Maya looked so small, eating the scrambled eggs he had made for her on the kitchen counter, her wet hair dripping down her back. Her feet didn't reach the floor. He had always known she was short. All of his nicknames for her were based around that fact. So he had always known it, but this was the first time she had seemed small to him.

"I should call Riley today," she said. "Then Farkle."

"If you want to," he said. "I can make calls for you if you'd rather not." His eyes darted back and forth from her face to her plate. He wanted to make sure she ate enough. But he didn't really know what was enough. He would've eaten the whole thing by now. "We have to think about arrangements for your mom," he said.

"I don't want to think about that," she whispered.

"I know, but it has to be thought about. I can take care of everything for you, if you'd like. We could have it at my church. I just don't want to have anything done that you don't want."

"Alright."

Little by little, Lucas managed to extract from her all of the information he would need. He'd planned a funeral once before. His aunt died two years ago, when his dad was overseas. His mom, like Maya, hadn't wanted anything to do with planning a funeral. He could take care of this for Maya.

He did the dishes, and Maya wiped the counters. It took two minutes.

He made the calls to his pastor, then to the cemetery where Maya had said she had family buried, then to the florist, then to Nighthawk Diner. Maya video chatted with Riley from the living room. They talked for a few hours. Riley cried, Maya didn't. Lucas's mom tried to call him twice and left a voicemail. Maya video chatted with Farkle from the living room. They talked for a half-hour. Farkle cried, Maya didn't. Lucas ordered pizza.

When Maya was done, Lucas sat on the couch with her, and they ate pizza with a lot of vegetables on it. Lucas picked off all of his mushrooms and handed them to her to eat.

"What were you going to talk to me about last night?" she asked,

He looked at her carefully. He couldn't tell her now.

"It wasn't important," he said nonchalantly.

"It's adorable that you think you can lie to me and get away with it."

"Yeah…" He tossed a mushroom onto her plate. "Well, lately, I've been thinking about quitting university."

"Why?"

"A lot of reasons." One of which is quickly becoming you. "It's never quite felt right. I get good grades and everything, but I feel sort of frozen. My cousin, you remember, the electrician I worked with the past three summers? He asked me to work for him full-time. I'd have a flexible schedule and I could still teach at the dojang."

"Seems like you're pretty sure this is what you want." Maya picked at her pizza.

"When he asked me, it just clicked, like 'obviously, this is what I should be doing'."

"This is what you wanted to talk to me about?"

He fended off her question with a laugh. "Why are you so suspicious? Is this not important enough for you?"

She gave him a look. I may not be in the best state of mind right now, but I'm not an idiot.

He shot one back. Don't push me, Maya. I will tell you when and if I want to.

She broke their gaze first.

"I'm sorry," Lucas said. "This isn't really about me right now."

"Don't be sorry," she said. "I'd rather think about you than about me."

The silence that followed was comfortable.

"Are you staying here again?" she asked.

"Either I'm staying here or you're staying at my house," Lucas said steadily. "Ladies' choice."

"How far feminism has brought us."

He laughed, a laugh that started in his chest. Maya wanted to laugh, but laughing would feel wrong.

"What do you want to do?"

Kiss you to make myself forget everything that's happening to me, then leave. "I want to stay here one more night. Then we can go to your house until the funeral."

And after that?