Texas Shadows

Chapter 25

LUCAS' POV

Apparently it takes two weeks for my arm to heal. It's nice though, all Maya did was worry if I was hurting it more. She has been really paranoid lately and I feel bad. None of this would have happened if I was paying more attention. Even if it was the other drivers fault, I'm not going to blame him.

I opened Maya's laptop to reveal she had been searching apartments. I was even more confused when I found out she had been searching two-bedroom houses as well. I stumbled on a link she saved for an apartment a few blocks down the road. I started reading about it, this was the perfect place. It had a community pool, the kitchen and living rooms were good sized, and the price was under what we could afford.

These three weeks I had been awake were hard on Maya, I wanted to make it up to her. I remembered she told me about how falling is love was like falling. The way she said it was to prove how falling in love sucks. When she reached the part in her "speech" about the daydreaming, It was like that was something she thought of a lot.

For some reason I remember everything about that day, the way Maya looked, the sadness in her voice, the way we kissed. It was like watching a movie. I checked the forecast and they predicted rain starting as early as 6:30 pm. I ran down the stairs looking for Zay, he was sucking face with Smackle so I left without him.

I remember Maya always loved white roses, something about how elegant they were. She said once "I wish roses were black, I would always have black roses" She was giggling a lot that day. The nearest Kroger conveniently sold flowers and ice cream. Maya's favorite was cookie dough. "It's like the saying 'two birds with one stone' but it's ice cream." I learned a lot about her that day.

I told Riley and Farkle about my plan, Riley freaked and Farkle oddly got all nerdy. "So are you going to propose too?" Riley's eyes were sparkling and she was bouncy. "I'm not that cheesy." She gave me a disappointed look. "You're buying the apartment, then living together but you're still just dating." Farkle chimed in, "Yes thats how it works."

That night I heard the muffled sound of rain over the TV. Maya and Farkle had been watching cartoons again. Just before the clock hit 9:45 she kissed me on the cheek and headed upstairs. From memory I knew she was going to wash her face, change into sweatpants, then crawl into bed and scroll through instagram. I had about fifteen minutes.

In the down time I was talking with Farkle and Zay who had recent come into the room. Farkle was acting giddy and had this nerdy smile across his face. My phone buzzed and I grabbed my hidden things. The outside rain water was surprisingly warm. My hair was gradually getting wet as well as my tshirt. There was enough light coming from the windows that I could see fine.

I had strategically placed small rocks by the window. I picked up the first rock and chucked it at the window, I heard a small thud. It took five rocks to get Maya to come to the window. "Lucas?" She yelled down, squinting at the darkness. "What are you doing?" Her face moved into a smirk. "Making your fantasy come true!" She giggled then put a finger up showing she would be down in a second. I laughed and waited for her to rush out the front door. I heard her squish the wet ground in her boots as she neared the side of the house.

"Lucas fucking Friar, what are you doing?" She stared at the roses and small box in my hands. "You said that they, meaning me, would show up at your house throwing rocks at your window with flowers and ice cream." She nodded along. "You do understand that, that conversation was about how love sucks, right?" She smiled added sarcasm to the end. "Don't care because you said all of that, from your heart and deep down you love this. Even if you are soaking wet and this box is ruined."

"Fine I will play along. But only because you look really sexy with that t-shirt clinging to your muscles." She clung onto my neck as she reached up and kissed me. I wrapped an arm around her handing her the roses. She leaned her head on my shoulder as we walked into the house.

Maya quickly ran upstairs to change into dry clothes. I grabbed the ice cream, handing Riley the flowers. The small box still in hand. Just as I was walking into the room she came out of the bathroom, hair up and clean clothes. I sat the ice cream down and she tore into it. "How did you know I wanted this?" I looked at her with a look she understood perfectly and I headed off to change.

I came out shirtless with sweatpants causing Maya to drool a little. "Ready for the present?" She clapped her hands and crossed her legs, looking at me. I handed it to her watching her blue eyes light up. "This is the apartment I was looking at. How did you know?" She changed her expression to confused. "I'm a genius and know everything." She giggled then playfully hit my arm.

"We said, that we would get an apartment after we graduated. Well, we graduated and we still live here. How I know? Riley is on the other side of that door listening." She opened the door and waved. Maya threw the little box at Riley causing her to shut the door quickly. "You got the apartment?"

A smile crept across her face. I nodded and she tackled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around Maya's small figure as she landed on top of me. She kept her smile and whispered "I love you." just before she kissed me. She pulled up just a little bit. "That ice cream is gonna melt." I laughed and she lunged for it.

"Movie?" We both sat with our legs out and backs against the soft headboard. "Comedy." We made eye contact and nodded. She headed straight for 'Grown Ups' our favorite movie to watch together. Riley slowly opened the door revealing the rest of the gang had showed up. She held up for spoons. Maya giggled and nodded.

It was all a blur. Riley flew onto the squishy bed causing Maya to pull the ice cream out of the way. She was followed by the rest of them jumping onto the end. Maya moved sides to sit next to me. Farkle slid next to Maya and Riley climbed onto his lap. Both of us pulled up our legs making makeshift chairs for Smackle and Zay to lean against. Farkle being the smart guy he is brought bowls, Riley and Maya scooped and passed them around.

I went silent watching the whole scene unfold. It was like watching a movie. Everyone enjoying themselves and having fun, it was moments like this that made it bittersweet to move away. It was like one big family. The movie started and we all went silent, hearing the clacks of the spoons against the bowls.

(a/n) It's not over yet, but we are damn close. Maybe I'll post the rest of it all at once, well see.