Page 24 of Thaw My Heart
Maya is quiet for a moment too long. It makes me nervous.
“We’ve been friends our whole lives, Darcy. I’ve almost never led you into anything you couldn’t handle. Can you please trust me?”
Trust her, yes. Enjoy it, absolutely not.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m relieved that Cody is okay. And I’m glad that he’s willing to spend some quality time with Maya. But I’m just not seeing how I fit into this. It’s been made abundantly clear that he and I are bad for each other’s sanity. If Maya wants to make Cody feel better, then I’m definitely not the one to invite on their day out.It’s too freakin’ convenient that Maya can go M.I.A. for the entire trip, then show up when her heart desires and drag me along with her on some dysfunctional adventure.
“But why doIhave to go on this little field trip? Can’t you just take him and leave me here? I doubt he’ll want to see me anyway,” I admit as I begrudgingly lace my walking sneakers. I warily eye Maya as she aggressively applies chapstick. I think she’s been doing that for the past fifteen minutes. Maybe the day has finally come. Maybe Maya has lost her damn mind. I alwaysknew it would happen eventually. She watches too many true crime documentaries not to completely lose it.
“Because both you and Cody need all the friends you can get right now and, quite frankly, I can’t trust either of you enough to leave you alone.”
Can’t trust either of us enough to leave us alone, my ass.
She needs to be humbled. If she thinks she can’t trustme, she needs to be locked up.
“That’s ridiculous,” I argue. “I’m a grown adult, and so is he. And besides, you sure seemed to think we were trustworthy enough to be left alone for the past two days. We haven’t seen you at all, Maya.”
Maya shoots me a look. “That’s not relevant. I didn’t think I had to spend my vacation babysitting but you both have proved me wrong.” The sass is unmatched. I think it must be genetic because IswearCody has looked at me with the very same dull stare at least a dozen times. “And if you’re so confident that you’re trustworthy adults, maybe you should start acting like it. This nonsense all started becauseyouwere picking a fight with him, andhe’stoo immature to let it go when he knows he should. I don’t know what it is, Darcy, but when the two of you are together, it’s like you’re a couple of thirteen-year-olds again. And you took it too far this time. You ‘kids’ have gotten yourselves into adult trouble, and you’re both too damn stupid to get yourselves out of it.”
That might be true.
Okay, it’sdefinitelytrue.
“Alright, fine,” I say. “So maybe he and I aren’t on our best behavior together. But that doesn’t mean you have to baby us. We can handle things on our own.”
Maya snorts a laugh. “Yeah, right! I left you two alone for less than a day and look what happened. It’s time for some supervised exposure therapy. You and Cody are going to becomebest friends before the day is over, with a little help from me, of course. Just trust me. Doctor Maya is on the case.”
Best friends. Yeah, right. That’s almost more laughable than ‘Doctor Maya.’
“Ican’tbe friends with him,” I debate. I stare at the side of Maya’s head as she pulls on a clean T-shirt and a pair of jeans. “He and I just don’t mix, Maya. We’re like oil and water. No matter how much we try, we just reject each other.”
Maya scoffs. I can tell I’m pushing the limit. She’s getting frustrated. But of all my great talents, knowing when to stop isn’t one of them. “Well, isn’t that poetic?” she asks me. “Just try, okay? For me? If today goes badly, then I will never force you to talk to him again for as long as you live. Just… don’t half-ass this, Darcy, okay?Try.Really, actually try. I think if you did, you’d find out that Cody isn’t and never was your enemy. You guys used to get along. At one point, I even wondered if you two had feelings for each other. But that was for, like, half a second. Then it all went to shit I guess.”
I want to explain that Cody isn’t my enemy. I don’t even hold any real animosity toward him anymore. It’s just a blatant fact that we weren’t made to be friends.And ‘feelings for each other?’ Hell no. It had always been one-sided.
But for Maya, I’ll do it. I’ll give in and stop arguing. I’ll actually try. But I just know that this isn’t going to go well. Cody and I just can’t seem to connect. It’s sad, but it’s true. There’s too much distrust between us. We don’t understand each other. And a day in the city won’t change that, no matter how much all of us wish it would.
I mean, we came so close last night to achieving something close to friendship. It was within arm’s reach. But as quickly as we had it, it was gone. It’s starting to seem like that’s just how it works for Cody and me.
“Fine. Let’s just get this over with.”
As I watch Maya's face light up with excitement, I'm struck by a wave of guilt. Here I am, grumbling about spending time with her and Cody, when Maya has been nothing but supportive of me for months. Despite flaking on me during this trip, I know in my heart that Maya deserves a break.
My mind drifts back to that awful night, just two weeks after Milo and I split up. I'd been putting on a brave face, telling everyone I was fine, that I was better off without him. But inside, I was crumbling.
That night, the facade finally shattered. I remember sitting on my kitchen floor, surrounded by shards of the plates we'd received as engagement gifts. I'd been unpacking them, intending to return them, when the weight of everything suddenly hit me. Our future, our plans, our life together – all of it was gone. In a moment of blind rage and despair, I'd hurled the entire box across the room.
I don't know how long I sat there, tears streaming down my face, my hands bleeding from where I'd carelessly tried to pick up the broken pieces. That's how Maya found me when she let herself in with her spare key.
She didn't say a word. She simply sat down beside me, heedless of the mess, and pulled me into her arms. For hours, she held me as I sobbed, stroked my hair, and whispered that everything would be okay.
When I finally calmed down, Maya got to work. She cleaned up the broken dishes, bandaged my hands, and ran me a hot bath. While I soaked, trying to wash away the pain and humiliation, I could hear her in the kitchen, talking quietly on the phone.
Later, I found out she'd called her boss and taken a week off work. For the next seven days, Maya was my lifeline. She cooked for me, made sure I showered, and forced me out of the house for short walks. She listened when I needed to talk and sat incomfortable silence when I couldn't find the words. She fielded calls from concerned friends and family, shielding me from having to explain my heartbreak over and over.
Most importantly, she reminded me that I was strong, that I would survive this. "You're Darcy fucking Gray," she'd say, her eyes fierce with loyalty. "You're the strongest person I know. This pain won't last forever, I promise."
And she was right. Slowly but surely, with Maya by my side, I started to heal. She celebrated every small victory with me – the first day I didn't cry, the first time I laughed genuinely, the first night out where I didn't think about Milo once.
