Joshaya

Two

Maya's POV:

I honestly can't believe Riley did this. I feel so angry with her. No wonder why she was acting so weird earlier.

Why would she set Josh and I up to see each other? She knew I didn't want to see him. I walk away after my awkward hello with Josh and Riles chases after me.

"Maya, wait up!" She calls. I turn around and face her.

"Riley, why would you do this? You know that Josh and I didn't want to see each other!" I scream. I'm only screaming at her because the music is so loud at this party that we're at.

"Maya, I did this for your own good." She says. "And it wasn't only my plan."

"I know. It was Andrew's too, but that doesn't matter! You broke my trust!" I say.

"Maya, I'm sorry. I just felt that you two needed to see each other." I look at her like she's crazy. I pull her outside so that we can hear each other better.

"Listen Riles, just because you and Lucas are happy and meant to be, doesn't mean that Josh and I are." I say.

"Maya, do you even have a clue why Uncle Josh has stopped seeing you?" She asks. Oh, no. I really don't want to hear this. "Peaches, he stopped seeing you because after he promised you 'someday,' he went to Philadelphia for a year to take care of my grandpa." She says. Josh's father and Riley's grandfather died of brain cancer and suffered from it for nearly a whole year and near Christmas, he passed away. "Then Uncle Josh stayed an extra few weeks to take care of his mom, then he went back to school because he had to focus on school. Uncle Josh didn't mean to hurt you, Maya. He had other stuff on his plate, but he told my parents that he thought you moved on and he was scared to reach back to you because he didn't want to hurt you again."

I honestly can't believe I heard that.

"I should talk to him." I say. She nods and smiles.

"You should." She says. I go back inside and she follows me inside. I find Andrew standing against the wall on his phone. I tap his shoulder.

"Hey Maya, what's up?" He says.

"Is Josh still here?" I ask.

"No, if he was, he would be following me around like a lost puppy." He says.

"Do you know where he went?" Riley asks.

"He seemed pretty upset with me, but I believe he went back to our dorm to study more." He says. I nod.

"Thanks." I say. He nods and walks away.

"Come on, I'll drive you." Riley says. I nod.

...

We arrive at Josh's building and I climb out of the car. Riley drives off as soon as I close the door.

"RILEY, WHAT THE HECK?" I scream, but I know she can't hear me because she's gone.

I walk into the dorm and find Josh's room number on the first floor. I stand there for a second, then knock lightly. No answer. I knock harder.

He opens the door with messy hair and his shirt off. I try not to look at his perfect abs, but it's too late. I'm looking.

"Maya?" He asks, interrupting my thoughts. "My eyes are up here." I feel my cheeks flush of embarrassment.

"Hi, sorry, uh, can we talk?" I ask. He nods and let's me in. He puts his shirt on as he closes the door.

"What's up?" He asks. I look at him and sit on his bed. Tears run down my face and I quickly wipe them away, but he notices. He sits beside me and tries to put me in his arms, but I let go.

"I should have been there for you when your dad died. I should have been there for you when he was suffering, but I wasn't. And now I feel terrible. More terrible than I have ever felt in my entire life." I say.

"Maya, is that what you feel bad about? You not being there?" He asks. I nod. He places his finger under my chin and waits until I look into his eyes. "Maya, I didn't want anyone to be there for me. When my dad died, I wanted to be alone. I stayed in my room alone and the only person I wanted to see was my mom, but she wanted to be alone too, so I stayed with her for a few weeks until she felt better. And when he was suffering, my dad didn't want much people to see him that way, so I accepted it. It's not your fault the way things ended with us, Maya." I nod and he wipes a tear from my eye.

"You thought I moved on?" I ask. He nods and looks down.

"I knew you moved on. I was on the phone with Cory and he told me you got a boyfriend, and I felt I needed to step back."

"Josh, my relationship with Jordan is over, but how I felt about him, I-I've never felt the same way I did for you." I say.

"Was he just a rebound?" He asks. I look at him weirdly.

"A what?"

"A rebound is someone who you fall in love with. You know, your head tricks you into loving that person and protects you from the crushing pain your heart is causing you." He says. I'm scared to respond to this.

"Y-Yeah, he was." I say. He nods.

"Maya, I didn't want to talk to you again also because I didn't want to break your heart again." I know what he means by this.

"Josh, you didn't leave me. Leaving me is like my dad leaving and never coming back. You're still here and that's all that matters." I say. He smiles.

"Maya, I just didn't talk to you for a while." He says. "That's what I thought broke you."

"I know, and now I understand to why you didn't. Josh, I still have feelings for you and I think I always will." I say. He smiles.

"Well, I believe this is our someday." He says. What?