A Tattoo on my Heart [GMW Soulmates AU]

Part One - Josh and Maya

"In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine." — Maya Angelou

When Maya Hart met Riley Matthews she was seven years old, she heard a little girl singing in a window and went looking for a happy place. She found a little girl singing and thought she found a friend. That day she found more than just a friend, because at the moment she climbed in through the window she hadn't noticed a nine-year-old boy sitting on the floor. Riley screamed out and the boy jumped into action.

"What are you doing?" he said grabbing her by the collar of her shirt.

"Please, don't say anything I just wanted to find a friend," she pleaded with the boy, and then their hands touched and a faint buzzing went through them.

Maya gasped as she felt the name write itself out on her skin, the boy dropped his hand from hers and stepped back his eyes wide before he pulled his collar away and looked down.

"Maya," he said and she looked at him as though the air in her lungs was being sucked out of her lungs. She hadn't believed in soulmates, it had been an old wives tale spun by her grandmother, especially since her parents weren't soulmates and constantly fought one another.

Now standing before her was something she had always thought would never happen to her, she was getting something special for once. Maybe the universe had felt bad for giving her such a terrible childhood, maybe it was trying to make up for it in some way, or maybe she had climbed into the right window at the right time.

"Josh what's happening," the little brunette girl said looking between Maya and Josh.

"I just found my soulmate," he said not sure of how it had happened.

Josh was shocked, he had thought the little girl was trying to come into his niece's room to steal something and instead he had found a once in a lifetime opportunity. He should be mad, but he wanted to hear her side of the story, because he wanted to believe that the universe had given him a good person as a soulmate.

"Can you explain why you came here? You said you were looking for a friend, but can you tell me the whole story?" he asked looking into her blue eyes.

He watched as she sat down next to Riley and smiled at his niece before looking at him. He wondered if the soulmate bond was strong enough yet, it was still new but he knew that soulmates shared something that would rival the greatest love stories. Or at least that's what his parents had told him growing up. They were soulmates, as were his brother Cory and his wife Topanga. It was rare to find them early in life, but when you did it was something to hold close to your heart.

"Well," Maya said looking at him. "My parents were fighting again, and sometimes my dad gets drunk and yells really loud, but this time my mom was throwing things. You see they aren't soulmates, they just married out of continence," she sniffed as if she were holding back tears, but they were threatening to come down anyway. Riley hugged Maya as if it were the most natural thing to do. "They always fight, I didn't think soulmates were real because of it, I had never seen a match before so my whole life I always saw them fighting."

"Don't worry, I'll be your family now," Riley said and it warmed his heart because his niece believed in the best for everyone.

"Maya I am your soulmate," he said smiling at her. "And I'll protect you, but I'll have to do it from afar for a little while."

"Why?" she asked her eyes filled with tears.

"Josh lives in Philadelphia with my grandma and grandpa," Riley said holding Maya close. "He visits a lot during school holidays but he lives there."

"But a soulmate is supposed to stay with their mate, wasn't that a rule?"

"Yes, but we're very young so we're still held down by our families, but maybe I can talk to my parents about something more permanent. And we can talk on the phone all the time," he said sitting next to her. "Riley can help you too, she's a good person."

"Okay," Maya said without protest.

"Don't worry, it'll be like I was never gone."

They stayed in touch as the years went by, Riley staying close to Maya at all times making sure that Maya's heart was protected. Maya's parents divorced soon after they saw the soulmate mark above Maya's heart in the weeks after meeting Josh. They had realized that maybe they rushed into something without thinking, just because it was convenient. Her parents mended their friendship in the years afterwards, soon her mother found her soulmate, and her father found his, but they stayed in New York for Maya who needed to be close to the Matthews.

Maya had gone looking for a friend, and changed the lives of everyone in her family, she had been the key to helping them find happiness even though they hadn't noticed at first. She became friends with Riley, and found a sister she never knew she needed, it wasn't lonely for her anymore she had people who loved and cared about her. They would have sleepovers and talk about their futures, Maya would talk about what she wanted from her bond with Josh, as someone who cared and understood her. She knew the bond didn't mean perfection but she also knew that it meant that they would complement one another in every way. She had started drawing a future set in stars, and somehow found her world in color.

Encouraged by her friends Maya continued to draw, and she would send some of these to Josh on days that they didn't get to talk. Josh would send her stories of his misadventures in school, but about how he was getting along in Philly. When the Matthews went to visit Josh, Maya tagged along. They never kissed or held hands during these years, they just learned about one another, they learned about what it meant to be friends first.

Josh went back and forth as much as he was allowed, until he got to High School and his parents allowed him to go to school in New York, with his brother Cory acting as guardian so that he could be closer to Maya and Riley. Josh had friends in Philadelphia but they weren't as close as him and his soulmate so the move didn't shock him as much as it should have. When he turned sixteen, he was excited to see his soulmate entering High School and being closer to him. Even years later he found it odd that they had only met by chance, but in the end it had been chance that had brought them together.

Maya and Josh made their relationship official when Maya turned fifteen, on a trip to the Mount Sun Lodge with his brother, and his wife and son Auggie, as well as Riley and Maya's mother and her husband Jack and his brother Shawn who brought along his wife Angela.

They sat at the bay window of the resort looking out at the afternoon sun when he looked up at Maya and smiled, pulling out a necklace he had saved up for from working a Topanga's during the weekends.

"So," he said nervously looking at Maya. "I brought this for you," it was a locket with a picture of the day they had met, the day they had found out that they were soulmates. The day that changed both of their lives.

"Josh you didn't have to," she said smiling and taking the necklace anyway.

"I wanted to, because I have something important to say," he looked into her blue eyes as if he could drown in them. "I would like to officially be your boyfriend, even though we're already soulmates, I wanted this to be the moment where we decide for ourselves what we want."

"Josh," she said taking his hand. "The necklace is beautiful, and so is the gesture," he started to think that she was going to reject him. "But, you've had my heart from day one, and I would love to be officially your girlfriend, and maybe one day in the distant future your wife."

Josh felt his cheeks flush as Maya took his hand, though they had held hands before this was the first time where he could feel that their connection to one another had become complete and couldn't help but smile.

Maya couldn't believe her luck in finding Josh so early in her life, their relationship had stay platonic until they were both ready, and although it took them a while to get to where they were she couldn't be happier, but she also wanted the same for her friends and while one had found their mate, the other was still searching for theirs.

The universe had to work harder to make sure that everyone she knew would be happy, because she didn't want anyone to be sad or alone. They all needed to find love.