Maya was trying her very best to stay awake long enough for Lucas to knock on her bedroom window, but sleep was gaining on her quickly and she could feel her eyes start to droop, her mind beginning to drift off...

She wanted to see him again, to hold him again, when no one would be around to watch. Sure, he was just going to meet up with her in the morning, but the group would eventually meet up with them and of course, they would no longer be alone.

Maya had never felt so strongly about anyone else before, it felt amazing to want someone and be wanted. She only wished that she would feel this way forever.

Quietly, three soft knocks came from her bedroom window. Startling her, Maya quickly leans over and turns on the lamp beside her bed to help her see a little better in the darkness of the room. She cautiously makes her way over to the window, remembering that it could literally be anyone outside.

Maya smiles as she sees the face on the other side, but when the person she wants to see doesn't return the gesture, her expression grows worrisome as she opens the window. "Do you know how hard it is to get up here?" Lucas asks, holding himself up.

Maya looks down the window, now remembering that the fire escape to her building is not as sturdy as the one in Riley's building and is not meant for recreational climbing. She scrunches up her nose, "Yeah, I didn't exactly think this one through." She opens the window up wider in hopes that this sneaky plan of theirs won't cause too much of a ruckus. "I'm so sorry."

"Can you give me a hand?" Lucas asks again, reaching out a hand for Maya to take. Holding on tightly, she guides him into the room, helping him land on his feet gently. "You don't have to apologize, it's okay. It was actually kind of fun."

"Next time," Maya laughs, "we'll make sure you come through the front door."

"Sounds like a good idea." Lucas brushed himself off, his hands were rough from the climb, but it wasn't anything he was too worried about. "I'm gonna kiss you again. Is that ok–"

Maya grabs the collar of his shirt and pulls Lucas close. She pauses for a moment as if she's going to say something, but when she doesn't, she leans in and kisses him first.

     Lucas had wanted this for so long, it still didn't feel like it was actually happening, like this was all one crazy dream. He was unmeasurably happy. "I think I could get used to this." He says, his lips still lingering over hers.

     "So could I." She smiles, wrapping her arms around his waist.

     "I love you. Like, I really really love you." Lucas said and they both laughed at his emphasis on the word "really". "Having you in my life has made it so much better. I- I couldn't thank you enough."

     Maya promised herself she wouldn't cry during Lucas's time in New York, but alas, it was happening nonetheless. A few tears formed in her eyes, droplets of pure joy. Her happiness outweighed her insecurities, and for the first time, that felt amazing to her. "I love you, too, Lucas. So much."

    They stood together, holding each other in their arms, foreheads touching, in the comfort of the darkened room. They both couldn't help but want this for eternity.

     As their knees grew weak from standing still for so long, they made their way to Maya's bed. They laid down and Lucas let Maya cuddle in next to him. "So." Maya starts, rolling into a position where Lucas could see her face while still holding her close.

     "So." Lucas repeats as he laughs.

"You like horses?"

"Really?" He laughs again. "The first thing you ask me about is horses?"

Maya nods cheerfully, "Yeah. Horses, Huckleberry." She teased him.

"Of course, I like horses. I bet you can't guess how many we have."

"Oh really?"

"Really."

"Ten?"

"Nope."

"Seven?"

"Higher."

"Twelve? It's gotta be twelve."

"Nope."

"More? Twenty?"

"Twenty-four."

"Are you serious?"

"Totally serious." Lucas smiled as Maya's eyebrows raised in surprise. "One day after school," He started, "Sofia was foaling and there was no one there, so I called Dr. Galendo and he talked me through it."

"Really, Cowboy? You helped a horse give birth?"

"Did you know that a baby horse stands in the first hour after it's born? The coolest thing I've ever seen and I was a part of it."

"That's amazing." Maya watched attentively as his eyes lit up.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"I've never told this to anybody before."

"Oh?"

"I think someday I might like to be a veterinarian. I delivered this beautiful Palomino. Look:" He shuffled around to get his phone out of his pocket and opened up his photo library. Maya smiled when she noticed that his lockscreen was a picture for the two of them on FaceTime from a few months ago.

"Wow, that's a beautiful horse. That's so cool that you know what you want to do. I have no idea what I want to do with my life, I wish it was easier to decide. There's so many possibilities and I– I haven't even narrowed them down."

"Do you think you're going to go to college?"

"Hopefully... Eventually. I don't know."

"Well, it's okay not to know. There's so much time to figure things out. You don't have to rush into it right away just because society tells you to."

"Yeah, I guess. Knowing that Riley wants to go to college, continuing to be the perfect student that she is, I've always wanted to be right next to her, but I don't know if college is the best thing for me right now because I don't know what I want to do."

"You can't knock it before you try, but if you're confident that it's going to do you more harm than good, then don't go."

"I just don't want to disappoint anyone... my mom... I don't want to let everyone down."

"I'm sure that she'll be happy with whatever you decide to do."

"You think so?"

"I'm positive. Don't stress out about it, Maya. It's your choice, not anyone else's."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right."

"You'll be successful in whatever you do, Maya. I'm sure of it."

"Thank you."

They laid in comfortable silence for a while.

"I've always wanted to ride a horse." Maya admits.

"Oh really?"

"Would you teach me?"

"I would love to teach you."

"Then it's a date."

"So it is."

They both smiled bashfully at each other until one of them brought up another conversation. "Remember all that nonsense we went through with Riley?" Lucas rolled his eyes as Maya brought it up. "We made up."

     "Oh, really?"

     "Yeah, she apologized for it all earlier today. She had done so before, but it really felt like she meant it this time."

     "She seemed really nice at dinner. It kind of surprised me that all that conflict came from her, she seems like she wouldn't hurt a fly."

     "She wouldn't." Maya laughed, "I don't think she ever intended to make things that complicated in the first place, but here we are. I think we still worked out okay, though."

     "Yeah, I guess we did." Lucas kissed Maya on her forehead.

     "Thank you for coming to see me. Here in my room and here in New York in general." Maya smiled, squeezing her arms around him a little tighter.

     "I'd do anything for you, Maya."

"And I'd do anything for you, Lucas. Does your mom know that you're here?"

"Oh yeah, she knows."

"Can you sleep over then?"

"I can definitely do that."

"Hell yeah."

     "I love you so much."

     "I love you so much, too. So, so much."

     And the two slowly fell asleep in each other's arms.

  
AUTHOR'S NOTE — I hope this was enjoyable! Before the book ends, I really wanted to write some in-person dialogue between Maya and Lucas; something that's really personal for the both of them, even if it doesn't have the best structured sentences (that's the point, their conversation doesn't need much description), and I hope I accomplished that. Let me know what you think! Two more chapters left! Can you believe it? I finally can!