The ending gets longer and stronger as their feelings get stronger and stuff... :p
(This isn't proofread or edited because I'm lazy af so sorry if there's grammar errors or typos :/ )
EDIT 3.2.16. I added those dots because I thought it looked better :3
I hope you enjoy!
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The first time they met was on the subway. She saw him reading some dorky comic book alone before she walked over and "dated" him. Maya didn't think they would see Lucas ever again, but she was proven wrong when he walked into her history class the next day. And Riley had the hugest crush on him. Not that Maya cared—he wasn't her type, anyway.
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The first time she heard him laugh was when she called him Ranger Rick. The thought was weird, but it was different than most laughs she's heard. His was raw and his eyes squinted up whenever he did. For some odd reason, that became Maya's favorite nickname for him.
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The first time he heard her laugh was when he tipped his imaginary cowboy hat at her—it was out of mock, but still a laugh nonetheless. He liked the way she threw her head back and pushed her eyebrows upward. It became Lucas's way of greeting her after that.
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The first time Lucas realized how short Maya actually was when he saw that she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the highest shelf in her locker. He watched her struggle to get the paper she threw up there with an amused smirk. He found it cute.
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The first time Maya kept a flower was after Lucas put a one in her mouth at the dance. She didn't think too much about what it meant while putting it in a vase, but she did wonder how he knew red roses were her favorite type of flower.
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The first time he texted her was when they were partners for History class. Maya still isn't sure how he got her number, but he texted his address so they could bake the muffins at his house. She didn't reply, but she did add him as "Ranger Rick" in her contacts and used the picture she snapped of him (at a very unflattering angle) that he told her to delete for the contact picture with a smirk.
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The first time Maya thought Riley was crazy was when she said some boys are cute. Maya thought boys could be handsome, hot, or attractive—but cute? No. Babies are cute, not boys. But when she saw Lucas's amazed, doofy smile as he watched his volcano erupt in the cafeteria, she became crazy too.
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The first time Lucas realized their friendship was more than nicknames and pointless (but fun) arguments was when Maya put a tarantula on the teacher's desk so they would cancel the detention he was supposed to get after being wrongly accused of stealing one of the school's baseball bats. She didn't tell him, though. He just happened to notice she walked through the hall, laughing to herself as she held the spider in her hands.
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The first time Maya was surprised by Lucas was when she forgot her headphones at home and he let her (after many moments of begging and whining to him) share his headphones with him. She expected to hear lame country music on his phone to go with his cowboy style, but was surprised when she heard familiar alternative music instead.
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The first time Lucas was scared was when his friends found out he got expelled from school in Texas. He was afraid that they would think of him differently. But when Maya told him it didn't matter to her with her eyes and smile (and telling him he was still the same Huckleberry), he was okay.
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The first time Lucas heard Maya sing was when he was staying after school for baseball practice. As he walked through the silent halls, he heard a beautiful, angelic voice coming from the art room. He watched her sing a song he didn't know but was sure she put the artist who sung the song to shame.
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The first time Lucas met Josh was at the Matthew's apartment. At first, Lucas thought he was a pretty cool dude. But for some reason (after seeing Maya embarrassingly flirting with him, to be precise) he didn't like him at all anymore. In fact, he kind of hated him.
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The first time Lucas told Maya his favorite food (which were pancakes) was when they were having a small conversation about iHop and breakfasts at school. Which was why she was confused when he called her a short little stack of pancakes.
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The first time Maya ever felt flustered was when Lucas held a door open for her. It was just a small, pointless gesture, but she had to spend the next five minutes trying to hide her blush. She always liked gentlemen.
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The first time Maya doodled silly words in her notebook during class was after Lucas (well, indirectly) called her a Blonde Beauty. At first she thought he didn't really say that. But his face told her he did, and he meant it. For the rest of the week Maya doodled those words in different fonts with a silly grin on her face.
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The first time Maya was scared was when she walked in the halls of High school for the first time. It was just that the thought of things changing scared her. But when she turned to her left and saw Lucas standing by her side, (which hasn't changed and will never change, she recently realized) she was okay.
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The first time Lucas walked Maya home was when both of their after school classes conveniently ended at the same time. Maya complained that she didn't need anyone to protect her and she could take care of herself the whole walk there while Lucas kept silent with an amused and knowing smile on his face.
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The first time Lucas found out a fear of Maya's was when they went to an amusement park together (just as friends, of course). He watched the color drain from her face as they reached the top of the Ferris wheel and he realized that she was afraid of heights. He didn't say anything about it—he just held her hand the entire time. The color only returned to her face as she secretly blushed (that was also the first time they held hands).
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The first time Maya wasn't truly happy for her best friend was when she told her she and Lucas were officially a couple. Maya congratulated her with a smile and tried to ignore the familiar (and quite frequent, now) pang in her heart.
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The first time Lucas showed up at Maya's bedroom window was with Farkle on Halloween to scare her and Riley. But that certainly wasn't the last time, as he grew into a frequent habit of stopping by to have late night conversations with her. But it was only friendly, of course. That's what they kept telling themselves, anyway.
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The first time Maya didn't walk into school with Riley or Lucas wasn't until the middle of freshman year. It's not like she was mad at them or anything, she just didn't want to watch him and Riley hold hands through the halls.
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The first time Lucas saw Maya with glasses on was when she was holding them for Smackle. The second time he saw her with glasses on was when Maya walked through the halls with a pout on her face and as she whined to Riley that her doctor was wrong and she didn't need glasses. The thought may have made Lucas guilty, but he was pretty sure he hadn't seen anything so cute in his life.
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The first time Lucas found out the Maya liked poetry was when he heard her reading some of her work out in English class as he walked by the classroom. He waited for her class to end and questioned her about it, but of course she denied writing anything of the sort. But he knew better and told her she was really talented. She called him a Huckleberry and rolled her eyes, but she secretly beamed.
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The first time Maya lied to Riley was when she told her she was happy for her and Lucas's six-month anniversary. But she wasn't happy. She wasn't happy at all.
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The first time Maya had a real date to prom was during their sophomore year. She went with a guy named Jason. And even though Lucas had his own date, Riley, he still couldn't help but glare at Jason and watch Maya the whole time.
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The first time Maya got a boyfriend (who was Jason) was the week after prom. Riley was ecstatic that Maya finally met a guy. Lucas forced a smile and told her he was happy for her, but he felt a deep stab in his heart when she told them. Little did he know that that's what Maya had felt all that time.
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The first time Maya didn't hate homework was when she was helping Lucas with his English. She just so happened to find out that he had trouble with that subject and she had a field day about it. But she still helped him, the two ended up sitting on her bed, working on the differences between "they're and their" for the whole night.
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The first time Maya was upset with Lucas was when she learned he grew out of his alternative phase when she was riding with him in his Mama's car (when she found out he got his license, she made him drive her everywhere. He didn't mind after a while, though. He made her promise that when she got her license, she'd drive him everywhere too) and blasted his country music—and sung along—every time.
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The first time Maya felt so guilty in her life was when her best friend told her that she and her boyfriend that were together for more than a year broke up (Riley was okay, though. The silly crush on him withered away a while ago). Maya hugged her and promised that she'd put a dead fish in Lucas's locker for breaking it off, but she still felt guilty for practically rejoicing on the inside.
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The first time Maya found snow tolerable was only when a certain cowboy was walking her home. She had always hated the cold snow and much preferred rain—but not Lucas (in fact, he kind of loved snow; he didn't see much of it in Texas). Which was why he didn't mind giving her a piggyback ride all the way to her house through the cold, snowy roads.
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The first time Lucas had ever been so relieved in his life was when Maya announced that her and Jason broke up. She explained that they just didn't work as a couple. Lucas told her he was sorry things didn't work out for them. But he still felt guilty for having to contain his relieved and happy smile the whole time.
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The first time Maya scared Lucas was when she mentioned that she was thinking about cutting her hair at school one day. He practically chocked on his food and would have told her not to but Zay said it before he could. Lucas would never tell her this, but he loved her long, wavy blonde hair. Besides, if she cut it, what else would he look at during class?
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The first time they hugged was when Maya got her license. She was so damn happy because she worked her ass off to pay for Driver's Ed. So when she passed the test, she immediately hugged Lucas (after all, he was the one who taught her how to drive and brought her to take her test). The interaction left them both flustered with flushed faces, but they still wore secret, ear splitting grins.
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The first time Maya was slightly disappointed at her birthday party was when Lucas wasn't there. Zay told them that his Mama grounded Lucas for not cleaning the shed so he couldn't go. The whole time, she couldn't help but feel sad that the cowboy wasn't there and felt as if something were missing. But that night at 2 in the morning Lucas came to Maya's window (he was lucky she just so happened to be awake at that time) and she scolded him for being lazy for not cleaning out the shed and he apologized and gave her a giant present and she called him a (forgiven) Huckleberry and she hugged him (it became a habit since the first time they did).
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The first time Lucas didn't mind rain was when he was with Maya. He hated getting wet when he had clothes on, especially a shirt. For Maya, it was quite the opposite. So when it began to rain when he was walking her home, he began to run so he could get out of as soon as possible. But Maya stopped him by grabbing his hand and pulling him into the street and laughing at his soaked, irritated face and she started dancing with him to cheer him up and after a moment he laughed with her and forgot about the rain and danced with her and watched her face shine and laugh and stick her tongue out to catch the rain and twirl (and he thinks he's in love).
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The first time Lucas was ever so angry with Maya was when he caught her smoking. He chocked on his drink when he saw her taking puffs of the cigarette and marched over to her and ripped it out of her mouth. She stared at him, wide eyed, as he yelled at her for being careless and stupid and how she could get lung cancer and not to do that ever again and realized he did that because he cared about her and she apologized and promised she wouldn't do it ever again (she didn't) and he finally relaxed.
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The first time Maya willingly listened to a country song was during prom. She didn't bring a date that year (Riley wondered why Maya rejected every guy who asked her to the dance) and neither did Lucas (Zay wondered why he didn't ask any girl or rejected the ones who did) so spent their time near the snack table, feasting on food—until a country song came on. Lucas's eyes got wide and he told Maya that was his favorite song so he pulled her to the dance floor and ignored her protests and he started doing some dorky cowboy dance and she laughed at him but started dancing with him anyway because the song was almost over and her eyes danced in mirth as she watched him laugh and smile and dance like there was no one watching (technically, everyone was watching but neither of them noticed) and she ignored the thought but she thinks she may be in love.
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The first time Maya felt really bad for Lucas was when her ferret died. The animal was her first and only pet she ever had and the only person who loved him as much as she did, if not more, was Lucas. When she told him it died, he looked so shocked and sad she thought he would cry (he didn't) then and there. He helped her bury the ferret (even though it was raining outside) and stayed out there with her and she felt bad for him and always thought it (he) was cute whenever Lucas played with him and his face would always shine when he did because he loved animals so she held his hand the entire time
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The first time Maya admitted studying and actually doing homework is helpful and pays off was when she got the letter that she got accepted into college. She honestly didn't expect to be accepted into NYU and was honestly ecstatic that she was the first of the Hart family to. Lucas smirked and said him forcing her to do work was the reason why (he actually did have to force her to do her homework and study. He wouldn't speak to her unless she got it done and ignored her protests as he did his. At first, she only pretended she did it but was really drawing him in her sketchbook. But soon she actually did do the work and when she was finished he'd give her a bright smile that she secretly loved) she got accepted and she denied that and rolled her eyes (she didn't say she admitted it to him, just herself).
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The first time Lucas felt like he was lost was when he was with her. Because he felt as if he was stumbling through the dark, trying to find for the right words to describe the feeling he got inside of him whenever Maya smiled at him (and he knows he's in love).
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The first time Maya knew she was going to be alone was when Lucas told her he was accepted into his dream school, Harvard. She smiled and told him she was happy for him and he deserved it and that he should go and he told her he might. But she went to Riley's house after and almost cried because Lucas was going to leave her and she didn't know what she would do without him (she didn't ignore it this time—the thinks she's in love) and Riley told her to tell him that but Maya refused to (it's not like they were even dating or anything, she thought she didn't have the right to).
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The first time Maya said goodbye to a best friend (and no, not Riley) was when Lucas was going to go to Harvard's campus for orientation. Everyone was with him at the airport and said their goodbyes and Maya was last (she was trying to hold it off as long as she could because she hated goodbyes) and she didn't want him to leave but she didn't have the heart to say it so she said her goodbye and watched him walk away (she knew he was coming back in a few days, but she still felt like he as leaving her forever and then she knew she was in love).
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The first time Maya missed someone so much in her life was when Lucas was gone. It was only for four days, but it felt like four years to her. She realized she cared for him more than she thought and she was in love with him and she loved his smile and his laugh and his eyes and his hair and his nose and his height and his caring side and whenever he touched her and whenever he told her his stories and his dancing and his dorkiness and his face whenever he talked about the things he loved and his loyalty and his hugs and his hands whenever they were in hers and whenever he played with her hair and whenever he held doors open for her and whenever he clenched his jaw when he was angry and whenever he unconsciously twitches when he's tired and when he called her his pancake and she just loves, loves, loves, loves him so much it hurts.
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The first time they kissed was when he got back from Harvard four days later. Everyone was there to meet Lucas at the airport and he greeted everyone and then he turned to Maya and he was going to greet her but she just grabbed his shirt and slammed their lips together and it was so damn hard and her teeth were hitting his lips painfully and he grimaced so he had to place his hands on her face and hip and cupped her cheek and she relaxed and calmed the kiss and there was so much emotion in it she felt like she was suffocating (she kind of was, they really needed to breathe) and it was so raw and powerful it left them both dazed even after they pulled away and it was all so damn perfect.
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And it felt like finally.
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.~Fin~.
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A/N: Wow. That only took three (or four? I couldn't keep track) months to write. Jesus.
I started this a while back and went through it very slowly and didn't get to finish it until now. And I am so glad it's OVER and I'm FINALLY FINISHED so I can stop having this story unfinished and have this nag at me.
But I hope you enjoyed, and if you did, leave a review and fav, please? :D