Moana woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing. She groaned, rolling over to see who had the audacity to text her this early. Of course, her gut already knew.

Moana, we need to talk.

-Maui

It had been one of many texts she'd gotten since the night before. Maui wanted to talk about that kiss, but Moana wasn't interested in being told the obvious. It was a mistake, he was caught up in the moment, someone as popular as him wouldn't ever be with a loner like her.

She tossed her phone onto her desk before hopping out of bed to get ready for school. After taking a quick shower and pulling on a set of clean clothes, she grabbed her backpack and walked out.

As she drove, she nervously nibbled at her thumbnail. She had to end her tutoring sessions with Maui. She'd find someone better to help him. Maybe Te Fiti? She's always been better at talking to people and her grades almost rivaled Moana's.

Moana didn't have much time to think about it, though, because as soon as she pulled into a parking spot, Maui was standing right in front of her car.

He just stared at her. Moana couldn't tell if he was angry or not. His face just looked...blank. She gulped before opening her car door and got out.

"Moana, why haven't you responded to any of my texts? You sent all of my calls to voicemail. What's going on? We really need to talk."

Moana bit down on her bottom lip, unsure of what to say. "I already know what you're going to say, so you really don't have to bother." She adjusted the backpack on her shoulder, avoiding his eyes. "I think it would be best if Te Fiti takes over for me with tutoring you."

The expression on Maui's face changed at her words. "Moana, that's not what I want. That-" he stopped as she shook her head.

"Don't worry, Maui. We can pretend like nothing happened last night. Easy." She took a step back. "Well, good luck with your classes and..." she looked up at the football banner. "And all of that."

Before Maui could stop her, she had already walked away. He could feel his anger rising inside of him. Why wouldn't she just listen to him?

The day went by rather quickly for Moana. It was definitely something she was thankful for. When the final bell rang, she grabbed her things out of her locker and made her way out to her car. She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed a few football players around it, seemingly waiting for her.

Her guess was correct when they all looked over at her. The quarterback, Tamatoa, was the first to reach her. "Mona, right?"

"It's Moana."

"Yeah, whatever. We saw you hanging out with our boy, Maui, earlier. What's going on there?"

Moana raised an eyebrow. "Nothing. He just needed someone to tutor him, and Mr. Thomas wanted me to be that person. This morning, Maui just wanted to know if I wanted to meet him at the library again. Now will you move so I can get to my car?"

Tamatoa eyed Moana up and down, a wicked smile on his face. "So you're not one of his side pieces. Good to know. Now that we've gotten that sorted out, what do you say you and I go...chat somewhere?" His hand reached over to gently run his knuckles down Moana's cheek.

Moana didn't know what to do. Her hand instinctively went to her pocket, where her phone usually was. Dammit, she thought, I never took it off my desk this morning.

Just as Moana was about to respond, Maui appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Tamatoa's wrist. "The fuck are you doing, Tom?"

Tamatoa smirked. "Well, I wanted to know who your new friend was. She informed me that you two are nothing more than...well, even less then friends. I figured she was fair game."

Maui's grip tightened around Tamatoa's wrist. "Leave her alone."

"If I didn't know you any better, I would've thought you actually cared about her. Come on, Maui. Why is she any different than the rest of the girls you 'hang out' with? If you're not gonna make a move on her, I surely will."

"Moana," Maui said, keeping his eyes on Tamatoa. "Get in your car now."

Moana looked between the two men before doing as Maui instructed.

He looked around at his other teammates. "If I see or hear about any of you going near her again, I will personally make sure you never play a game again."

Tamatoa shook his head. "Come on, Maui. You can't tell me you haven't thought about what she'd be like in bed. That crazy hair of hers, her ass-" He stopped as a fist collided with his jaw. In the process of punching Tamatoa, he snapped his wrist, as well.

"I make good on my promises, Tom. Have fun on the bench this season because there's no way you can pick up a football, let alone throw it." Maui chuckled, flicking Tamatoa's wrist, causing him to scream. "Don't go near her again, or there will be a lot more pain where that came from."

Maui walked over to the passenger side of Moana's car to see if she was alright. Before he could even say a word, she unlocked the door. "Get in." She said simply.

Moana drove back to her house in silence. What could she say? Should she thank him? Should she be scared of him? The way he so easily snapped Tamatoa's wrist should scare her. She knew he was strong, but she didn't exactly know how strong, until then.

She got out of the car and walked into her house, Maui following closely behind her. It wasn't until she closed her bedroom door behind them that she said anything.

"What the hell was that?"

Maui didn't know how to respond. He knew his actions today wouldn't exactly help the rumors that Tamatoa had started about the two of them.

"I was walking from my locker and I saw them surround you. What was I supposed to do? Keep walking? Moana, you don't want to know what they're capable of, especially Tamatoa."

"Why do you care? You barely know me."

It was true. They'd only really known each other for less than 48 hours, but there was something that kept pulling Maui to Moana.

"I know you're the mayor's daughter but you wish everyday that you weren't. You hate the expectation that you have to follow in his footsteps, but you do so anyway because you love your parents. I know you have a love for the ocean and seafood. You're more relaxed at your grandmother's because she accepts you for who you truly are. And you don't want to admit what happened last night meant something because that would mean having to accept that you actually have feelings for me and you can't just isolate yourself anymore. Am I close?"

Moana stared at him, tears filling her eyes. She hadn't told him any of that, but in the last two days, he had figured it all out on his own.

"Maui..."

"So what is it that you want me to do now? Do you want me to fuck off and never mention it again? Because you know as well as I do that it'll only hurt us both." He let out a deep breath. "Moana, I really like you. I don't know why, but I do. Last night wasn't an accident. I acted on impulse, not pity or expectation. When I kissed you, it wasn't for the shot to get you into bed. It was because I would hate myself for letting that chance slip away."

Moana took a step closer to him, her eyes never leaving his. His words made her think about what she truly wanted. She reached up to run her fingers down his cheek, causing him to bend down slightly so that his face was just barely above hers.

She stared into his eyes, looking for any sign of deception but there was none. Before she knew it, her lips were crashing into his.

Maui's arm instinctively wrapped around her small waist, making sure she wouldn't go anywhere this time. His free hand tangled in her curly brown hair.

He pulled away slightly as she took a step towards her bed, pulling him with her.

"Moana," he said quietly, stopping right at the edge of the bed. "I'm not here for that. I want you to know that. This isn't a sex thing for me."

Moana brought his hand up to her lips. "Then will you just lay down with me?"

Maui slowly sat on the bed, watching as Moana laid down. "I just want to be clear about this. The only clothing that is coming off is our shoes."

Moana couldn't help but giggle. "Shut up." She said pulling him down so that she could rest her head on his large chest. "Thank you for saving me earlier."

Maui chuckled. "You could've handled yourself. I just didn't want you to have to deal with them alone."

"Did you ever plan to make me one of your hookups?"

The question caught Maui off-guard. He should've seen it coming, though. He could only imagine what Tamatoa said to her. "In the beginning. I saw you as a challenge. My plan was to help you out at the dinner last night and then make a move." He saw the look on Moana's face. "That kiss wasn't me trying to get you into bed. We've already gone over this, Curly. When we snuck out, that was when I changed my mind. I saw a different side of you. A side that I wanted to get to know. The kiss last night was an instinctive move. I didn't think, I just did it. If I just wanted you as a hookup, do you think we'd be in this position right now?" He pressed his index finger against her lips. "Don't answer that."

Moana responded by moving closer to Maui, nuzzling slightly into the crook of his neck. She closed her eyes, letting her exhaustion from the day take over.

Maui tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear, smiling down at her. "Sweet dreams, Moana. I'll be here when you wake up." He whispered.