The Fight For Love (Joshaya)

Chapter 55

  Sitting cross-legged on Josh's bed, Maya brings her phone to her ear and waits for the ringing to subside. Once it does and an answer comes to the phone, she breathes out slowly before apologizing. "Hey, Riles. I'm sorry. You are one of the sweetest people in the entire planet and I should've been more careful not to break you. I'm sorry."

  All Maya hears on the other side are small whimpers but she continues to wait for her best friend to speak first.

  Finally, Riley whispers through many muffled sounds, "I've missed you so much. Maya, I have a problem."

  Leaning forward with concern, Maya asks, "What is it, girly?"

  "I'm such a bad person."

  "Girly, tell me what's going on."

  "You're gonna hate me, and I'm gonna lose you for good this time."

  "Girly, you're not gonna lose me. I promise."

  "Are you sure?"

  "More than sure."

  "Okay." Riley releases a sigh. "I've been...oh gosh, Maya, I can't say it! It's too bad."

  Maya starts crying just from hearing her friend cry on the other end. "Do you need to come over?"

  "Could I spend the night, too?"

  Maya hesitates and looks over at Josh typing away on his laptop. "Well, I've been staying in Josh's room for the past week ever since..." Maya stops, realizing that Riley doesn't know about her mom's death.

  "Ever since what?"

  "Um, I can talk about it with you later, hon. Right now, I just wanna find out what's going on with you."

  "Okay. So, do you mind if I spend the night over there?"

  "I guess I can ask Josh."

  Josh stops typing and looks up from the screen. "What's up?"

  "Do you mind if Riley spends the night here, too?"

  "Just tonight?"

  "Yeah."

  "It's totally fine then. I mean, she is my niece."

  "Alright, thanks, Josh." She speaks to Riley again. "Okay, Riles, you can come on over."

  "Okay, see you in a little bit." Riley hangs up the phone and Maya places it on Josh's desk. 

  She wraps her arms around his shoulders since he's sitting at his desk and plants a kiss on his cheek. "How's my favorite person doing?"

  "Trying to finish an essay. Do you have any homework to be doing?"

  "Eh, probably. But I mean, Riley's going to be here soon and she needs me."

  "Yeah, and you need her." He breaks away from her to face her. "I'm really glad to have you back, Maya. I've missed the you that cares about people."

  She chuckles, "What? I've never just cared about people."

  He nods, "You have. You just don't know it. You care about me, you care about Riley, you care about Nathan. You cared about your mom."

  Tears start rising to her eyes as he mentions her mom yet again. She asks quietly, "Why do you keep mentioning my mom? It's not like I can do anything about it now."

  "But you can."

  "What?"

  "Maya, you can." He stands to his feet, taking one of her hands in his own. He spins her underneath his arm and back into him, holding her arms so that she rests against his chest. He places a kiss on top of her head and continues with his thought. "You can still do something for your mom. Be the best person you can be and she would be so proud of you."

  Maya lifts her eyes towards Josh's in confusion. "Josh, what're you talking about?"

  "Live for what would make your mom proud. I know you don't think being in a relationship with me is what she wanted, but believe me, I think she was proud that you found someone who loves you immensely and will do anything to protect you."

  Looking away from Josh, Maya snuggles against Josh's chest at his words. "You are so amazing. And you are so right."

  Josh spins her out of him again and lets go of her hand. "So, what do you wanna do til Riley gets here?"

  "But don't you have an essay to write?"

  "It can wait. I need a break anyway."

  "Well, I could think of something." Maya bites her lip and tugs on Josh's shirt.

  "Maya." He whispers, wrapping his arms around her waist.

  She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses his lips firmly. They kiss passionately for a full minute when she drags him onto one of the beds. Right as Josh rolls her onto her back and hovers over the top of her, he backs out of the kiss and stands up.

  Disappointed, Maya sits herself up and stares at Josh. "Why'd you stop?"

  "What did I tell you at the beginning of our relationship?"

  Maya thinks back to the beginning when the two of them would go for walks and have their first talks. She remembers the fight they had when he said he didn't want to have sex with her, but that was also before she met Christ. Now that she's met Christ she kinda wants to go back to before that time so that she doesn't feel guilty for doing more than Josh had said he wanted right now.

  She sighs, "Why can't we have sex now?"

  "Because it's not right, Maya. That's not in accordance with God's will for either of us. Of course I love kissing you, but not when you drag me onto the bed. I don't wanna accidentally take things too far with you. Do you understand that?"

  "Not really, but you mean more to me than having sex, so I'm okay."

  "Are you sure?"

  Before Maya has a chance to confirm, or possibly deny that she actually is okay, a knock is on the door, which means their alone time is over for the night. Riley's here and that is Maya's top priority now; the talk with Josh can wait til a later time.