
So now sitting here at Topanga's I can look over and finally see Lucas and Maya sitting next to each other. My best friend's arm around the tiny blonde. She leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. I smiled. I guess I smile at them a lot. I can't help it. I saw it coming for so long. It's like when you're watching a show and after 8 seasons you finally get to see the couple that's been flirting and feeling for each other for the past 8 damn seasons be together. No one believes me when I say I always knew they felt something for each other; something that went way beyond what you feel for just a friend. Lucas knows, since I've been bugging him about it since I met Maya, the girl he would talk to me about for hours and refer to as 'the blonde beauty.' I knew he loved her since before he even knew. I knew Maya loved him since before she even knew. I was like the love-guru. Just waiting for those two crazy kids to realize what I already knew. But they were worth the wait I suppose.
But trust me, it would have been better if they had just realized their own feelings way earlier. That's what you get when your friends are the most oblivious people in the world.
A/N: How did you guys like it? I wanted it to be a little more light-hearted than most of my other writing lol And I'm always looking for ways to bring Zay into my stories more (and I always have a definite feeling that he ships Lucaya)
Review and let me know what you guys think and if you have any requests or suggestions for more Lucaya one-shots leave them in the reviews! I'll try my best to write them! Thanks lovely readers!
Also to anyone who is reading "Sometimes Love Is Hard" I'm going to get the next chapter out tomorrow (Sunday)!