The Singer and Her Bodyguard

Friendships

Welcome back! Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the sucky name, I couldn't think of a better name for this chapter.
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"Too far, too far." Maya kept mumbling to herself. Everyone had just gotten done eating dinner. Everyone was to rapped up in their own conversations to even notice that Josh and Maya had barely even looked up from their plates.

"Too far what?" Riley asked as she came into the room behind her. Even though it's only been a couple of days since Josh and them had moved in, Riley and Maya had become great friends. Maya looked at Riley before closing the door and turning to her.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone." Maya said. Riley's eyes widened but she nodded her head slowly. Maya took a deep breath before continuing. "I almost kissed your uncle." She admitted wanting to laugh at how weird that sounded. Riley's smile got huge.

"Are you serious!?" She asked excitingly. Maya nodded her head. "That's great!" She exclaimed.

"No it's not! Riley I barley even know Josh! He's supposed to be my bodyguard, our relationship is supposed to be completely platonic NOT freaking romantic!" Maya shouted quietly. Riley laughed.

"Oh common Maya! It wouldn't be the first time that two people immediately click after meeting each other. You and Josh would be so cute together." Riley gushed.

"Were you not just listening! We don't know anything about each other!" Maya said again making Riley roll her eyes.

"Then get to know him! Let him get to know you!" Riley said not seeing the problem.

"You don't understand I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because if I get to know him more then I'll most likely start falling for him!"

"And the problem is..."  Riley asked trailing off.

"The problem is like I said before, I can't fall for him!"

"And like I have asked before, why not?"

"Because I'm not allowed too!" Riley rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure if you just talked to your parents they would understand. Sure they would probably have rules but-"

"I'm not talking about them, Riley! Look there are a lot of things that I haven't told you yet." Maya admitted as she sat down on the bay window. Riley looked at her confused as she sat down beside her.

"Well I have time." She said. Maya sighed.

"My manager Larry won't let me have a boyfriend. He thinks that it would be bad for my fan base." Riley scoffed.

"Who cares what he thinks." She said. Maya bit her lip.

"If I want to keep my record deal then I have too." Riley's eyes widened.

"Maya. He's threatened you?" She asked shocked.

"If I want to keep singing and making albums then I have to what he says other wise I can pretty much kiss my singing career goodbye." Riley shook her head.

"Have you told your family about this?" She asked. Maya immediately shook her head.

"I can't. If I were to tell them then they would pull me back in an instant." Riley nodded her head.

"Like I said, you should tell your family." Maya sighed.

"Nobody understands though. Before I got this job, we were living off of food stamps. Mom had her job at a diner and Shawn had his photography, but it wasn't enough. We lived in an old run down two bedroom apartment that had problems every where you turned. Getting this record label was not only a dream come true for me but it also helped us get out of debt. We were able to move out and get this place while also getting off food stamps. If I were to loose this label then we have to go back to it again. My parents deserve so much better after everything they do for me." Riley started to tear up as she pulled Maya into a hug.

"Am I the only one who knows?" She asked. Maya smiled.

"Josh knows, but that's it." Riley smiled and laughed.

"In my personal opinion, I think that you two need each other. You are going through a rough time in your career and I know that Josh is still having a rough time with our family's death." Riley's smile turned into a frown after that statement. Maya rubbed her shoulder. "After that night, Auggie and I would talk to him or sometimes we would talk to the school guidance counselor. Josh didn't talk to anyone. He pretty much just bottled it up inside and still hasn't let it all out yet." Riley said. Maya sighed.

"I think he's talked to Shawn a few times." She said. Riley shook her head.

"But not in detail. Josh blames himself." Riley's statement shocked Maya to the core.

"Why would he blame himself. He wasn't the person that hit them." She said shaking her head.

"No but, Josh was supposed to be driving that night. He was running late which made everyone decide that they would go ahead and just meet him. Josh thinks that if he would have been on time and gotten home when he was supposed to, that they could have left earlier and missed the car crash." Maya couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"May I ask why you blame Shawn so much?" Maya asked not missing the scowl that came onto Riley's face.

"The reason that everyone was even out driving that day was to get to Shawn and your moms wedding. Shawn had called and asked them if they could get there early for pictures. That was the only reason that they all were leaving so early that night to get to Philadelphia. So they could be there for his pictures. That was why Josh was so late. He had to rush because Shawn wanted him there." Maya nodded as everything started to become clear. She remembered the call that Shawn and Katy got after they had gotten married. Shawn was disappointed that he had to go ahead and get married when the Matthews didn't show up. But she also remembered the look on his face when Josh told him what happened on the other line.

"But Shawn couldn't have known what was going to happen, Riley. He didn't know that there would be a drunk driver." Maya tried to talk to her. Riley shook her head.

"No, but he could have done pictures after the wedding. Auggie and I didn't go because we didn't know Shawn and Katy. Josh had just gotten to the house to change clothes and head out when we got the phone call." Maya reared up again after hearing Riley tell her story.

"I'm so sorry." She said. Riley shook her head.

"Anyway, I haven't seen Josh smile a genuine smile since that night two years ago. That was until he met you. You two might not know it yet, but I think that you're exactly what each other needs." Just then there was a knock on the door before someone entered the room.

"Hey Riles, can I talk to Maya for a minute?" Josh asked. Riley smiled and nodded.

"Of course." She said as she got up and left the room.

"So I've been thinking a lot about what you said down stairs and I think you're right. We don't know much about each other. So I was wondering since we're going to be spending a lot of time together anyway, that maybe you and I could spend some of that time really getting to know each other." Josh said as he fiddled with his hands in a nervous way. Maya smiled.

"Sure. I think that would be a great idea. When do you want to start?" She asked. Josh smiled.

"Well they say there's no time like the present."
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That was a little bit of an emotional chapter. Story of some of it didn't make any sense, it's like 2 AM here. Anyway I hope you enjoyed!