A/N: Hey guys, I know, I know, I suck. I am so sorry it took so long for me to post again. I've been busy with school and life and hopefully it won't take so long for me to post again. Thank you all for messaging me asking for this, it really means a lot to me. Hope you like it and you're not too mad at me. I posted two chapters and hopefully, that makes up a little bit for the long pause. Hope you enjoy it. Comment and let me know what you think.

Teleportation wasn't possible. Maya knew that. You can't leave one place and go to another in an instant without moving your legs. And yet Maya would paint in her room with the music on and she would be miles away. She'd visit the pyramids in Egypt, fields of violets, outer space and million more places that she would never even got to see, without the ability to paint them. She loved how it made her feel, to put a brush against the canvas and make something with her own two hands, something that didn't exist before she created it. Sometimes she spent hours in front of the canvas without realizing that any time has passed at all. She'd get lost in her work and it was her safety place. So this time, when Josh was leaning against her bedroom door, with his arms crossed and a big smile watching her, it was no wonder she didn't even notice. Josh stood there for ten whole minutes just looking at her. There is something magical about people when they are doing something they are passionate about and Josh couldn't help but stare in amazement at the most passionate girl he knew doing what she loves. He finally knocked on the door frame and her gaze fell on him. It's been two days since she saw him last. He was with his girlfriend and Maya didn't feel like her heart could handle seeing him for a while. She didn't go over to the Matthew's home since then. Instead she stayed home and painted.

"What are you doing here?" Her whole body reacted to his presence.

"You didn't return any of my calls." Josh said.

"I turned my phone off. I've been busy painting." She explained. It wasn't a lie. Maya was good with half-truths.

"I can see that. I am sorry I interrupted you." He said.

"Have you been standing there for a long time?" She nodded towards the door frame.

"Not very long." He responded. "Your concentration is amazing."

"Thanks." Maya said. It was weird. He broke her heart without even realizing it and she still didn't feel bad when she was around him.

"May I see it?" He asked, pointing at the work in front of her. She nodded and Josh slowly approached. Maya didn't start painting with a theme in mind. She would press the brush against the blank surface and by the time she finishes, her whole heart would be splattered over her work.

"It looks amazing." Josh said with a wide grin. "You are so talented."

"Thank you. But it's not finished yet." Maya answered with red cheeks. She was never very good with compliments.

"What were you trying to say with it?" Josh was curious.

"What do you think it says?" Maya asked.

"I am not very good with art. I am not sure I fully understand it." He said sheepishly.

"It's okay." Maya chuckled. "It's art. It's open to interpretation. There is no right or wrong answer." She encouraged him.

"Okay…umm…I think it's about heartbreak. It's very sad. There are a lot of dark colors and bleeding ring on the girl's hand looks like she was betrayed by someone she loved." He said. "I thought you always painted what you felt."

"Not necessarily." Maya answered quickly. She forgot how well he knew her. "Sometimes I get inspired by other things. This one is about my mom. She just got dumped by some guy."

"I thought the girl looked like you. I guess it's actually your mom." He concluded.

"So why are you here Josh?" Maya finally asked.

"You weren't answering your phone." He said again.

"We already covered that. Why were you calling me?" She asked.

"I wanted to talk to you." He started. "About Amanda." He finished after a little pause.

Maya plastered a wide smile on her face. Like a mask to hide her real emotion. Josh didn't know how every word out of his mouth took a little piece of her heart and stomped all over it.

"What about Amanda?" She asked cheerfully. Or at least Maya's version of cheerful.

"I like her. And you are one of the people whose opinion matter the most to me. You ran off the other day with Riley and I never had the chance to ask you what you thought of her." How could he be so perceptive and so clueless at the same time, Maya wondered.

"I loved her. She seems so amazing. You deserve someone amazing."

Josh smiled at that. "I hope you're not mad I didn't tell you sooner. I wanted to but we had so much fun the other night and I guess I kind of forgot." He said.

"You forgot you had a girlfriend?" Maya asked with a glimpse of hope behind her voice.

"No, I just…I forgot to mention it to you." He said and blushed.

"Right." Maya agreed.

"Are you free tonight? Want to hang out?" Josh asked. Maya didn't know if he meant just her or the two of them and his girlfriend but she didn't feel like she was ready for either.

"I wish I could but I need to finish this piece and a couple others and you know how I get when I work." She made up an excuse. Another half-truth.

"Right, complete isolation." Josh knew her. He was familiar with her habits and process. He knew she would spent days, sometimes even a whole week locked in her room just painting and drawing, without talking to anyone. Sometimes he thought she would spend her whole life like that if Riley didn't drag her out of her artistic zone. „Just don't disappear on us completely."

"I'll try not to." She smiled. "I'll call you when I'm done."

"Then I'll leave you alone." He said. And he did. Maya turned back to her painting. She just thought of another thing she had to add to it.

XXXXXX

"I am so glade you still took me out on a picnic." Lucas said. He was sitting on a blanket Riley brought next to the pond where they could feed the little ducks.

"I take my picnic duties very seriously." Riley said in her best serious voice. "I would never betray the secret vow I took of picnic organizing."

"I find that very attractive." Lucas said in a low voice. Riley blushed and lost her cool in one second. He had that effect on her. She knew what Maya would say in that situation. She would look at a guy seductively and whisper 'I am very attractive.' But Riley couldn't do that. Instead she smiled at him goofy, because that's the kind of smile she had and kissed him. What she didn't know is that Lucas wouldn't change that goofy smile and the soft touch of her lips on his for anything.

Riley thought that her whole life would be split into two parts: before Charlie and after Charlie. She never though there would ever be anyone else. And now here she was in a park on a chilly day, kissing a boy that wasn't Charlie. And she liked it. She liked Lucas. This has only been their third date but Riley knew this guy was special. Maybe it would be different with this guy. Maybe he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Where have you been all my life?" Lucas asked. Riley blushed even harder.

"You're only 19. You didn't wait for very long." She teased.

"Feels like forever." Lucas said, looking in to her eyes like he can see through her.

"You are not a very patient person, are you?" She asked with a laugh.

"I guess not." He said sheepishly.

"Neither am I." Riley said. Lucas kissed her again.

My parents are here this weekend." He said nervously.

"You must be so happy. You haven't seen them since you came to New York." Riley was excited for him.

"Yeah I am." He paused before he continued. "I told them about you." He said, to test the waters.

"You have?" Riley flashed that goofy smile of hers that drove him crazy.

"Yes. And they would really like to meet you." He said, almost apologetically.

"Meet me?" Riley asked. "Isn't it a little soon? We've only been on three dates."

"I know. I told them that but they don't know when they would come again and they don't want to miss out on the opportunity to meet you."

"Wow." Riley said with shock written all over her face. "I don't know."

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable, I tried telling them it's too soon but they are so relentless. It doesn't have to be a big deal, right?" He pleaded.

Before Riley had a chance to answer, her phone rang.

"It's Maya, I have to take it." She said to Lucas and picked up her phone. "Hey, what's up?"

"You need to come over. Now! Josh was here and I am freaking out and need to talk to you." Maya said all in one breath.

"Josh came over to your house? What did he want?" Riley asked surprise.

"I'll tell you everything when you get here." Maya answered.

Maya was Riley's best friend. The person in this world she loved most. But even she had boundaries. Normally she would finish her date and then run straight to Maya. But now she had a situation of her own she needed to talk about.

"I'll be there in 15 minutes." Riley said and hung up.

"Is everything okay?" Lucas asked.

No, I'm not ready to meet your parents, Riley thought. "Yeah, but Maya needs me. I'm sorry to do this to you but it's important."

Lucas smiled. "I understand. You have to go."

"I do. I'll call you and I'll make it up to you." She gave him a quick kiss and run off.

"What about all of the picnic stuff?" Lucas yelled behind her. She brought all the food and the blanket in a little basket her grandma gave her mother as a present. Her mom would kill her if she lost it.

"You can return it to me on our next date." She said and turned around in the direction of Maya's house.

XXXXXX

"We've known each other for a week and a half and he wants me to meet his parents?" Riley complained to her best friend.

"He forgot to tell me? What does that mean?" Maya was concentrated on her own problem.

"This is moving way to fast. I'm not ready for this." Riley said.

"This is not moving fast enough. Do you think I have a shot?" Maya said.

The girls were laying on the floor of Maya's bedroom, with their heads next to each other and their feet facing the opposite direction of each other. Both of them discussed their own problem.

"Are you insane? He has a girlfriend." Riley said to her best friend.

"Which he forgot about when he was with me. And it's not like they are married. People break up all the time." Maya explained.

"Oh peaches, you are insane." Riley assured her.

"Why is that so crazy? He loves spending time with me, we are close and I never told him how I felt. I never showed him that he has an option. He has a chance with me." Maya almost screamed.

"He is in love with someone else Maya. He is not with this girl as a replacement until you come clean about how you feel. He has real feelings for this girl." Riley tried to explain.

"Why are you being like this? I never fought for anything. You are always trying to get me to care about something and I finally do. I want to fight for him. I want to fight for us." Maya said, sitting straight up.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt." Riley joined in the same position.

"Then help me out." Maya pleaded.

"Fine. I got your back. Even if I think this is going to come and bite us in the ass one day." Riley said, supportive as always.

"What about you and Lucas's parents?" Maya brought the conversation back to Riley.

"I don't know what to do." Riley laid back on the ground. Maya joined her.

"Why is it such a big deal?" Maya asked.

"It's too soon." Riley explained.

"Your parents met Charlie on your first date when he came to pick you up."

"That was different."

"Why?" Maya asked.

"Because it was Charlie." Riley said. "They knew him before then. I knew him before then. It was easy with him. It already felt like we were dating before we even dated. And with Lucas…I barely know him. And everything is moving too fast. We haven't even had the 'are we exclusive talk' yet. "

"You love fast. You live there. When you are in love you give it all. That's who you are." Maya said and turned to her friend. "I think you're just scared."

Riley scoffed. "That's ridiculous. Scared of what?"

"Of getting hurt." Maya said. Riley swallowed a big lump and said nothing.

"You loved Charlie and he hurt you. Now you're scared that you're getting in too deep with Lucas and that he will hurt you." Maya said observantly.

"I don't want to be." Riley said after a short pause.

"I know. So what are you going to do?" Maya asked in a soft voice.

"What do you think I should do?" Riley looked for an advice.

"I think you should be honest with him and tell him it's too soon, maybe slow it down a bit. Because I know you, you'll freak out and push him away even if you really don't want to do that." Maya said.

"And what are you going to do with Josh?" Riley wondered.

"I don't know. Got any ideas?"

"You should hang out with him. Alone. And maybe flirt a little." Riley advised.

"I am not good at flirting." Maya said.

"You are gorgeous and naturally witty, everything you say comes out as flirty." Riley said as a fact.

"Look at us. You are scared of moving faster and I am fighting for Josh. Who would have thought?" Maya said, surprised.

"And all because of some boys." Riley added.

XXXXXX

Maya was pacing nervously in her room. She was thinking over her plan one more time. She was about to call Josh and she was worried. Is she really going to do this? Is she going to chase after Josh? Possible steal him away from another girl?

No. that's not who Maya is. You are either with her because you want to be or you are not there at all. She was never settling. Not for anyone. And definitely not for a guy. Especially one that already has a girlfriend.

But what if Josh is the one? What if he likes her but she never gave him any signs? What if... What if… What if.

That's all she had. Just a bunch of what ifs. Maybe they can just be friends. He seemed like he really wanted to hang out. It can stay platonic. They can watch movies and tell jokes or talk about other guys and Amanda.

Never mind the burning desire she felt every time he stood by her side or touched her. She is not an animal. She can control herself.

She sat on the edge of her bed, hands still shaking as she typed a text meant for Josh.

She texted: "Out of my solitude. Want to hang?"

She pressed sent and her heart started beating faster. This is not how you feel when you text a platonic friend. She checked her phone to make sure she texted the right person. She was waiting for a response for what felt like ages. In reality it was less than two minutes.

Finally, her phone rang and she smiled.

He wrote: "For you, I'll always have time."