Funnnn fact: it took me like ten years to write this chapter.

(What I'm listening to: Sunrise -- Our Last Night)

~ JM/SS/CW

---------------------

I feel the overwhelming need to protect Maya no matter what, despite the fact that she's two years older than myself. Some newly-discovered feelings might play a small role in the whole thing as well.

Maya was the one who taught me not to deny my feelings, so I tried my best to accept them with open arms when I first started to realize that I might have liked her just a little.

Truth be told -- it wasn't easy. I kept going from thinking "I might like Maya" as a positive thought, to thinking "I might like Maya" as a negative thought. It drove me insane, how I could go from being happy about this possible crush, to despising the thought of it.

But now, there's no doubt in my mind that I like her. The hard part? Telling her.

"Maya, we need to talk about something."

She laughs a little, obviously not having an idea what's going on. "About what?"

"About me. I mean, you. Wait -- I mean.... us."

We flop into the bay window simultaneously, Maya just staring at me with that usual sparkle in her blue eyes.

"Okay. Obviously we've been getting to know each other a lot and stuff while you've been staying here...."

She smirks, nodding her head slowly. "Yeah. And?"

I laugh nervously, and her smirk turns into an actual smile. "Sorry. Basically, during that time, I...."

"You're really bad at getting to the point, did you know that?"

Before I can even respond, she kisses me. It catches me off guard, and I don't know what to say once she pulls away. "U-Umm.... So, I guess you knew what I was getting to, huh?"

Maya laughs, probably mostly at how hard I'm blushing, because I can feel my cheeks burning.

"You're adorable, Matthews."

-----------------------

Well. That was short.