I'll Prove My Love Over and Over Again If You'll Let Me

A Josh & Maya Story

By Brown Eyes Parker

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Rated: T

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I'll make you mine

I'll make you mine if you would have me

With a silver ring that will hug you tight

Our life begins

"Keep walking."

"Where are you taking me, Josh?" Maya asked as she tried not to stumble, his hands over her eyes.

"It's a surprise!" Josh stressed.

"I hate surprises," Maya told him.

"I know. But you'll like this one!"

"We'll see," Maya answered.

"I promise that you'll like it. Have I ever disappointed you?"

"Well. . ." Maya started.

"Don't answer that! The past is in the past!" Josh said quickly, veering her left and then right.

"Woah, Uncle Boing, you're making me dizzy here!" Maya told him.

"How? You can't even see anything!" Josh protested.

"Believe me, I'm dizzy."

"We're almost there," Josh answered. "Just wait fifty more seconds, okay Maya? Have a little patience."

"You know patience isn't always my strong suite, Josh."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore anyways. You can look now," Josh said, removing his hand from her eyes.

Maya frowned when she saw the door. "What is it?" she asked.

Josh produced a key from his pocket. "Well, why don't you open it and find out?"

Maya hesitated a second before taking the key from him, she inserted it into the lock and turned it then pushed the door open, her heartbeat speed up a little bit. "What is it?" she repeated, turning to look at Josh.

"Home. . ." Josh answered. "Well, its home if you would like it to be."

Maya's heart stopped beating completely, she swallowed past the lump in her throat. "What are you saying Josh?"

"I'm not saying anything," Josh told her, getting down on one knee and pulling out a velvet box. "I'm asking."

"Asking?"

"If you, Maya Penelope Hart, would consider being my wife for as long as we both shall live."

"You're proposing?" Maya asked in awe and shock.

"We've been together for a while now," Josh answered. "Isn't this the next obvious step? Marriage? Home? A life together? Children if you'd like them?"

"A dog," Maya added.

"Two," Josh said. "I've always liked the idea of two dogs."

Maya nodded. "We'll have two dogs then."

"So, is that a yes?" Josh asked hopefully.

"I don't know. I would have to marry you for more reasons than it's the next obvious step in our relationship," Maya answered.

"You know how I feel about you."

"Say it again," May told him. "Tell me all the reasons you want to marry me and more, Josh. I need to hear them."

"You know I love you," Josh said.

Maya nodded. "And I love you too. I have ever since the first day I met you but will love be enough to get us through the bad times?"

"Yes!" Josh promised. "I'm not going to leave you Maya. Not ever. Through sickness and health, isn't that the general idea? Don't you want to marry me?"

"Of course. . ." Maya trailed off. "I've dreamed of marrying you for as long as I can remember. But I don't want you to leave, I don't want to be happy and for the universe to decide to deal me another bad hand."

Josh reached out and grasped her hand. "I, Joshua Gabriel Matthews, take you Maya Penelope Hart to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold in sickness and health from this day forward 'til death do we part."

"I think you left some stuff out," Maya whispered.

"Probably," Josh agreed. "But you get the general idea. I'm in it for the long game, Maya. If you want me to say that in our vows then I will."

"I still haven't said yes yet," Maya reminded him.

"What if I showed you the apartment before you said anything?" Josh asked, scrambling to his feet and taking her hand. "Maybe that will convince you to marry me."

Maya laughed. "It isn't about the apartment, you know."

"Still, I want you to see it. I chose it especially for you, for our life together."

"But we're already together," Maya reminded him, allowing him to take her into the spacious kitchen.

"I know," Josh said, spinning her around to look at him. "But either of us could walk away from this tomorrow and that would be the end of it."

"Either of us could walk away from marriage too," Maya answered.

"True. But it would be a lot harder to walk away from it," Josh said.

"That's what you think because you've lived in a world where people fight for each other," Maya whispered. "I know differently Josh."

"I'm willing to fight for you," Josh told her. "Right now and every day for the rest of our lives. Don't say no, please. . ."

"I'm sorry."

"And here I thought things were going so well," Josh said, smiling at her sadly.

"They were. . . they are," Maya answered. "But I don't know if I'll ever be ready for the kind of life you want."

"You never know unless you try," Josh replied, taking the ring from the box and pressing it into her hand along with the apartment key. "Here. . . just in case you want a life where we have two dogs and everything else."

"Josh. . ."

"I don't want to force you into anything."

"So that's it then?" Maya asked angrily. "I'm not giving you what you want so you're quitting our three year relationship?"

Josh shook his head and pulled her in for a kiss. "No. Never! I would never do that to you. I'm just giving you the space and time to think about what you really want. If you want us, if you want to take a step further in our relationship. I'm taking a step back. If you want to stay like this forever. . . think about it. Think about it and when you're done, you know where to find me."

"Well, what if I want to stay like this forever? Where there are no strings attached and we can easily walk away when we're done?"

"Oh Maya. . . can't you see? We already have strings. I don't think walking away could ever be easy."

"You're going to do it anyways."

"Only for a little bit," Josh answered. "Only to give you the space that you need. I love you Maya. I always have and I know I always will. I'll be waiting for you whenever you're ready."

Josh escaped before she could see him cry.

He didn't know that she was crying too.

.

Maya didn't know why she did it but she walked through the apartment. Josh had even picked a place where she could have an art studio, he had thought out their life together so perfectly, it was more than a girl could ask for.

He knew her better than anybody else except maybe for Riley.

Then why was she so scared?

She had rejected him and he still hadn't left her. He had told her that she could pick the terms of their relationship.

Maya opened the palm of her hand and looked at the ring he had chosen for her. It was a symbol of forever, it felt heavy in her hand. Like a noose closing around her neck and all she could think about was how her father had left her and her mother.

It had been so long ago, she didn't know why she was still letting it define her. Her mother had moved on just fine, she had created a life with Shawn Hunter. They were in the process of adopting twins from Ethiopia.

She was the one who was still stuck even though she had finally managed to forgive Kermit and she had a pretty decent relationship with her half-siblings and stepmother.

Not everybody in her life had left her either.

For the most part, everybody had stayed.

She slipped the diamond on her left ring finger just to see what it would look like. It looked good. . . it looked. . . right. She was too brave to run away from a future with a good man. She turned away from the master bedroom and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to steady herself. She swiped the tears away from her cheeks and slowly walked out to the living room and through the door, she locked it and pocketed the key before breaking into a run.

She flew down the stairs, not willing to wait for the elevator and out onto the street. She looked left and then right, hoping Josh would still be sight. She caught a glimpse of his navy blue beanie getting ready to cross the street.

"Josh!" Maya shouted as loud as she could, running after him. "Josh! Wait for me!"

A taxi honked at her as she crossed the street without looking, she was desperate enough to get to him that she didn't care.

Josh whirled around and shook his head, pulling her over onto the sidewalk. "Maya, be careful!" he chided, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand. He looked at her hopefully as realization dawned across his features. "You came after me."

"I did," Maya said, showing him that she was wearing the ring. "I, Maya Penelope Hart, take thee Joshua Gabriel Matthews, to be my lawfully wedded husband to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'til death do us part according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge myself to you."

Josh's face broke into a smile. "Does this mean what I hope it means then?"

"I will marry you," Maya answered. "I might still be scared sometimes and you might have to reassure me. But I can't imagine a life without you even if I tried. Try forever with me."

"You don't even have to ask," Josh replied, pushing her hair away from her face and kissing her.

_Fin_

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I'll prove my love

I'll prove my love if you will let me

Over and over

Over again

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Author's Note II:

A different take on future Joshaya, yes. I'm sorry if it was a little all over the place. A part of me could see Maya being scared of commitment even after everything in her life was going well. I could especially see the writers exploring something like this if they were on Freeform (ABC Family) except without the marriage thing. Hey, they might even explore it on Disney Channel one day. Who am I to say that they won't? I hope you will tell me what you thought of this last story in the collection. The title and lyrics come from "Umbrellas" by Sleeping At Last.

I used traditional wedding vows in my story only as storytelling tool. I do believe Josh and Maya would use their own vows with the phrase long game in it.

Anyways. Please tell me what you thought. Thank you for taking this week long journey with me and for supporting my stories.

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

Holly, 11/15/2015_