the friars

the friars (part 1)

hiiii everyone. this is my first attempt at a gmw fanfic and I'm still not sure whether this is gonna be lucaya or rilaya or rucas or riarkle or whatever but we'll see how it goes. the part 2 of this chapter - aka where maya meets Lucas and everyone else - will be up soon. hope you like it :)) my twitter is @carxpenter. :)

BTW shawn is lucas' father in this ok bye

MAYA'S POV
I woke up with a crazy ache on my head and a terrible morning breath. If you looked at me from the outside, you'd probably think I was on a hungover - but really, I wasn't (though I wish I was. Being 15 and in that scenario could be easier to handle if I wasn't sober all the time.)

I looked out the car window, staring at the trees in movement. Everything seems so melancholic when you're in movement at 9:53am. But, oh well, it's just a passing car on a lonely road after all.

I looked over to the front seat to see my mom's boyfriend driving carelessly. Julio. He had his right hand on the wheel and the other one leading an almost empty bottle of beer to his lips. The sight of my mom sleeping peacefully on the other seat brought a lump to my throat.

Julio was tall and his arms were tattooed all over, his skin was pale and his expression never changed. He always looked like the bad guy in a gang from any Italian mafia movie ever.

He kept driving for about an hour. No words were said through the fun family trip (yay, step-dad, step-daughter quality time!, I thought ironically). The sight of New York brought an instant smile to my face - I missed the city so terribly much, but it also terrified me to be there again.

"Julio?", I called for the first time in hours. He looked at me through the front seat mirror, raising a brow.
"What are we doing in New York?"

He didn't answer. All I wanted to do was yell at him because he was drinking and driving with his freaking girlfriend, someone's mother, sleeping right there. We stayed in silence and my mom soon woke up, to my relief.

"Hey, honey, you're awake", she said, yawning. I smiled and she did the same.

Five minutes later, we parked in front of a white building with pretty, tall trees in the front. Julio pulled off as me and my mom unbuckled.

"What are we doing here?", I asked as Julio talked to a seemingly nice guy in a suit by the sidewalk. My mom just stared at me with a look I couldn't quite decipher.

"Maya...", she started and I bit my lip in nervousness as I impatiently waited for the rest of the sentence. "Look, honey, do you remember when I told you about Shawn Friar?"

"Your high school best friend?", she nodded. I did the same.

"That's him", she pointed at the brown-haired guy. I had heard of him from a few of my mom's stories, but I never got to meet him before. He seemed... polite.

"Oh, why didn't you tell me we were visiting him?", I asked confusedly. My mom's eyes turned into nothing but a mix of hurt and shame and that was the exact moment my heart broke.

"Mom...", I whispered and felt tears run to my eyes. "'Mom, say something."

"It's just for a few months, Maya, I'm so sorry", she shamefully admitted.

"What is for a few months?", my voice sounded more aggressive than I wanted it to be.

"I'm scared Julio will hurt you. I want to break it off with him but... but you know what he's like, honey, and..."

"NO! You can't leave me at a stranger's house, mom! You can't... you can't! He'll hurt you, you know that, mom!", I yelled, salty tears meeting my lips.

"Maya, we'll be okay. I promise you, honey, just... be nice to them, yeah, sweetheart? I'll be back soon. I promise.", she cried, holding my hands on her own and kissing them.

Not a word was said for a minute or two. My mind was on a race with itself and it was losing. My mom wiped her eyes with the palm of her hands and gave me a reassuring smile, leaving the car. I breathed out and bit my lip strongly in anger, cursing at the pain. That would hurt later.

"Maya, nice to finally meet you!", the suited guy exclaimed. He seemed nice. I smiled weakly when he pulled me in for a quick hug.

"You too, Mr. Friar.", I replied and Julio got in the car. My mom stared at me painfully when her stupid jackass of a boyfriend yelled something about them having to go.

She pulled me in for a hug and I closed my eyes to stop any more tears from falling. Mr. Friar probably thought I was a mess of a teenager by now and that's the last thing I was, really.

"See you soon, honey", she mumbled in my hair and entered the car without looking back. In a matter of seconds, the car was out of sight. Mr. Friar smiled at me warmly, inviting me into their place to a "house tour".

And just when I thought things couldn't get worse, they did. There I was - being a weight on strangers' shoulders, suddenly living in their home.