A/N: Hi ISing4Life! I can definitely slip that in somewhere ;3

I appreciate the sweet reviews you guys! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to drop some kind words! It's really nice of you and it means a lot to me! :3

Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.


Lucas grabbed his keys from his dresser, rushing to pull on his shoes to head to school for the day. He cursed under his breath, annoyed that since he'd spent the entire night struggling to sleep, he had overslept. His mind had been permeated with thoughts of gorgeous murky blue eyes and million watt smiles and sun-kissed blonde hair in a ponytail swishing back and forth. His heart had been racing throughout the entire night, unable to settle his thoughts enough to catch a few winks of sleep until just about an hour before his alarm had rung. He'd slept right through it unfortunately, but thankfully, he had an emergency alarm set on his phone that had woken him up in time to get ready. He'd have to skip a real breakfast, but at least he wouldn't be late.

This had been going on all weekend, and Lucas didn't know how much more he could take of the sleep deprived nights.

Lucas grabbed his bag and slung it on his shoulder before hustling out of his room, wondering if his mother had already left.

"Do you need a ride to your bookclub meeting, Mom?" he called out as he rounded the corner and saw his mother in the kitchen.

"No…" she muttered absentmindedly, "I'm walking to it."

Lucas paused, staring at her, his brows furrowing in concern. When he left for school, his mom usually enjoyed a cup of chai and the morning paper, but that wasn't the case that morning. She was almost violently scrubbing at the coffee stain on the counter, frustration evident in her demeanor and the hunch of her shoulders. She was clearly bothered by something and Lucas briefly panicked, wondering if he'd done something to piss her off once again. He honestly couldn't remember breaking any rules or doing anything disdainful other than betraying Maya's trust a while back.

(And maybe those slightly inappropriate dreams he may or may not had been having about Maya throughout the weekend, but there was no way his mother knew about that, right?)

"Mom, is everything all right?" he asked tentatively.

"Hmm?" She glanced up briefly from scrubbing, looking conflicted. "Yes. Everything's peachy."

"Clearly not. You're cleaning the stain again." Lucas pointed out, picking up an apple from the fruit bowl on their dining table. "Tell me what's going on."

"Lucas…" his mom said with a sigh as she set the rag down and met his gaze squarely, "I've been holding off on telling you this all semester, but Thanksgiving break is about to start for you, and I just feel so guilty. I can't keep it to myself anymore."

A sense of dread filled him at the apprehensive look in his mother's eyes. What in the world was going on?

"Mom, what happened?"

"Your father called about two weeks ago asking about you and how you were doing, and I never told you. He's been waiting for a response."

He froze, the apple halfway to his mouth. He stared at his mother, his appetite suddenly gone along with the rest of his good mood. That was exactly what he needed, a mention of the man who had betrayed his family and made Lucas' life hell for not living up to his stupid expectations.

"What did he want?" Lucas growled, dropping the apple back into the bowl.

"He wanted you to come to Texas and spend Thanksgiving break with his family this year. You're going to college next year; your father thought it would be a good idea to try to reconcile before you became an adult and went on with your life. I know you're still mad at him, but he's your father. And he wants you to get to know your other siblings. Your brother asks about you sometimes apparently. I think—"

"Half-brother. And from an affair no less. With all due respect, Mom," Lucas interrupted before she continued with her little speech, his fists clenched in annoyance, "I may have his DNA, but he's not my father. So tell him I refuse. I want nothing to do with him."

His mom didn't answer for a few seconds, shocked, and Lucas sighed, wondering if she was gearing up to give him the chewing out of his lifetime for being so obstinate about reuniting with his dad, despite his father's few attempts a few years back to try to patch up their broken relationship.

But then she smiled, setting down the rag and walking over to Lucas. She reached up and cradled his cheek, a proud look on her face as she looked up at him.

"I knew you were going to say no."

"So why did you look so surprised?" Lucas asked in confusion.

"Because you usually always get so mad if I even mention him." She pinched his cheek. "But you responded so calmly and maturely for a second I was wondering if you were really my Lucas."

"Ha ha, Mom." He rolled his eyes, ducking out of her reach with a smile. "I guess I've just calmed down a bit."

He had Maya to thank for that. She was his safe place. A sanctuary from his anger even when she wasn't around.

Well, she had been. Except now he could recognize that he had a mondo crush on her and he wasn't sure how he would be able to face her without wanting to kiss her or thinking about wanting to kiss her or imagining himself kissing her. Lucas wasn't used to having crushes or liking people in such a way, but there was something about Maya that lit up his pulse and made his palms clammy and made him sweat. She made him feel like a hormonal, prepubescent boy with a crush on a girl all over again and it was really throwing him off.

"Well I'm happy you've started to clean up your act, Lucas." She responded, heading back into the kitchen when the timer on the oven rang. "You've made great progress. I hope this isn't just a temporary thing, because I really don't want to get another call that you've been arrested."

He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Those days felt like a distance dream now. The more he thought about the trouble he used to get into, the more ashamed he felt that he'd ever let himself behave that way when it had never really been him.

"It won't happen again. I promise, Mom," Lucas said seriously. "I'm never going back to that version of me."

She nodded, pulling out a finished breakfast casserole from the oven. "I believe you, cowpoke. Don't disappoint me."

"I won't." He made his way to the door when his watch beeped for the hour. It was already eight o'clock. If he didn't get a move on, unless he drove absolutely, dangerously crazy on the road, there was no way he would be able to get to homeroom in fifteen minutes. "I have to head off to school. See you later, Mom."

"Mmhmm. Have a nice day."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," he called over his shoulder. "Mom, I might be bringing some people over tonight to work on something."

"People?" Her brows were knit in concern, her lips a bit pursed. "As in friends of yours?"

"Don't worry." He smiled. "You'll like these ones."

~.~.~

"The play went by without a hitch over the weekend, Mr. Friar," Mr. Hearst said, a pleased look on his face as he tossed up his mini football. "The sets looked great, and Miss Hart confirmed to me that you had a big hand in helping her paint them all. She said you caused no trouble for her."

Except that he had caused trouble for her. And he hadn't even helped her finish painting the last set. Lucas chuckled halfheartedly, not entirely comfortable with the idea that Maya had lied for him again, despite the fact that she had gotten hurt because of him. He owed her a lot for choosing to lie to their principal and cover for him despite the fact that by all means, she could have definitely revealed the truth.

"You've officially completed part of your community service requirement," Hearst continued. "You're really turning a new leaf, you know that?"

"Yeah, I'm trying," Lucas responded.

"How's the tutoring going?"

"It's good. I was planning on putting on a play for the kids after break since I don't think many of them have had the chance to leave the hospital. I thought it could be a nice way to close out the year. Do you think we could borrow some of the sets since they don't need to be used anymore?"

"Of course. That's a great idea and an excellent way to give back to the community. "

"Great. I'll let Maya know."

"You do that." Hearst nodded, setting his football back on the desk when the bell rang. "You're doing real well, Friar. Keep up the good work and your days of delinquency will definitely be in the past."

"Thank you."

Lucas stood up and left the office so he could head to his next class of the day. As he headed down the hallway, he caught sight of Brandon and his old friends standing near Zay's locker, hanging out before the class period began. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and bracing himself for them to harass him or something. Normally, he would have just avoided them completely, but his classroom was right around the corner of that set of lockers and there was no long way he could take.

Don't get him wrong, Lucas wasn't scared of them per se, but he knew how Brandon and the others operated and he couldn't get caught up in some tiff with them when he was trying to rebrand himself and graduate. They knew he was trying his hardest to stay out of trouble and jail, so he had no doubt, given the chance, they would do their best to get him into trouble. And that's what he was afraid of. The fact that they had no qualms attacking the most vulnerable thing that they knew about people. The fact that Brandon especially went for people's weak spots with little to no concern over how he much he could hurt them.

Lucas had been so concerned with acting unconcerned by them that he hadn't even noticed someone sidle up beside him until a hand slipped into his. He instantly recognized who it was from the wave of peach that drifted into his nose and how the small, warm hand just seemed to fit perfectly in his own. His heart jumped in his chest, and he swallowed hard, trying to play it cool.

He glanced down at Maya, a questioning brow raised. "Last I saw you, I thought you hated my guts?"

"I told you I didn't hate your guts. I just haven't forgiven you yet." Maya rolled her eyes.

He lifted up their conjoined hands, a teasing smirk on his lips.

"So what's this for?"

She shrugged, her gaze drifting momentarily over to his ex-friend group. "I thought you might want the support. It's not easy losing what you once had."

He could understand why she would say that. They had all fallen silent, eyes narrowed and sneers and dirty looks on their faces as they watched Lucas and Maya pass, but surprisingly, he really found he didn't care. His thoughts were currently preoccupied with keeping himself from revealing how ecstatic and slightly flustered he was that Maya was opening up to him again in her own little way. And of course, that she'd held his hand of her own accord.

"Thanks. I'm good though, I promise. I'm not bothered by it."

And he really was, now that Maya was beside him. But she still didn't let go of his hand, despite his telling her that he was fine.

"That's good." She gave his hand a small squeeze.

And Lucas didn't think the grin on his face could ever be wiped off.

~.~.~

"So are we just about done with the script?" Lucas asked, his eyes skimming over the page as he checked to see if they'd gotten it pretty much down. If they weren't done with it now, they wouldn't be done until after the break. But they didn't have that much time after the break and would need the time away from school for lines to be able to be memorized. "It looks finished."

They'd been working all afternoon and well into the evening to get the script officially finished for the play. It was starting to get pretty late, but Lucas knew they couldn't leave until they'd gotten it taken care of.

Riley nodded as Lucas handed it over to her to check. "I think we're done."

"Good." Maya muttered, biting back a loud yawn, her eyes half lidded as she rested her cheek on the carpet. Lucas could tell she'd been exhausted since she'd arrived at his place, yet she'd been fighting to stay awake with them to help get the play done. "Took us long enough."

"Well, writing a play isn't easy," Farkle remarked as he took his turn to look over the play. "There are a bunch of comma splices here in this section. You're not very good at punctuation, are you Maya?"

She punched his leg in annoyance, and Farkle laughed, trying to avoid her second swing at him.

"It doesn't have to have the right punctuation since we're not turning it in for a grade anyway!"

"Well on the bright side," Riley exclaimed, "I asked a couple of the doctors, nurses, and staff for permission to use the Wednesday right after Thanksgiving break ends to put on the play, and they said yes!"

"And I asked drama club if they could loan us costumes and they were fine with it," Farkle added as he started cleaning up some of the stuff he'd brought. "So now, we just need to cast parts, right?"

"Lucas is playing the prince," Maya stated resolutely, as if leaving no room for argument.

That was a surprise to him. Lucas' gaze snapped to hers, wondering if she was joking or not about that considering how many times she kept saying he was like a movie villain. Sometimes he wondered whether Maya honestly saw him that badly. Especially after she'd compared him to Jafar once which had quite frankly been pretty damn insulting.

"Me?" he asked. "I've never acted before. Besides, isn't that ironic? I'm a 'villain', remember? I wouldn't fit the part."

"A lot of the kids keep asking me if you're a prince, and it might be nice for them to have some sort of fantasy, even if you are the farthest thing from a Prince Charming. And you have acted before. Not in any plays in particular, but in real life you have."

"Fine." He leaned back against the side of his bed, his arms crossed in front of his chest and a challenging brow raised. "I'll play the prince only if you play the princess. Step out of the background. And you have to sing at some point."

"Hell no. No deal." She pulled herself up to her knees with a grunt. "Princesses are Riley's territory, not mine."

"No way, Maya," Riley piped up cheerfully as she put her notebook back into her bag. "This is your time to shine. These kids want to see you as the princess because they already see you as a princess in their minds."

"I don't like being in the spotlight."

"Can you do it for me? Be the princess, Peaches. Please?" Riley muttered softly, picking at her fingernails dejectedly. "When will I ever get the chance to see you act in a play ever again?"

Maya stared at Riley, her gaze softening as they exchanged silent words with each other. Lucas didn't know what was being said or what was so serious about Riley's statement, but all of a sudden, he could feel the atmosphere shift from casual fun to something somber and partly grim. Even Farkle's expression was a bit gloomy. Lucas didn't understand what was going on, but he did know that whatever it was that Maya always seemed to be sad about, Farkle and Riley were in on it too.

"I'll do it for you, Honey."

"Yay!" Riley cheered, standing up in a flourish of brown hair and lanky limbs. "Now that that's taken care of, my dad has been texting me nonstop. I can't break curfew or he'll ground me again. I'll see you guys at school when we return from break?"

"I'll take you home, Riley." Farkle rose to his feet as well, stretching languidly to work out the kinks in his arms. "Bye Lucas. Goodnight, Maya. Get some rest."

They headed out of Lucas' room, their departure pretty much ending the night. Lucas found his eyes drifting to Maya, wondering how she was planning to get home since it appeared she'd arrived with the other two. Maya rose to her feet painstakingly slow, wincing as if it pained her body.

"Shit… I shouldn't have stayed in the same position for so long…"

She walked over to his bed, plopping down on it tiredly as she yawned, stretching out her legs and slowly loosening up her limbs and joints. He'd seen her do the same procedure when she would take school breaks in the nurse's office to rejuvenate her strength. Farkle had told him once that Maya's joints were weak and that was why she limped on certain days. Lucas understood her hatred of being so short, but what he didn't get was why she insisted on wearing higher heeled shoes despite her obvious discomfort. He didn't want to ask her though; he had a feeling she would either ignore the question as she was prone to do, or ignore him for an extended period of time.

"You look tired, Maya. Do you need a ride home?"

She shook her head. "I'm kind of too sore to move. I just want to sleep."

Her words had been disrupted by another yawn and Lucas realized she honestly looked way too exhausted. She was already sluggish and starting to look a bit like she was drifting off. He didn't want to make her have to move so she could get home when she already looked like she'd made herself comfortable.

"You know…" Lucas swallowed his nerves, trying to seem nonchalant. "You're welcome to sleep here if you'd like. Use my bed. I can take the couch in the living room."

Maya stared at his covers, chewing on her lower lip and making nervous small circles on the top of the material with her finger.

"Thanks. But I don't sleep well in unfamiliar places." She looked at him, the stormy blue shining with something he couldn't quite place. "Can you sleep with me?"

Lucas' brows rose high on his forehead in surprise as he froze, staring at her and wondering if those words had really just come out of her mouth. Did she know what that sounded like? Sure, he knew what she'd meant, but there were much better ways of expressing that and her comment had thrown his mind back to the dream he'd had.

"…What?"

Her face burned red as she realized how he'd misconstrued her words.

"I don't mean it like that, you pervert! I meant if you could sleep in the same room because I have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar places!"

"No, yeah. I get it." He smiled, trying to mask where his thoughts had nearly taken him. "I'm comforting to you."

"Familiar." She asserted in annoyance.

"Whatever you say, Maya." Lucas snorted, gesturing to his dresser. "There are some t-shirts in there if you want to change into something more comfortable to sleep in. I'll be back in a second."

He left his room to give her privacy and headed down the hallway to the storage closet where they kept many of their extra linens. As he began to pull out one of their floor futons and a blanket, his mother emerged from her room to head back to the living room.

"Have all your friends gone home for the evening?"

"Maya is spending the night."

His mother didn't respond for a few seconds, a brow slightly quirked.

"That's the blonde girl, right?"

Lucas nodded, not liking the pensive expression on her face. "She's really tired. So I told her she can stay the night."

"Mmhmm… Which totally explains the change in sheets you're preparing for." Her eyes narrowed. "Well I expect you to be a gentleman with her, Lucas. Your father had the talk with you when you were in junior high, but I would like to reiterate that sex needs to be taken seriously. Make sure you use protection. And whatever is going on in that room later, please don't let me hear it."

He nearly dropped everything in his hands, shocked at his mother's blunt words from her misunderstanding.

"For fuck's sake, Mom!" Lucas prayed his face wasn't bright red. "It's not like that! I'm just letting her sleep over, and I need the sheets because I'll be on the ground."

"In my day, sleep over was what we told our parents to soften the truth of what happened behind closed doors." She winked. "She's a beautiful girl, Lucas."

Lucas rolled his eyes, walking back to his room and ignoring his mother' chuckles behind him. He knew he and Maya weren't doing anything inappropriate, but it still didn't make it any more embarrassing to have his mother insinuate it. He hoped Maya hadn't heard any of that conversation because neither of them had been particularly quiet.

But as he walked in, she was plaiting her hair to prepare for bed, staring at the picture on his desk of him on his favourite horse. She didn't seem to be put off by anything so he set the futon and sheets on the floor beside his bed with a sigh of relief.

"Toss me a pillow?"

Maya leaned over his bed and grabbed one. His gaze momentarily dropped to her backside, and Lucas turned away quickly, clearing his throat and forcing his mind to think about anything not having to do with Maya.

Dammit.

His mother had put thoughts in his head from her commentary, and now he barely had a grip on his wayward thoughts. But he couldn't help it. There was something about Maya lounging on his bed wearing one of his too big for her t-shirts that made his heart pound in his chest.

Was it such a bad thing that he liked the sight?

(Yes, he knew it was. And if Maya found out where his thoughts were drifting, she would pummel him.)

"How can I contact your grandma that you're here?" Lucas said, to find something to take his mind off of the fact that the girl he liked was on his bed wearing his clothes and it was like his dream had come to life. "They'll be worried about you if you don't return home."

"It's okay. They know I'm here. They trust that you'll keep me safe."

He didn't know why, but the thought that he'd gained the trust of Maya's mother and grandmother pleased him. She was blushing though, clearly in embarrassment, and Lucas wondered if maybe they'd given her a hard time about something having to do with him.

"You can keep a lamp on if you're not going to sleep yet," Maya sighed in bliss, crawling under his covers and burrowing herself under it as she rested her cheek on his pillow. "I don't want to inconvenience you."

"Alright."

Lucas cut of his main lights and turned on the lamp on his nightstand before he settled onto his makeshift bed, leaning his back against the wall. He turned to Maya when he felt her gaze on him, but she didn't seem to be seeking anything. She was silent, staring at him with this far off look in her eyes as if she wasn't actually looking at him.

"…Why did you do that to me, Lucas?" she muttered, more to herself than to him. "And now you're being nice."

He looked down at his lap in shame, feeling guilty from the subtle pain he'd heard in her voice. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Treating her like shit in front of the other guys. She'd told him he was incapable of hurting her, but clearly the incident had hurt her. And he couldn't forgive himself for that.

Lucas brought his gaze back to Maya's and found her astutely focused on him, the dazed look in her eyes having disappeared. She wasn't smiling, though there wasn't any anger in her expression either. She was waiting patiently, obviously giving him a chance to state his case once again.

He sighed. "I was scared. I was being a coward and thought I would lose my friends if I was with you. If I was your friend too. That's really all there was to it, and I can't tell you how sorry I—"

"That's dumb, you know? If people can't accept who you like to hang out with and can't tolerate who you choose to be as a person then they're not your friends at all. If they don't like the real you, then they're not right for you."

"You're right. I realize that now, but at the time, I couldn't see it. I made a mistake and it cost our friendship, and I would do anything to get it back."

"You were an asshole to me, Lucas."

"I know, Maya. I'm sorry."

Before he could overthink it, he reached over, cupping Maya's cheek and gently stroking it with his thumb. She placed her hand on top of his, holding his gaze seriously, her eyes dancing with nothing but warmth. He could tell she was mad in some way, but at the same time, he could definitely also see that she wasn't. Just kind of resigned. Or maybe accepting? It was hard to tell since she was doing a pretty good job of hiding most of the emotion in her eyes.

"I thought I could call you my friend and then you hurt me…"

"Maya, you can still call me your friend. I'll always be here. I won't hurt you ever again. I won't let you get hurt ever again."

"I know you won't… for as long as you can…" she said cryptically, that deep melancholy creeping into her gaze again.

"Always, Maya. I'll never let you get hurt again."

"Always…" Maya chuckled mirthlessly, blinking sluggishly. "Always is a pretty strong word. Always… forever… I don't like them."

Lucas frowned, confused and wondering if this was just Maya's fatigued state talking because he didn't understand what she was talking about at all.

"Maya…"

"…why am I not mad at you anymore? I can't stand you, Huckleberry," she suddenly said, brushing his hand off her face and turning so she was facing the ceiling.

He smiled at hearing the nickname. It was back. The warmth in her tone.

"You irritate me, and I still haven't forgiven you for doing that to me," Maya continued. "But I also know how scared you are. You're insecure of yourself. And I can't blame you for acting as you did. You obviously weren't ready to let go of your past, and I pushed you before you were at that point. Not everybody can charge ahead fearlessly and recklessly with no care for the future. Then again… I've never been one to care about the future. Never had hope in it."

She was rambling, but what she'd said and her tone was kind of alarming. Like she'd given up. But whatever she had given up on, she clearly used to have hope for it. And Lucas had a snaking and frightening suspicion that it was life she had given up on.

"Maya, why do you make comments like that? Like the future doesn't matter."

"Because it doesn't," she said on autopilot, resting both hands on her abdomen and sighing deeply. "Not for me, anyway."

"What do you mean? If you want to go to college, just apply. There's no reason to let anything hold you back. Do you really want to regret not even giving it a try?"

Maya snorted. "If only it were as simple as college…"

"If it's not college, then can you please just tell me what you're talking about so I can understand?" Lucas asked earnestly. "I want to help you in any way I can, but if I don't know what's going on, I can't help you, can I?"

She rolled back over so she was facing him and to his shock, Lucas saw that past the sleepy haze was a pronounced sorrow. One that was mingled with despair and a hopelessness that made chills go down his back. And above all that, he could see a fear he knew she normally kept hidden that frightened him to his core. He knew exactly what she was conveying in her gaze.

Whatever the hell was going on with her that she was keeping a secret, there was nothing he could do to help her.

"…Maya? What's going on with you?" he asked softly.

She shook her head, but reached towards him, and he automatically took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and hoping that even if a minimal amount, he was giving Maya some comfort to ease her fears.

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind… C.S. Lewis," she murmured sleepily, her eyes drifting shut and breathing slow. "Never forget that, Lucas. You'll need it one day…since I'm letting you back in my life…"

"Maya? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Your pillow smells like you, Lucas…" she mumbled, her words slurred. Clearly she had already entered dreamscape. "It's… nice… comforting…"

Her breathing grew heavier, her hand clasped in his as she drifted off to sleep. Lucas watched Maya, feeling like he'd been swept up in a whirlwind. He wished he hadn't broken her trust. Maybe if he hadn't, he could have confessed to her by now. He could have told her how he felt, how important she was to him for some strange reason. She was abrasive and sometimes plain bitchy for no reason, and everything about her was complicated, yet being next to her, he never wanted to leave her side.

What Lucas felt for her was more intense than he'd originally thought when he'd had his epiphany a few evenings before. He supposed he had never realized it because he'd been so tethered to his old life that he never saw how much he needed her. Maybe he was being cheesy and maybe he was young and possibly naïve in his own way, but all he could think about in that one moment was that he knew Maya Hart was the one.

He was in it all the way. If he was going to be part of her life, he was going to show her he was there to stay for good. He was going to knock down all her walls and get her to open up to him and trust him again. He was going to find out the mystery of Maya Hart. And then he was going to tell her how he felt about her.

He brought their conjoined hands up to his lips and kissed her hand gently.

"Goodnight Maya," he murmured softly.

Her lips curved up into a small smile as she sighed in her sleep.