the bright side, the better side

That afternoon, the 4 of them met at Topanga's, with killer headaches, predictably. The moment Maya stepped into the cafe and saw Lucas already there, she couldn't help but blush, remembering what they had done that morning. Lucas winked at her and pat the seat next to him, inviting her to sit there. Riley noticed the awkward eye contact and asked, "Ok, spill. Farkle and I left earlier for a reason you know, what did you guys do?" Maya spoke first, "Oh, nothing, nothing, I just woke him up."

"And then we just kissed is all," Lucas continued. Maya heaved a sigh of relief, glad they weren't going to go into details. To throw attention off them, Maya asked in return, "So what did you and Farkle do all morning, huh? Have some alone time, maybe hang out somewhere, I don't know, nice and soft?"

"No no, nothing of that sort. I just walked Riley home and we talked by her bay window for a while. Nothing as exciting as the both of you, I'm sure," Farkle replied, a little too quickly to be natural. As if on cue, Riley held a hand up to her cheek and blushed. Maya jumped up and pointed to them, "Aha! Farkle, you kissed Riley! Awww!" Riley nodded slowly before realising what she had just acknowledged.

"What? No, no as in he just said goodbye and you know, pecked, is all," she explained. Farkle cheekily nodded, his face almost turning as red as his turtleneck. Lucas grabbed Maya's shoulders and sat her down, placing his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer so that her head could rest on his broad shoulders.

"Calm down there babe. What's a little peck on the cheek compared to what we had, what we have?" He looked into her bright eyes and put his other hand on her lap. She picked it up and held it tight. She looked up at him and it was if a conversation was being carried out telepathically, through the eyes, their hands, their hearts. He had been talking about kisses, but she knew that what they had was so much more than that. It was a mutual understanding, she couldn't really form it into words, she just felt right. It felt like forever before she finally said, "I like us very much, Lucas."

Inspired, Farkle tried putting his arm around Riley but she laughed and lifted her hand to block his incoming lips. She said, "It was one kiss, Farkle." Maya and Lucas laughed as Farkle bowed his head in shame and pouted.

The boy sneaked inside. Damn that creaky door, alerting his mother to his presence. The woman came out of her room, hair in a mess, night gown all crumpled. She ran up to him and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him in for a hug.

"Lucas! Where were you? I was so worried! I tried calling Mr Matthews but he said all of you had gone over to Maya's, why didn't you come back last night? This morning I thought you would have come back but your bed was empty! No note either, what's going on with you?" His mother exploded with all the questions that made Lucas' headache relapse. He explained, "Mom, relax, we spent the night at Maya's, and I just came back from the cafe, I'm alright, I'm alright Mom." He had barely finished talking when he knew what was going to come from that.

"Maya's huh? Please don't tell me you're together with her, you know I don't approve of that hooligan girl being your girlfriend. She's a horrible influence on you. Just friends right? You know what would happen if-" Lucas cut his mother off so he wouldn't have to hear his punishment for the umpteenth time. He knew that his mother didn't like Maya, but allowed their friendship for Lucas' sake. And he knew that if his mother ever found out about them, he would have to pick up everything and move to some other city where he would have to start all over from scratch. After apologising for interrupting her, Lucas sighed and trudged to his room, saying that he had a test to study for.

He loved his mother. He really did. It was just that sometimes she could overreact so much that he was sure if he asked to go upstate for the weekend, she would explode. She thought that if he spent too much time with Maya, he would go back to being the boy who was kicked out of his school in Texas for being in a fight. She thought that Maya would make him a bad boy. And if he had to move away again because of one slip up, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. He lay down on his bed and began to think of her. He loved what they had, some might think it was too physical, but he knew that every single touch and kiss was laced with the poison of love. The poison that could make one's heart burn and ache, but also one that one could get addicted to if not careful. Maya gave Lucas something he knew that Riley could never give. They had both liked each other, but he knew that Riley would have been all sweet and cringe worthy and 'couple goals', but he wanted more. Riley couldn't have done that. No, stop, don't be mean to Riley, she's way too nice for that. And see that was the problem. Riley didn't have a shred of bad girl essence in her, not the way Maya did. Sure, Riley would listen to him and talk him through his problems, but Maya understood him. Everything he had been through, she had too. Riley couldn't do noth - stop, stop it. You are a changed man. You aren't the bad boy who kicked and punched and slapped. You are Lucas the Good, everyone's moral compass, that's who you are, who you're supposed to be. Snap out of it, you idiot. You are not a bad guy. He tried so very hard to convince himself of this, but a phrase popped into his head. One about couples supposedly bringing out the best of each other. And if being with Maya was resurfacing this darker side of him, did that mean this was the best of him?

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