Nostalgia || Joshaya

chapter 2

"Um, yeah of course then. You don't have a place so you don't have a place..." Maya felt a little awkward as she resisted before but hid it. She would be even more embarrassed in front of Josh if she let it show.

So Riley crammed herself into their car, and Josh got into the Hunter's. Maya on the right, Josh on the left, while Shawn drove and had his wife, Katy, beside him.

Maya turned on her music and stuck her headphones in her ears while she scribbled in her notebook. Between time, Josh and Shawn got to talking, with Katy occasionally contributing in the convo.

She liked that they were going skiing as a family. Over the few years, they had indeed enjoyed the sea, but never the snow. Something new for them as a family.

What made the situation more interesting was the fact that they were driving a boy, she knew her daughter has feelings for. Or at least did have a few years ago. Now she wasn't entirely sure it was still true, because her daughter hung out with Riley, her boyfriend, and his friend a lot, so she suspected there might be something going on.

Maya didn't tell her about her thing with Zay. The blondie didn't even like to call it "a thing" because it didn't have much of a meaning to her, more like a friendly hangout.

After Maya's playlist ended, she put her headphones away and it was time to stare out the window. She was afraid to speak to Josh. She didn't know what she wanted to say to him anyway. She noticed he was trying to fall asleep. She thought that would solve the situation for her, but it didn't.

"Tough night?" She asked mockingly. "Not as much as yours," Josh replied absently, trying once more to fall asleep.

"Hey, feel free to lie down. It won't bother me..." He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "I'm serious. Get some sleep." Since they still had at least three hours of drive ahead of them, Josh didn't refuse the offer and lay down.

"I don't want to bother you." He said as he pulled away. Maya remained silent. She just softly smiled at Josh and shook her head from side to side. Josh then laid down again, resting his head against Maya's thighs.

"Sorry," he went to put his head away, but Maya stopped him. "Sush Boing, I'm trying to enjoy the view." She gently pushed his head down onto her thigh with her left hand and continued to stare out the window at the trees.

"Me?" He asked jokingly. "What?" Maya didn't understand. "Are you enjoying me, the view?" "I'm not the Maya who jumped on your back. Well, we're basically the same person, and I'd still do it, but not for the same reason." Josh let out a soft chuckle.

Within minutes they were both asleep. It wasn't until half an hour later that Maya's cell phone woke up them both. A text from Riley.

"How u handling uncle?" 

"Sorry," Maya whispered to Josh.

"You just woke us up. But he's fine. Its a bit weird."

No text back. Some time goes on and then Shawn speaks up. "We're gonna be at the gas station in a few minutes." Katy turns to the "kids" and sees that Josh is sleeping on top of Maya.

"Aww you two are so cute," she winks at Maya. "Look at them, Shawn." So he tries to find something in the rearview mirror but sees nothing. "Josh is sleeping on Maya," his wife whispers to him.

Maya didn't even realize that, after she put Josh's head down, she left her hand on his chest. But now she had it resting there, Josh had his arm around hers.

After parking the cars next to each other, they all run into the gas station, only Maya and Josh staying in the car. Josh looked like he was having a pretty deep sleep, and was at the point where the world would end but he wouldn't wake up. So Maya finally decided to save her arm from his little prison. In a little while, Riley came with two coffees in her hands.

"This one for you, Peaches." She handed Maya a cup with the writing 'peaches xo' on it. "And this one is for uncle Josh." Maya took the other cup in her hand as well, but put that one down, in the holder, because Josh was asleep.

After Riley, the men had already returned as well, each leaning against their cars, facing each other. They were enjoying each other's presence. Just like little dogs when the owner comes home from work. Happiness radiating from them.

"You okay with Josh, Maya?" Cory asked. "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I?" "Because you wanted to be with Riley in the ca-" "No, it's fine. I understand it."

"Okay," Mrs. Matthews smiled gratefully.

~

"Well hello, sleeping beauty!" Maya laughed just after Josh woke up. "Yeah, hi." He answered, fixing his hair. "Got you a coffee." Maya gestured towards the paper cup in the holder. "Thanks," he figured they were probably standing at a gas station so he didn't inquire further. "Mhmm, my favorite," Josh sipped a bit from his coffee.

"Apparently, Riley knows you," Maya shrugged her shoulders slightly. "You also know me. You know me very well." "I guess." She couldn't deny him because he wasn't lying. He was sort of right.

"Did you sleep well?" "Just fine, actually." Josh smiled," thanks for being my pillow." "Anytime," Maya replied but only later did she realize how that really sounded. "I'll remember it then..." Josh grinned. They both laughed a little and it caught the attention of Maya's parents.

"What's so funny?" Shawn smiled into the mirror looking at Maya. "Oh, nothing, I'm just telling her some of the college stories. You know, so she knows what to expect." Josh replied.

"Share with us, dear. We're not that old but we'd like to feel the nostalgia that school stories bring." Katy turned back and smiled at Josh. "Okay, no problem, you're gonna love them!" 'shit' he thought to himself. All of a sudden, only the "naughty" stories came up in his mind.

Not that he's always bad, but getting drunk a few times or trying other things is just part of college. Of course, he also had those age appropriate stories, but he couldn't remember any of them at the moment.

For now, while Josh was thinking, it was quiet. Maya was quick to save the day, though, and turned the pages. "Dad, what if you told some of the stories with Cory, first. We'd love to know how much of lame-asses, you two were." Shawn laughed and sighed. "I'll tell you, 'lame-ass'" He laughed.

"Thanks," Josh whispered while winking at Maya softly. "Quicksave, it is." She whispered back, pretending to listen to Shawn. Not that she didn't listen at all, she just didn't at the moment.