A/N: Okay, I think we had a misunderstanding from the last chapter. Josh didn't tell Filomeno about Maya's story. He told Andrew, but Filomeno just happened to walk by Josh's desk and overheard Josh telling Andrew about Maya. All that Filomeno did was corner Josh and encourage him to pursue Maya's story because it's what would be "best" for her.

Anyway, here's Chapter 23 and I hope you like this one! I just wanna say beforehand: Please don't hate me. You'll see why by the end of this chapter.

Chapter 23: A Treacherous Slope

After Josh retrieved the coaster pager from the register and had claimed a corner table, he resumed the story he started telling Maya before they arrived at Grab-A-Burger.

"So, you know how Andrew is like, right? He might be in his late twenties, but he can be kiddish whenever he pleases. It happened sometime around the end of October last year. I think it might've just been an excuse to get Jasmine to hang out with him, but he invited me and Jasmine to this one overlooking spot somewhere in the mountains," Josh narrated.

"That sounds nice," Maya commented.

Josh nodded. "I would take you to see it, but I'm not exactly allowed to go back there anymore—and I'm gonna tell you why. So Jasmine and I were pretty pumped about the weekend adventure because Andrew told us we have to hike up a trail to get to the overlooking spot, and then we'd set up a camp there. We reached the spot by nighttime, and it was after we'd set up the tent that things started getting a little crazy. Andrew was the first one to hear it: the sound of a little girl crying. Jasmine and I thought he was messing with us, but then we started hearing it as well. After the crying, we began hearing strange noises, too. Because we all knew better than to check out the forest around us, the three of us sprinted back to Andrew's Jeep. We didn't care at all that we left our tent, we just wanted to get out of there."

"That definitely is an adventure," Maya commented. "So why aren't you allowed back there anymore?"

"The trail was private property," Josh responded. "Andrew told us he used to sneak in there with his high school buddies. Apparently, high school kids these days have heard about Andrew's group's shenanigans back then and decided to set a Halloween tradition. The property owners got fed up with the trespassers, but instead of getting the police involved, they started the whole horror shindig to keep people away. After he told us that, Jasmine cursed Andrew so much that I started charging her $20 for each swear word she said that night."

"I don't know, it sounds to me that the horror shindig would draw more people in," Maya commented, chuckling at the mental image of Jasmine berating Andrew. "People love getting scared."

A server arrived and gave Josh and Maya their orders. After telling the duo to enjoy their meals, he left with a courteous smile on his face.

Josh removed the top bun of his burger. "We never know, but New York might be populated with pansy individuals. I checked in with Andrew the Monday after he took me and Jasmine to that overlooking spot, and he said that ever since the horror thing started, fewer people have been trespassing," he informed.

"I guess it worked then." Maya removed her burger's top bun as well and forked the tomatoes off. She passed them over to Josh's plate and said, "Health is wealth, Matthews. Eat more tomatoes. You males need that lycopene for your prostate."

"Are you serious?" Josh replied, laughing.

Maya nodded. "Farkle the Genius told me that the other day, so it must be true," she stated.

In exchange for the tomatoes Maya gave him, Josh forked his pickles off his burger and placed them on her plate. "Here are your pickles, ma'am, 'cause your—"

"Don't you dare say it—"

"Sodium fine," Josh finished with a taunting smirk.

Despite not wanting to hear the joke, Maya snorted, which abruptly shifted to a full-blown laughter. "Matthews, you're something else, do you know that?" she declared.

"Nothing I've heard before," Josh responded as he placed the top bun back on his burger. He picked it up from his plate and took a huge bite, laughing as Maya nudged his shin under the table.

"Maybe I should start charging you by the hour. I think this whole free thing we got going on is inflating your ego," Maya mocked. This time, it was her who laughed when Josh stole a curly fry from her carton while scrunching his face at her.

Josh swallowed his bite of French fries. "Anyway, all jokes aside, how's the benefit concert coming along?" he interrogated. "Have you filled up those six spots in the lineup?"

Maya shook her head. "We've filled up two spots so that one's still a work in progress. But, the poster's done so we can finally start advertising the event—oh, and the T-shirts are finished as well. Leigh texted me this morning, saying she just received the shipping confirmation email for the T-shirts. It should be here in two days."

"That's great news!" Josh declared. He grabbed his soda and took a sip. "You know, I have something—or someone—that might help you out."

"Oh, yeah? What is it?"

"I know he's not really in a band, but if Leigh would have him, Donnie could fill up one of those empty slots," Josh suggested. "I know it's a benefit concert and not collegiate theatre, but you've seen him sing and dance before."

Maya chewed her fries while contemplating Josh's suggestion. "You know what? That's not a terrible idea. We can give solo artists their time to shine as well. I'll tell Leigh about Donnie after we're done with our meeting. Maybe I'll even ask him to come in and 'audition' for a spot."

"There you go, one more empty slot down," Josh uttered with a triumphant smile.

After a short while, Maya emptied her carton of fries while Josh finished his burger. He wiped his hands with a napkin before he extracted his worn out journal from his messenger bag, opening it on the page where Sophie's poem was.

"Okay, where were we?" Maya questioned as she leaned forward on the table to take a good look at the page.

"I surrender who I've been for who you are," Josh read monotonously. He lifted his eyes to meet Maya's. "That's where we left off the last time."

Maya raised her brows in incredulity. "You didn't add anything new to it?"

Josh set his journal down on the table as he sat back in his chair, shoulders slumping in defeat. "You see, I have this thing called a job, where my editor-in-chief is literally breathing down my neck about my subject—"

"You found one?" Maya interrupted.

Josh's eyes fell away from Maya's, feeling guilty about the decision he made regarding his chosen subject. "I-I have," he simply responded.

"About damn time, mister," Maya teased, smirking. She returned her attention Josh's journal and gestured to it. "Read to me the last stanza that we worked on last time, then maybe I can pitch in a few ideas."

Josh picked up his journal again, and with a heavy sigh, he read, "I surrender who I've been for who you are." His face lit up when a new idea suddenly hit him. He hunched over as his hand scribbled across the curling page of his journal. "For nothing makes me stronger than your fragile heart—"

"If I had only felt how it feels to be yours, well I would have known what I've been living for," Maya interjected, surprising herself with how seamless the words just flowed out of her mouth. Her gaze was set on Josh when she uttered those words, and the instant he looked up from his journal, she shook her head to snap away from her daze.

Wide eyed, Josh looked at her as an approving smile crept up his lips. "Yeah," he said, mesmerized. "That's actually perfect! It's better than what I had in mind." He picked up his pencil again and transcribed the words. After, he mouthed the four new lines to himself and his smile grew wider, pleased by the fact that the poem was starting to take shape.

"You don't really have to include that," Maya said, chuckling nervously. "It was just a random thought. I don't even know where the hell I pulled that one out from."

Lies, Maya thought to herself.

"Uh-huh, a beautiful random thought, that is," Josh argued.

Maya chuckled again. "It didn't even make any sense, Josh—"

"Of course, it did. What are you talking about, Maya?"

"Josh, I . . ."

Josh placed his elbows on the table and leaned closer toward Maya. He opened his mouth to argue, but he stopped himself when he saw Maya's gaze flicked to somewhere over his shoulders.

Maya's eyes lit up at the sight of Farkle walking inside Grab-A-Burger. She'd never been happier to see one of her friends because of the situation she found herself in with Josh was taking a toll on her. Those words she uttered to him, Josh might think they were merely suggestions, but Maya knew that she pulled those out straight from her heart. Specifically the part of her heart that always want to bust out of her ribcage whenever Josh does something.

"Farkle!" Maya exclaimed, shooting up from her seat to give her a friend a hug. "I thought I'd never see your annoying face again!"

Maya's unusual behavior didn't go unnoticed by Farkle, but he decided to play along with whatever shenanigan his friend was currently up to. "Say that to yourself," Farkle bit back. "You completely disappeared from our New Year's Eve party."

Josh's head snapped in their direction, and Farkle had to bite his lip to refrain himself from smiling knowingly. The latter turned back to Maya and noted her chewing on her lip, which Farkle knew was one of Maya's quirks that only comes out when she was nervous about something.

"I had a spur of the moment idea, and I just had to paint it before I forgot," Maya excused.

Farkle nodded as though he believed her, but he knew otherwise. If he recalled correctly, Maya wasn't the only person that went MIA at the New Year's Eve party the other night.

As Farkle and Maya carried on with their conversation, Josh watched the two friends with discreet attentiveness, eyes scrutinizing Farkle from head to toe. His gaze then flicked to Maya and observed the lighter vibe she was sending off ever since Farkle had made his presence known at the burger joint.

Josh knew that Farkle had more history with Maya than he did, and for some odd reason, that really bothered him. He felt special because Maya had opened up to him about her life, but here was Farkle, a guy who most likely knew more about Maya than Josh did at the moment. Because of these thoughts swirling in his head, Josh had drifted off to his own world and failed to hear the bulk of Farkle and Maya's conversation. He only snapped out of his stupor when the two friends decided it was time for them to part ways.

"So, am I seeing you tomorrow night?" Farkle asked as Maya broke away from his embrace.

"You can bet your million bucks you will," Maya responded with a broad smile. "Riley wants a last hurrah before you and Isadora fly back to San Francisco."

Farkle nodded while he gestured at the register. "Well, I have to go. I'm supposed to be picking up some pot stickers for Isadora, but I got hungry and decided I'll stop by for some curly fries," he stated, rubbing his stomach. Then, Farkle dropped his voice to a whisper and said, "I don't want to keep your friend waiting, whom, by the way, is literally murdering me in his head right now."

Maya glimpsed at Josh before she playfully punched Farkle's arm, a warning look on her face. "He is not!" she disagreed.

"All right, I'll catch you later—or tomorrow night, I guess."

With that, Farkle walked over to the register. He ordered his curly fries, and soon received it in a small paper bag. Smiling at Maya and nodding at Josh, he left the burger joint.

As Maya sat back down on her seat, Josh wiped his mouth clean with a napkin and said, "Listen, I have to go. I'm sorry that I have to cut our meeting short, but something came up at the office and I just—"

"Of course," Maya stated. "We can always reschedule."

Josh kept his gaze on Maya for a moment before he nodded in accord. Grabbing his journal and stowing it back inside his messenger bag, he stood up and left the establishment in a hurry. It was when he felt the cold breeze grazing his skin that Josh exhaled deeply. He wasn't sure what came on him to leave Maya like that. Nothing really came up at the office, he just needed an excuse to end the meeting. It felt odd, seeing Maya interact with a different guy. He knew Farkle was one of her best friends, and they went all the way back, but there was this tiny and unexplainable feeling bubbling in his chest that he couldn't get rid of—the same feeling he felt when he saw Maya and Evan together back at Riley's New Year's Eve party.

Or maybe it's just your conscience nagging at you. You're selling her story, idiot! Josh thought to himself as he watched Maya finish her meal through the windows of Grab-A-Burger.

The words still haunted Maya. Even as she strolled down the snowy path of Avenue Road on her way to Tan House Events, she couldn't get the words she uttered to Josh a while ago. She knew she shouldn't make a big deal out of it—Josh didn't—but it definitely provoked something to surface from the depths of her heart.

If I had only felt how it feels to be yours, well I would have known what I've been living for.

Had she and Josh really been spending too much time together that she'd gotten used to having him by her side everyday? Whenever he wasn't around, had she wanted to know what he was doing just to make sure he was still out there? Did she wake up everyday knowing that at some point throughout the day, she'd be seeing Josh? Maya wasn't sure what the answers to those questions were, but one thing was for sure: Josh had been by her side during some of the best moments of her life. And she didn't want him to not be there.

Maya turned a corner and stopped. Miller Boutique stood tall in front of her. A frigid breeze blew and prickled her skin, as though it was reality reminding her of the treacherous slope she might be on the verge of going down. She thought about the conversation she once had with Riley, how her life had the potential to resemble the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. Riley noted that Maya was Fiona, while Josh and Sophie were Charlie and Carrie, respectively. Maya denied it then, telling Riley that it was impossible because Fiona didn't exist in her world. But as she continued gazing at Miller Boutique, she realized that perhaps it was possible.

The thing she had with Josh . . . it could lead to someone developing romantic feelings for the other. However, considering the current situation, Maya knew the person who'd be doing the most falling was her because Josh already had Sophie. At the closing of the business deal they had, Maya had the possibility of being Fiona, hiding her feelings for the sake of Charlie's happiness.

As a passerby going in the opposite direction unintentionally bumped her shoulder, Maya let go of those thoughts swirling in her head. Even though she was beginning to see what Riley implied before, Maya knew all the twists and turns of a classic cliché. Given that she might actually be living in a romantic comedy film, Josh and Sophie would marry each other because that was what people typically expect from a generic rom-com. It didn't matter how many obstacles were thrown in their way, the two leads would always end up together.

But there was still one thing that Maya could easily change.

Romantic comedy films always involved a third party whose primary goal was to ruin whatever it was that the two main characters had. The good thing about third parties, however, was that they always disappear by the conclusion of the movie, defeated by the unconditional love between the two leads. In Josh and Sophie's case, Maya knew she was the third party. She was the one who shouldn't be included in the mix at all. Thus, before whatever feelings she had could have the chance to get to the point where she couldn't ignore it anymore, Maya made a promise to herself that she would never let those heartstrings of hers be tugged by the hands of one Joshua Matthews.

Maya didn't know what it was that made her stop at the sight of Miller Boutique. But it was after she made that promise to herself that she finally understood why. At that moment, the Miller Boutique was the closest thing she had to Sophie. She was promising something to herself but standing a few yards away from the boutique, it felt like Maya was also making that promise to Sophie. The latter deserved to be happy with Josh, and so did he with her. Maya couldn't bear being the selfish villain that takes all that away from them.

From that moment on, Maya surrendered herself. She vowed never to go down that treacherous slope.

Song of the Chapter: Treacherous by Taylor Swift.

OKAY. HERE ME OUT FIRST. When I wrote that last scene, I knew it was gonna cause something big. I might even say it could be "controversial." But I just want to explain why I wrote what I wrote. So, remember when Maya suggested a line to add to Josh's poem? It haunted her because of how sincere her words were. She knew she wasn't just suggesting - she meant those words - and that scared her so much. She hadn't acknowledged before the fact that she might be developing feelings for Josh, but those words provoked it. It caused something to surface and she couldn't ignore it anymore.

In Josh's case, he left Grab-A-Burger because the jealousy he felt when he watched Maya and Farkle was too much for him. It weirded him out because he hadn't felt that way toward Maya before. And he needed to reflect on it - what it could mean - that's why he left.

Those two paragraphs above are the main reason why I chose "Treacherous" by Taylor Swift as the song of the chapter. The way I interpret that song is that Taylor is feeling for someone she shouldn't have feelings for, thus calling her feelings "treacherous" or "dangerous."

Going back to that ending scene with Maya, she promised herself to never "see" Josh that way because she "knows" that Josh loves Sophie. She didn't deny the fact that she was developing feelings for Josh - she acknowledged that - but she chose not to do something with it because she knows her limitations. What's going to happen now is that as Josh started feeling something odd towards Maya, Maya, on the other hand, will be holding back, thus it will create some sort of tension between them. I guess you could say it's not their "perfect time" YET. Take note of that word: YET. Also, I would just like to point out that during Maya's monologue about the rom-com cliché, she did say that the MAIN CHARACTERS always ALWAYS end up together . . . but keep in mind wh0 the two main characters of this story are ;) *Shh! I don't think Maya has realized that yet!*

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. Just kidding! Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

P.S. I re-uploaded Chapter 22 with an additional scene at the end. You guys should definitely read it, so you would understand why Josh decided to pursue Maya's story. I know it doesn't really make up for his decision, but I just wanted you guys to see his point of view regarding the situation.