Variables | Joshaya ✔︎

The List

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"Okay, then we're also going to watch Back to the Future," I reply as I quickly rip out a page from my notebook and grab a pencil, while Maya chooses to grab her pencil case to doodle as I write down the first part of our agreement.

"What makes you think that I haven't watched Back to the Future? It's a classic!" she says.

"Well, you seem to me to be one of those people who know it's a classic but has never actually seen it," I reply simply, and she opens her mouth to answer, but nothing comes out, making me laugh.
"Okay, we're watching it," I repeat, writing it down with To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

I saw another amazing side of her come out as I am writing things down. She is just drawing hearts and doodling things in the corner of the paper, with hearts around it. She finally stops when I hand the paper to her to sign. She writes 'Boing + Maya' on the top first, and I laugh lightly, then realize I should think of a pet name or nickname for her too.

Right before she signs her name, she stops.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

She shakes her head and smiles slightly, "Nothing."

"What's wrong?" I repeat, getting more concerned as more time goes by with her pen hovering over the paper.

"What about Gabi and Dillon?" she asks, and my face softens.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"What do we do about 'Daddy'?" she asks with air quotes around daddy, and my eyes widen.

"Do we keep correcting her?"

"What if she sees us together and assumes that you're her daddy now?"

"What if-"

She goes on for a bit before a few tears start to fall as she says, "What if she loves you more than me?"

"What if she forgets about me?"

Right as she says that, I immediately stop her by grabbing her hand in mine.

She stops for a second and looks at me, a tear running down her cheek and am quick to wipe it off with my thumb.

"That will never happen," I say sternly, moving my hand slightly to cup her cheek, and she leans into it.

"Mark my words, it will be my sole purpose in life to make sure that you will never be forgotten, whether it's during or after our lifetime," I assure her, meaning every word.

"Promise?" she asks, more tears falling.

"Promise," I reply, wiping her tears as she smiles lightly, "Now, we don't have to stop correcting her if it's too much; she's still little, so when we're ready, we can tell her."

"I don't mind it if we're in a relationship, but I wanna have a little 'trial run,' and see how we work out first. I don't want to lose our friendship and your help around here along with breaking Gabi's heart. So, maybe with a test run, if it doesn't work out, we can go back to the way things were?" she suggests.

This is the last thing I want to be thinking about, but we have to be on the same page for this to work, "Okay, if that makes you feel more comfortable."

She nods and smiles, standing up from the table after signing her name beautifully on her line and kissing my cheek, "It does, thank you."

I turn around to face her and look up into her gorgeous eyes, "Of course Maya."

She smirks, "Thank you Boing. Oh wait, you don't have a name for me in mind?"

I stifle a laugh and smirk back to her teasingly, "Not yet, but I'll find the perfect one."

"Oh god," she sighs, worry on her face.

"What?" I ask teasingly.

"I'm just worried on what you're going to come up with," she admits, and I smile.

"Don't worry, you'll love it when I find it," I smile.

She laughs lightly and kisses me on the cheek once more, "I hope so."

"You missed," I point out, somewhat quietly.

"Did I?" she asks teasingly. I nod and point to my lips.

"Right here," I say.

"I don't know..." she teases me further, "You probably have bad breath."

I stand up and sigh, "I'll do it myself then."

I start to kiss her all around her face, her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, her chin, her neck, everywhere until she sighs, "Okay, I get why you were upset now."

"I don't know... I don't think you do," I say teasingly, then continue to kiss all over her face. She sighs in exasperation, grabbing my face with her hands and kissing me on the lips.

"Oh I do," she murmurs against my lips and I smile against hers.

A few seconds later, we pull away, in need of air.

"Okay, I'm going to bed," I say after a while of us standing there looking into each other's eyes and start to walk away, but she grabs my arm and pulls me back.

"How about we cuddle in my room?" she smiles.

A grin comes across my face as I grab the remote and turn off the tv and she grabs the paper, "Then let's go then."

We walk, hand in hand to her room, opening her door and going in. Maya puts the paper into her bedside table and climbs into bed. I then realize something.

"Everything okay?" she asks, noticing my hesitation.

"I just remembered that I sleep nearly naked," I say, "I forgot to put that on the list."

"It's okay Josh," she says, "I trust you, and it's not like we're going to do anything other than cuddle and sleep."

I smile and nod, "You're right, I don't know why I was so worried about it."

She smiles and shakes her head amusedly, and I take off my shirt and pants, leaving me in just my boxers. I turn around and see Maya looking at me with partially widened eyes, looking me up and down, "Maya!" I whisper shout.

"Sorry," she says quickly, averting her gaze from me and mumbling, "I have a hot boyfriend."

I smirk as I climb into bed next to her, deciding to tease her about it, "You do, do you? When do I get to meet this amazing, handsome, perfect boyfriend of yours?"

She turns around in bed to me and smiles, playfully hitting my chest, "Stop it!"

I laugh as I lay down on my back, bringing her closer to me, "Maya?"

"Hmm?" she hums, lifting her head from my chest to look at me.

"When do we tell people about us?" I ask curiously, realizing that we never talked about it.

She sighs, "I honestly don't know exactly, but we probably shouldn't be public yet, and maybe we could tell Riley first to see how she reacts? And then we can think about telling Mr. Matthews and the fam."

I laugh lightly and nod, "Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She nods against my chest and places her head back down on it, then mumbles, "Great, now I'm going to sleep."

I laugh lightly and smile, "Okay, goodnight Maya."

"Goodnight Boing," she says contently, and as I fall asleep, I realize how lucky I am right now.

Thanks to this amazing woman in my arms, my life would have continued to be a day-by-day living style, with almost no time to spend with friends and family and to have fun.

And that that was probably the best night's sleep I've had in a really long time.

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Word Count: 1261