Joshaya one shots

Comfort

This one will be on the more emotional side of things. But I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!
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Maya sat there. Taking everything in. Not talking, not moving, just watching. She watched as the family that she loved so much fell apart. She watched as the people she looked up to so much as strong independent people broke down in front of her. She watched as her mother practically held her step dad together as he cried on her shoulder. She watched the misery take over her best friends face as she sat there with her little brother and let the silent tears stream down their faces.

"Has anyone told Josh?" Cory asked as he rubbed Topanga's back.

"We called him. We wanted him to be over here around us before we broke the news but he's studying for an exam and couldn't get over here. So we had to break the news to him over the phone." Amy said as she hugged Riley and Auggie to her chest.

"He shouldn't be alone. Not now."Cory said. He was thinking about Eric, who was back in Philadelphia at the moment, waiting for all of them to head that way.

"He needs to be with us when we go down there." Allan said. "We're just not sure how to reach him. After we told him, he hung up the phone and wouldn't answer when we tried to call him back.

"Maya," Riley suddenly said. Maya snapped her attention to Riley. "You should go to him. There are only two people in the world that he would listen to at the moment, and you're one of them."

"She's right." Amy said. Maya looked at her. "Josh cares about you a lot. I'm his  mother, and as much as I love him and I want to be with him right now, I know that I'm not who he needs."

"Go, baby girl. We've got everything here." Katy told her. Maya nodded her head.

She got up from the window seat she was sitting at in the living room of the Matthews apartment and walked over to where her mom and Shawn was. Shawn broke away from Katy and hugged Maya tight. He kissed the top of her head before letting her go.

Maya walked out of the apartment door. Tears brimming her eyelids. She didn't want to cry in front of the Matthews. They didn't need that. She needed to be strong for them, just like she needed to be strong for Josh.

The subway ride over had Maya feeling anxious. What do you even say during something like this? I'm so sorry for your loss? If there's anything I can do just let me know? All of those are typical things that people say during this time, but everyone knows nobody ever means it. It's just a formality.

Maya knew how to help people through losing a parent when they leave. She knew what it was like to be abandoned, but she had never had anyone close to her die. She wasn't sure how to approach this. She wasn't even sure if she was someone that Josh wanted to see right now.

Maya continued to think about it all the way until she was standing right outside of Josh's dorm room. She wasn't entirely sure what to expect when she opened the door. Would he even be here? She's known people to go out and try and forget about the things that were bothering them. Especially in a time of grief.

Maya raised her hand and knocked a few times on the door. She really just wanted to turn around and walk away. She wanted to run fast and far. She didn't have any idea of what she was doing. She had never comforted anyone like this before. Riley, sure. But Riley was her best friend. And Josh, well, he was something entirely different.

But as soon as the door opened, and Maya saw the red rimmed circles around Josh's eyes, and the way his blue eyes looked so empty and downcast. He looked so... broken. And Maya knew how to deal with broken people.

All doubts and fears left her mind as she just simply stepped through the door and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him down to hug. Josh almost immediately responded as he let go of the door and wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her in closer and burying his face in her neck.

Maya didn't say anything as she held him right, as she allowed him to cry into her shoulder. His body shook with suppressed sobs as his grip on her was both tight and weak at the same time.

"I knew they would send someone, I was hoping it would be you-" Josh cut himself off with another silent sob as he held her closer. His voice sounded so broken, so vulnerable. He could barely talk above a whisper. The raspiness and the wavering of his voice caused Maya's heart to clench.

Words didn't come easily for Maya, but words weren't needed in this situation. They pulled back and Josh walked further into his room. Maya closed the door behind her before she grabbed his desk chair and sat in it as he sat across from her on the bed, their knees only being inches apart.

"Josh I-" Maya wasn't sure what to say. She really didn't want to go with the typical 'I'm sorry' or 'do you want to talk about it' statements. Josh already knew that she was sorry. After a moment of pause, Maya bit her lip and continued. "I'm here." She stated. "Whatever you need."

Josh sniffled as he stared at her before resting his elbows on his knees and running his hands over his face.

"He was- I can't-" he stumbled over his words, and Maya placed one of her hands on his knees rubbing slightly. "I just talked to him a couple of days ago. He was fine." Josh told her. "He was in perfect health. How could this of happened?" He asked her.

Maya didn't know what to say to that. She certainly didn't have the answers to any of those questions and she wasn't going to pretend that she did. So instead she didn't say anything.

"He was expecting Eric's arrival. He said they were going to have tea at his house a-and, that Eric wanted to talk to him about his plans f-for that town he's running-"

Maya was concerned. Josh couldn't talk for more than a few seconds before he had to stop himself and take some deep breaths. He was shaking and it almost seemed like he was gasping to intake air.

She lifted her hand and ran it through his hair, remembering during a conversation at family dinner that Amy was teasing Josh because that was the thing that always got him to calm down most. So Maya ran her fingers through his hair, and a few seconds later he was calming down and taking better breaths.

"How could this have happened to Mr. Feeney?" Josh stated. And he was in Maya's arms the next second. He had scooted off the bed and into the floor and Maya had followed him. Both of them settling down on the floor as Josh's head was in her lap.

Maya let him cry as she ran one hand through his hair and the other one up and down his back. Josh gripped the hem of her loose t-shirt as he cried, bringing himself closer for comfort as he completely lost it.

There were no words for a situation like this, and it was almost like there was an invisible force keeping Maya's mouth closed as she held Josh to her. All he needed right now was comfort. He didn't need to be told that everything was going to be okay, or that Mr. Feeney was in a better place now. None of that would help. He just needed to be held, and that was what Maya was going to do. All night if she had to.
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Thanks for reading.