Twenty Nights

The first night Lucas Friar had the guts to knock on Maya Hart’s window was a night he would always remember.

It was for such an idle reason, considering the fact that she had forced him to do their entire science project. But he had eventually gotten fed up with the fact that she always forced him to do their projects. So he did what he had to do. He went up to her window to give her a piece of his mind.

But when she opened the window, blonde hair up into a messy ponytail, running mascara and red lipstick smudged and that damned tight black dress, his anger all drifted away. He was aware that Maya had had a date that night, but he wasn’t aware that it had ended that badly. The look of pain in her eyes told enough.

“What do you want, Lucas?” She asked. He wasn’t sure how to answer her, being too focused on the fact that Maya Hart, “The Unbreakable”, was crying.

She rolled her eyes and went back to her bed, sitting on it. He took the opened window as an invitation to come in, and he did. He shut the window behind him to keep the chilly air out.

He took place next to Maya and without a word, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. Her body was tense at first due to the sudden physical contact, but she relaxed into his embrace eventually. She had buried her face in the crook of the boy’s neck, and had let the tears out.

Lucas held her until she was done. She had somehow switched positions, sitting on his lap, her arms around his neck, and her face buried in his chest. His arms were around her petite waist, and he listened to her sob.

Hearing someone cry was never something Lucas enjoyed, especially not when it came to his friends. He had seen Riley cry, he had seen Farkle cry, but never Maya. Ever. Maya was the one who held the others as they cried; she was the one able to cheer up anyone over anything. She had a gift for those kinds of things. When it came to Lucas, he was more of a listener. He was very awkward whenever people cried, not knowing how to react, nor wanting to hurt the person even more. He would usually hug the other and listen.

So that’s what he did.

He asked Maya what had happened, and after she had dried her tears, she told him. He had expected to get slapped, or to get snapped at, but never for her to open up. They were close friends, yes, but they would never talk about what was wrong in their lives.

He knew that with tonight, that would change.

On her date with Charlie, he had tried to force himself on her.

And Lucas saw red.

He paced her bedroom floor, fists clenched, ready to completely beat the shit out of Charlie. But then, he saw the look on Maya’s face. The pain in her eyes was too much for him, and it calmed him down instantly.

He went to her desk and grabbed what he thought were the make-up wipes. He wiped the smudged make-up from her face, and she chuckled quietly, her reddened eyes looking up to him.

“I must look like such a mess.” She said. He smiled at her.

“I’ve seen worse.” He said. She let out a small laugh. Lucas thought that he had succeeded, but the pain came back as quickly as it had gone earlier.

They lay on her bed together, his arms wrapped around her, her face buried in his chest. The poor girl had cried herself to sleep. Lucas promised himself to never leave the blonde to cry herself to sleep ever again. He vowed to take care of her, because he never wanted to see the pain in her beautiful blue eyes ever again.

And that was the first night Lucas knocked on her window.