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This was a really bad idea.
Joshua Matthews stared up at the window of his nieces bedroom from where his brothers apartment was. Yes, he realized how weird it was to be debating with himself on whether or not he should climb up and sneak into his Niece's bedroom. But considering the only other room he could sneak into was Cory and Topanga's... nah, he'd rather take Riley's. At least she would cover for him if he were caught.
As quietly as he could, Josh started to climb up the fire escape to where Riley's bedroom was. She usually left it open or at least unlocked in case Maya decided to come for a late night visit. So he knew that he wouldn't have any trouble with getting in.
It was already half past two in the morning, so she should be in the bed by now. She was a pretty heavy sleeper, so he shouldn't have any issues getting past her. It was Maya he was more worried about.
He knew she was a pretty light sleeper. She grew up in an apartment building that was very busy outside. She got used to sleeping with the noise and waking up over the slightest little thing. So he was really hoping that she wouldn't be here, and if she was, he would somehow be able to sneak past her.
Josh came up to the window and peered inside, obviously it was dark, but he could make out Riley's frame under the covers of her bed. He gripped the window and quietly pulled it upwards. Once it was high enough to let his body slip through, he climbed into the apartment and pushed the window down again.
He let out a breath of relief as he realized that Maya wasn't beside Riley. He stretched out his neck and walked over to her bedroom door. He closed it back behind him as he came into the hall and stated tiptoeing down the hall into the living room so he didn't make any noise.
But once he got to the end of the hall, he heard voices in the kitchen. He silently cursed as he stopped from going any further.
-talk to them about it, I'm sure they'd understand." Josh heard Cory's voice from the living room.
"What's there to talk about? There's no way I'll be able to get into college with the kind of grades that I have. Art scholarship is the only chance that I got." Maya's voice stated.
"NYU has a great art program, Maya. But if that's not what you want then don't limit yourself." Cory told her.
"I understand. But I don't know how I'll tell them. Riley and I promised that we would always be together. If I were to get accepted to another school, it would change everything." She told him.
"Why don't you get some sleep and we can talk more about this in the morning. You don't have to make a decision right now, Maya. College is still a year away."
Josh felt his breath hitch as he heard the sound of benches scraping against the floor. He heard shuffling around and footsteps coming this way. He silently cursed as he looked around frantically for a door to slip into before they caught him.
Maya came across first, she had her head down and wasn't looking when she ran straight into Josh. Not expecting it, she snapped her head up and opened her mouth to let out a shocked scream.
Thinking quickly, Josh grabbed Maya around the waist and placed a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. She struggled against him and he somehow turned her around to where her back was resting against his chest.
"Stop it." He demanded low in her ear, and suddenly she stopped moving, her chest heaving up and down as she breathed hard. Her face flushed red and she was very thankful that Josh couldn't see her face at the moment. "I need help. Cory can't know I'm here." His voice whispered desperately.
"Maya, you okay?" Cory asked from the kitchen. He sounded like he was gathering a bunch of papers when he stopped as he heard the shuffling of Josh and Maya in the hall. Josh hesitantly let go of her mouth.
"Yeah, mr. Matthews. I just wasn't looking where I was going and ran into the wall." She lied with ease. "I'm going to use the bathroom before I head to bed." She told him. She turned and gave Josh a pointed look as she pointed behind them to the bathroom.
He blushed a deep red out of embarrassment. He should have thought of that instead of panicking when he had heard them.
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then." Cory called out. Josh led Maya backwards into the bathroom and she closed the door. They waited quietly for a few moments before hearing Cory walk down the hallway and into his and Topanga's room.
Josh let out a breath of relief and let Maya go, walking backwards so the wall could catch him.
"That was close." He mumbled to himself, Maya turned to him and narrowed her eyebrows at him.
"When did you get here?" She asked him. Josh bit his lip.
"Just a few minutes ago, I snuck through Riley's window." He told her. Maya suddenly looked amused.
"You snuck in? You're in college living on your own, and you snuck into your nieces bedroom?" Maya asked him. Josh rolled his eyes.
"I don't need your judgement." He stated.
"I'm not judging. I'm just shocked. I never knew Joshua Matthews to be someone who would sneak out or sneak in." She told him.
"I'm human, sue me." He told her. Maya smirked at him.
"So why are you sneaking in? Don't you have a really hot redhead waiting for you back at your apartment?" Maya teased him as she pretended to flounce around in circles like a ballerina.
"Gabrielle cheated on me." Josh spoke bluntly. Maya stopped her dancing and stared at him wide eyed. The smile on her face disappearing completely.
"W-what?" She asked as she moved her hair out of her eyes. Josh nodded his head.
"I found them tonight in my apartment. I was hanging out with Andrew, working on some assignments, I came home and found them in my bed." He explained.
"I- oh wow." Maya was stunned. "I'm sorry." That's all she could say. She didn't know what else she could say. "Now I feel like a douche."
"You're not." Josh sighed. "You didn't know. But I couldn't be there, so I left and came here. I didn't want to wake anyone up, so I just came through the window." He told her.
"Wait, so you didn't kick them out?" She asked. "Josh, that's your apartment." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"You're telling me." He stated. "I just didn't want to deal with it. I was tired, and it was already hard enough walking in and seeing them together. So I came here."
"Why didn't you call Cory. You know they wouldn't have minded letting you in so late." Maya said.
"It was two in the morning. I wasn't about to wake them up." He said. "It's better this way. I'll be able to sleep on the couch and explain everything to them in the morning." He looked up and smiled slightly. "Thanks for covering for me."
"You would have done the same for me." She said. "And I am truly sorry about Gabrielle." Josh raised an eyebrow.
"Oh wow. You actually said her name this time." He teased. Maya rolled her eyes. "It's alright, I know you never really liked her in the first place. I'd be a hypocrite to call you out on it, God knows I've hated all of your boyfriends."
Maya blushed and looked away. She bit her lip and cleared her throat as she tightened her arms around herself.
Gabrielle had been Josh's girlfriend since his sophomore year of college. They had met during a class and hit it off pretty well. Of course, Maya hated it because she and Josh were still playing their long game, but she couldn't be angry as this was apart of their 'you live your life, I'll live mine' agreement. And of course, she had gone on a few dates and had a few boyfriends of her own. So she really couldn't say much.
But it had all been a game to Josh and Maya. Whenever the other one would get a new date, they always liked to come up with the most ridiculous nicknames for them and tease the other one. Just a way to get their jealousy and frustration out without actually coming across as possessive and angry.
"Well, for what it's worth, she really is an idiot. Guys like you only come once in a lifetime." Maya said quietly. Josh looked at her, really looked at her. Somehow just the sight of her caused a lot of his heartache to ease a bit.
"Thanks, Maya." And he meant it.
"I should get to bed." She told him, but as she turned to open the door, Josh called out to her.
"Wait a minute. I told you about my problems, why don't you tell me what you and Cory were talking about that's kept you both up for so long." He said. Maya sighed as she turned back towards him.
"It's not a big deal." She said. Josh gave her a 'yeah right' look. "Alright, it's not something that I want to deal with at the moment." She clarified.
"Oh come on, I told you what was wrong with me. It's only fair that you tell me." He said. "It's in the rules of our long game contract."
"What contract?" She looked amused.
"I just made it up." He shrugged. Maya scoffed. "But seriously, what's going on?" He asked.
"I had a meeting with my art teacher today. She and your brother have apparently been talking about me in between my classes." She rolled her eyes. "They want me to apply for art scholarships to different colleges." She explained.
"Sounds exciting." He stated. Maya shrugged her shoulders.
"NYU has a great art program, but its not the top notch in the country. Neither is any other school in New York. She handed me a list of the top most schools in the world that focus on art and will help make your art into something that you've only ever dreamed. But all of those schools are either half way across the country or not in the country at all."
"So you're thinking about applying to colleges out of state and even potentially out of the country." He stated in a nutshell. Maya nodded her head.
"We had one of those career advice weeks at school where all the students go to a teacher and seek out advice from them about different careers and what it would take to get there. My art teacher said she graduated at NYU, but all she's ever been able to do was teach. NYU has a great program, but not if you're really wanting to be someone with your art."
Maya sat down on the side of the bathtub and ran her hands through her hair. Josh stared at her for a moment before sitting down on the closed toilet seat and facing her.
"What schools are on that list that you want to apply to?" He asked.
"Well it cant hurt to apply to all of them. My art teacher said that she thought my art was good enough to get into at least one of the top three art schools in the world." She admitted.
"Maya, that's amazing." Josh told her honestly.
He had never really seen any of her art, but from what he had heard from different people in the family, she was truly gifted. He remembered seeing one picture that she had drawn when she was a lot younger that was hanging up on the Cory and Topanga's fridge. And Josh remembered thinking to himself that this looked a lot better than an average eight year old's drawing.
"I thought so to. Until I realized where the top three art schools in the world were located. One in Italy, one in Paris and the other one in California." (Don't know if this is actually true so just roll with it.) Josh swallowed hard at the realization.
"You'd be an idiot to pass any of those up. Especially on a scholarship." Josh told her. Maya nodded her head.
"If I get in." She corrected him.
"You will." He told her. "I may have never seen your art before, but for people to have as much confidence in your art as they do, then you must be good." He said honestly. Maya smiled.
"I'd rather not think about it at the moment. It's a year away and if I were to cross that bridge now it would just cause a lot of unnecessary stress." Maya told him.
"You're talking about telling your friends?" He asked her. She nodded her head.
"There's so much here in New York that I feel is worth staying for. Riley, my friends, my parents, the Matthews..." Maya trailed off. You, she wanted to say. But she didn't have to, Josh knew that was the unspoken declaration on her lips.
"They'll always still be here, Maya." He told her. "We'll all always still be here." He included himself in that. Maya raised her head to look at him and he gave her a small smile.
"I'm sorry," she suddenly said. "You're the one that's heartbroken here. I should be helping you instead of the other way around."
"That's one of the best and worst things about college. You always meet people who you tend to use as distractions." He admitted. "Gabrielle and I, we were never serious. I think in a weird way, we used each other." He told her.
Maya smiled sadly at him before she got up from the tub and walked over to where the door handle was, putting her hand back on it.
"Hey Maya," Josh stopped her again. Maya turned to look at him. He seemed a little hesitant on whatever it was he was going to say. He swallowed hard and Maya got butterflies in her stomach at the way he was looking at her so intensely. "Don't be one of those people." He stated.
"What?" Maya asked confused. Josh licked dry lips and let out a deep breath.
"Whatever college you end up going to, don't be one of those people that looks for distractions." He told her.
Maya let a hint of a smile come up on her face. Was this his way of asking her to wait for him without actually coming out and asking her? Of course, Josh was such a noble person, always putting others before himself. He wouldn't ever come out and ask Maya to wait for him. It was his way of telling her, if you meet someone out there worth falling for then great, but otherwise, don't hurt him with the news that she found someone else if it's not worth it.
"How could I? When the only person worth getting distracted over is right here in New York." She stated.
Josh felt his cheeks warm up and he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. No, he wasn't over what Gabrielle had done tonight, and he was hurt by it. But as he was looking at Maya, he knew that the pain he was feeling right now would be nothing compared to the pain he would have felt if it was Maya he found with another man. Even though he knew she would never do that to him.
Before Josh could comprehend what was happening, Maya threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a crushing hug. He was a bit surprised, but wrapped his arms around her anyway and pulled her closer.
"If the time comes that I get accepted into a different college," Maya whispered in his ear. "If you don't want me to go, then please ask me to stay." Her tone was borderline begging. Josh froze in shock before Maya pulled away and smiled at him gently.
She placed her hand on his cheek and slight creased it with her thumb. She patted him lightly before turning around and walking out the bathroom, leaving Josh there to think about what just happened for the rest of the night.
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I don't know why I can't just write one shots the way they are without adding some type of deeper meaning to it... anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this completely random oneshot. Thanks for reading!