A/N: So my ideas for Girl Meets World fics are about 3 to 1 Lucaya now, but I still have the occasional Joshaya one shot tucked away. Here's my latest. There's a moment in here that's slightly inspired by the movie Begin Again. If you've seen the movie, you'll recognize it but it's not important to get the reference. Anyway, Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own GMW.

Last One At The Party

Maya Hart remembered college parties seeming far more innocent than what she had just walked in on, but she had been fourteen the last time she set foot in one, so there was that. Everything was a little different when you were four years older, on the other side of the line between childhood and adulthood, and you had a better understanding of the world. Now she was able to recognize things as they were in a way she hadn't been able to as a middle schooler. Like how the red plastic cups were not full of soda like they were at the Grandparents Matthews' family barbeques, and how she should never drink from one she didn't pour herself. Or how that distinctive scent of sweat, perfume and cologne, and stale smoke had everything to do with the mass of bodies gyrating to stereo music and the couples twisted together at leg and arm and mouth on every sofa, chair and flat surface. As soon as she entered the room she had the reflexive urge to cover Riley's eyes, but Riley wasn't there and Maya's best friend wasn't necessarily the same innocent school girl who thought a party starting at ten thirty was insanity. They had done their growing up together, learned most of these lessons in high school, but this, her first college party as a college student, Maya would have to do on her own.

The invitation had come from a girl in Maya's freshman English class at NYU, whose boyfriend was older and had a friend with an apartment off campus. She didn't know the girl too well, and she didn't know the boyfriend or his friend at all, so she wasn't going to go, but on their last Skype call, Riley had insisted that Maya make friends. When she was younger and surrounded by her little group of best friends, Maya had never imagined a future where she went to college all by herself. Part of her had assumed that she would follow Riley wherever she went, because they tackled each new stage of life together, but that was the kind of naive notion usually reserved for Riley. That was before they were able to really come into their own and stand as individuals. That was before they were able to truly see that, while they were bonded for life through friendship, they were two very different people who wanted very different things. The closer they got to their high school graduation, the more obvious that was and, as a result, when it came to choosing a college they scattered to different corners of the country. Maya was the only one that stayed in New York, although Farkle was at least in the same timezone doing his mad genius thing at the Ivy League level. Regardless, that left Maya entirely on her own, not technically in a new place, but far enough out of her element that it felt brand new. It also left her, for all intents and purposes, friendless. She had Riley in one ear telling her to open herself up to opportunity, Farkle in the other expounding on the vital importance of a social support system in the first year of higher education, and Lucas setting a record for gathering new friends through sheer will and a charming personality. So, if a party would get them all off her back, then why not?

Well, why not would be because she knew maybe seven people at the party by sight, of them she knew maybe three by name, and the one person she actually knew at an acquaintance level, the one who invited her, was currently sucking her boyfriend's face off. At least, Maya assumed the guy was the girl's boyfriend. She couldn't know for sure since she had never met him. And she didn't know the girl well enough to make any conclusions about her beliefs on fidelity. Either way, that left Maya with zero social connections. It was enough to make her want to turn around and walk back out the way she came. But Maya Hart was nothing if not tough. She would stick it out, because she was not going to let something like a silly little party scare her. She was going to be fearless, or try to be at least.

Fearless or not, Maya ended up spending most of her night browsing the host's collection of vinyl while she nursed a weakly mixed cocktail. The owner of the records actually had decent taste in music; it was nothing like the rank Top Forty that was blasting through the mediocre surround sound system. Whoever the mystery owner was, Maya could tell that they were at least musically compatible. As she flipped through the stacks of records, she felt like she knew more about the person who had taken the time to bring all of these classics into the same collection than anyone else she had met at NYU so far, and she hadn't even met him or her yet. Maybe she was being antisocial by lingering by herself in a corner while the party raged on around her, maybe she should have been mingling and trying to meet people, but being in proximity to a social gathering was better than sitting in her room without another person in sight. Or so she told herself.

For the most part, keeping her back on the festivities deterred unwanted attention from the bolder few out of the hordes of restless drunken boys. She didn't have to fend off offers to refill her drink, or questions about whether falling from heaven was painful or not. She certainly didn't have to avoid any one getting handsy and trying to clumsily grope her onto the dance floor. Though, if she wanted to think negatively, she could come to the conclusion that no one thought she was enough of a catch to put in a little extra effort in the face of a challenge. It was stupid to be so conflicted over something that didn't matter to her anyway. She wasn't looking for a hook up or a boyfriend; she wasn't even really looking for new friends as much as everyone wanted her to be. Frankly, she liked her old friends, even if the closest one was two hundred miles away. She was set in her ways, it wasn't a crime. It just would have been nice to know that she was worth a five foot walk and a little flirtation, even if that was the last thing she wanted to suffer through. It was definitely stupid, but lord help her if it wasn't her prerogative to change her mind every five seconds or less.

At that point, the only new person she wanted to meet was the owner of these records, but Maya didn't know who that was. She couldn't exactly go around asking who lived in this apartment, like she had wandered in off the street by the lure of loud music and free booze—although that wouldn't have been that far from the truth.

Maya let the universe work for her, because it worked for her in the past. And it didn't let her down.

"I know you from somewhere."

She would have assumed it was a very unoriginal and uncreative pick up line, if the voice wasn't one that she had committed to memory years before. It stirred up a slew of ancient memories, and some that weren't so ancient. So she could forgive him the cheesiness of his opening, because she could forgive him a lot of things. She would even let him finish, just to see where he went with it.

"Did we have a psych class together last semester? I think I remember you sitting in the back, you know, in the nose bleeds of the lecture hall, where you could get away with dozing off behind your laptop," he continued. "Or, no, you're the cute barista from the coffee shop on campus that always draws little hearts on my cups. That's not it either, is it?"

Maya turned to face him. "Joshua Matthews. What are you doing here?"

Josh crossed his arms over his chest as he offered her his pearly white smile. "I live here. I figured you knew that. You are at my party after all, Maya Hart."

Maya ran a careful hand over the closest stack of records. "So, you're the one."

"I guess I am," Josh said. "Whatever that means. Did you really not know this was my place?"

"It's not like we exchanged contact information the last time we saw each other," Maya said.

The last time she had seen Josh was at her high school graduation. He was there to support Riley, of course, so Maya had only seen him for a few minutes here and there between shuffling around for pictures with her family and her friends and her friends' families. He had congratulated Maya at some point, both for her graduation and her acceptance to NYU. He didn't stick around for the celebrations after, because he had work to do for some summer internship he had, or something equally time consuming and important. Maya didn't remember having a chance to say goodbye, let alone to hear about him moving into an apartment or anything else. That was months ago.

"How'd you end up here then?" Josh asked.

"I know, uh," Maya pointed in the general direction of her classmate, who had moved to grinding obscenely on her boyfriend on the "dance floor," and tried to not look too closely at the couple. "Lauren. She's in my English class."

Josh risked a glance and winced, crinkling his nose. "Right. Toby is something of a friend. But I swear, if they hook up in my apartment one more time, he's paying to have every surface bleached."

Maya pressed her lips together to hold back a laugh. "I hope you have your bedroom locked up."

"He would never," Josh said, though he didn't look as certain as he tried to sound.

"When people get desperate," Maya said, "they can do all sorts of depraved things."

Her words seemed to pique his interest. He got a look about him that suggested he might want to ask her what sort of depraved things she had participated in when she was desperate, but he refrained.

"Maybe I should go stand guard, just in case," Josh said.

"Just in case," Maya agreed, maybe a little disappointed that she had found someone she actually knew—or someone she knew had found her—and now she was going to be alone again.

"Do you want to join me?" Josh asked.

Anything was better than standing around like a dork by herself. Maya nodded, "Why not?"

She hoped this time, there wasn't a good answer for that question.

"Do you need a refill first?" Josh nodded his head toward her mostly empty cup. "I can show you where I hid the good stuff from the rest of these heathens."

"You're not going to harp on me for drinking underage?" Maya raised an eyebrow. She crossed her arms and held up the cup in question, giving it a little shake for good measure.

"You're a big girl, Maya," Josh said. "You can make your decisions. Besides, it's not like I didn't do the same when I was your age." He shrugged. "I've been trying this new thing where I cut down on being a hypocrite. Besides, I'm completely sober, and I will personally get you home safely if I must. You know me, I'm reliable like that."

Maya sloshed the cup again, and winked at him. "It's mostly soda anyway. For appearance's sake."

"You're full of surprises, Maya Hart," Josh let out a breathy laugh.

"Gotta keep people guessin'," Maya said. "That's the entirety of my charm and appeal."

"Come on, Miss Charming," Josh shook his head and started to lead her down the hallway to his bedroom.

Maya followed after him, pausing only to abandon her cup on a side table on the way. It seemed like most people respected that the bedrooms were off limits. The hallway was populated with people trying to find a little quiet, but the door to Josh's room was still closed tight. Still, he clicked on the lights and gave the room a quick scan for unwanted occupants before he let her in, just in case. Once she had been shepherded inside, her eyes couldn't take everything in fast enough. Besides the records, as telling as they were, the rest of the living area was generic. But his room, it was filled with everything and anything that screamed of Joshua Matthews. Maya wanted to spin around in circles to take it all in at once, but she feared it would make her look like the ridiculously infatuated little girl she was in her youth. She wanted to retain some semblance of proof that she had grown up in the four years that had passed since those days. Even if nothing had changed, even if her stomach fluttered and her heart skipped at the sight of him—quite possibly in the exact same beanie he wore at the last college party they attended together—he didn't need to know that. She kept herself under control, for the time being. She said she could keep him guessing. She wasn't going to make a liar of herself that quickly.

"Now if I had seen this room first," Maya said, taking slow steps into the room and absorbing it all in. "I would have known this was your place."

Maya picked up one of several framed photographs that were scattered around the room. This particular one was of Josh and Riley, both beaming matching silly faces, at Riley's last birthday. In the background, Maya had leaped up to photobomb the shot, putting her so clearly in the frame that she drew more notice than the two in the foreground. She turned the frame so he could see it and tapped a pointing finger against the glass.

"Why is this not out there where everyone can see?" She asked without really meaning it. It was her way of asking why he kept that picture out for even himself to see at all.

Josh had been leaning against the door since he closed it behind them. Now, he approached her and shuffled further into her personal space than she anticipated. She probably would have felt crowded if his presence, mere inches from touching her, didn't send a flush of warmth from the crown of her head straight to her toes. He took the picture from her and looked at it for a moment. Then he leaned in even closer to her, his arm brushing against her gently, as he replaced the picture in the exact same place she had taken it from.

"My roommate and I throw a lot of parties, which means a lot of traffic in and out of the public areas. I keep all my important and personal things in here," Josh backed away to a safe distance and Maya let out the breath that had caught in her throat. "Keeps it safe. Off limits, remember?"

"Except to a select few."

"Except to you," Josh adjusted his beanie, forcing more of his hair to stick out messily from underneath it.

Maya chose to ignore the implication those three words had made. She shifted the subject. "And your record collection, that's not personal?"

"It's your first time here," Josh slumped down to sit on his bed, "but I assure you, we don't always play watered down pop and hip hop. We do keep our audience in mind, though, and tonight—"

Maya made a brave move and dropped down on the bed so close to Josh that their hips knocked together. "—people want to bump and grind. I get it. But while we're on the subject of playing to your audience, I personally prefer the person who listens to those records."

"Then I have a treat for you," Josh grinned. He leaned over to pull open a nightstand drawer. He reached and pulled something out.

Maya frowned until he offered it to her, and she got her first real look at what it was. She looked back up at Josh and met his eyes with an eyebrow raised. It was his iPod, the headphones wrapped a half dozen times securely around it.

"Do you wanna?" Josh asked unwrapping the headphones cord. He shifted and slid up the bed so he could rest, half laid out, against his pillows. He patted the second pillow next to him. "Come on."

Maya crawled over and propped herself up next to Josh. He held out one of the ear buds to her. She took it, but didn't put it to her ear yet.

"You can tell a lot about a person by what's on their playlist," Maya said.

Josh wiggled his own ear bud into place and met her gaze directly. "Should I be worried?"

"When it comes to me?" Maya said. "Always."

"I don't know," Josh said. "You've always had me pretty much figured out. You could probably tell me more about what music I have on here than my music can tell you about me."

"We'll see," Maya singsonged as she leaned back and placed the ear bud in place.

Josh dipped his head in a slight nod and relaxed into his pillow. They got comfortable in the space, half pressed together, and Josh pressed play on the iPod. Music flooded through the headphones and within a few seconds of the first track, it was clear that Josh was right. Even if she hadn't had the chance to browse his record collection, Maya was pretty sure she could have predicted the track list Josh was playing with at least eighty five percent accuracy. It made her feel a little bit special that she still knew him that well even when she could go months without seeing him. She drifted closer to him, leaning in with the excuse to give the headphones slack and prevent any tangling mishaps. Whether Josh believed that or not was debatable, but still he twisted so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders and bring her comfortably closer. They stayed like that.

Sometimes they would talk over the sound, sharing their thoughts and memories connected to the songs. Sometimes they would just listen intently to the music, letting the melodies wash over them and the chords work their way into their veins. At some point, they had slid further down the bed so that they laid flat with their heads upon the pillows now. Josh's arm was still tucked around her, but they had rolled to face each other, so they could watch the reactions on each other's faces. All the while, they were competing against the sounds of the party seeping through the walls. The conflicting music, and various sounds of raucous revelry were no match for the thin walls, but Maya and Josh found their own ways of drowning it out.

Eventually, the pounding bass from the next room dimmed to a low hum and then kicked out all together. The quiet flooded in around them until the only sound was the music from the headphones and their soft breathing. It charged the air with something indescribable. They had lost track of time, cycling through more songs than Maya could count. She was almost afraid to check the time, because then she would have to put a number on it. This was something beyond sums and totals.

As the silence from the next room stretched and stretched until it was past the possibility of signs of life returning again, the magic of the night started to shrink in around them. The bubble they had been existing in could pop at any moment. And they both knew it.

Josh gently plucked the headphones from each of their ears, so they could focus completely on each others' voices. He whispered, "Looks like you're the last one at the party."

"Funny," Maya said, not letting her voice rise any higher than his. "I didn't even want to come in the first place."

"Then why did you?" Josh asked.

"Think I had a feeling," Maya said.

Josh curled his arm tighter around her and scooted in to eliminate the distance between them. The bubble was closing in and so were they. "A feeling like what?"

"That something like this might happen," Maya said. "Also, Riley made me. She wants me to meet new people."

Josh chuckled breathlessly, "You didn't do so well with that tonight, did you?"

"Maybe next time you can introduce me to your friends instead of keeping me to yourself," Maya brushed her nose against his and rested her forehead against his.

"I don't know," Josh said. "I kinda like having you to myself. I think next time we should break out your playlists."

"I don't care what we do, as long as you swear there's a next time," Maya said.

"Cross my heart," Josh replied with a smile.

It felt like her last chance, so gathering up all of her fearless bravery, Maya acted on it. She dropped her mouth until it found Josh's. She was tentative at first as she brushed her lips against his, but as he began to respond with practiced urgency, she grew more confident. She brought her hand up to trace her fingers along his jaw and deepened the kiss. She wasn't sure what she was truly looking for when she arrived at the party, but she was glad she had found this by the end of it. And, although she had imagined a version of this happening at her first college party, she was happy it had waited to come true until this one when she was ready for something a little less innocent and had a better understanding of what this could really mean, for her, for him, for them.

Sure, Maya hadn't made any new friends, but at least she hadn't left early. Because Riley had been right about there being certain merits to trying new things, even if it had all led her back to old habits. She would be the last one at every party from now on if they all ended like this. Because, why not?

-fin-