A/N: LAST CHAPTER! Full author's note at the end. Enjoy this! It's a just a giant mushy fluff chapter to end things with lol
I don't own GMW, just the plot of this story.
Chapter 18: "Rings"
-5 months later-
Maya sat in the bay window in Riley's room, her legs crossed in front of her. Riley was behind her wrapping long strands of Maya's golden hair around a curling iron. The blonde had been at her best friend's house all morning, nervously pacing the floor and having to be calmed down by Riley.
This was Lucas's mom's birthday weekend and his entire family came in from Texas to celebrate. Maya wasn't too surprised when Lucas's mom asked her to come to the dinner they were having. Those two were closer than ever. Sometimes when Lucas was at practice, and Maya didn't feel like going home, she would wait at his place and help his mom cook dinner. She was becoming known as Mrs. Friar's favorite kitchen helper. So it didn't surprise her much that the women wanted her there to help celebrate her birthday. And of course she would love to help celebrate. But that was before she knew the entire Friar clan would be there for the dinner as well. At the time, she threw a little look over to Lucas, wanting to see what kind of face he was making at the thought of her meeting his whole family. The two have been dating for almost 5 months now, but she wasn't sure about being introduced to everybody.
"I want you there," Lucas told Maya the second they went back to his room after she was invited to the family celebration.
Maya's eyes widened towards him. "What?"
"I really want you to be there. At the dinner," he said, nervous for her reaction. He was still getting the hang of this 'relationship' thing.
"With your whole family?" Maya asked.
"You're important to me. And I- I want them to meet you," he replied with a strong, sure voice.
Honestly, Maya wasn't sure. Her and Lucas's relationship was going amazing. At times, they got on each other's last nerve, sometimes they wouldn't talk for two days because of some stupid fight. But one of them always showed up at the other's apartment with sad eyes claiming they miss the other too much to keep fighting. In the beginning, Maya was terrified that Lucas couldn't stop his playboy ways. Girls still flirted with him, like they didn't know him and Maya were together. But he never strayed from the blonde. Their relationship was something of an unexpected success. No one expected Lucas to get tied down by one girl, even Lucas, and no one thought Maya would fall for a guy like Lucas. But they worked. Somehow the bickering and nicknames worked for them.
But it had only been a few months. Meeting his entire family seemed a bit serious. Lucas must have noticed the unsure look in her eyes. He began to take little steps towards his girlfriend, resting his hands on her arms.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," he told her.
Maya took notice of his eyes and how they looked almost disappointed. "You really want me there?" she asked. Lucas just nodded, but didn't say anything back. "I'll come," Maya answered all of a sudden.
The smile that grew on his face made Maya immediately choose to not to regret her decision. That dopey little dimpled grin of his always got to her.
"You nervous?" Riley asked Maya as she wrapped the last strand of hair around the curling iron.
Maya glanced up from her tangled hands and laughed. "Do you even have to ask?"
"I don't know why you're so nervous! You know his entire family is going to love you. Just like he does," Riley said, whispering the last part.
The blonde rolled her eyes. She had heard the 'love' thing from Riley so many times lately that she couldn't do anything but laugh now. "Riley I told you, it is way too early for Lucas and me to be using the word 'love,'" Maya laughed. Riley rolled her own eyes in response then continued to set bobby-pins in place to put Maya's hair in the half up half down look she had imagined.
It wasn't too much longer before Riley finished with Maya's hair. She was dressed with her makeup done. Nothing else could distract her from making her way to the Friar apartment. She got up from the bay window, hugged her best friend, asked her to wish her luck, and left out the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Maya fiddled with the hem of her casual red dress as she waited for the door of Lucas's apartment to open. She could hear the sound of multiple voices inside and knew the family was already there. Before any of her nerves or emotions could be processed, the door opened a little bit and Lucas slipped out through it, shutting it back behind him.
"Hey," he smiled, leaning in to kiss Maya. She happily reciprocated the kiss, even smiling into it. "I thought you could use a minute before we go in."
"Thank you. I'm just really nervous," Maya admitted. Lucas was nervous too, he just wanted everything to go well. The girl standing in front of him was more important to him than he even thought a girl could be. It was important to him to let his family get to know her.
He took in her appearance, noting how beautiful she looked. He could tell that she tried really hard to look extra good to meet his family. "Why are you so nervous?" he asked.
Maya shrugged her shoulders. "What if they don't like me?"
"Maya, that's crazy. You're amazing. Of course they'll like you," he promised. His lips pressed lightly to the top of her head to lay a kiss in her hair. Maya wouldn't say it, but it immediately calmed her down a bit. "Plus my mom has already told everyone how incredible you are, so they already have a pretty good image of you."
"Well at least they don't have high expectations or anything," Maya laughed.
"You ready?"
"One more kiss," Maya demanded. Her boyfriend happily agreed, gently pulling her into his lips. The kiss lasted a little longer than either of them meant for it to last, but when they finally pulled apart, Maya nodded her head. "Let's go meet your family, Huckleberry."
Once they opened the door, Lucas's mom came running over to wrap Maya in big hug. The familiar face was nice to start with, honestly. But once Maya looked up from the hug, she was flooded with new faces she had never seen before. Some she recognized from pictures, but most of them were strangers. Mrs. Friar went right into introducing everyone to the nervous blonde. Maya found her comfort with her hand being squeezed by Lucas's, but the whole thing was still very overwhelming. At first, that is. Once her name got tossed around the whole room, everyone was dying to know the girl who 'turned Lucas into a lovesick puppy.' Those were apparently the words Mrs. Friar threw around. Just after Pappy Joe came up to Maya to give her a big hug and whisper to her that Lucas has told him a lot about her, one of Lucas's little cousins came up to Maya and Lucas.
"Lukey!" the little girl said, running up to them.
"Hey Julianne!" Lucas yelled, picking the little girl up in his arms. He started planted big, exaggerated kisses all over the girl's face while she giggled away. "You're so big now!"
The girl, Julianne apparently, wrapped her little arms around Lucas's neck. "Yeah! I'm a big girl now," she said proudly. Her head turned to Maya, who was watching the scene in front of her with joy. She had never seen Lucas with little kids before. But it was one of the best things she had seen him do was play with this little girl. "You're pretty. Are you a princess? You have long, pretty hair like a princess," she rambled to Maya.
Maya couldn't help but laugh. The little girl was so cute. "Nope not a princess. I just have long hair," she smiled to the girl in Lucas's arms. Julianne laughed at the funny answer from Maya.
"This is my girlfriend Maya. Maya this is my little cousin Julianne," Lucas introduced.
"She's pretty. Like a princess," she leaned up to tell Lucas.
"I know right?"
Maya let out a cute little laugh at her dorky boyfriend. Julianne became very attached to Maya after that. Maya swore it was because she actually thought Maya was a real princess, but she didn't mind. She had a new little buddy to hang out with during the party. After some mingling, Maya felt very at home. Everyone was so nice and was welcoming her in with open arms. She blamed it on 'southern hospitality.' Lucas was right when he told her they already had a good image of her. Either Lucas or his mom, or both, had raved about her to each person. Mrs. Friar wasn't allowed into the kitchen since it was her birthday and no one wanted her slaving away on her own birthday. She entrusted Maya to go into the kitchen and help in there, since she couldn't herself. Maya was quite surprised when Grandma Dee actually let her help with the secret roast recipe.
Maya couldn't help but feel like she was in the kitchen cooking with her own family. They were laughing and telling jokes, the older women who were much more experienced in the kitchen were giving Maya cooking tips. She was actually kind of sad when the meal was finished and they began to lay all of the food out on the large table in the dining room. But then she sat down and looked around her. Lucas was next to her, his hand on her leg under the table, Julianne was on her other side, and the whole table was full of people who had excepted her as one of their own, even if she had only been dating Lucas for 5 months.
"I would like to say something," Mrs. Friar stood up and said. Everyone turned their attention to her. Lucas threw his arm over the back of Maya's chair and she smiled, waiting for Mrs. Friar to keep speaking. "I want to thank everyone for coming all the way from Texas to be here for my birthday. It's so sweet and I love having everyone I love in one room!" Her smiling voice turned to her son and his girlfriend. "And I want to thank Maya for being here. I know this many Friars in one room can be intimidating but it means a lot that you're here honey. So thank you. And thank you for making my Lucas so happy. I don't remember ever seeing him this truly happy. And that's the best birthday present I could have gotten. I know they've only been together a few months, but I think we'll be seeing Maya at this dinner table for a long time. But I'm just guessing that based on how Lucas looks at her when she's not looking."
"Mom!" Lucas yelped, embarrassed. Maya laughed next to him.
"Oh honey don't worry, she looks at you the same way," Mrs. Friar added. This time she received a nervous smile from Maya. Maya laughed and buried her head in her hands to conceal the sound.
Lucas ran a hand over his face. "Are you done embarrassing me now?" Lucas laughed to his mom.
"Oh shush it's my birthday. I can embarrass you as much as I want," his mom smiled. "Seriously though, thank you everyone for coming."
"Now let's eat!" Pappy Joe interrupted. The whole table giggled, silently agreeing with their mouths watering at the sight of the delicious food lining the middle of the table.
Chatter began amongst everyone as they passed food around to fill up their plates. Lucas pulled Maya's head over to him so he could press a kiss into the side of her hair. Her eyes looking up at him begged for a real kiss, so he pressed his lips to hers before they separated to give into their desire to eat the bounty of food in front of them.
Another couple of hours later, dinner was gone and desert was being passed around in the form of a strawberry shortcake. Maya had helped Mrs. Friar make that before so she knew it was her favorite desert. The blonde had just finished her cake piece and was busy talking to one of Lucas's aunts when Lucas himself came walking up to them.
"Can I borrow Maya for a minute?" he asked his aunt. She nodded her head and watched as Lucas took hold of Maya's hand.
She was led down the hall and into Lucas's bedroom. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she wouldn't put it past him to want a quickie right now. Lucas turned to her after shutting the door and Maya noticed his serious eyes. Slightly concerned, she crawled onto the bed waiting for him to join her.
"Huckleberry what's wrong?" Maya asked, hoping the nickname would calm him down a bit. It seemed to do the trick as he climbed on top of the bed and sat in front of Maya.
"Nothing's wrong. That's just it… nothing's wrong," he smiled. "I know you were really nervous to come here and meet my family, but you did it for me."
Maya smiled at the thankful gesture he was giving her. "Yeah well if they're related to you then I knew they couldn't be too bad," she smirked.
"You took a chance on me, too," he reminded. A lot of the time, Lucas felt like Maya deserved a lot more than him. He still thought about how he had hurt her before. But Maya had changed him from that guy he was before, the guy he was his whole life. Now he was better, at least he tried to be. He had changed her too, though. Maya wasn't as closed off as she used to be. Trust was building in her and not just trust in Lucas but in others. They were helping each other in ways they thought no one ever would be able to help them. One day at a time, they were helping to make each other better versions of themselves. Lucas started digging around in his pocket until he pulled out a small item that Maya couldn't quite make out in his hands. "I want you to have this."
He held the object out in front of her. Maya registered it as a ring. "What is this?" she asked.
"It's Pappy Joe's. He gave it to me when I was a kid. But I want you to have it now," he explained.
Maya shook her head, pushing his hand that held the ring away from her. "No Lucas that ring is too important to you. I couldn't take that."
"You're important to me too Maya! Please? It would mean a lot to me," Lucas begged.
"It wouldn't even fit me."
She wasn't wrong. The ring was the size of Pappy Joe's finger and even if Maya didn't have tiny little hands, the ring would still be too big. But Lucas had taken that into consideration when he decided to give her the memento. He dug in his pocket once again and pulled out a small gold chain.
"That's why I thought you could put it on this," he smiled, sliding the ring onto the chain.
Maya stared at the ring turned necklace and smiled. "Are you sure you want me to have this?" she asked. Lucas nodded, holding it out to her again. "Do I have to put it on myself?"
"No I can do that for you," Lucas smiled.
Maya shifted her body and pulled her hair out of the way so her boyfriend could clasp the necklace behind her neck. It was a moment before she turned around, he fingers delicately playing with the ring.
"Thank you for giving me the second chance," Lucas said, pushing her hair behind her ear.
"Thank you for being worth the second chance," Maya said in return. Not a day had gone by when she regretted giving him that second chance.
The two leaned in for a kiss. What started out as a quiet kiss, soon turned heavy. Lucas's hands were tangled in Maya's hair and her hands cupped the face of the boy she kissed. Electricity, the same that ran through them whenever they kissed, ran through them now. Neither even noticed the bedroom door fly open. Pappy Joe stood in the doorway and quickly clear his throat when he saw the two teens on the bed. They looked up embarrassed, with awkward grins on their faces.
"Didn't mean to interrupt," Pappy Joe smirked, "But there is a little girl out here requesting the presence of a 'Princess Maya.'"
Both teens laughed, knowing it was Julianne who was looking for Maya. Maya climbed off the bed quickly. Once she stood next to Pappy Joe, she looked up at him. "Are you ok with me having this?" she asked, holding out the ring as it hung off the necklace chain.
"Of course. As long as you two are keeping each other happy, you are welcome to wear that," the man told her with a sincere smile.
"Thank you."
Maya walked down the hall and spotted Julianne sitting on one of the big chairs in the living room. She walked over to the little girl whose large grin was pointed towards Maya.
By now, Lucas had climbed off the bed. He was standing at the end of the hallway next to Pappy Joe, both of their eyes on Maya as she started to braid Julianne's hair, probably at the little girl's request. Pappy Joe looked down to see the dopey, admiring grin on Lucas's face. He imagined that to be the face Lucas's mom was talking about when she made her toast, the face he made when Maya wasn't looking. Never did Pappy Joe think he would see his grandson make that face at a girl. But there it was.
"Lucas?"
"Hm?" Lucas motioned, looking away from Maya for only a minute to turn his gaze to his grandfather.
"I really hope one day you give that girl a real ring," he said with a grin.
Lucas just laughed and looked away, turning back to Maya. "I think it's a little early for that Pappy Joe," he smirked.
But in his head, as he gazed at Maya across the room, thought about how one day, he just might give her a real ring.
A/N: It's over guys… honestly I really love this story. It was one of my favorite stories I've ever written! And you guys have been amazing reviewing through the whole thing! What are your thoughts on the last chapter?
I'm in the middle of writing another multi-chapter lucaya story! It's loosely inspired/based on the show F.R.I.E.N.D.S and is a neighbors/ roommates AU. Would you guys read it? Or should I stop writing it? Lol I like what I've written so far and am really excited about what I have planned for it! Please tell me if that's something you would read or if everyone is kind of getting over lucaya fanfic… ps GOD I MISS LUCAYA.
Thanks to everyone who read this and reviewed! Let me know if the new story is something you would read as well and I'll try to get the first chapter posted soon! Love you babes:)