Begin Again - prequel to The Project - book 3

8

Lucas's POV:

There she is. The girl I've been dying to see for years now, right in front of me. Her beautiful blonde hair that's grown out longer than I remember. Her sparkling blue eyes. She's a bit taller, too.

"Lucas?" Maya asks, her eyes wide with a mix of shock and confusion, yet relief.

"Maya!" I smile through tears of joy.

I grab her by the waist and she wraps her arms around me, and I spin her around.

I can hear her quietly laughing through tears.

I put her back on her feet, and we pull apart to look at each other.

"Wha- when did you get out?" Maya asks.

"Just today." I say, never taking my eyes off her.

Maya lets out a big breath, and hugs me again.

Suddenly, she lets go and her smile fades.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I...uh.. You.." she fumbles for words.

"Maya, you can tell me."

She looks up at me.

"We.. Cant be together."

My heat drops. We cant be together?

"Why?" I ask, my eyes wide.

"Its just.. While you were in jail.."

I think I know where this is going. She found someone else.

"I.. Fell in love with someone else." she continues.

My tears are no longer tears of joy.

"What?" I ask, barley above a whisper.

"I-I didn't mean to, it just I got upset about you gone and he was just there and I-"

"Who?" My voice cracks.

She looks to the ground. "Lucas..."

"No, tell me Maya, I want to know." I gently grab her chin and lift her head so shes facing me again.

"Its.." she starts, then starts shaking her head no, like she just cant do it. She cant tell me, and is on the verge of tears.

I blink, and a tear falls down my cheek. I look away, and let go of Maya, knowing that she won't tell me. Why? I don't know.

"Well, I guess I should go?" I now have multiple tears falling down my face.

Maya's eyes grow wide, and she starts to panic.

"Lucas, I don't want you to leave!" She takes a step closer to me.

"You don't love me anymore. Why should I stay?"

"No.. I never said I didn't love you I just-"

"But you said we can't be together. Because you love someone else."

"Its just.. Like it's.. I don't..." She cant figure out what to say.

"Maya, I get it. Okay? I just want you to be happy." I say, although most of it wasn't true. Yes, I want her to be happy, but I don't get it. I don't get any of this.

I walk towards the door.

"I'll see you later, okay?" I say, but Maya doesn't say anything. She doesn't know what to say.

But the truth is, I won't see her again. I'm not running away again, though. I'm staying in New York, and going home. I'm just going to stay as distant as possible. Why? Because she doesn't love me. Because I need to move on, like she did. Because I'll be reminded of how funny, and beautiful she is.

Because everytime I see her, I'll fall in love all over again.