A/N: And here is part two for ya :). I am honestly so tempted to do a fic purely about Lucas posing for Maya's art piece XD.

Lucas had been avoiding her all day.

He arrived to school half an hour earlier than usual to make sure he wouldn't run into Maya on the subway, he swapped seats with Farkle during History class just in case she tried to resurrect their earlier conversation during the lesson, and as soon as the bell signalled the end of Mr Matthew's lecture on the Cold War he bolted to gym.

Everything was going according to plan; no one questioned his seat-swapping, his mother chalked up his early departure as an eagerness to learn, and other than the back of her head in History, Lucas hadn't seen the flaxen-haired girl since their…interesting conversation yesterday.

"Mr. Friar," the Coach called him over, beckoning him with a wave of his hand, "you're friends with Miss. Hart, correct?"

Until now.

"Uh, well…" Lucas mumbled, "You could say that."

"I'll take that as a yes and ask you to return this to her, then."

A packet of paintbrushes labelled "Maya Hart's- steal these and I'll stab you with them"rested in the Coach's hand and Lucas suppressed a loud groan. She had a free period right now, which meant she would probably be tearing the art room apart in search of her tools.

Which meant he had to walk up and directly hand them to her.

Which meant she could ask him about yesterday's conversation.

He sighed.

"Yes sir."

He took a deep breath and turned the door knob to the room he assumed Maya would be in, incredibly aware of how strained his expression must have looked to the people he passed on the way from the gym.

There he spotted her- tucked into the corner, nails raking the curls from her face that was very blatantly frowning in annoyance.

And there she spotted him- awkwardly leaning against the classroom doors, paintbrushes held tightly in his right hand and an uneasy expression covering his features.

"Ranger Rick," she started, looking something akin to pleased. And then she rolled her eyes and looked back at her canvas. "Took you long enough."

"I was in a lesson, Maya."

"Oh yeah, the most important lesson ever created: Rope-climbing."

He chuckled and relaxed against the wooden frame of the door. "Have you just been staring at your canvas for twenty minutes? You know there are probably some spare brushes somewhere in this art room available to you."

"Don't get cheeky with me, Friar," she scowled playfully, "and for your information I only ever use my paintbrushes." She rose from her seat and made her way over to him, plucking the packet out of his hand. "Riley got them for me."

He smiled as she quickly scanned her paintbrushes for any damage, and chose that moment to try and make his escape.

"So anyway, have fun painting. I gotta get back to gym cl-"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" she cut in, placing her paintbrushes on the table next to her canvas and turning around to meet his gaze. "We never got to finish our conversation from yesterday in the gym."

"So I'll just be going then-"

She jumped past him and blocked the door. "Nice try, Bucky McBoing-Boing, now spill."

"You know, I don't even remember what the conversation was about-"

"Oh well let me refresh your memory," she offered, flashing a coy smile and wrapping her hand around his arm. "Some low-life talked shit about me and you defended my honour, and when you were just about to tell me what you think about me, you got cold feet."

"I really don't see why you care so much about my opinion, Maya." he frowned, trying to ignore the warmth of her hand.

She blinked. "Are you kidding? Out of all the people in my life you are the only person whose opinion I've never been given."

He looked down at her, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that every friend I have- albeit being a small number- constantly tell me how talented at art I am, or how honest and loyal I am, or how I am the first person they would go to for advice." she listed on her fingers as she spoke. "And every bully I have encountered has told me their worthless thoughts on my family life, or my stand-offish attitude, or how my friendship with Riley even functions. But you," she frowned, voice only just above a whisper, "I don't have a clue about how you see me. And that bothers me."

He remained silent for a while, watching her usually guarded eyes open up and stare him down as she waited for a response. The sarcasm and dry wit that she usually shielded herself with were gone in that instance, and as the silence dragged on and as he continued to observe her, she began to lose her calm and looked away, opting to focus on her paint-splattered shoelaces instead.

"You really care that much?" he questioned, causing her eyes to flit from her vans up to his face that had at some point been brought very close to hers.

The hopeful look in her eyes answered for him, and he sighed. "Maya, you are a lot of things to me."

She looked at him warily. "You better not turn this moment between us into an insult."

He chuckled, "You're funny. As much as I pretend to dislike your teasing, the truth is I actually enjoy it. Your nicknames make me laugh and I love to tease you back when I am given the chance."

"Is that all?"

"No, no. You're also ridiculously impatient."

"Try again, Huckleberry."

"I mean you're always ready for adventure and mischief and stepping outside the box. You're never truly satisfied with the day until you've broken a rule or a bone, and it means there's never a dull moment with you." he grinned "It keeps my life interesting."

"But I thought you liked the rules. Isn't that what Texas is all about? Square-dancing and following guidelines?"

"Life would be boring if you let someone else dictate what you can and can't do all the time, Maya. I know that."

"Alright, keep going."

"Well, you're smart," he held a finger when he saw her open her mouth to argue, "even if you don't see it yourself. Mr Matthews knows it, Riley knows it, Farkle knows it. I know it. I sit behind you in almost every class we have together, you think I don't notice your hand flinching on your desk when the teacher asks a question? You know the answer but seem to think that if you try at anything you'll fail. You refuse to put yourself out there even though you're probably as smart as Farkle."

She raised a brow.

"Okay well, he's most likely a robot so maybe not that smart. But you're up there, Maya!"

"Wow, Ranger Rick. You sure do pick up on a lot of stuff, don't you?"

"I like to make the odd observation." he quipped, throwing her a lop-sided grin.

"And what do you think of my looks?" she asked, the innocent tone of her voice clashing with the smirk she wore across her face.

"Y-Your what?" he stuttered. Maya's laughter rang through his head as she made a point of flipping her hair.

"Don't think I forgot about that Blonde Beauty comment Zay made. You really think I'm beautiful?" she grinned, jabbing his side with her elbow.

"Maya I'm not going to stand here and-"

"Oh come on, Cowboy. The first thing I said to you was "Hi I'm Maya, you're really cute", she mimicked the cheery persona she first addressed him with, "and you expect me to let you get away with not giving me your opinion on this?"

"You can ask anybody and get the same response Maya, it doesn't make it any more special coming from me."

"So you admit it."

"Yeah, I mentioned to Zay that you were beautiful once! Now can we drop this?"

He was about to shake her grip off of his arm until he caught her expression. "Thank you." she smiled, voice small and eyes uncharacteristically warm.

He stopped himself from tilting forwards and kissing her. "What for?"

"I don't hear it a lot and it's put me in a good mood."

Before she could stop herself, she reached up and pecked his nose. A faint blush crept onto his neck as he grumbled a quick "You're welcome, Maya."

"Now," she clapped her hands and turned away quickly to hide her own blush from his view. "I need help with this art piece."

"What do I have to do, ma'am?" he teased, ignoring the feeling of butterflies in his stomach. That's strange.

"Pose for me?" she waggled her eyebrows and glanced over her shoulder to shoot him a pleading look.

"If I say yes will you kiss me again?"

"If you tell anyone about that I will break you."