And Then She Stopped

chapter seventeen

Maya stood outside of Topanga's. She could see inside, she could see them inside. Her friends. Farkle was sitting next to Riley on the backless couch with his arm around her waist, Lucas was on the far end of the other couch with two drinks in front of him – one for him and one for Maya – and Zay was sitting on the spinning chair he loved so much. They were laughing at something, and she wanted to know what, but she didn't want to go inside just yet. This is how she felt she lived her life, on the outside. But for some reason now she felt like she was grounded and in complete control of herself – she felt like she was on the inside. She watched Lucas, she watched him smile and wondered if he had any idea how much he helped her world grow. Finally, tired of being on the outside, she pushed through the door.

"Hey!" Lucas grinned, sliding the drink he ordered for Maya over to her. "I was just thinking about you." Maya sat down and leaned into him,

"You're always thinking about me." She teased picking up her drink, Lucas grabbed hold of her chin with his thumb and index finger pulling her into a brief but beautiful kiss. Every inch of Maya tingled whenever he touched her.

"You two are disturbingly perfect." Zay said pulling Maya out of her little cloud. Everyone laughed and Maya settled her head on Lucas, because she knew that no matter how much of her life changed her head would always fit perfectly on his shoulder. Maya watched as Farkle kissed the top of Riley's head, they were all perfect for each other. Everything had finally fallen into place, except...

"When am I ever going to find someone who makes me disgustingly mushy like you two, or excruciatingly adorable like you two?" Zay piped. Riley smiled up at Farkle,

"You'll find someone." Riley assured him, never taking her eyes off of Farkle.

"I'm never hanging out with couples ever again." Zay joked while standing up to get himself a muffin.

Lucas brushed some of Maya's hair out of her face, "We should probably go."

"Wandering?" Farkle asked, paranoid that someone may actually have a better project than

him.

"Better," Lucas said as him and Maya stood up, "Dating."

They held hands and wandered the streets of New York, for some reason when she was with

him she had an unexplainable need to touch him. They walked into small shops and they just walked into an old vintage inspired diner. It was the classic thing everyone pictures when you say 'diner', a red and white themed joint with a mini juke box on every table. It was cute, and Lucas had heard they had the best milkshakes. The two of them sat next to each other in a booth near the back and ordered their separate drinks. Sharing a drink with your date is cute and all until you realize you only get half, and Maya liked ice cream far too much to settle for anything less than a full glass. She ordered herself a chocolate cookies n cream shake while Lucas opted for a straight up chocolate.

"You're ridiculous," Maya said scooping up some of the whipped cream with her spoon, "You have to eat the whipped cream off first otherwise you just get a disappointing clump of cream at the bottom when you finish your shake."

I could do that." Lucas smirked, putting a small amount of whipped cream on his spoon, "Or I could do THIS!" He put the whipped cream on Maya's nose and started laughing hysterically as she tried her best to look upset with him.

"I am very cross with you right now," She bubbled leaning in and rubbing her nose on his face.

"If that's what you do when you're mad I can't wait to see you furious." Lucas smiled, picking the cherry off of Maya's shake and eating it.

"Oh, you've over done it now," She said dramatically tossing the napkin she wiped her nose with on the table, "Now I'm fuming." She grabbed his shirt and held him close to her face.

"Are you going to say it or am I?" She asked staring into his eyes, they both smirked and melodically went 'ha-hurr' together while everyone around them turned and stared thinking they were complete idiots.

And they probably were.

But they didn't care.

They stayed in the booth just talking to each other until the diner got really crowded and busy so they decided it was best to give their table to someone else. Back out on the streets of New York Maya grabbed hold of Lucas' hand and grinned at him with a mischievous flicker in her eye,

"Come on!" She yelled behind her as they sprinted down the sidewalk. Maya turned into her own neighborhood and pulled Lucas into her apartment building.

"I hate to break it to you," He started, panting lightly from the run, "But you made your apartment seem like much more of an adventure." Maya rolled her eyes and started walking up the stairs, she passed her floor and all of the others until the two of them were on the roof – and even so, Maya still kept walking.

"Slow down their," Lucas said gently pulling back on her arm so she spun into him. He rested his chin on top of her head and they held each other close like this for a while before Maya broke away and walked near the edge of the rooftop.

"When I was little," She sighed looking at the crumbling stone and how the roof had small crevasses that looked as though they may implode at any second, "Really little." She continued.

"Before I'd even met Riley actually. Before Riley I would climb up here when things got too bad. Just to watch the people down below. One of my parents would always figure out I'd gone missing and then come up here to...punish me." She bit her lip and looked away from Lucas, "I brought you up here because it's such a beautiful place – I don't want to think of bad times when I come here. And you just have a way of making everything in my life better."

Lucas slowly walked up to her, fearful that she might get frightened and run away if he came up too hastily. When he was finally standing beside her he kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't have to be home for a few more hours, maybe we can just watch the people together?" He asked smiling down at her.

"Yeah," She closed her eyes and smiled, "Yeah maybe we can."