****Maya's P.O.V.****
I woke up with a small smile stuck on my face. My eyes fluttered open to see that I was in a different room from the one I was used to. I looked around and saw a bunch of unfamiliar items surrounding me. There was a black nightstand with a silver alarm clock perched on top, some clothes scattered across the dark hardwood floor, a black TV stand with a sleek black flatscreen TV atop it, and the whole room was painted dark grey.
I started to get out of bed, only to be pulled right back down by a pair of arms wrapped securely around my waist. I turned to see why I couldn't get up, only to come face to face with a sleeping Gabe. I smiled at his face, laughing quietly at the drool coming out of his open mouth and his messy hair.
"Oh. My. God. This is so adorable!!!!" I heard Riley's voice say, causing me to turn my head.
"What are you doing in here?" I asked her, attempting and once again failing failing to sit up.
Why does he have to be so strong?
"I was just coming to wake Gabe up. But this.. This is just adorable."
"What's adorable?" I asked, finally managing to remove Gabe's arms from my waist and pulling myself out of bed.
"You guys were cuddling!" She whisper squealed, and I felt a blush rise to my cheeks.
"We were not!"
"Yeah, sure. So how was your little day out?" She asked, and I felt a smile grow on my face as I thought of the treehouse. "Oh my gosh. You're blushing. You have to tell me what happened!"
"There's nothing much to tell. We just walked around a bit, hung out at this cool old treehouse, and then we kissed twice. You know, no biggie."
"OH MY GOD YOU GUYS KISHMEED?" She exclaimed, me slapping my hand over her mouth before she could finish saying the word 'kissed'. She licked my hand and I grimaced before pulling it away from her mouth, proceeding to wipe my hand off on my jeans.
"Yes, we did. You are the first to know, and I'd like to keep it that way. If Cory or Shawn found out about this they would completely freak. So I would appreciate it if you could not yell it loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear."
"Okay, okay. But I can't help it. You had your first kiss. Even better, it was with someone other than my Uncle Josh. You can't blame me for being excited."
"I'm not blaming you. I am just simply not wanting you to wake Gabe, or even worse, Shawn."
"Why would it be worse if I woke Shawn?"
"Gabe knows about the kiss. Shawn doesn't. I'm pretty sure that Gabe likes us together. Shawn doesn't. Do you get where I'm going with this, or should I continue?"
"I get it now. And just so you know, Gabe definitely likes you guys together. There's no 'pretty sure' about it."
"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say," I scoffed, running a hand through my messy and tangled blonde curls.
"He has seriously told you to your face that he likes you. What more reassurance do you need?"
"You know I have trust issues, Riley. It takes a long time to gain my trust, and until he does that, I am not going to be able to ever fully believe that. And since most people don't care enough to do so, I'm pretty sure that he doesn't like me."
"Oh, come on, Maya. Even I can agree that you are being way too stubborn about this. Why can't you just let yourself like him? Why do you have to make this so much harder on yourself?"
"Because I just can't, Riley."
"Why, Maya?"
"Why what?"
"Can't you just let yourself be happy? God, all you ever do is help me with my boy problems, but when I try to help you with your boy problems, you just push me away. You push me away just like everyone else."
"Can we please not argue about this right now? Gabe is literally right there and I don't want to wake him up."
"No, I can't. Not until you tell me why you won't let yourself happy."
"I JUST DON'T WANT TO BE HURT, OKAY? EVERY TIME I LET SOMEONE IN, I GET HURT, AND I AM HONESTLY SICK AND TIRED OF IT." I yelled at her, causing Gabe to stir in his sleep. I sighed, running my hand through my hair again.
"Look," I sighed frustratedly. "I really don't want to talk about this right now. Can we just drop what ever this fight is about, please?"
"Sure."
"Thanks, Riles."
"You didn't let me finish. I will drop this, if you promise to at least try and let yourself be happy. I am your best friend, and your happiness means the world to me. I just want to be able to see you truly happy for once."
"If that's what you want, then I guess I will try. But I can't make any promises."
"As long as you try. That's all I ask for."
I smiled at her before walking over to the closed door and opening it. As soon as I did, Cory and Lucas fell through the door. I rolled my eyes at them, knowing that they had most likely been there the whole time.
"Umm.... Hey, Maya. We were just, uh, coming to tell you that breakfast is ready, so.. See you downstairs," Lucas rambled before sprinting away from the bedroom and down the stairs.
"Oh no you don't!" I yelled after him, probably waking Gabe. I ran after him, down the stairs and into the kitchen. I saw him facing the counter,
"For Narnia!" I yelled before jumping on his back and attempting to tackle him to the ground.
"What the heck, Maya?" Lucas laughed, trying to shake me off of his back.
"You can try to shake me off all you want, but I think we both know that it's not going to happen."
"Oh, please. I've carried much heavier things on my back than you. I think I have this under control," he told me as he stopped trying to shake me off.
"Sure you have, Bucky McBoing Boing."
"You know I don't like it when you call me that, Maya."
"All the more reason to call you it, Huckleberry."
He was about to respond when someone coughed loudly, obviously trying to get our attention. I looked over to see Gabe and our eyes instantly locked. I felt the heat creep up my neck and onto my cheeks, and I quickly looked away, hopping down off of Lucas's back.
"Hey, Gabe," Lucas said, clearly annoyed.
"Hey, Lucas," Gabe said with just about the same amount of enthusiasm as Lucas, giving him a small wave before putting his hand back in his pocket.
Oh boy.
"Well, this is awkward," I blurted.
"That it is," Gabe chuckled.
"Why is this awkward?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
"I honestly have no clue. Maybe because I never got the chance to properly meet Gabe, since you guys were hanging out," he said, putting emphasis on 'hanging out'.
"That might help. Gabe, this is Lucas, Lucas, this is Gabe."
Even after I introduced them, they both seemed a little on edge and tense, almost as if they didn't want to be in each other's presence.
"Well, that didn't exactly help the situation," I said, breaking the awkward silence once again.
"Breakfast is ready!" I heard someone yell as they walked in the door, causing all of us to turn our attention to them. "Oh, hey kids," Amy smiled. She walked over to the oven and pulled an oven mitt on her hand before pulling out a dish that seemed to have some sort of casserole in it.
"What did you fail to make this time?" Gabe asked, and I couldn't help but let out a giggle.
"Good to know you have faith in me. Too bad PJ made this."
"Oh, thank god," he said, and I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. He looked at me and smirked and I felt my cheeks heat up, causing Lucas to tense up beside me. An awkward silence washed over us once again, and I rocked back and fourth on my feet while looking at the ground.
"I'm going to go see what's keeping Riley," I told them, quickly walking away and up the stairs.
That was awkward.
****Lucas's P.O.V.****
As soon as Maya left the room, Gabe's smile fell and he glared at me.
"Look. I don't know who you are or what your intentions are with Maya, but you need to understand something. Maya has a very fragile and closed off heart, and if you ever do anything to hurt her, you are going to be in a world of pain," I told him.
"Why does that matter to you? Last time I checked, you weren't her boyfriend," he snarled back.
"I may not be her boyfriend, but I am one of her best friends. And I don't want to see my best friend hurt."
"Sure," he scoffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.
"Why does everyone think that I like her? I mean of course I like her, but only as a friend."
"It's only obvious that you like her. You stare at her like she's your everything, you are always super close and touchy with her, and you are constantly flirting with her."
"How do you know about all of this? You have barely known me for 3 days."
"Riley told me." I felt a pang in my chest as soon as the words slipped his mouth.
"Why in the hell were you talking to Riley?" I asked, clenching my fists.
"Don't get all mad at me. She's the one who came and talked to me about it, not me."
Why would she talk to him before me? She has only known him for a month. She has known me for a year. She can't possibly trust him more than me. The thought of her going to him before me made me feel the need to punch someone in the face.
Calm down, Lucas I could hear her voice say in my head. You don't want to do something you would regret. Don't turn back into Texas Lucas. I calmed down slightly at the thought of her beautiful big brown eyes, but I was still tense.
"I don't like Maya. I like Riley."
"I'll believe it when I see it," he said before walking away. I tried to take my mind off the conversation, but I couldn't help but let his words run through my head constantly.
It's only obvious that you like her. You stare at her like she's your everything, you are always super close and touchy with her, and you are constantly flirting with her.
What's that supposed to mean? I mean, sure, she's beautiful, hilarious, sarcastic, and she is one of the strongest girls I know, and I can't help but smile every time she walks into the room, but that doesn't mean anything.
With all these thoughts running through my head, though, only one kept coming back.
Do I like Maya?
(A/N: SO SO SO SO SORRY FOR MY LATENESS IN UPDATING LATELY. SCHOOL IS JUST STRESSFUL AS HELL. Plus, I haven't really been able to focus on writing lately since I have to do a running club every Thursday, I have yoga on Monday's and Tuesday's, and my teachers like giving me a crap load of homework to do on the weekend. Plus, I did a 5K on Saturday morning and I was sore as hell the rest of the day. Anyways, hope that you enjoyed the chapter. I know it's late and it sucked, but I tried. Love you, my Snowflakes.)