Maya Hart was scrambling around her bedroom digging through multiple dirty laundry piles looking for her favorite pair of black jeans before finding them tucked between her bed and the dresser. She did a quick smell check and decided no one would be smelling her legs anyways so she slipped on the jeans, hopping around the room still looking for her leather jacket. Had she woken up when her alarm first went off, or the seven times after, she wouldn't be buzzing around so frantically – but since she didn't she was in a mad rush to get ready because Lucas would be there to pick her up at any moment. Just as she feared, after buttoning her jeans with still no shirt on, there came a knock at the door. She ran to the door, leaping over the coffee table, and opened it just enough for Lucas to see her face.
"I swear I'm almost ready I'll be down in a minute." She said looking as panicked as she felt.
"It's alright, take your time, should I come in and wait or?"
Maya looked over her shoulder and saw her mom laying passed out on the couch clutching a Costco sized bottle of vodka. "You know what? I just need to throw on a shirt so you just stay right there and I'll be right back." She closed the door before he could say anything else and quickly threw on the first shirt she could find – which was a loose black shirt with splotches of paint all over it. The musk of dried paint covered any scent that may have lingered on the garment so she grabbed her back and rushed to the door.
"Hi again." She beamed up at Lucas, still trying to shove her right foot into her shoe.
"Hi there." He kissed the top of her nose and grabbed hold of her hand. Today they were wandering off to the Hudson River, which happened to be the only place Maya picked that was less than 3 hours away and Lucas had to be home early to greet his relatives who were flying in for the holidays.
The Hudson was a bit on the generic side since they wanted their adventures to be a little more than just a stroll through a history museum and tourist packed places like they figured everyone else's would be but it'd have to do.
The drive down, while shorter than other options, was longer than necessary because Lucas insisted on driving further down the river so they could get to a part with no skyscrapers and busy New York traffic horns in the distance. It was cold but they still rolled down the front windows and Maya had her hand out the window, twirling it around in the wind, practically the entire time the windows were down. At one point, however, Lucas closed the windows because when he looked over at Maya the tip of her nose was pink and he didn't want her to get a cold, she'd laughed and pretended to be upset with him.
Finally he pulled up to the river, it looked dangerous and beautiful. Snow led all the way down to the water and because it was winter the gaps of water that weren't frozen over looked pitch black. It was a mysterious sight and Maya was drawn to it. She slid down the mini hill that led to the water, walking closer to it and holding her arms to keep from shivering, the last thing she wanted was for Lucas to take her back into the car, after all the depths of the water were seemed to be singing to her. She thought about plunging into the darkness, how no one would know anything, someone could get lost in there forever. Without knowing the pull of the water drew her closer to the river until she was only about two steps in on the thin ice. Lucas turned around and saw Maya walking on the river so he ran towards her and yanked her back onto solid ground, holding so tightly onto her shoulders Maya could barely move. "What are you doing?" His voice was angry but his eyes were panicked as he studied her face- which was a combination of surprised and confused.
Maya's voice trembled as she spoke, "I guess my mind was just a little lost to the river."
Lucas's face softened and he loosened his grip on her to brush her hair back out of her face, "Just try not to get lost in the river okay? You may not know this but I've kinda got a thing for you." Maya laughed and leaned her head against his hand. She could write an entire essay about his eyes, how they were always grey and green and blue but never all at once, and how they seemed to melt her from the inside out.
After that they spent the rest of their time at the Hudson walking hand in hand and wandering in the way it was meant to be done, aimlessly and without a clue where you're going. They stopped from time to time and Lucas would wrap his arms around Maya and rest his head on hers and they'd just stand there, existing together as one person. There, in his arms, in that moment in front of the still frozen water, Maya felt at home. Which was a first, but it was a good first, like the first time she held a paintbrush and learned that you don't always need words to tell a story.
Maya rubbed her hands together and Lucas looked down at his watch, "I suppose we better start heading back now if I want to get you home and still make it back in time to greet the relatives." Lucas said shoving his hands into his pockets, "Unless..."
"Unless?" Maya rocked onto her tip toes and bit her bottom lip with a smile,
"Unless you want to meet them?"
Maya couldn't have loved the idea more, she happily agreed and they started the journey back home.
It wasn't just meeting Lucas' family that made her excited – although it also made her a little bit nervous, after all they haven't exactly been going out that long – it was also the fact that she'd get to be out of the house. Holidays are happy times for most people, but then again most people don't have to spend Christmas tending to their moms hangover
. Maya fidgeted nervously in the passengers seat the entire drive down, if Lucas didn't know she was nervous to meet his family he'd of thought she seriously had to use the restroom. After what seemed like ages Lucas pulled into the driveway of his house. It was a relatively average sized house just outside of the city in a good neighborhood, it was a brick house with a well maintained garden leading up to the front door. While Lucas unlocked the door Maya found herself wandering over to a bush with strangely shaped rose-y pink colored flowers hanging on it, most of which were either covered in frost or crumbling in the cold.
"It's called a bleeding heart." Maya said walking around the bush, Lucas looked over from the door confused before finally getting his key to work and opening the door. "Funny how something with a bleeding heart can seem so beautiful on the outside." She mumbled before following Lucas inside.
The inside of the house was even more gorgeous than the outside, whoever decorated it seriously took into account it's rustic feel. The furniture and decorations were a perfect combination of modern and rustic. A large oak table could be seen in the dining room, with heavy wooden chairs lined all around it, succulents lightbulbs hung from the ceiling alongside fully functioning bulbs to work as the most beautiful light fixture Maya had ever seen.
"Whoever designed this place is my new best friend." Immediately after she spoke a tall man ducked under a doorway to enter the same room as them. He was a well-built fellow with lean muscles that weren't overwhelming, he looked like the man Ms. Hart would always dream of – including the fact that he was wearing a perfectly tailored grey suit.
"Then I suppose we're bffs." He said holding out his hand, "Hello I'm Lucas' father. Are you a friend of his?"
"She's my girlfriend actually." Lucas said stiffening up slightly. Mr. Friar looked Maya up and down, with a more judgmental look now seeing her not just as his sons friend in a painters smock and unwashed jeans but his sons girlfriend.
"Well then," He finally said, "I hope you'll be joining us for dinner."
Lucas let out a sigh of relief as his father walked away and then gave Maya a nervous smile, "If you thought that was bad just wait until you meet my sister."
Maya looked down at her clothes, they were fine this morning but now when she looked at them all she saw were rags. "Maybe I should go home and change." Lucas grabbed hold of her hands and looked at her with a smile, "You look beautiful no matter what you're wearing."
Slowly, more Friars started to show up at the house, each one making Maya more uncomfortable than the last. First was Lucas' mother who'd offered Maya a change in clothes, then came the grandparents who asked if they'd slept together – then proceeded to lecture them about teen parenthood despite the fact that their answer was no, next came in his aunt and uncle who questioned whether Maya was a gold digger until finally a familiar face.
"Pappy Joe!" Maya practically screamed running up to him and giving him a hug. She was beyond happy to see a member of the Friar Family who wasn't questioning her or her intentions with Lucas.
"Well if it isn't miss Maya Hart, did you finally ask her out Lucas?"
"That I did sir."
"You did good."
Then came the moment Maya was most worried about, Lucas' sister Melanie. She's heard a lot about her from Lucas and now his family, she was older and in college and she was really protective over Lucas after the whole sheep incident in the kiddy rodeo, she was against basically everything that had to do with Texas, and she was going to NYU.
When she walked through the door she was everything Maya imagined and more, her hair was dark like Mr. Friars but her eyes were a piercing grey and she completely gorgeous.
"I brought my boyfriend for all y'all to meet I hope that's okay!" She yelled in pulling a suitcase in behind her, Maya bounced nervously and Lucas gave her hand an encouraging squeeze.
"Sup Friars!" A familiar voice boomed from behind Melanie, and when he walked through the door Maya's heart skipped a beat. She tried to look away but it was too late, he'd already seen her.
'Maya?"
"Hi Josh." Maya looked down at her socks, they weren't matching, but everyone had to take their shoes off.
"I'm sorry," Melanie stepped in, "Who are you and how do you know my boyfriend?"
Maya awkwardly cleared her throat and looked back and forth between Lucas and Melanie, if things weren't already awkward enough for her now she had to explain the time in her life she'd hoped to forget at possibly the worst imaginable time. "We, um, used to date." She finally croaked out looking for anywhere to look but at a person, but for some reason everywhere she looked she was Melanie or Lucas, there were pictures and painting and trophies... were those there the entire time?
"I'm sorry," Lucas said taking a step away from her, "did you just say that you used to date him? Maya he's in college how do you even know him." Josh stepped forward, "I'm Riley's uncle."
And that's when the room exploded.
Who's Riley? You dated your best friend Uncle? You dated her best friend? Lucas why would you date your ex-girlfriends best friend if your ex-girlfriends best friend dated your ex-girlfriends uncle? It was a nightmare. Was the room spinning? Maya didn't know she was too busy flicking back and forth answering questions and spinning around and going completely insane until she collapsed onto the floor. Quickly she was surrounded by Lucas or Josh or Pappy Joe, she didn't know, she didn't care.
"I think I should go," Maya said pulling herself off the ground, "If I wanted to be in the middle of a fight during the holidays I would've just gone home." She brushed herself off and walked out the door before she could hear Lucas tell her to stay because she knew that all he had to do was ask and she would. She was going to the Matthews', she was afraid to go there before because she thought she'd run into Josh, but that was obviously no longer a problem.