"This is a bad idea." Josh said, standing behind Maya as she looked down at her clothes trying to decide what to wear to dinner that night.
"You think everything is a bad idea, what did your parents do to you Matthews boys?" Maya teased.
Josh leaned down and gently bit her bare shoulder, "Really though my brother is going to freak at this idea, and Shawn…"
"Let me handle my dad, you worry about handling your brother, and we will both try and keep Riley and Cole quiet." Maya ran through the game plan.
Josh laughed behind her, "And your mom?"
"She will just say, don't get pregnant." Maya said in a sing song voice, irritation coming out in sarcasm.
Josh nodded, he reached past her and picked up a grateful dead shirt, "I like this."
Maya took the shirt and a pair of jeans before turning to change out of her workout clothes, "I don't dress for you, ya know."
"Yeah, yeah." Josh laughed as Maya went into his bathroom to change. "And what about Topanga?" He called through the door.
Maya came out of the bathroom, still pulling the shirt over her head, but by her junior year, Josh had seen all of her anyway. "That is going to be the real issue." She turned to look in the mirror as she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair. "I mean she isn't dumb, so I'm sure she knows we are sleeping together, but Riley is like their perfect virginal princess."
"I like to believe my niece is still…uh…" Josh hesitated.
Maya smirked, "How old were we? Me I guess, I wasn't your first." Maya teased again, not looking as his face colored red. It was too easy sometimes.
"I'm going to hell," he said as he approached her.
"Lucky for you, no such place exists." Maya said, smiling at him in the mirror.
There was a knock and Riley came in, "You two are decent right?"
"You are supposed to wait for a response before you just walk in," Josh growled.
"Please, Maya spends as much time in here as she does our room, which makes it by extension my room." Riley said.
Maya laughed as Josh's face flushed again, this time in irritation. "Hey, it's okay, Josh, really. You are getting all tense for no reason." She followed him out of the bathroom and tackled a laughing Riley to the bed.
"So what's the plan tonight?" Riley asked.
"I think we should lie, and all conveniently have things come up next week for dinner…" Maya said.
"But I think we should just be honest and say that we are taking an extended trip to the beach this weekend." Josh said.
"The things is, because Cole will be at dinner, they will ask if Cole is coming…" Maya said, prepping Riley. "So, the question is are you and Cole going to lie or tell the truth?"
"You don't think they will ask about you and Josh bunking up?" Riley asked.
Maya looked down at Josh, who had sat on the edge of the bed. She moved to rest her head on Riley's stomach, a sign of affection Riley always loved. "They haven't asked if we are shacking up here."
"I know, how do you two always manage to fly under the radar? I thought for sure your dad was going to catch you in Philadelphia, the last time we were visiting." Riley said, always awed by her best friend.
"That one was a close call." She agreed. "I think they know, they just don't want to know, and if they ask they will have to be all cranky about it."
"I think they would be happy for you and Josh to be together now." Riley said.
Maya's eyes caught Josh's, it was an argument he often made too, but she felt like they would have to talk about the past to move forward, and even as a love-sick twenty-two-year-old, she knew there would be objection to Josh having been 19 to her 16, well 18 really it had been in the 6-week period that they were only two years apart. "I think the school issue is going to be the real problem with me missing that time, but I took screen shots of my current grades so I'm already ready for that."
"So, we really need to think about what they are going to say to me and Cole." Riley said.
"Riley?" Josh asked, his eyes still locked on Maya's. "Can you give us a second?"
Riley felt Josh's mood shift, so she looked down to check with Maya to see that she was fine with that. Maya sat up and sighed, "It's fine Riles, we will talk in a minute."
Riley kissed Maya's forehead and glared at her uncle as she walked out. Josh waited for the door to click and then pulled on Maya's leg until the giggling girl was close to him. "I think we should tell them we are dating tonight."
"Are we?" Maya asked.
To anyone else it sounded like she was teasing but he heard the fear of abandonment in the question. "I know that we've always kept things light, and we've dated in and out of the first five years, but I haven't been with anyone else for a little over six months now, have you?"
"Well, there was this boy in Paris…" She trailed off.
Josh bent his head down and kissed the small part of her stomach that was exposed. "Maya…"
"I haven't been with anyone else for about nine months." She told him. Running her fingers through his hair, as he rested his chin on her stomach, something that she enjoyed as much as Riley.
"So, are we good to call this thing exclusive?" He asked, trying to keep from sounding too hopeful.
She sighed and tugged lightly on his hair, "What does it mean if we do?"
"That neither of us for sure can sleep with anyone else." He said. When she just kept looking at him, he continued. "That we tell our families…"
"And when they say, 'Gee that's great, how long have you been fucking? I thought I heard something at the lake house this last summer…'"
Josh started laughing, one of the things he had always loved about Maya is that no one could calm him down like she could. It was just a natural gifting that the girl had, or trauma response as she would say. "Who do you think will ask that?"
"Auggie." Maya said smirking. Josh cracked up again.
He pushed himself up on the bed and rolled over to his back, stretching out his arm to pull her into his chest. "I have a bigger closet." He said finally.
At that Maya laughed. "Riley would be lonely every night in that room by herself. "Although if I move in here, we could push our beds together, and Cole could spend the night in Riley's room." As much as she wanted to see his face, she knew not to look as the storm cloud crossed over it.
The flip side of Mayas gifting was that she could wind him up like no one else too. "Gross." He paused for a moment. "Don't you want to move towards something more?"
"Like what?" She asked.
"I don't know a future." Josh said, incredulously.
"Like picket fences and golden retrievers?" She asked, and he could hear the scorn in her voice.
"Eventually maybe but for now maybe dates outside of this apartment, and maybe some foreplay before the sex." He smiled down at her.
She crawled on top of him and rested her chin on top of her hands that were resting on his chest. "What else does it mean?" She asked honestly.
"I will do my best so that you feel safe every day, Maya." He promised her.
"And what about the days that I'm too crazy for you? You won't be able to close off and send me back to my room with Riley anymore." She snapped, trying to roll off him.
He wrapped his arms around her to stop the movement. "I don't send you off, you run and hide, there is a difference, but you are right that would have to stop. Lots of communication for us."
"Great, more homework." Maya groaned.
Josh laughed again. "Well? Do you want to be exclusive."
"I don't want to get hurt." Maya told him honestly.
"That is only a guarantee if we don't try." Josh told her, reaching around to sweep the bangs, she had just cut herself after a rough art class, out of her eyes.
"Fine. We can tell them. Riley! Stop eavesdropping and let's discuss tonight." She called.
-GMW-
A few hours later saw both couples walking into the Matthew's apartment holding hands. Maya and Josh dropped hands quickly to scoop up the two kids who ran at them, but all four adults had instantly clocked it.
"Maya!" Emma called. She was always happy to see her older sister. Even at 5, putting up with Katy was a lot for the child. She was happy for any positive time with an adult female.
"Emma!" Maya exclaimed back, snuggling the girl close. "How was school today?" She asked, sitting down on the couch, and resting the girl on her lap, instantly starting to braid her hair like Topanga had done with her a million times. She watched Josh toss Mason in the air as he said hi to the adults and wondered if that was going to be their future.
Topanga watched Maya watch Josh as she kissed Riley hello, "When did that start?"
Riley looked over at her friend, leaning into her mom's hug. "That's a really good question with an ambiguous answer I don't think anyone but them will ever know, but they went exclusive today."
They managed to make it to the table peacefully without questions. "Mase, come sit between Josh and Maya. E go sit between Riley and Cole." Cory told the two little kids. Both kids happily obliged.
"What about Ava and Auggie?" Riley asked, embarrassed to be called out.
"They are sitting in chairs, not on a bench." Shawn said. Maya and Josh just smirked over Mason's head. "Any complaints you two?" Shawn turned his attention to the new couple.
Josh leaned down and tickled Mason, "No way, we love sitting next to the Mason Monster!"
Maya's face lit up again as she watched them play. "So…at the risk of sounding too heavy handed, what's new?" Cory asked, looking directly at Maya.
"Uh…not much, school is going great! I brought screen shots of my grades!" Maya said, smiling up at her uncle.
Josh looked up from Mason, and took the bowl of beans that Katy was passing his way. He put some on his plate, some on Mason's plate and some on Maya's plate, feeling like that made enough of a statement before passing the bowl to an uncertain Cole. Cole put some on his plate and hesitated unsure if he should do the same thing. All eyes were on him, and he couldn't read Riley's expression.
"Do it or don't for goodness sakes man!" Auggie cried.
Riley laughed and took the bowl from him before putting beans on Emma's plate and then her own, before sticking her tongue out at her brother and passing the bowl to Ava who happily put beans on her own plate and then Auggies before handing the bowl off to Topanga. Topanga smirked at her husband who laughed back. "Don't you dare power play me." Topanga slowly scooped out some beans and gracefully plopped them on her own plate, before handing the bowl off to her husband with a kiss. Shawn took the bowl while Cory was distracted and plopped beans on his own plate and Cory's.
After a moment of laughter, Cory turned back to his brother and his niece, "So you know what I was asking…"
"I had a teacher many years ago who said that if you had a question, you should just ask it." Maya said, picking at the rice that Josh had just put on her plate, so many carbs in mexican food.
"Are you two dating?" Shawn asked.
"Yeah, we made it official today." Josh said, pulling Maya protectively close to him.
"Squished!" Mason called.
Maya laughed and shifted her brother on to her lap.
"And how long unofficially?" Shawn asked.
Maya shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know Dad. Things just bleed together."
Shawn nodded at that. "Okay, well I trust you Josh."
"Great, so to celebrate that, the four of us were going to go to the beach house this weekend, and hangout. We have Monday off of school, and so we were going to stay and head back Tuesday night making a late weekend of it." Maya plunged ahead.
"Ah, that's why you brought up your grades…" Shawn said.
"I don't know if…" Topanga started.
"We weren't really asking; we were informing." Riley said. Cole started choking on his water. Maya and Josh both rolled their eyes. Riley had a habit of making things like this worse.
"Excuse me…" Topanga was about to go off when Katy cut in.
"Okay, so are the adults at this table just paying for your sex den now?"
Cole, who had just recovered, started coughing again. This was only his fourth time around this family, and they always caught him off guard.
"What's a sex den?" Emma asked.
Ava spit her water out. That shook Topanga from her shock at Katy's outrageous question. "It's a very naughty thing to say. If I ever hear anyone at this table say it again, they will get a spanking with my hairbrush and their mouths washed out with soap."
Emma nodded furiously. She had never been spanked with Aunt Topanga's hairbrush, but the older kids always seemed like they were dying when they were. "I didn't know, Aunt Topanga."
"I know, E, it's not your fault honey. Auggie, Ava, why don't you take Mason and Emma up to the roof to eat?" Topanga asked.
"It's just getting good!" Ava complained. One look at Topanga's face though and the girl was jumping up with Auggie and grabbing Mason's plate as well as her own to carry upstairs.
"That was really nice, mom." Maya said when the door shut.
"You wanted a direct question." Katy told her, irritated by her daughter's vagueness.
"First, Riley, you need to remember who you are speaking to, apologize to your mother." Cory told his daughter.
"No, I'm serious. We are going this weekend. We saved up our own money to afford it, and we've been looking forward to it." Riley said.
"I thought the two of you were just official today." Shawn asked.
Maya rested her hand on top of Rileys, silently begging her to shut up. "We did, that's the truth. We have been wanting and saving to go to the beach house, and this felt like a good excuse for a celebration. As for the sex…"
"Maya Penelope, now is not the time to test me." Topanga said firmly.
Riley turned to Cole, "Why don't you go up to the roof and eat with my brother and the kids?"
"I uh…" Cole started. He looked over to Josh wanting some sign.
Josh smiled at him, "He's my brother, I have to stay. I would take the out if I could though."
Cole nodded and picked up his plate and exited. "I don't want to have a detailed conversation about this," Cory said, "But everyone at this table knows how Mason and Emma came to be in existence right?"
"Yes, Sir." Both girls answered.
"Yes." Josh told him.
"I want to have a more in-depth conversation about it with you two this week." Topanga said, looking at the two girls.
"Mom…we've already…" Riley started.
Maya shook her head, "That's fine, Aunt Topanga, I know that all three of us have Thursday afternoons free, why don't we plan for then?"
"Sure, Katy, can you make that work?" Topanga asked.
"No, I'm working." Katy said. She turned to Shawn. "I'm done with this. They are going to do what they want to. They are adults now after all. I'm going back to our apartment, maybe have a bath since every one is occupied."
Topanga glowered as Katy left. She turned just in time to see Maya wipe the hurt off of her face, "Maya…"
Maya forced a smile, "It's fine. I get it, she has to pay for our…" She trailed off shaking her head.
"She didn't mean it." Shawn said, "She was just caught off guard is all."
"I know." Maya said, widening her smile. "So, is it cool if we go?"
"I think as long as we talk before hand, and Josh and Cole set up a time to talk with Shawn and Cory then it's fine." Topanga said, looking to the guys.
Cory didn't want to think about his little girl having sex with anyone, but she was an adult now, just a few months from being a college graduate, legal drinking age, he guessed he should be happy that she had waited so long. "That's fine by me, Shawnie?"
"Yeah, I guess." Shawn said. He did trust Josh and Maya; he was also under no illusion that all the kids were probably much more experienced than they wanted to think. He remembered being that age.
Maya watched Cory as he was thinking. She knew that he thought Cole was going to be Riley's first, she tried hard not to roll her eyes at that idea. She caught Topanga watching her and smiled widely at her. Topanga's frown deepened though. Before she could open her mouth, Maya stood. "I need to get some homework done, I had told Dad this would probably be a short visit for me."
"Maya…" Topanga said.
Maya started to walk out, "I will see you guys back at the apartment, Aunt Topanga, see you Thursday. Dad, tell Mase and Emma bye for me."
Josh stood up too. "Wait, I will walk home with you." He put both of their plates in the sink, and set his car keys down by Riley so that she could get Cole and herself home safe before joining Maya.
-GMW-
Later that night Maya was laying in Josh's bed in just her grateful dead shirt and panties. She listened as Riley snored gently in their room. Josh had gone to get something a minute ago and she could hear him in the silverware drawer. He padded back into the room in just his boxers, holding a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream with a spoon in his mouth. Maya's breath caught when she looked up and saw how the moon caught him perfectly. She reached over and grabbed the camera that her dad had given her, off the floor and took pictures of him as walked over to the bed, posing with the ice cream carton.
They both dissolved into a fit of laughter. He took the camera from her and flipped it around taking a picture of both of them, before setting it on the bedside table. He pulled them both up so that he was leaning on the headboard, and Maya was leaning on him before taking the spoon out of his mouth and offering it to her.
She took the lid off of the carton and dug in. Josh kissed down her neck and shoulder, before gently biting it again. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing really." Maya lied.
Josh bit again harder, and Maya yelped slightly before turning to frown at him. "Talk to me about your mom."
"There isn't a lot to talk about. She will get over it." Maya said, setting the ice cream aside, and turning on Josh's lap hoping to distract him. She slowly pulled her shirt off.
Josh quickly flipped her under him and bent down to kiss her bare stomach, "Will you get over it?"
"I have to." Maya said, running her fingers through her hair. That was her role after all.
He paused and looked up at her, "It's okay to be hurt Maya."
"I don't want to be hurt right now." Maya whispered back.
It was moments like this that Maya actually looked young, and Josh had to remind himself they were both legal adults. "What do you want to be?"
"Lost." Maya breathed the word out as if saying it any louder would shatter her.
Josh let himself fall next to her and pulled her into his strong arms. "I am here." He whispered in her hair, and she started to cry in his arms.