"Come here." Lucas held his arms out, allowing Maya to walk into his body and wrap her arms around him. Lucas placed a small kiss on the top of her head, resting his chin there after.
"I just thought we could hang out more today." Maya spoke into his shirt.
"I know, and I'm sorry." Lucas sighed and pulled away from Maya a bit. "I better get going."
"Yeah." She looked up, wrapping her arms around Lucas' neck and stepping onto her tiptoes to reach her boyfriends lips. They kissed. A small kiss, but passionate.
Lucas waved as he walked out of her apartment, smiling as he walked down the stairs.
Maya stood still for a few minutes, smiling to herself and looking around her living room. She finally sighed and started to walk to her room. She flicked on the lighs switch and noticed a bag on her bed.
"What?" She said to herself, walking towards the her bed. She pulled a piece of folded paper off the top and read it.
Dear Maya, I remember you saying you wanted a reason to wear a pretty dress. Now you do(: Put this on. I'll pick you up at 7:30
Maya put the piece of paper down, pulling out what was in the bag. A navy blue long sleeve dress and black booties. Immediately, Maya called Riley.
"Hello?"
"Riley guess what?' Maya practically screamed into the phone. She was smiling uncontrollably and was pacing around her room.
"What?" Riley laughed, sensing her best friend's excitement.
"You know those picture you see online of a guy leaving a his girlfriend an outfit to wear to dinnerand a note?"
"Yeah?"
"Lucas did that! He somehow left a bag on my bed and it had a note and a dress and shoes in it!"
"Really? Oh my gosh, that's so cute! What did the note say?"
"It says to put the outfit on and he'd pick me up at seven thirty." Maya held the dress up to herself in the mirror and smiled even bigger.
"Oh my gosh, Maya! You have about an hour to get ready."
"I know but I had to tell you!"
"Go get ready for your date, Peaches."
"Love you, Riles."
Riley hung up, leaving Maya with nothing to do but get ready for Lucas to pick her up in about an hour.
She stripped off her jeans and sweater, pulling the dress onto her body. She looked into the mirror, finally able to see what Lucas had been trying to tell her about her weight. She did look better when she wasn't skin and bones. She has color to her skin, although that color was a pale white, but compared to the weird grayish color her skin had been a few months prior, she looked amazing. She also didn't look so sickly.
She decided to do loose, beachy waves in her hair and put on minimal makeup. When she glanced at her clock, it was seven o'clock. Lucas would be there in thirty minutes. She slipped her shoes on and she fell absolutly in love with them. They were black booties with a small heel, plus they were super comfortable!
Maya stepped infront of her mirror twirling a few times and laughing to herself. She was finally happy. She didn't care what anyone said or thought about her, didn't have bad thoughts or a bad body image anymore. She had surrounded herself with people who care and love her and it helped a lot.
After brushing her teeth and fixing her hair, Maya sat down in her living room, looking out the window. There was snow on the ground, but no snow falling from the sky. She got up to go get a jacket when the doorbell rang. She skipped over, opening the door to a grinning Lucas standing there, jeans and a dress shirt, with roses in his hands.
"You're such an idiot." Maya laughed. Grabbing his free hand, she pulled him in passed the threshold and hugged him. He hugged her back, causing the foil the roses were in to crinkle, making her laugh. Lucas turned to shut the door, Maya still had her arms wrapped around him as he did so, which made him chuckle.
"You gotta let go."
"Thank you." Maya smiled into his shirt. It smelled of his cologne, which had been one of Maya's favorite scents since she could remember.
"You're very welcome." Lucas smiled, setting the roses on the counter and wrapping his arms around Maya again, rubbing her back.
"I mean it. Thank you for the dress, the shoes... and everything else." She pulled away, looking up at him and moving her arms to drape over his shoulders, clasping her fingers behind his neck.
"And I mean it when I say you're welcome." Lucas laughed. He placed his large hands on her waist, pulling her close and into a kiss. Maya went from fiddling with her thumbs behind Lucas' head, to running her hands through his hair. His hands had moved down to her hips, holding her as close to him as he could.
They heard a throat clear, causing them to pull apart rather quickly. So quick, Maya almost tripped over her own two feet and almost fell back into the wall behind her.
"Mom!" Maya said, clearly shocked.
"Is this what you two do while I'm at work?" Ms. Hart asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It was literally just a kiss, Mom. I promise." Maya bit her lip, glancing up at Lucas then back to her mother.
"Where'd that dress come from."
"Me, Ms. Hart, Christmas present." Lucas smiled. He looked Maya up and down, admiring how she wore a smile to complete the dress.
"It's beautiful, Lucas." Katy smiled, setting her purse down on the counter. "You two going out?"
"Yes, but I don't know where." Maya laughed, looking to Lucas, hoping he would tell them. Lucas walked over to Katy, whispering in her ear. A smile grew on Maya's mother's face, and Maya grew impatient.
"Can we go?" Maya asked, jumping up and down slightly. "I wanna know!"
Lucas laughed, leading Maya out the front door. Lucas reached over to grab Maya's hand and she smiled at his action.
"Where are we going?" Maya grew impatient and whined.
"Right here." Lucas smiled.
"Barbetta?" Maya questioned. Lucas nodded. "Lucas isn't this restaurant like... super expensive?"
"It's not super expensive." Lucas chuckled nervously.
"Lucas..." Maya grabbed him, pulling him away from the crowd of people waiting for the restaurant, and pushed him against a wall, not out of anger or frustration, and not out of lust or romance, but more in disbelief and shock that he was planning on spending so much money on her. "This idea is super sweet," Maya smiled gently. "but I can't let you spend so much money on me."
"I knew you would be stubborn about this." He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I had a backup plan anyway, but one day were going to go eat out and you're not going to worry about how much money anything is."
Lucas grabbed Maya's hand, pulling her to a near by park. They sat on a bench, talking and laughing for a good bit of time. By nine thirty, Lucas and Maya had left the park to get pizza.
"This is the perfect date." Maya stated, looking up at Lucas as they walked back to the park. "I'm not that high maintenance." She joked. "All I need is pizza."
"I know, but like I said, one day we'll eat out at a nice restaurant." They sat back down on the bench they were previously on and looked around at the snow.
"What's your biggest fear?" Maya asked. It was late, about eleven thirty, and they had been looking at the stars since it got dark.
"Never really thought of that." Lucas admitted. "What about you?"
"I guess.... Billy doing something again..." Maya looked down at her hands and Lucas pulled her closer to him.
"He's not. I know it's scary having that stick with you, but I promise he won't do that again." Maya looked up into Lucas' eyes and didn't say anything. "My biggest fear? Losing you."
"I know what Billy did took a part of you, I can't lose you or anymore of you. That's why I'm so confident that he won't mess with you, because I'm just as paranoid as you are."
"Thanks." Maya's voice was soft and gentle. Lucas pulled Maya up, and hugged her. She had tears in her eyes, but blinked quickly to hold them back.
"Hey, guess what?" Lucas pulled away and smirked.
"What?"
"Merry Christmas." Lucas whispered, leaning in and placing a small, gentle kiss on Maya's lips.