***
This city never sleeps at night
I get a little bit bigger, but then, I'll admit
I'm just the same as I was
***
"We did it!" Alex screams out loud. Maya wipes the tears that are streaming down her face roughly.
They have been waiting for this moment since they graduated high school. "I'm so proud of us, Alex." Maya pulls Alex into a tight hug.
"We need to celebrate some more." Alex pulls away and runs towards her purse that was on top of the dining room table.
"What are you doing?" Maya tilts her head.
"Calling everyone back so they can meet us for dinner. This calls for a big celebration. We only earn our degree in psychology and art once." Alex says.
"We still need to get jobs." Maya corrects Alex.
"I don't need your negativity." Alex pouts and walks away dramatically.
"Come back here, you know I can't run in heels." Maya removes her cap and waddles after Alex.
Once Maya has caught up with Alex, she was finishing up the phone call. "We have 5 minutes to get ready and leave." She tells Maya.
"Did you just say 5 minutes? I'm not dressed for the occasion. I'm still wearing my cap and gown."Maya exclaims.
"I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. We paid thousands of dollars. We might as well show off our hard work." Alex raises her eyes and smiles to emphasize her point.
Maya groans before waddling away to collect her things so they can leave the apartment.
***
"I hate being early to things. I feel so awkward whenever the waitress comes by." Maya huffs and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Stop being so dramatic." Alex hits Maya across the head with her graduation cap. "I'm not afraid of beating you up inside of a diner," Maya warns Alex.
"You would never dare." Alex sticks her tongue out towards her best friend to tease her.
"I don't think you'd want to see the outcome of it." She picks on her nails with a nonchalant attitude on purpose.
"Sorry, Zendaya, and I got here late, and we found this man behind the diner. He was digging out the trash. We brought him inside so he can eat. I hope you guys don't mind." Harry points towards Timothée.
Maya quickly gets up from her seat and makes her way towards Timothée. On her way towards him, she sticks her middle finger up towards Harry.
Timothée wraps his arms around Maya's torso and nuzzles his nose into the corner of her neck.
Once Maya removes herself from Timothée's hold, she smiles and waves toward Zendaya.
"You know you guys just saw each other like 2 hours ago." Alex says.
"I don't want to hear you talk, I have to listen to you talk about how much you miss Zendaya every day." Maya raises her eyebrows. Alex and Zendaya have been talking about taking their relationship slow with Maya.
They both agreed that it was the best for them, seeing as that Alex had never really been in a relationship before.
Unlike Timothée and Maya, they were inseparable from the very beginning. Its a scary thing but they've both learned how to accept it.
"Don't embarrass me in front of her." Alex playfully shoves Maya as she makes her way back towards the table.
"Let's sit down and order our food before I body slam you on the nearest table." Maya walks past everyone and sits back down in the booth.
Everyone follows after her. "We need to get Harry someone to date," Alex tells them. "Absolutely not. I'm riding solo. I am a free man and would like the keep it that way." Harry tilts his head up dramatically.
"Welcome to Tick Tock Diner, my name is Sarah and I will be your waitress today." She leans over and hands everyone their menus.
"Congratulations, ladies," Sarah tells Maya and Alex as she motions towards their outfits.
"Thank you so much." Alex smiles up at the waitress, she nods her head before turning on her heels and heading towards the kitchen.
"I don't even know what to get. I hate when there are so many options."Maya groans and leans onto Alex.
"Just get your usual." Alex shrugs her shoulders. Maya nods and sits back up straight, "I don't think I tell you guys this enough but I am so grateful for every one of you guys."
Harry smiles, Harry is also extremely grateful and happy with the friends he made. They all understand him and they're all willing to accept him for who he is.
None of them ever tried to change him, they never wanted anything from him. Its a refreshing change that he's still adjusting to. Harry leans over the table and ruffles the top of Maya's hair, "Love you too, kid."
"I thought we agreed that you would stop that." Maya crosses her arms across her chest. Timothée stifles his laugh as he tries his best to fix her hair.
"Thank you." Maya looks up towards Timothée and kisses his cheek.
"I didn't need to see that." Harry dramatically shields his eyes.
"I refuse to believe that this man is older than all of us." Zendaya points her index finger towards Harry. He sticks his middle finger at Zendaya.
"Harry there is a child present." Timothée gasps and places his hands over Maya's eyes to shield her from Harry.
Maya moves Timothée's hands from her face, "You can't bully me. Only we can do that to you."
"It's only fair that you receive the same treatment as me," Timothée says.
***
Maya gets up from her seat and excuses herself. She walks towards the bathroom, alone. She's not sure what's happening but feels nauseous.
It has not sunken in that she's finally done with this chapter of her life. Maya steps inside the bathroom and quickly removes her gown and sits it on top of the counter of the public restroom.
Maya is now in full control of every aspect of her life now. There was no one telling Maya what she needs or should do.
It feels weird for her to have a new sense of freedom despite being in her 20s. Her thoughts are interrupted by Timothée walking into the bathroom.
"What are you doing here?" Maya tilts her head.
Timothée ignores her question and locks the bathroom before walking towards her.
"You got up so quickly and left. I thought something was wrong. Are you okay?" He asks Maya.
Maya nods her head and takes a deep breath. "What's wrong? I know you're not okay." Timothée lifts her chin with his hand. Maya pulls away from his hold and turns around to look at her reflection in the mirror.
"I'm sorry, I'm being dramatic. But I just realized that I finally know what I want for myself. No ones telling me how I should live it anymore." Maya shrugs her shoulders in order to make Timothée believe that she does not care.
"You're not dramatic. I'm so proud of you. We're all are. You know that we'll all support you every step of the way." Timothée places his palm onto Maya's cheek. He runs his thumb across her cheekbone while she closes her eyes.
"I don't deserve you." Maya whispers. "Don't say that." Timothée frowns and pulls Maya towards his chest.
They stand there inside the bathroom for a little longer than expected before exiting and heading back to their seats.
"What did we miss?" Maya asks while eating her french fries.
"Not much, I tried to force Harry into getting someone's number." Alex shrugs as if it means nothing. "Where?" Maya looks around the entire diner, trying her best to find the girl that they were talking about.
"What are you doing?" Zendaya pats Maya's shoulder to get her to stop looking around.
"The biggest rule is to not look. You'll make it obvious that we're talking about her," Zendaya tells Maya.
"The girl to your left. Harry bumped into her on his way to the bathroom. They talked and made a connection." Alex continues to eat her food.
"We literally said a few words to each other." Harry defends himself.
"We all saw you, don't deny it." Zendaya teases Harry.
"You should ask her for her number. It doesn't hurt to at least keep in contact with her. She's really pretty too." Maya shrugs her shoulders and takes a sip of her drink.
"I'll ask her when we leave and if she's done eating. I don't want to bother her." Harry tells them. Everyone nobs their heads and continues to eat their food in silence.
***
"See that wasn't so hard." Alex slaps Harry's shoulder as he places the crumbled paper into his pants as they walk through the park.
"It only took 5 minutes of us trying to get him to be confident enough." Timothée rolls his eyes playfully.
"Leave him alone. He's trying his best." Zendaya signals a thumbs up towards Harry. He smiles awkwardly before saying "All of you, leave me alone. I'm a grown man."
"Whatever you say." Maya pats Harry's arm before walking closer to Timothée. She holds her hand out and motions for him to take her hand. He complies and laces his fingers through hers.
"Come here," Alex tells Harry, she waves her hand in the air. Harry smiles before wrapping his arm around Alex's. Her other hand was holding Zendaya's.
"I could get used to this. We don't do this enough." Maya frowns at the thought of her friends leaving soon. "We can make the most of it from the time that is left." Timothée smiles and raises her hand to his lips.
"It's getting dark soon, we should start heading home before we get lost in the dark," Alex shouts towards Maya and Timothée.
Maya turns around to face Alex and nods her head to agree. They all begin to walk out of the park and onto the streets.
"I think I'm going to my hotel, I have a meeting later tonight and I can't miss it," Harry tells them. He unlinks his arm from Alex's and hugs her. Once he's said goodbye to everyone but Maya he pretends to ignore her and walks away slowly.
Maya smiles and pulls his arm back, engulfing him in a hug. He smiles and wraps his arms around her upper back. "Don't be a stranger! Whenever you're around let us know, I love having you around." Maya's mouth curves into a smile.
"I won't I promise." Harry waves goodbye and walks away.
"Zendaya and I are gonna head back to my apartment. You can come later if you want when you're done of course." Alex rubs her hands together before raising her eyebrows.
Maya understands why Alex wants to spend time with Zendaya. She leaves soon and they rarely see each other, Maya nods her head to indicate that it's fine. "We'll let you know if our plans change." Maya tells them.
Once Maya And Timothée say their goodbyes they begin walking.
"Let's go get ice cream." He raises his eyebrows and pouts.
"But I'm still full." Maya rubs her belly. "Come on, once you're there you'll want the ice cream." Timothée uses his phone to find the nearest ice cream shop. As soon as he finds the shop, they begin walking.
They walk in silence until they reach the place and enter. Timothée orders their ice creams and Maya pays for them. Once they receive their ice creams from the worker, Timothée and Maya sit down on a bench outside.
"Look at you, eating ice cream after you complained that you were full." Timothée points out and continues to lick his ice cream cone.
"They had cookies and cream, you can't say no to that." Maya shrugs her shoulders and takes a scoop of her ice cream and eats it.
"I think I'm going to move. Once everything's settled and I can guarantee that I'll have a job." Maya looks down at her ice cream to avoid eye contact.
Timothée sinks in his seat, he did not see this coming. But Maya has been thinking about this for months, she's even had the conversation with Alex.
Alex promised to support her decision regardless since Alex herself wants to move closer to her parents.
"I have nothing holding me here in New York anymore, my parents are in California. I grew up here, I think its time for a fresh start." Maya explains to Timothée. He nods his head, trying to get an understanding of what Maya feels.
"But what about us? I don't want you to prioritize our relationship over your dreams." Timothée whispers.
"I don't want things to change between us. I know you live here and have an apartment here. I don't want you to feel pressured into making a decision for us." Maya's eyes widen at the thought of making Timothée feel like he needs to pick.
"It's fine, I totally get it. I'll support your decision. When are you planning on moving?" He asks.
"I'm not sure but definitely not yet. I'm thinking about moving to California, I love the beaches over there." The brunette smiles as she remembers the feeling of the sand and the ocean on a hot day.
Timothée nods his head and looks down at his lap.
Maya notices the change in his attitude, "Let's head back towards your apartment. I'll let Alex know that we're not stopping by her place." Maya gets up from the bench and dusts off her pants. Timothée follows after her and they begin walking.
***
"Move over, you're taking up the entire bed." Maya rolls over and faces away from Timothée.
Timothée leans over and pulls Maya back towards him.
"Stop being dramatic." He huffs out. "I'm not being dramatic." Maya crosses her arms and stares up at the ceiling.
Timothée shakes his head before sitting up and gripping Maya's waist. She yelps as he pulls her body onto his lap, her legs are by his sides. He leans back into the bed and Maya stares at him, she furrows her eyebrows.
"You're gorgeous." Timothée whispers, his thumb rubs on her bare thigh. Maya feels her cheeks warm up as he continues to rub his thumb higher and higher on her thigh.
The sound of the television drowns out as Maya loses focus on everything else but him.
They stay silent and stare at each other for a few seconds. Time feels slower than usual as Timothée's hand wanders "Kiss me." Timothée rasps out.
Maya leans down towards Timothée, as her lips get closer he cant help but notice she's teasing him. Her lips graze his top lip and she pulls it.
Maya feels Timothée shift underneath her, she smirks as he begins to lose his patience.
She can tell that he's now fighting his urge to stop himself from touching her.
Maya leans down and places her right hand onto the side of his throat before she kisses him. Parting her lips to serve as an invitation for Timothée, he accepts it. His hands move from her thigh and onto her bottom.
She gasps at the sudden contact and presses more pressure onto his neck with her hand. Maya pulls away first and sits back up trying to catch her breath.
It feels like time has decided to stop as they both sit in silence.
"I'm going," Timothée says. Maya tilts her head and looks down at him. "What do you mean?" She asks him.
"I want to go with you to California." He reaches up and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
She leans into his palm and kisses it. "You don't need to you if you don't want to. I want this to be something you want for yourself, not me." Maya closes her eyes and reaches up and squeezes his hand that was now caressing her cheek.
"Trust me, I want to. We can get a nice house, get a dog, and have that garden you always mentioned." Timothée smiles at the thought of them having a happy life together.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Maya leans down and gives him a quick peck before rolling over and back onto the bed.
Maya yawns quietly. Timothée smiles at her before shaking his head.
"I can't wait for our life to start." Timothée kisses her forehead before turning off the light, Maya smiles up at him.
"Goodnight," Maya whispers across. "Goodnight." Timothée pulls her body towards his chest. They both quickly fall asleep and dream of the future they're going to have together.
***
thats it. bad ending but its hard to end things.