Chapter Text
Two weeks. That’s how long it’d taken before she’d decided to confront him. Lucas Friar was at the top of her hit list right now and he wasn’t getting off it any time soon. Not when he’d broken her best friend’s heart.
When Riley had burst into their dorm room in tears telling her what had happened between her and Lucas that night, Maya had been shocked to say the least. Anyone with eyes could see that both Riley and Lucas were head over heels in love with each other. She’d seen the way he’d look at Riley when they’d be out on a double date with her and Josh. It was the same way Riley’s parents looked at each other. Josh had even commented on it once to her after one of those double dates and Maya couldn’t help but agree. So when Riley told her that Lucas didn’t love her back, Maya couldn’t believe it. There was just no way.
Maya knew better than to meddle in her best friend’s relationship. But it had been two weeks. Two weeks of watching Riley cry herself to sleep every night. Two weeks of seeing her moping around, looking unkempt and…broken. It hurt to even think of Riley and that word in the same sentence because that wasn’t who she was. Riley wasn’t the broken one, she was the light. It had gotten so bad that Maya had to call in reinforcements. She ordered an emergency meeting of The Riley Committee, a little thing her and Riley’s friends had started to protect Riley from anything and anyone. It didn’t take long for their other best friend Farkle Minkus and his longtime girlfriend Isadora Smackle to come running from Brown University to offer their friend some support. Being around Riley in this condition, they all knew that somehow Lucas had caused this. And Maya wasn’t standing for it. Which is why she now stood in front of his apartment door, her first banging against it insistently.
“Open up, you hick! I know you’re in there!”
It only took a few moments before the door opened, but it wasn’t the person she was looking for.
“Maya, this is a bad time,” Zay told her in a hushed tone, “He doesn’t want to see anyone.”
“Oh, yeah?” Maya retorted, “Well, that sucks for him because I’m seeing him whether he likes it or not and I’m gonna make it a whole lot worse.”
Pushing past Zay, Maya walked into the apartment and froze. Letting out a sigh of frustration, she turned towards Zay.
“Where’s his room?”
He shook his head, “I really don’t think this is a good idea -“
Grabbing his shirt, she tugged him forward until she was in his face.
“If you don’t tell me right now which room is his, I’ll make sure you’ll never to be able to procreate,” she growled.
Zay knew better than to call Maya out on her threat. She was tough, and when it came to her friends, there was no telling what she was capable of.
“First door to your right,” he said in a rush all while plastering a nervous smile on his face.
Letting him go, Maya patted him on the head with a smile. “Good boy.”
She wasted no time then. Finding the room Zay pointed out, Maya pushed open the door. Her eyes immediately watered a little at the stench and, using her fingers, plugged her nose shut.
“Is she gone?” Lucas grumbled from the bed.
His head was turned towards the wall of the bedroom, so he couldn’t see that Zay wasn’t the one standing in the doorway.
“No, she’s right here,” Maya replied in a nasally tone, “And so is that smell. What the heck is that?”
Coming up behind her, Zay answered, “That would be the result of him not showering for the past couple of days.”
Lucas let out a groan as he faced them, “I thought I told you to get rid of her, Zay.”
“Listen, Lucas. I’m here for you, man. Really, I am,” Zay pointed towards Maya and hissed, “But she’s scary.”
With a roll of his eyes, Lucas plopped his head back on his pillow. “Go away, Maya.”
Maya crossed her arms over her chest, standing her ground. “Sorry, Huckleberry. But it ain’t happening. I’m not leaving here until you tell me what made you break Riley’s heart.”
“It’s none of your business.” said Lucas’ muffled voice.
“You know, I would’ve agreed with you. But considering that I’m the one who has watched her cry herself to sleep every single night for the past two weeks, it kind of is my business now.”
Her statement was met with silence so Maya decided to add one more reason. “Plus, Josh is waiting outside to act as a final resort in case you’re still too stubborn to talk to me.”
It took a second before Lucas finally spoke. “Leave us alone for a few, Zay.”
“Sure. Just yell if you need me.” Looking at Maya’s narrowed gaze he added, “Please don’t need me.”
Zay then walked away from the door, leaving both Maya and Lucas alone. Maya had planned to start off the conversation, but surprisingly Lucas was the first to speak up.
“So, what? You came here to tell me off?” He was now lying on his back, eyes closed, as his fingers rubbed his temples. “Go ahead. I won’t stop you.”
Well, that’s no fun. It’s no use giving someone a piece of your mind if they actually want you to do it. So, instead, Maya went with a question.
“What the hell happened to you?”
“Let’s see,” Lucas began with a humorless chuckle, “Alcohol, no sleep, some more alcohol, got put in jail, and - oh yeah - more alcohol.”
Eyeing him up and down, Maya took in his appearance. He was a mess, maybe even worse than Riley. His hair wasn’t in it’s usually neat style. His eyes looked bloodshot. And he was wearing a white t-shirt that was starting to look more gray than white.
“I can see that,” Maya noted, “But I was talking about what happened to you that night two weeks ago. Why did you break it off with Riley?”
Lucas dropped his hands from his face, thumping them onto the mattress. “Because I just did.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Well,” Lucas sighed, “It’s the only one I’ve got for you.”
“Well it’s not good enough!” Maya stormed up to him, “You need to have a better reason than that to explain what you’ve put my best friend through! What, did you find someone else or something? Is she not good enough for you?”
Lucas shot up from the bed. “She is good enough!”
Getting into his face, Maya exclaimed, “So then why did you walk away?! Why did you end it?!”
“Because I’m not good for her, okay?!”
Maya reared her head back. She had no words. That was the last thing she thought she’d hear him say.
Realizing what he’d just admitted out loud, Lucas averted his gaze. “I’m bad for her, Maya, okay? She doesn’t deserve to be with someone like me. She deserves better.”
Maya’s heart clenched at the sound of his voice. The words he was speaking were all too familiar to her. The look on his face was one she’d seen many times before. It was those same words and that same look that had been part of her since she was a little girl. Ever since her father left.
Clearing her throat that had suddenly gotten a bit clogged up in emotion, Maya asked, “Your mom or your dad?”
Lucas snapped his eyes back to her in confusion, “What?”
“I know mommy and daddy issues when I see them,” she gave him a rueful smile, “So which one is it?”
His eyes flashed in shock for a moment before he sighed in defeat, “It’s my dad.”
“Of course,” Maya said bitterly, “It always is.”
Sitting down on his bed, Lucas looked up at her, “You too, huh?”
“Oh, yeah.” Maya responded and sat down next to him. “Big time.”
“I don’t really want to talk about it, though.” Lucas admitted.
“That’s okay.” Maya reassured him, “You don’t have to tell me about it. But I think I get it now.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You do?”
“Yeah, your dad messed you up.” Maya’s voice lowered, “Just like mine did with me.”
Lucas nodded, knowing that she really did understand. “How did you get over it?”
“Want the truth?” she asked, and when he nodded she added, “You don’t ever get over it.”
“That’s what I thought.” Lucas said with a humorless chuckle.
“Hey, you didn’t let me finish!” Maya admonished, “You may not ever get over it, but you can deal with it. You can feel better about yourself. It’s not impossible.”
“Well, it sure feels like it is sometimes.” he grumbled.
“I know it does. I also know that pushing the people who care about you away is definitely not the way to do it.”
Lucas sighed, “Maya, I just don’t want Riley to get affected by me.”
“You’re not some sort of disease, Lucas.” Maya argued, “You’re a person. A person who makes mistakes. You think Riley doesn’t get that?”
“No, I think Riley believes I’m someone I’m not.”
His words made her thoughts wander back to a time long ago. And she suddenly knew of a way she could get through to him.
“Do you know that Riley and I almost stopped being friends once?”
“Seriously?” he asked in disbelief, “How is that even possible? You two are attached at the hip.”
“Well, it’s possible when one of us didn’t think they were good enough to be friends with the other.”
Maya stared at him with a pointed look and Lucas smirked, “There’s gonna be a lesson in here isn’t there?”
“Yup,” Maya smiled and continued, “In seventh grade I made the mistake of rebelling in class once. I called it The Homework Rebellion.”
“Sounds intimidating.” Lucas teased.
“You’d be surprised,” Maya laughed, “Anyway, I obviously got in huge trouble for it. And Riley’s dad was our teacher, so him yelling at me was ten times worse since I saw him as a father figure and not a teacher. It was horrible because in that moment, I thought I’d screwed up everything. I didn’t have a dad, my mom was hardly ever home at the same time as me because of work, and now my best friend’s dad hated me. How long would it take before Riley did, too? Before she realized I was no good? Seemed like everyone else had figured it out, so why not her?”
Lucas was staying silent now, but Maya could see the gears shifting in his head. She knew he was relating to this story.
“That same day after school when Riley and I were on the subway, I told her not to be surprised if her dad said we couldn’t be friends anymore. I told her she was better off anyway. That I was no good for her. She’d stood up for me that day with her dad and had gotten in trouble too. I’d done that, you know? So, I thought she was better off without me.” Maya laughed softly at the memory, “But, Riley being stubborn, she just couldn’t accept that. She made me go home with her to confront her dad. You wanna know what he said?”
“What?”
“He said that the last thing he’d ever want to do is tear our friendship apart. That I was the best friend Riley could ever have. Yes, my actions had gotten Riley into trouble. But, it was her decision to stand up for me. Because I’m her best friend and she cares about me. Because she knows I’m worth defending, no matter what I do or say. She knows that I’m good enough even if I can’t see it sometimes.”
Maya paused to let that last part sink in for him and then she drove the point home. “That’s who Riley is, Lucas. She sees the best in people, but only when she knows it’s already there. So, you might not be able to see the good in you but she sure as hell does.”
Letting her words linger, she waited for Lucas to say something. And when he did, it was pretty much what she expected.
“Oh, man.” Lucas put his head in this hands, “I screwed up, didn’t I?”
Maya nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “Big time.”
She watched as he ran his hands through his hair, clearly distressed. “What am I supposed to do now? She probably hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you,” Maya assured him, “You just have to talk to her.”
“Yeah,” Lucas scoffed, “Like she’d want to talk to me after what I did.”
“Look,” Maya sighed, “I’m not gonna sit here and tell you that what you did wasn’t bad, because it was. But, I know my best friend. I know that if you tell her you want to talk, that you want her to know what’s been going on with you, she’ll listen.”
“I think you’re putting too much hope in that happening.” Lucas said grimly.
“Yeah, well, blame her for that. She’s caused me to be a sucker for hope.” Maya chuckled, “I’m serious, though Huckleberry. Just give it a shot, okay? Go and try to talk to her. Try to fix this before it’s too late.”
Taking a deep breath, Lucas lifted his head out of his hands. “Okay, I’ll try.”
“Good,” Maya smiled and stood up, “My work here is done, then.”
As she headed for the door to leave, Lucas’ voice stopped her. “Hey, Maya.”
“Yeah?” she asked expectantly.
He gave her a small smile. “Thanks for the wake up call.”
“Don’t mention it. I mean,” she shrugged, “What else are friends for, right?”
“Right.” Lucas agreed.
“See ya around, Huckleberry.” Maya waved and left the apartment feeling a whole lot better.
“See ya.” Lucas returned her farewell and watched her leave.
Her story had hit a nerve with him. He couldn’t believe Maya had felt the same way as him at one point in her life. He’d never thought of her as broken, too. But, maybe that was just it, though. Maybe the truth was that he wasn’t really broken. Maybe his father had just made him believe he was and Riley was the one trying to help him see it. Maybe he did deserve to be with her. Maybe he was good enough.
Was he really, though? There was only one way to find out.
He had to go win his girl back.