A/N: Because the Maya and Lucas from That Girl Has Love and Someday You Will Be Loved are the most adorable darlings I couldn't help but take them on another little ride. It's covered in this opening chapter, but they have fast forwarded past high school. We're gonna play a little catch up and see where they're at now. Also, because writing this chapter made me want to touch on the Riley of this universe, I also wrote another companion one shot that will be out after this, that might fill in a couple gaps from the time between Someday and the start of this story. So look for that. Like with the previous stories, this one assumes that some version of canon events happened, but in a way that accounts for the changes the fic made. Anyway, let's gear up for another journey with these guys (although this one will probably be a little shorter by the end). Enjoy the first chapter! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own GMW.

Keep Love In Your Heart

One

"She's lucky I love my dress, because all of this for one dress, it's madness," Maya said to Riley as they pushed through the door of the dress shop and walked out onto the sidewalk. Maya twisted her shoulders and tried to look around her back as they started walking down the street. "Are you sure I'm not bleeding? That girl stuck me pretty good."

"Okay, it was one pin and it didn't even break the skin," Riley said and gently patted the affected, or rather unaffected, area on Maya's lower back.

"Well, it felt like being stabbed in the back with a kitchen knife," Maya mumbled and reached a hand around to rub the spot too.

"I think you're just stressed," Riley said, "We had hoped that we would be able to check your dress off the list today and we were derailed by a beaded faux sash belt thing."

Maya groaned at the reminder and opened up the planner she had tucked under her arm. She flipped to the right page as they kept walking, glancing up to keep her bearing every few seconds. "When did she say I could pick it up again?"

"Friday, after one o' clock," Riley answered and Maya marked it down.

"That's cutting it close," Maya sighed and snapped the planner shut. "And there's still so much to do."

"Think about it this way: everything is set when it comes to flowers, food and fittings. The cake is being delivered and you just need to email the song list to the music coordinator at the venue," Riley said. "And, at least you'll have had practice for when you'll be my maid of honor someday."

"Yeah, well Farkle better give me a say in when he proposes, because this is the most inconvenient time for a wedding ever," Maya replied.

Maya was aware that she sounded like she was complaining. She wasn't really. Sure, in the moment, she was beyond stressed. She had a list of things a mile long that still needed to be done, double checked and triple checked, and there was only a week before the big event. Maya was in the middle of her first semester of college, which just made everything more complicated. The bright side was that at least midterms were over. Juggling wedding plans, her college courses, her friends and her boyfriend was putting a lot on her shoulders all at once. So, she was on edge when things went a little astray, but she was also very happy, happier than ever, and she had been for the last six months when she came home from her senior prom to Shawn on one knee, happy tears trailing down her mom's face and a glittering ring on her mom's finger. Maya had known Shawn was planning on proposing, was even there when he picked out the ring, but something about seeing it happen when her ears were still ringing from Lucas's first open and honest 'I love you' had filled her with joy that hadn't dissipated. It was a great time in her life, in the lives of everyone around her, and she wasn't going to forget that.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll be quite some time before you have to make a repeat performance," Riley snorted and tried to play off her blush with a phony casual tone. "Farkle and I have only been together for like four months—"

"Four months, twenty seven days, eighteen hours," Maya corrected, glancing at her phone screen. "Oh, and three minutes."

"If we're getting technical—"

"—we are. We are getting technical," Maya nodded. "When our high school graduation concludes with you tackling Farkle, accidentally, and making out with him in front of our entire class, completely on purpose, we get technical."

"How do you even know that down to the minute?" Riley asked after a moment of reflection.

"There's an app for it," Maya turned the screen of her phone toward Riley, showing her the simple stop watch timer. "Farkle made it. He's determined to be the longest relationship of your life, for real. You know, after you fake married and divorced him, before he started to really date Smackle, you said—"

"I know what I said. Let me see that," Riley took the phone from Maya, frowning at it. "How does it work?"

"It just keeps count," Maya shrugged. "And it has all your past relationships programmed into it. His and Smackle's, yours and Charlie's...Anyone with the app gets notifications when you reach major milestones. And the Minkii have pledged to donate to some charity for homeless animals each time you surpass an old relationship. A few more months and there will be a shelter of puppies happy that you out lasted Smackle."

"The length of our relationship is not a competition," Riley said. "Besides, you and Lucas have more than a four year jump on us."

"I don't think that's what he means by this—" Maya said.

"What could he possibly mean by it then?"

"I think it's his way of showing that every second with you counts for something. Every single moment matters," Maya said. "It shows how important you are to him, in a very Farkle way as unconventional as it might be."

They had reached their subway entrance and paused their conversation until they were on the platform. Maya fiddled with her planner, tempted to go over her to do list again while they waited. Riley stood with her head tilted, staring off into space, while distracted by her thoughts. She still had Maya's phone clutched in her hand, the timer ticking up second by second.

"Why didn't he tell me about it then?" Riley asked.

"I thought he had," Maya said. "It was in his weekly newsletter right after graduation."

"I never read those," Riley said. "They were meant to keep us informed in case we drifted during high school, but we never drifted. I didn't see the point."

Her words were punctuated by their train pulling to a stop at the platform. Riley stepped onto the train first with Maya a step behind her. The train was pretty crowded at midday, so they found a place where they could stand together.

"You should read them. They're very informative," Maya shrugged as she swung around the pole to face Riley.

"Farkle breathing is informative," Riley deadpanned.

"Yes, but did his breathing inform you of the app? Or that there is enough DNA in an average person's body to stretch from the sun to Pluto and back seventeen times? That was his fun science fact in last week's edition. I think it was meant for you."

"Hmm," Riley mumbled. She glanced at the phone one last time before handing it back to Maya. "I should make him take it down."

"Think of the sad homeless animals," Maya pocketed her phone and hummed a few bars of the Sarah McLachlan classic.

Riley rolled her eyes and frowned. "That's a low blow."

"Hey, we know you," Maya replied. She patted Riley's arm to comfort her when her expression didn't perk up immediately. "The boy is cuckoo for cocoa puffs over you. He just doesn't always know how else to express it."

"Lucas is just as crazy about you and he's never had trouble expressing it," Riley said.

"That's different. He's Lucas, and we've had five years to learn how to be with each other," Maya sighed. "And, god, five years, that doesn't seem real."

"I guess you're right. Farkle isn't Lucas. And Farkle and I aren't Lucas and you. I shouldn't compare. I've already learned that lesson before," Riley replied. "And I suppose it would be nice to watch that number get bigger. I can only imagine where we'll be when it says five years. That's how long you and Lucas have been together and you're as strong as ever. That's how long Uncle Shawn and your mom have been together and they're getting married. Can you believe it?"

"Given how much I've had to do to make this wedding a reality, I can believe it," Maya said. She didn't respond to the fact that the difference between how long Katy and Shawn had been together and how long Maya had been dating Lucas was almost nonexistent—the few months between the start of each relationship lost once they each passed the one year mark—although it was something she had thought about more and more since the engagement.

"At least it'll all be done in a week," Riley said. "Shawn and your mom will fly away on their honeymoon and, when they come back, the three of you will start your wonderful new life together. It'll be so worth it."

"It will," Maya agreed. "In the meantime, I'll be up to my neck in to do lists. Which reminds me, thank you for coming with me today, jellybean. I'm barely keeping my head screwed on straight so it's nice to know I have you around to keep level headed."

"You have all of us behind you," Riley said. "We formed a temporary committee."

Maya laughed lightly. "My very own committee?"

Riley nodded. "With the Riley committee officially disbanded, Farkle needed something to do."

"Well, thank you, thank him, thank everyone," Maya replied. "I'll be back to my usual self soon, I promise. It's good to know that ya'll be there until then if I need you."

"Lucas thought you might not be happy about it," Riley admitted. "He knows how much you like to be able to take care of yourself. He didn't want anyone to tell you."

"Sounds like Lucas," Maya pushed her hair out of her face. "Always looking out for me even when I might not want him to do it. I'd probably be a little annoyed if I didn't know that I probably wouldn't have made it this far without whatever you've done. So, I just appreciate it."

Riley gently squeezed Maya's shoulder, massaging the tense muscles there for a couple minutes. "You would do the same for us. You have done the same for us."

"We're a team. We make it together or not at all," Maya said.

"Speaking for how far we've made it, this is our stop," Riley released Maya's shoulder and gently pushed her toward the doors as the train slowed.

"Finally," Maya breathed. She followed Riley out of the subway station and they paused on the sidewalk before they parted ways.

"Are you headed to Topanga's?" Riley asked.

Maya nodded. "Seeing as I'm already late, I should probably get a move on."

Riley hugged Maya briefly before she walked away. "Give Lucas my regards and I'll see you on campus tomorrow."

"Catch ya later, honey bunch," Maya waved as they went in opposite direction.

Maya had made her plans with Lucas when she assumed she was just going to try on the dress and take it home with her. Instead, one little thing being off had delayed her and thrown off her schedule. By her watch, she was nearly thirty minutes late. The wedding had Maya morphing into a mini Riley with her planner and lists and itinerary. Suddenly her punctuality was a thing for her. She had texted Lucas when she realized the fitting was going to run long and he was never going to give her a hard time about—especially since before the last few months this would have been early for her—but she was still a little anxious when she arrived at Topanga's and found Lucas already settled in the booth in the corner they had claimed as their own a few years back.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Maya rushed out as she dropped her things on the table and sat down next to Lucas. She arched up to press a quick kiss to his lips. "I got here as fast as I could."

"You look stressed," Lucas said.

"Wow, way to sweep a girl off her feet," Maya rolled her eyes, but tucked herself under the arm he reached out for her anyway.

"Well, I could smother you with flattery, you know how much I love to do that," Lucas said. His fingers brushed some of her hair away from her face, playing with and stroking through the strands. "Or, you could just know that I think you're beautiful all the time, even when you're stressed, tired, angry or annoyed—which, recently, has been a bit more frequent than usual—and just jump right into telling me what's wrong so I can help."

"Nothing is wrong. Everything is so right," Maya nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck, content to stay there because she could only reach hat perfect spot when he was sitting or reclining. "That's the problem. There's so much to do before next weekend that it's madness, but, besides the one little hiccup today, so far everything is falling into place perfectly. Should be easy street, right?"

"I'm guessing, no?"

"No, exactly. It's like that thing Matthews taught us about fault lines, despite being a history teacher," Maya said. "Do you remember?"

"I remember that being a dark week for us," Lucas responded, his fingers stilling in her hair. "Not much else about the lesson itself."

It had been a dark moment for all of them. It was during their sophomore year and, after about a year and half of dating off and on, Riley and Charlie had broken up for good. The break up, coupled with the fact that Maya and Lucas were beyond happy together at that point, created a rift in their group of friends. Riley withdrew into a sour mood that was as contagious as her usual enthusiasm. The tension was worse than it had been back in eighth grade when Riley still wished for a romantic relationship with Lucas. They kept spilling into small petty disagreements that led nowhere and then it would be like nothing happened. Cory had implored them to identify the underlying issue at play before the whole thing erupted.

"He said pressure builds up at the fault lines and when it gets released, that's an earthquake, a tremble. And that release is a good thing, because the longer the pressure builds up, the worse the aftermath can be. And how, sometimes, that pressure keeps building and building and nothing happens. It seems like everything is fine when really it's on the precipice of disaster," Maya continued. "That's why all these scientists are anticipating this giant apocalyptic event when California basically implodes and only Dwayne Johnson survives because there hasn't been a real massive earthquake there in hundreds of years," Maya stretched out her jaw and her eyes widened. "Ack, how do I even remember this? Geez."

"Mr. Matthews is a good teacher even if he can never remember what subject he teaches, or what school he's supposed to work at."

"So, that's it," Maya breathed out finally. "Everything seems fine, but everyone has been lulled into a false sense of security by the good fortune we've had so far, because this wedding is a fault line and I'm standing right in the middle of it, just...waiting."

"It's okay," Lucas said softly, pulling her closer.

"I'm tough, but I'm not The Rock tough," Maya looked up at him with round, desperate eyes.

"You don't have to be, because nothing is going to go wrong," Lucas reassured. "You just need to accept that maybe, just maybe, after everything you've been through, you and your mom have earned the chance to have everything go right for once. It's what you both deserve."

Maya sighed, "I know it's probably going to be great and I know you and Riley and Farkle and everyone have had to talk me down a few times already, but it's hard not to worry when I can't seem to get out of my own head."

"How can I help you get your mind off of it?" Lucas asked, leaning his head down to meet her eyes.

"I have an idea," Maya managed a small smirk before twisting her fingers into the hair at the base of his neck and tugging him down so she could slant her mouth over his in a real kiss.

After a few minutes of leisurely kissing, Maya's thoughts slowly clouded over until the only thing she had to think about was how delicious Lucas's lips felt over hers. In five years, this part of their relationship had only gotten better. It hadn't felt like it at the time, but they had still been kids when they first started this thing. They had grown up together, learning each other in and out as they did. Now this was as natural as breathing for them. Lucas, with one hand in her hair or stroking her neck and one hand tucked just under the edge of her shirt on her lower back. Maya, with fingers carded into his perfectly trimmed hair and twisted into the belt loops on his jeans at his hip. Their mouths, lips and tongues, and hands had learned how to continue their banter in physical ways once they had no more use for or the capability to conjure up words. It was all the same every time, yet it came with a feeling that never ceased to feel new.

Lucas pulled back, resting his forehead against hers. "Remind me to not let you watch natural disaster movies before bed anymore."

"You know just what I need," Maya whispered against his cheek before dripping her head to press closed mouth kisses to his pulse point and down his neck. "That's why I love ya, Huckleberry."

Lucas released a sharp breath against her ear when her teeth grazed his skin and then he whispered back the words she never tired of hearing, like a promise he had kept from the start, "I love you too, Maya."