A/N: Hi friends! This fanfic follows the lyrics of Tim McGraw's 'Don't Take the Girl'. I heard it again a few weeks ago and could not help but think about how this is such a Joshaya song. Anyways, happy reading!

Summer 2009

"Cory! Riley! C'mon! We're getting late," ten-year-old Joshua Matthews bounces on his feet, excitement coursing through him as he waits for his older brother and niece to come down.

He only sees Cory, Riley, Topanga and now Auggie, every few months when they come to visit him in Philadelphia or when he goes to New York with his parents. Josh has been waiting to go on a fishing trip with them for so long, and he is not sure that he can wait much longer.

Josh calls for them again, smiling sheepishly at Topanga when she shushes him. His new nephew, Auggie, is in her arms as she sways him, fast asleep.

He is about to call for them again when Topanga shushes him, looking pointedly at the baby in her arms. Josh smiles at his sister-in-law apologetically and kisses his new nephew on the cheek before he starts to make his way to drag Riley down.

He stops when he hears light footsteps coming down the stairs, grinning at Riley as she skips to where he is. Behind her is her best friend, Maya, and Josh politely smiles at her.

It is the first time that Josh has met Maya, and though he will never say it aloud because it would hurt Riley's feelings, he is not particularly enjoying Maya's company right now. The blonde girl is taking up all of Riley's time and attention. He has not been able to spend time with his niece like he has planned for so long.

"Okay, guys, grab your coats," Cory says as he walks down the stairs and into the kitchen. He kisses his wife on the cheek and Josh mocks them with kissy faces. Riley giggles at his silly gestures, making him feel like the coolest uncle in the world.

"Riley, help Maya into hers," Topanga instructs her daughter, giving Maya a motherly smile.

Josh stops at that. Wait, Maya is coming with them?

"Cory, may I talk to you for a minute?" Josh seriously regards his brother. Cory and Topanga share a look, one of many that Josh has witnessed over the years. Husband and wife share a silent conversation before Cory follows Josh into the kitchen.

They greet their parents, calmly walking out into their backyard before Josh loses his cool.

"We can't take Maya!"

Cory sighs, as though he has been expecting Josh's outburst, "Josh –"

"I haven't been in the same room with any of you alone since she got here," Josh whines. "I want to bring Riley to our tree house and we can play like we used to. I'm trying to be the fun uncle here. Help me out, man!"

Cory chuckles at his brother patronizingly, making Josh feel like a small child all over again.

"Josh –"

"We can even bring Auggie. He won't do much anyway," Josh begs, desperate not to be stuck with Maya for the rest of the afternoon. "Or Eric. At least he's fun."

"Josh –"

"Bring anybody else but her, please! She's trouble."

"That's enough, Josh," Cory sternly says and Josh shuts up.

The ten-year-old feels his lips turn upside down, sulking like a young toddler who is being scolded for his stubbornness.

"Maya's mother is always working, which is why she is with us, Josh," Cory tells him. "She doesn't really have much family in New York and Riley has made her ours. And I'm glad."

"Where's her father?" Josh asks curiously.

"I don't know," is Cory's answer and for the first time since he met Maya, Josh's heart goes out to the little girl in their living room. "Josh, she's Riley's Shawn."

"Oh," is all Josh can say. He loves Shawn, Cory's best friend, who is practically his third brother. Josh thinks that Shawn is the coolest person in the world. He also thinks about how his parents love Shawn very much and that if Maya is Riley's Shawn, then Cory and Topanga must love her too.

And if it makes his brother happy, Josh will make sure that he is okay with Maya joining them.

"I'll show both of them how to fish," he promises Cory. His older brother fondly pats him on his shoulders, pride evident on his face.

"Hey, you never know. You might even like her company," Cory speculates. Josh resists the urge to snort. "You might even thank me one day."

This time, he really does snort. "Why would I do that?"

Cory just gives him a knowing look, one Josh chooses to roll his eyes at before they both enter the house again. Josh cannot help but smile at the way Riley lights up when he and Cory walk back into the room.

"Uncle Josh!" she bounces up to him, giving him a tight hug. He automatically hugs her back, forcing himself to smile at Maya. "I told Maya that you're the best at fishing and that you're going to teach us everything! She's never been fishing before, Uncle Josh! Her family does not go out much."

"Riley," Topanga exasperatedly chides her daughter for her insensitive words.

His niece's horrified tone makes him look at Maya properly, and he feels sympathy coursing through him at the way Riley's friend fidgets from left to right.

"We'll show her together, okay?" Josh asks gently, and when Maya looks up at him, he feels guilty for not saying a word to her since she got to Philadelphia.

"Yay!" Riley hugs him one more time before she takes her place beside Maya. His niece takes Maya's hand in hers and then takes his hand. She starts pulling them to the door. "Let's go!"

"Thank you," Maya's voice is small and Josh almost does not hear it. Riley definitely does not – that much is obvious from the way she carries on chatting.

"Any friend of Riley's is a friend of mine," the ten-year-old gives the little girl a friendly smile, genuine for the first time. When Maya grins back at him and starts joining in Riley's chatter, he finds himself being amused by the antics of the two girls.

Cory pats him on the shoulder approvingly, "That's very mature of you, Josh."

As the day wears on, he is glad that Maya joined them. The seven-year-old had been silent at first, only conversing with Riley and on occasion, Cory. After a while though, she opens up to Josh. Josh thinks that it happens when he helps her reel in a boot her hook catches on to in the water.

He ends up being glad that Maya is part of Riley's world and hence, by extension, his. That girl deserves a family and Riley has made Maya her family so Maya is now his family too.

He will protect her just as much as he will protect Riley.

Fall 2020

"Long game, my foot," he hears her muttering as she walks away from him, hugging her jacket tighter.

"Would you please just stop walking away and talk to me?" he groans, frustrated, as he practically jogs to keep up with her. Not for the first time, he is amazed by how someone with such short legs could walk such a distance in a short span of time.

"I don't want to talk to you," Maya grits out, walking faster.

"Maya," he breathes as he gently grabs her arm when he manages to catch up to her. She does not look at him as they come to a stop, and he sighs before he lets her go. "That wasn't what it looks like."

"I don't care what it looks like," she scoffs. "I'm not your girlfriend. I have never been your girlfriend and from the way you were with Haley, I think it's safe to say that I never will be your girlfriend."

"Haley just broke up with her boyfriend and needed a shoulder to cry on," he explains, heart sinking when Maya looks away. "Maya, she is to me what Farkle is to you. Please. Believe me."

He watches her struggle with her inner emotions, knowing how hard it must have been for her to see another girl in his arms. He knows how much she likes him, how much she has been waiting for him since she was fourteen. He knows because he feels exactly the same way now.

The thought of Maya not being in his life instills a sense of fear in him that he has not felt in a long while. Josh has had feelings for her since he realized how Maya is no longer the little girl who he taught how to fish. When they had decided to play the long game at the ski lodge all those years ago, he had felt a certain sense of peace when it became certain that Maya Hart would be in his life for a long while.

Now though, that future seems to be threatened from the way she is looking at him. Her blue eyes shine with unshed tears, fear written all over her beautiful face. Her arms are wrapped around her shoulder for the first time when she is with him, and he feels as though she is closed off from him for the first time.

She is pulling away from him, and that is something he cannot just leave her be.

They have come too far for her to back out of their long game now. Riley has reminded him every day since Maya's eighteenth birthday.

"Why does it matter to you if I believe you?" her voice is strained as she questions him.

He blinks at her. Does she really not know?

He breathes out slowly, eyes widening when he looks around. A sense of uneasiness overwhelms when he sees that they have stopped in the middle of an empty alley. He is about to say something about going somewhere else when she continues.

"You haven't been in the same room as me since I turned eighteen. That was practically a year ago," she sighs softly, and Josh's heart aches at how hurt she sounds. "You can't even look me in the eye. If you want out of our long game, all you have to do is say so."

"Maya –"

"Josh, you mean a lot to me. Not just as the guy I see myself being with but as my friend too, okay? And if keeping you in my life means that we stay friends forever, then – oomph."

He cuts her off when he bends and crashes his lips to hers. Maya stiffens at first, and he almost pulls away before he feels her wraps her arms around his neck. Josh smiles into their first kiss, enjoying the way she responds to him.

The soft feel of her lips against his is so much better than how he has imagined it would be.

When they finally pull away, and she opens her eyes slowly to look at him, he feels giddy at how happy she looks.

"I'm sorry if it felt like I was pushing you away, Maya," he pushes her hair away from her face, heart racing when she leans into his touch. "I wasn't sure if you still wanted to be with me. These past few years have made me realize how much I need you in my life. And I guess I just thought that you wouldn't be interested in the long game anymore."

"You're an idiot," she shakes her head, blinking at him. He grins at how adorably shaken she is, beyond happy that the smile on her face is as full of love like it has been for the past few years.

Love. He knows that it is a strong word. But then again, the feelings between them have never been weak. Maya Hart is the girl he has been waiting for.

"Can we get out of –"

He feels the fear consume when he turns and sees a man dressed in black, masked by the darkness. The gun in that man's hand though, is very much visible as he points it at them.

Josh holds out his arms and pushes Maya behind him, ignoring her protests. He raises his hand at the man and says, "Whatever you want, you can have it. Just let us go."

Behind him, Maya pushes against him but Josh's arm is strong enough to hold her back. For now.

"Your wallet and the lady's bag. Now," the man's voice is gruff, and Josh nods before he takes out his wallet. His eyes never leave the man, and when he holds out his arm for Maya's bag, she shakes her head.

"No," she hisses at the man and Josh resists the urge to groan.

The man moves his hand to point his gun at Maya, and Josh hears her sharp intake of breath behind him. He feels his heart stop as he desperately tries to stay in front of the gun.

"Does it look like I'm playing?" the mugger still looks straight at Maya, and Josh gulps.

"Hey!" Josh raises his voice and the man's eyes are crazy as he glares at them.

Maya's fingers dig into his shoulders before she says, "Okay, fine! You can have everything, okay? Just don't hurt him."

The man cocks his gun and Josh yells to get the man's attention, "Don't! Here, take this wallet and the bag. You can even have this watch. Don't hurt her. Please."

The man keeps the gun on him as he takes the things from Josh, before he pulls his hand back into a fist and punches Josh in the face. Josh groans as he clutches his nose, gasping when the man takes him by his face and slams Josh onto the brick wall.

Maya screams and Josh vaguely hears the footsteps of the mugger running away, groaning at the pain as Maya grabs his face.

Tears are streaming down her face as she tries to wipe away his blood, desperation etched on her pretty face. Beads of sweat roll around her face as she sniffs and presses a piece of cloth she has torn from her shirt to press against his nose.

"I'm going to call Riley to come and get us," she sobs as she takes out her phone. "We're going to the cops and then we're going home."

"Maya –"

"You didn't have to give your watch. You loved that thing," she shakes her head as she dials, stopping when he takes her hand.

He must be a sight, with one hand pressed on his bleeding nose and the other holding onto her.

Everything around him is spinning and so, he leans against the wall as he slides down it.

She is not wrong. He loved that watch. Cory had given it to him the day he graduated high school. But Josh had needed to keep the mugger's attention on him and the watch had been his only solution.

Because when it comes to Maya's safety, he knows he is ready to lose everything for her.

"It's just a watch," he wheezes. "Maya, call the cops first."

"Don't talk," she commands, pressing her phone to her ear. She sniffs again, and he can still see her hand shaking.

She gets up and calls the cops before she kneels beside him to check on him again. She calls an ambulance next, her words clear but her voice cracking the second time she explains their situation.

"Maya –"

"I'll get you a new watch," she rambles as she dials another number, not looking at him as her voice still cracks. "Or I'll get Matthews to get you a new one. You liked it because he gave it to you, right? It mattered so much to you."

"Not as much as you do," he gasps and when she just looks at him brokenly, he holds out his hand for her again. "Maya, I feel sleepy."

He watches as she gulps, tears streaming down her face freely now.

"You cannot sleep, okay, Josh? The ambulance is on the way," Maya sniffs again, just shaking her head as the person on the other end of the line answers.

"Peaches!"

"R-Riley," Maya cries and he can hear Riley panicking on the other end of the line. He closes his eyes as Maya tells Riley where they are, begging his niece to pick them up. Slowly, as Riley soothes the girl he loves, the tension in Maya's shoulders ease.

"Come quickly," Maya says softly, nodding before she hangs up.

"Maya –"

"The cops will take your statement at the hospital, okay? Riley and Lucas will meet us there," she informs him. "I'll get you a new watch."

She is in shock too, he realizes. He blames his slow realization on his concussion, and pries his eyes open. Josh wills himself to stay awake for her, even when every muscle in his body is screaming at him to just close his eyes.

"Digital."

"What?" she gapes at him.

"I want the next watch to be digital," he smiles softly at her, grimacing when his cheeks hurt at his action. "I don't care about the watch. I just needed him to stop pointing the gun at you. Oh, and I love you."

She blinks at him, "What?"

"I love you," he says again, feeling the tension in him ease when he feels her relax a bit more beside him.

"That's the concussion talking," she mumbles, leaning her head on his shoulder as they wait.

"Okay, I'll tell you again tomorrow," he leans his head onto hers, kissing her hair but regretting it when he sees the blood get into her hair. She does not seem to care though.

"I love you too," she says after a while, and he laces his hand through hers.

"That's the shock talking," he teases her.

"Okay, I'll tell you again tomorrow."

Winter 2025

He watches her sleep, caressing her hand with his thumb. Comfort courses through him at the rise and fall of her chest as she breathes evenly, a far different picture than she was the night before.

Please don't take her away, he had prayed. Please let her always be safe. Take me in her place if you have to but please, don't take her. Not yet. Please.

The last few hours have been the scariest of his life. He had been elated to hear the sound of his baby girl crying when she entered their world but that joy had only lasted for a few seconds. Almost immediately, the doctor had instructed him out of the room, and had said the words that Josh had dreaded hearing from the start of Maya's pregnancy.

When Dr Manning had told them all those months ago that having their baby would put Maya at risk, Maya had determinedly told the doctor that she would be having her baby girl regardless before Josh could even open his mouth. It had been a source of tension between them for weeks.

Josh had been so angry and upset that Maya would consider having that baby if it meant that she would lose her life. Maya had been upset that he could not see it from her point of view – that she already loved the baby inside of her and that she would be giving birth to that little girl.

He had screamed at her, so utterly afraid and angry that she could be so selfish. He remembers the way she just blinked at him, tears streaming down her face as she let him continue yelling. She knew how scared he had been then and he had walked out on her for the first and last time ever that day, hearing her sobs before he slammed the door shut.

He is jolted out of that hurtful memory when her beautiful green eyes flutter open, and Josh feels his heart soar. Maya's eyes land on him and he watches as a serene smile spreads across her pale lips.

"Hey," he kisses her forehead, feeling lighter when she leans slightly into his touch. "I'm so happy you're awake."

"You worry too much, Boing," she teases him weakly but he knows better.

He can hear the relief in her voice, and when she looks around the room for the daughter she has sacrificed so much for, he tells her, "She's with Riley and Lucas. Do you –"

"Peaches!" Riley's squeal makes him chuckle and he rolls his eyes when he is pushed out of the way so that his niece can hug his wife.

At the door, Lucas shakes his head as he holds Josh's daughter, fond exasperation crossing his handsome face as he hands the newborn girl over to her father.

"Is – Is that her?" Maya's voice shakes and Josh smiles softly as he walks towards them while Riley helps Maya sit up. Slowly, he hands over their miracle to his wife, tears stinging as Maya holds their daughter for the first time.

Josh takes his place beside them on the bed, feeling like the luckiest man in the world when Maya leans into him. He coos at their baby girl, vaguely aware of Riley and Lucas leaving their room to give them some privacy.

"Thank you," Maya looks up at him lovingly. "For being so strong through this. I know this was really tough for you. I love you so much."

"I love you too," he bends his head to peck her on the lips, laughing when their little miracle bundle yawns. He kisses his daughter's head too. "And I love you, our little fighter."

"Kelly," Maya says, grinning when he looks at her in confusion. "It means warrior. And that's exactly what she is. Our fighter and warrior. Our Kelly."

"Kelly," he plays with the name on his lips, already seeing himself calling her that for the rest of her life. He caresses her small cheeks and says, "Welcome to the world, Kelly Matthews. You're not going on a boat ride with a boy until you're thirty."

Maya bursts out laughing at his words, shaking her head at him as affection shines through.

"Long game, huh?" she asks, dimples dipped as she regards her husband.

"For the rest of our lives," he kisses her again, making another mental note to Cory for bringing Maya on their fishing trip all those years ago.

A/N: Let me know what you think if you have the time to! I look forward to reading your thoughts on this :) Also, if you haven't, and love Josh Matthews and his relationship with Riley, you can check out my other fic, 'promise?' that focuses on their relationship. Thank you!