A/N: And so this is the final chapter of this three shot. (warning: Maya is an emotional rollercoaster). I had fun with this one, so I'm glad to get it off my to-do list. Next update with be a chapter of Keep Love In Your Heart. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own GMW.

Chapter Three

"Maya."

Maya pressed the pencil harder into the page of her sketchbook, as she shaded in the edges of the rocky outcrop across the stream from where she was perched. She wished that she had the forethought to bring her headphones, so she could at least pretend that she was drowning out her surroundings, but to her frustration now, she had left them tucked in the pocket of her duffel back at the campsite. She was supposed to be social, and, as Riley claimed, headphones bred antisocial behavior by encouraging and enabling isolation. This trip was supposed to be about connecting. Trouble was, she had already done some connecting of a particular sort on this trip, and she just wanted to be able to avoid talking about it.

"Maya."

Her pencil dropped to the start of the stream in her sketch. She tried to focus on recreating the illusion of the rippling motion on the page. She thought returning to this spot would help out her situation. She could sketch off to the side and avoid interaction while Riley's eyes lit up with wonder over every little thing, while Farkle's eyes lit up with wonder over every little thing Riley did, and while Zay and Lucas did whatever outdoorsy thing they had wanted to do when they planned this trip. It was supposed to be her out, but someone wasn't cooperating.

"Maya."

Maya groaned as her pencil slipped from the page. She tossed her head back and slammed her sketchbook shut. She turned a glare toward the source of the persistent nuisance. "What do you want, Huckleberry? I'm a little busy here."

After finally being acknowledged, Lucas decided that he could move from where he stood a couple feet away to sit right next to her. He lowered his voice as he said, "Maya, we need to talk about—"

"Oh, no, no," Maya shook her head before he could say out loud what it was that they needed to talk about. "We most certainly do not."

"I think—"

"While I appreciate that accomplishment, we're not doing this," Maya cut him off yet again, twisting a little to face him fully. "You see, you promised me that I was going to have fun on this trip and, if we have this conversation, you will have ruined any chance of that happening."

"We can't pretend nothing happened," Lucas said, his eyes locked on hers with intensity.

"Sure we can," Maya replied. "You and I have made a pretty consistent habit of pretending things never happened. I'd give a few examples, but they're forgotten, right? Lost in the past. What's one more thing on that list?"

"What if I don't want to forget?" Lucas asked.

Maya sighed. "Forget what?"

"Don't do that—" Lucas began.

"Maya!" Riley's voice rang out and Maya's eyes were dragged to where her best friend was bouncing up and down and pointing wildly. "Come look, come look! Look at this bird. It's so cute, you have to see it. I've never seen anything like it."

"It's actually quite common for this area at this time of year," Farkle stated. "But for the non ornithologically inclined it might be a fine sight."

Maya tucked her sketchbook under her arm and pushed herself to her feet. She glanced at Lucas as she passed on her way to join the others. "Riley beckons. Farkle's got lessons."

It didn't matter how many times they had that sort of half conversation, that led nowhere and resolved nothing, Lucas didn't stop trying to have it again. Maya supposed she should have felt flattered or something of the like, since he must have seen her as worth all the never ending effort. When had Maya ever done what she was supposed to do? It wasn't in her nature. Riley was the one that always fell into line. Maya defied expectations to save herself from certain kinds of judgment. She wasn't the kind of girl that expected a boy to fight for her. It was nice and all, but she wasn't playing hard to get. She wasn't egging him on to test his devotion. She wanted to be left alone so she could properly stew over her missteps in the last twenty four hours. She wanted the time to figure out where everything went awry so she could correct it and they could go back to where they were before. There was safety in that in between place that she and Lucas had occupied for the last few years. She wanted back there, where they were now was terrifying and aggravating. Maya liked Lucas best when he looked at her with a little mirth in his eyes, when he was playing the game as hard as she was. There was nothing playful about this Lucas at all and Maya didn't know how to be serious. This was a problem.

Their current location was a problem: out there in nature there was nowhere to hide. At least, nowhere she could get to without running the risk of getting hopelessly lost and dying of dehydration and starvation before she could be located. Back in the city, there were thousands of places to hid, millions probably. Under her covers in her own comfy, not the hard dirt ground, not out in the elements bed for example. Under the cover's in Riley's comfy, not the hard dirt ground, not out in the elements bed as another. Under the covers in any bed, anywhere, that wasn't in the middle of a forest really. Lucas had said a little exposure was good. Well, Maya had exposed herself, that was for sure, but she had yet to experience any good that had come from it. The cowboy was wrong. There was nothing good about being open and embracing possibilities. At least, not if you were blonde, five foot and a smidge, best friend's with a living, breathing, walking, talking jellybean and named Maya Hart.

Another problem, as they decided to take another hike further up the trail, presented itself in the form of Riley and Farkle walking together, a few feet ahead of Maya, and holding hands. On one hand—not either of the ones clasped together belonging to the two dorks she called friends—Maya had those two pegged from the day Charlie Gardner and Isadora Smackle started to slowly fade away into the background, remembered fondly in the back of everyone's minds and making cameos in the various events of their high school careers for nostalgia's sake, like how all the bit players from Cory, Topanga, and Shawn's lives had cropped up over the years. On the other, they had chosen the perfectly worst time to decide to do something about their sort of, almost something. Maya was trying to avoid her sort of almost and here they were flaunting theirs right out in the open. It was sickening—adorable, but sickening.

"About time, huh?" Lucas said as he fell into step beside Maya. He inclined his head toward their friends to clarify what he was referencing.

Maya realized she had been glaring at Riley and Farkle's entwined hands and she let the expression fall from her face before she looked up at Lucas. "No time like the present."

"Speaking of—" Lucas began.

"That was not an invitation to segway into a discussion of our situation," Maya replied. "You want to talk about something? Talk about Riley and Farkle. That's a conversation I'll have."

"You want to talk about Riley and Farkle? Okay, we'll talk about Riley and Farkle," Lucas said. "I think it's great that they were able to come to the decision to take that step beyond friendship. They spent so long standing on that line between that and more, I was starting to wonder if they would ever take the plunge."

"I agree, but I would also say that taking that plunge is difficult choice to make," Maya said. "And I'm sure yo—Riley and Farkle fully understand that the risks involved are not always worth it."

"And I'm sure that Riley and Farkle didn't make a decision either way without at least having a discussion about what was happening between them."

"But Riley and Farkle—" Maya started.

"Ya'll are talking about yourselves and you know it," Zay said as he slid his way between Lucas and Maya. "You should leave Riley and Farkle out of all your nonsense."

Maya pursed her lips, but she wasn't in a position to argue. She slowed her pace as Zay moved ahead of them. She thought maybe she could drop all the way back, out of step with Lucas too, to bring up the rear of their group. Except, as she slowed so did Lucas. The darn Huckleberry wasn't going to give up.

"Maya, he's right," Lucas said, quieter this time as their friends pulled further and further ahead of them. "We should really talk about this—"

"You're determined. I respect that," Maya replied, "but I can't do this, whatever it is. I liked where we were before all this."

"But, Maya—"

Maya shook her head and stalked forward with an added burst of speed. "I knew I never should have agreed to come on this trip."

This time Lucas didn't try to keep up with her. He let Maya put distance between them, picking her way up the trail until she caught up to the others again. Her heart was pounding too quickly by the time she found herself next to Riley, but she couldn't determine if it was from the physical exertion or something residual from her not quite conversation with Lucas. Her face grew pinched as she concentrated on pacing her breathing and getting herself under control. That was the expression she was wearing when Riley looked over at her and the single most likely reason why Riley's face crinkled with concern. They were coming up on a break in the trees, their chosen destination, and Maya hoped that they could make it there before anyone tried to question her. Riley sent her an odd, half questioning look and seemed on the brink of saying something. Maya braced herself, but Riley didn't say anything. Instead, Riley released Farkle's hand, grabbed Maya by the arm and dragged her forward and out of the tree line ahead of the others.

"Will you look at that view?" Riley exclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm and drew Maya close as they looked out on it. Then she dropped her volume to whisper discreetly to Maya. "Are you okay?"

"It's nothing," Maya insisted, keeping her eyes trained forward. "It has to be nothing."

…

Lucas figured it was fitting that he would find himself, once again, sitting by a campfire and completely out of his mind with conflicting thoughts. With no threat of rain that night, the group was spending more time fireside. Riley and Farkle were curled up on one of the benches, adrift in their own little world, whispering and laughing through a conversation none of the others were privy to. Lucas and Maya were sharing a bench too, in the loosest possible terms. They had put as much distance between them as possible, each of them hugging the ends of the bench. They kept their eyes focused on the flames, now that they didn't have dinner to distract them. Maya was avoiding any kind of contact with him, yet again, and in some ways Lucas understood why she was being so cautious, but he also wished she would let him in even the slightest bit, like she had last night.

And Zay sat alone on his own bench, shaking his head as he glanced between the two pairs. "I said, 'is this gonna turn into one of those couples weekends where I end up being some kind of third wheel?' They said, 'no way, Zay. Not a chance. Wouldn't happen, couldn't happen. We're not couples. What would give you that idea?'" He rolled his eyes and laughed emptily to himself. "But it's my fault. I believed you."

Zay's comments went, unsurprisingly, completely unnoticed by both pairs of his friends, which only served to further make his point. He probably would have slunk off to his tent to call it a night, if a front row seat to what was happening wasn't so entertaining. It almost made him wish he had brought some of that spiffy popcorn that could be popped over a fire. He did, however, mentally remind himself to never suggest the five of them go on a trip that would end up with them basically stuck like this ever again. Although, he did note that the chances of anyone agreeing to any such trip depended on what happened next anyway.

Lucas couldn't help but think about the last time he and Maya had sat around a campfire with what they were in question and far too much unspoken between them. If he could have brought himself to look over at her, instead of the flickering flames before him, he would have seen the same memories flickering in her eyes. It wasn't strange that they were pulled back there—besides the fact that their current location paralleled it rather perfectly. It was that moment in eighth grade when everything between them went up in the air. They had managed to achieve and maintain some degree of normalcy in the past few years through high school, but that moment haunted them, always lingering close by and reminding them that there was something unfinished between them. They had ignored it, tolerated it, lived with it, but it was still there unfinished. After what had happened now, he couldn't leave it be any longer. Lucas intended to finish it, one way or the other, right now.

"I know you don't want to, but we gotta talk about it, Maya," Lucas said. His voice was low; it barely carried across the bench to her, let alone across the fire for any of the others to hear. He thought they could do that, keep it between them, but then she shot up so quick that suddenly everyone was involved.

"You can't leave well enough alone, can you?" Maya snapped. "Don't you get it? I can't do this? And I don't mean this, talking about it. I mean, this, I can't do this. Do you understand? I can't do this."

"Maya—"

Maya released a harsh growl and twisted on her heel away from him. Without another word, she stalked away, right for the tree line and the nearest trail leading away from their campsite. Lucas was caught off guard by her outburst, but not so much as the others. Three pairs of wide eyes moved between him, where he still sat on the bench, and where Maya had ran off. Under other circumstances, he would have let her have her space to cool off before he tried to approach her, but she had left her flashlight behind and he was not going to let her wander off into the woods on her own. So, Lucas grabbed his flashlight and sped off after her. The other three, still stunned into silence, were left without an explanation.

"Maya, will you stop?" Lucas called after her as he picked his way down the trail and tried to get a glimpse of her in his flashlight beam.

"Go away, Lucas," Maya responded as his light fell on her back a few feet ahead of him.

"Oh, so it's Lucas now, huh? I see how it is," Lucas usually liked the warm feeling her use of his actual name gave him, because it was a rare, special thing. This time made his chest hurt, because all it did was remind him of what she wasn't saying. "I get it. You don't want to talk to me anymore, fine, but you need to stop before you hurt yourself or get yourself lost. You didn't even take a damn flashlight."

"Well, isn't that just classic, Maya Hart?" Maya muttered as she stumbled a little over the uneven ground. Lucas tried to keep his flashlight trained at her feet to help guide her path at a distance, but it wasn't going to be enough. She was moving too fast and carelessly. "I'm so stupid, stupid. I try and I try, and I still make a mess of everything."

"Maya, stop."

Lucas had meant only to get her to stop calling herself stupid, because she was so far from that—misguided and a little reckless sometimes, maybe, but never stupid—but, the one time she listened to him she took it the wrong way. She came to an abrupt stop, and twisted around in an attempt to face him, still muttering nonsense. It would have been fine, and he would have clarified what he meant, if her spontaneous motion hadn't caused her to lose her footing. She wavered off balance for a second before she tumbled completely with a yelp and landed on top of some foliage to the side of the trail. Lucas swore under his breath and darted forward to help her. He started to ask her if she was okay, but she cut him off.

"If you say I told you so, I will murder you and bury you out here with my bare hands," Maya ignored the hand he had offered to help her up. She pushed herself to her feet, a little awkwardly without the leverage of a boost up. She took a few seconds to dust herself off, brushing away the dirt and leaves that had clung to her skin and clothes. "This is all your fault anyway. You talked me into coming out here and promised me it would be fun. Then you sucked all the fun out of it because you stopped playing the game with all your endless possibilities and 'expose yourself, Maya!' Well, I exposed myself and look where it got me. I'm running from the one person I only ever wanted to keep close to me—"

Maybe Lucas shouldn't have been focused on Maya's mouth the whole time she was ranting at him. He had been in this position before. He should have known better, but he fell into the same trap yet again. All he could hear were the words she wasn't saying, the things that lingered in the spaces between her words. The longer she went rambling the more he needed it to stop. So, before she could finish her next sentence, he dropped his flashlight and used both hands to grab her by her face. He had done this before too, but this time he didn't hold back. He drew her up and he dipped down to kiss the words right from her lips. She seized up in surprise, but kissed him back for a moment. He lingered long enough to feel that before he pulled away.

"How's that for close?" Lucas murmured as he backed up.

Maya pushed him away. "You haven't been listening at all. I can't do this with you."

"Why not?" Lucas asked. "If that's how you feel, I'll respect that, but you at least have to tell me why. Because I don't understand. I don't get it. Explain it to me."

"I don't know what you want me to say," Maya backed up a few steps and bent to pick up the flashlight. She handed it back to Lucas, pushing it against his chest. "I was frustrated last night. I wasn't in the right frame of mind to be anywhere near you. I never should have kissed you. If I had just kept it together, we wouldn't be in this mess right now."

"What if I want to be in this mess? Huh?" Lucas said. He closed a hand around the flashlight, but he let it fall to his side. "It was always going to come to this eventually. If not now, somewhere else down the line. Wasn't it?"

"No, it was never supposed to end up here," Maya shook her head. "I did everything I could to prevent this. We tease and we flirt, maybe, and circle around this, but it's all for fun. It's not serious. It can't be serious. We don't cross that line. That's why it works. That's our game. And I know I slipped up, but things were never supposed to change."

"Why not?" Lucas repeated. "Why shouldn't things change? This works because we both want the same thing. Sure, it's fun to play with anticipation and be unpredictable, but only because we have our sights on something more. If there's not something that we're waiting for, what's the point? I've played your game for years now, Maya, but after last night, I can't play anymore. Tell me why, not an excuse, not a deflection. Tell me why you don't want things to change."

"Because you want more from me than I know how to give," Maya said. "Because it's easier to want more when it's out of reach than it is to have more and know that there's going to be a time when I won't have it anymore. Because the way I want you is a forever kind of want. I wouldn't want it to end. But everything ends. Everyone leaves or lets go."

"Maya—"

"No, see, it's okay. That's just how it goes, and I can live with that with anyone else but you," Maya continued unheeded. "I knew that a long time ago. It was the thing I felt when I met Riley, only different, more. You are someone I need in my life. You are a part of everything I am. If I didn't have you around I would be lost; I wouldn't know myself. I can't risk that just because I like the way it feels when I kiss you. That's it. That's why."

Lucas took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" Maya frowned.

"Okay," Lucas said, then turned back to head toward the campsite. "We should get back before the others start to worry."

"That's it?" Maya asked.

"That's it," Lucas answered. "Thank you for being honest with me."

"You're not gonna try to convince me that you're worth the risk? That I should take a chance on us?" Maya replied. "You're not gonna try to show me that all this is just me being afraid of what we could be? You're not gonna promise me that if I let you in, you would never leave me?"

"Is that what you want me to do, Maya?" Lucas turned back to her. "Besides, you've done a pretty good job of making all those points for me, so I doubt I would need to now. You obviously know everything I could possibly say, so if you're still not willing to take the risk, then I'm not going to fight you."

"After you chased me down all day, you're ready to just walk away now? Just like that?" Maya's frown creased in deeper.

"All I wanted today was for you to talk to me," Lucas said. "Now you have."

"So, what? We just forget this ever happened?" Maya crossed her arms over her chest and met his eyes in the dim flashlight beam that illuminated them.

Lucas breathed a laugh, "No, it would take a lobotomy for me to forget the look of you when you were peeling off your clothes."

"Or what it felt like when you kissed me," Maya added, her eye contact wavering as she ducked her head.

"Or that," Lucas agreed.

"But you're still willing to go back to the way things were because I asked you to?" Maya said.

"You should know by now that I would do almost anything you asked of me," Lucas said. He ran a hand up her arm and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Let's go back."

"Okay," Maya nodded once as Lucas's hand fell away and she followed him down the trail back to the campsite.

Their friends watched them closely as they returned to their bench, Zay especially. Lucas sat down first, right at the edge where he had been sitting before, and let Maya decide where she would sit. She still left distance between them, but not nearly as much as had been there before. It was silent around the campfire while the two settled in. Riley was focused on Maya, concern in her eyes and evident in the twist of her features. Farkle had on his calculating face as he took in all the factors presented to him. Zay was shaking his head, somehow still the most observant of all of them and he was the one to break the silence.

"Well, that didn't go the way I thought it would," Zay said. He clucked his tongue. "Such a shame."

Maya stared down at the flames and said nothing.

Lucas sent Zay a pointed look that was a warning to not say anything more, to which Zay gestured the zipping of his lip.

Riley saved them all from further awkwardness by piping up. "Farkle and I have decided to go on a date."

"You don't say," Maya laughed and covered her face to hid the way her eyes rolled along with her sarcasm.

Riley ignored Maya's comment and, instead, turned to smile softly at Farkle. "We just figured it was time to see where it went. Who knows what will happen after we graduate and go to college and all that? We want to make the most of right now and moments like these. Because every moment is better when we get to experience it together."

Farkle returned her smile and took her hand with a soft squeeze.

Riley sighed and curled into Farkle's side. "Gosh, I love nature."

Lucas glanced over at Maya, who was smiling fondly at Riley and Farkle all cuddled together. Everything seemed back to normal, except that her smile didn't reach her eyes even as she set out to tease in her usual ways. There was a lightness in her tone, but her gaze was clouded over with something serious.

"I guess the Texans got themselves a convert," Maya said. "I'm still a skeptic. You never hear on the news: Local man goes into the woods and sees pretty leaves or fishes until sundown and makes it home safely. It's always, 'missing for three days without food or water' or 'mauled by a polar bear.'"

"There aren't any polar bears in New York," Farkle said.

"Not anymore," Maya replied, pointing across the fire at Farkle. "Just ask Eric. They were global warmed."

Farkle rubbed a hand over his face. "That's illogical. New York's climate has never been conducive to—"

"Explain a polar bear on a tropical island then," Zay blurted out, drawing four pairs of eyes. He shrugged. "What? I'm binging Lost on Netflix. Guy has to have something to do with his evenings when he ain't got no romantic prospects. I'm still on season one. I have so many questions, but the polar bear thing kinda sticks with you, ya know?"

"No," Maya shook her head. "Shows like that require too much thinking to be entertaining. Give me a sitcom any day. They even let you know when you're supposed to laugh."

"Given they are a large group stranded on an island with limited sustenance, it is unfathomable that the overweight one remained overweight—" Farkle said.

"It's a magic island!" Zay exclaimed, then took a breath to add. "You know what, rip on it all you want; just don't spoil it for me, Minkus."

"I liked Charlie," Riley said. "He used to be a hobbit."

The conversation continued to pick up amongst those four, but Lucas remained mostly quiet as he watched them all debate the merits of the TV show and then segway into something only tangentially related. They talked until the fire started to die down and he remained only a brief participant. Mostly he was watching Maya. She had all the appearance of her usual self, as if she had fallen right into her original habits without any trouble at all. Maybe Lucas was the only one who could see that there was something off about it. Maybe because he was the only one looking or maybe because he was closer than the rest, physically and figuratively. Maya knew, same as he did—despite what they had said—that things had already changed and there was no going back, not entirely. Maybe she wasn't ready for more, but he was patient, and above all, he cherished her feelings above his own. If she wanted what they already had, if that's what she wanted forever, at least that meant she wanted him forever. He knew that now, and he had this place to thank for that revelation.

Lucas took that little gem of comfort with him when they all decided to retire for the night. Maya kicked her broken down thing of a tent before she crossed the site to share Riley's tent. He watched her go before he climbed into his own tent. Just before Maya zipped the tent behind her, she met his eyes and sent him a crooked half smirk. Whatever was behind that expression—and Maya had always tormented him with being half as transparent as glass and half as undecipherable as a Rubik's cube, which was a dangerously exciting and frustrating dynamic—it filled up her features. It was the first one hundred percent expression since they had come out of the woods earlier. Lucas shook his head and smiled to himself. He wasn't going to figure her out that night, so he resolved to try again in the morning like he always did and zipped himself into his tent.

This wasn't the first night that he was going to spend plagued with thoughts of one Maya Hart. She had been a star of Lucas's dreams for a few years now on innumerable occasions. But this time was different. This time the images weren't the product of the wickedest recesses of his mind. This time they were real. He had been so close; he had her under his fingertips, but she had gotten away. Now his thoughts were getting away from him. Not even the hard, uneven ground beneath his back could distract him from filing through his memories: Maya's fingers tucked under his shirt, how her clothes had been plastered to her skin and then how they were suddenly gone altogether, and the look on her face when she unzipped his tent—

Lucas was torn from his thoughts by the soft murmur of the zipper on his tent being pulled. He frowned and pushed himself up onto his elbows so he could see as the flap fell open to admit the intruder. A head of blonde hair with the same smirk from earlier poked inside. For a second, he was sure he lapsed into dreaming, but then she tumbled inside clumsily and swore under her breath as she shifted to rub at the knee she had landed on. She was still working her fingers into her knee when she reached back and closed up the tent again.

"Maya?" Lucas questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, first of all, Riley has the smallest tent and takes up the greatest square footage with the gangly octopus tentacles she calls limbs," Maya explained as she crawled over to Lucas. She nodded toward his sleeping bag. "Let me in."

A frown settled on Lucas's face, but he unzipped his sleeping bag and let her crawl in with him anyway. He laid back down and shifted so they could fit together, same as he had the night before. He cleared his throat and swallowed thickly.

"And second?" Lucas prompted when he was face to face with Maya once again.

"And second," Maya whispered this time, her words falling in small bursts, "if you're willing to set everything aside to give me what I want, then, well, I should be willing to do the same for you."

"Meaning?" Lucas's brow knit together.

"Meaning..." Maya trailed off as her cool fingers found his face, framing him in with both hands and drawing his face to hers. She kissed him with soft parted lips, just a feather light touch.

When she started to pull back, Lucas went with her, chasing her lips purely on instinct. It brought a smile to her that he felt grow against his own lips. They parted just enough for her to pull in a deep breath, one she almost ripped straight from his lungs and then dove forward to claim his lips once again. This time her hands slipped from his face so her arms could find a way to wrap around him in the small space. His hands found her hips, dragging her into him. Inside the tight confines of a sleeping bag was not the optimum location for such things, but it sure did wonders for proximity. When they finally broke apart, they were tangled at the limbs and breathless.

"Meaning," Maya repeated, still slowly catching her breath. "the most beautiful thing about nature is being with you in it."

Lucas pressed one more soft kiss to her lips. "So, we're letting things change?"

"You and I both know everything already changed the last time you invited me into your sleeping bag," Maya said.

"Technically, I didn't invite you in tonight. You demanded entry," Lucas said.

"That's just the way I do things," Maya replied, starting to shift away from him. "If you don't like it, I can go back to my spider monkey across the way. She can be even cuddlier than you, even if she is spoken for."

Lucas snatched her back, locking his arms firmly around her waist. "I like it. I like it. You know how much I like it."

"Mmm," Maya hummed. "Say you love it."

"I love it," Lucas stared straight into her eyes as he took his time with each word. Maybe one of those words was different in his head, but it wasn't time for that yet. "And you love that I love it."

"I sorta do," Maya grinned. "I really do."

Lucas eased some of the tension in his arms and let his fingers stroke up and down her back. For a few moments, she sighed and relaxed into his touch. Then her hands started to wander too.

"Alright, Huckleberry, I think I've had my share of exposure for this trip," Maya's fingers trailed across the hem of his shirt. "I think it's your turn to expose yourself."

"You think so?" Lucas raised an eyebrow.

Maya nodded and let her fingers drip to graze his skin. "Imagine the possibilities."

"I've got a few ideas," Lucas said, nudging his nose against hers before slanting his mouth over hers yet again. He was fully prepared to remain there until the sun came up.

The next morning, when Maya slipped out of the tent there was no urgency to it. She was done running away. There was also the fact that this time she was fully dressed, although it was Lucas's shirt that she had draped over her small frame. As she peeked her head out to glance around the campsite, she was once again confronted by Zay, perched on a bench with a granola bar in hand. That boy was more likely than Maya to snooze his alarm fifteen times on a daily basis, but he had chosen this weekend to turn into an early riser. As Maya and Lucas climbed out of the tent, Zay raised an eyebrow and blinked at the pair.

"It's exactly what it looks like," Maya said, throwing her hands up with a shrug. "Are you happy?"

Zay nodded and broke into a grin. "That's more like it."

…

It was a little absurd that it took so little time to break down their site and load up than it did to put it all together. While she certainly didn't want the work to be harder, Maya had no problem with vocalizing her opinion on that disconnect. Before she could get in too much of a huff, everything had been packed into the car and Lucas had silenced her by dragging her into a hug and smothering her with a quick kiss. After that, they had taken a few minutes to take in the fresh air and the remaining sights, before they piled into the car themselves and said goodbye to their campsite and their first real trip together. Most of them also sent out a thank you to mother nature for being the catalyst to bring them together.

"So, what's the verdict, Miss Hart?" Lucas asked as he pulled out onto the road and turned them back toward the city, back towards home.

"I stand by my original assessment," Maya shrugged as she got comfortable in the front seat. She crossed her arms. "It was awful. My muscles ache, I've got a permanent curve in my spine from whatever boulder I had to sleep on, my feet are basically ninety nine percent blisters, I'm gonna smell like a pest control factory drowned in coconut for at least a month. And what did I get out of it?" Maya jerked her thumb toward Lucas. "This Buckaroo, that I could have easily wrangled without the help of this weekend of torture."

"Maya! Be serious," Riley called from the backseat.

Maya twisted around to look back at Riley all cuddled up with Farkle. Maya winked and stuck her tongue out at her friends in response to that ridiculous notion. When she moved back and properly situated in her seat, Lucas glanced at her with a pointed stare.

"Okay, fine," Maya conceded with a groan and a roll of her eyes. "I enjoyed myself when I wasn't wading through a flooded tent or getting my butt well acquainted with the ground. But don't you get any ideas," Maya pointed at Lucas. "I can see the gears turning in that Huckleberry head of yours. Never again."

"Was it really so hard to admit that you liked it, maybe just a little bit?" Lucas asked.

"It was excruciating—" Maya started, but was cut off by a comment from the way back.

"It took her almost five years to admit she liked you, so..." Zay replied as he nestled down further in his seat and leaned back to close his eyes for a nap. "Just sayin'."

"I dare say I don't make anything easy," Maya murmured, leaning over the center console to bring herself closer to Lucas. She ran a hand through his hair and he struggled to keep his eyes on the road. "Are you sure you still want me?"

Lucas gulped and tightened his grip on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, but he nodded. "For an eternity or longer."

"Good," Maya said and stretched further to press a kiss to a spot just below his ear, right over a mark she had left there the night before.

The car swerved a little as his hold on the wheel faltered, causing Riley to yelp. "Stop, stop, STOP! The funny business is worse than the bickering. I don't wanna die because Maya got handsy!"

Maya dropped back into her seat with a chuckle. Lucas straightened the car out and cleared his throat as he tried to focus again. When he glanced over at Maya again, though, she was biting her lip, and watching him with a smirk in her eyes. He shook his head and forced his eyes onto the road. He would deal with that once he got them back home in one peace.

There was quiet in the car for a few moments, before Maya leaned forward. "How about some music?"

"No!" came the chorus from the backseat.

The rest of the drive went mostly uneventful, but that didn't stop the others from piling out of the car as soon as possible once it was in park. While they had been all for the excursion out into the semi-wild, it was impossible not to miss the city after two days away. There was something comforting about the feel of cement, instead of dirt, under their feet. It was just nice to be home, for some maybe more than others.

"Do you want to start unloading now?" Farkle asked as he climbed out of the car followed by Riley and Zay.

"Nope,' Maya and Lucas replied together.

Before the back door could be closed, Maya was already climbing over the console to Lucas. The other three turned away quickly so as not to witness where that led. Riley pinched her eyes closed and shielded them with a hand for good measure.

"Well," Riley said. "Maya's amusement park idea is looking better and better."

"Next time," Farkle said.

Zay agreed. "Next time."

"Alright, I think we can leave them to it," Riley said. She started to search her pockets and then snapped her head up with wide eyes. "I think I left my phone in the car."

"You're on your own," Zay chuckled and headed for the front steps. "Think your parents got cereal up there?"

Riley glanced toward the car and released a short whine.

"Come on," Farkle wrapped an arm around her and guided her toward the door. "You can go without your phone for a few minutes," he glanced over his shoulder at the car, "or hours. Yeah, let's go with that."

"I really am happy for them," Riley said as she let Farkle lead her inside.

"We all are," Farkle nodded.

"I don't know," Zay said, as he held open the door for them. "I think I might miss the-will-they-won't-they a little bit. That stuff was better than cable."

Riley patted his chest as she passed by. "You need to get out more."

"What are you talking about, Matthews? I just spent two days as far out as I can go," Zay replied, letting the door close behind him. "Look where it got me!"

-fin-