Long chapter. At least, long for me. It's almost 2000 words. Sorry this took a while; I wasn't sure what to write exactly. xD I hope what happens makes up for the wait. xD
Enjoy.
Nick walked down the short hallway towards Kevin's door; the damn parrot that Kevin had adopted a while back that now inexplicably preferred him to Kevin was getting on his last nerve. It would not shut up at night and he really couldn't take another sleepless night if he were to be at the merchant's the next day to barter for supplies. He was going to take this feathered annoyance and stick it back where it belonged.
He entered Kevin's room quietly, in order to not wake his brother. He expected to see Kevin curled up in his bed, snoring.
He saw an empty bed instead.
Confused, Nick looked around the cabin and saw something he never expected to see. Kevin, snoozing in Max's bed, with Max curled against Kevin's chest. Nick quietly stuffed the bird into the cage and walked over to Max's bed. The light of the oil lamp next to Max's bed was very low, but there was still enough light to see by. Max rolled over suddenly, his arm flopping over the edge of the bed. In the dim light, Nick looked a little more closely at Max and suddenly bit back a gasp.
Max was a girl?!
He all but tore out of the room and shut the door behind him. Well, that would explain a lot, he thought to himself, Kevin's protectiveness of Max, all those little looks between them, the way they tend to disappear at times. Nick sighed and went back to his room. He hoped they were being careful. He trusted most of the men onboard, but he didn't want to know what could happen if Max's secret was found out.
***
The next morning, Macy rolled over in bed, yawning sleepily as she pulled her blankets up to her chin. She heard a low growl from behind her and almost fell off the bed in surprise.
"Kevin! Don't do that. You scared me."
"Well, don't take all the blankets next time."
She shifted in the bed, scooting closer to Kevin and throwing the covers over his shoulder.
"Happy?" she asked with a pout.
"I am now," Kevin replied as he slid an arm around Macy, who snorted in response.
"Kevin, you are exceptionally lame…but it's a good thing I find you deeply attractive."
"You are exceptionally rude, but I find you deeply attractive as well, so we're even."
Kevin got up and saw his parrot back in his cage. As happy as he was to see Dodgy back where he was supposed to belong, there was a nagging feeling in his stomach. Nick had to have brought him back sometime last night. When he and Macy were curled up in her bed. He prayed that Nick just came in, dropped the bird off and left. Kevin dressed quickly, and left the cabin. Macy smiled to herself as she got ready for the day. They'd be docking soon and she wanted to get off the ship as soon as possible in order to have more time with Kevin, without the fear that someone would burst in on her and-
The door swung open and Nick entered.
Macy quickly tried to hide, disguise herself and run away all at the same time, but Nick grabbed hold of her arm and shut the door behind them.
"I assume Kevin knows you're a girl by the way you two have been acting lately?" he said quietly, with a bit of an edge to his voice.
"Yeah."
"How long?"
"Since that day that Joe got it in his head that selling me off to cover his debts would be a good idea," Macy said, dropping her head.
"Your real name?"
"Macy."
"And your reasons for not telling anyone else?" he asked, raising a brow at her. Macy shuffled her feet and bit her lip.
"Hello? I'm a lone girl on a ship full of men. What do you think could have happened?"
"I get what you're insinuating and I'm feeling quite insulted. The men on this ship are good men. They wouldn't hurt a lady."
"I'm no lady. And Joe tries to hurt me every chance he gets."
"Joe's hurt you?" Nick's voice was shock mixed with concern.
"Not directly. He made me climb the rope attached to the main mast the other day. It tore my hands up. Kevin…put some…salve and stuff on them though, so they'll be okay," Macy blushed slightly, remembering the comforting kisses Kevin had placed along her arms last night.
"You and Kevin…are…what exactly?"
"We're…I'm not sure. He takes care of me and we like each other, but…"
"Does he love you?"
"I-I don't know. He said if you and Joe found out that I was a girl and the two of you didn't like it and kicked me out, that he'd leave with me."
"He said that?" Nick was dumbfounded.
"Ye-es?" she paused, "Look, Nick, I don't want to do this right now. We're about to dock and Kevin and I are supposed to go get more food for the ship."
"Fine. I won't tell Joe, but you probably should, just because he's Kevin's brother and he'd probably let up on you if he knew you were a girl."
"I'll think about it. I'm going to finish getting dressed, so if you could leave…?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah, of course," Nick said as he walked out of the room. She wasn't going to tell Kevin that Nick found out about her until she was sure he wasn't going to do something…stupid.
As soon as he was gone, Macy quickly tucked her shirt into her pants, put on her boots and pulled her hair back. She grabbed her belt pouch and tied it on, cautiously making her way to the main deck. She found Kevin waiting for her there and as soon as they docked at Port Azure, Joe took off like a shot. In a dress and frilly bonnet they had lying around for occasions like these.
Macy and Kevin quietly walked off the ship under the pretense of buying more food-which they would do, later. As soon as the marina was out of eyeshot, Kevin quickly pulled Macy into a deserted alleyway. Pinning her against the stone wall, he pressed his lips against hers in a rough kiss.
"Sorry," he apologized as he pulled back, "But you looked so pretty."
"Kevin, I'm wearing an old shirt and worn out pants. I'm posing as a boy on a ship full of men. I haven't had a real bath in forever and you think I look pretty?" Macy said as she looked up at him.
"Yeah. None of that matters to me. I don't care what you're wearing or that you're posing as a boy. And the bath thing? May I remind you, I haven't had a bath in forever either? It's a pirate thing."
"I know…but…if I'm always a boy, we're never going to be able to…do anything in public."
"Well…we could buy you a dress and you could wear it until we go back to the ship."
"You would do that for me?" Macy asked softly, biting her lip as she looked up at him shyly.
"Of course. You deserve it," Kevin said softly, running a finger along her jaw line. She smiled at his words and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Let's go," she said, tugging on his hand.
They walked down a street to a small dress shop where Kevin waited outside as Macy tried to convince the lady to let her try on a dress or two.
"Come on ma'am, I'm a girl…I want my boyfriend to think I'm pretty. I'm stuck on a pirate ship for weeks on end, trying to keep the fact that I'm a girl a secret and I haven't had a new dress in forever…" she pleaded with the lady.
"Okay, fine…I think I have a few dresses that will fit you. You like blue?"
"Blue is good," Macy said.
"Okay, here," the lady said as she handed her a soft blue dress with lace. Macy ducked behind the screen and undressed, unwinding the binding from her chest. She slipped on the dress, reveling in the feel of the silky material against her skin after having worn the same roughly-made linen for what seemed like forever.
"Do you have gloves?" Macy asked timidly, "My hands are kind of…rough."
"Of course," the lady said, handing her a pair of white kid gloves, "We could also do something with your hair…"
"Really?" Macy asked excitedly. The short hair was somewhat nice, but it felt out of place while she was wearing the dress.
The woman pinned back her hair, letting some strands hang down to frame her face. The woman gave her a hat, placing it carefully on her head.
"Pinch your cheeks and bite your lips. It'll give your face some color," she said with a small smile.
"Thank you ma'am," Macy said as she paid and left the shop. She took a deep breath as she made her way over to Kevin.
"Do you…like it?" Macy asked shyly, looking up at Kevin through her lashes. Kevin had never looked at her like this before, and she had to admit, she quite liked it. He was studying her intently, a strange little half smile on his face.
"You look beautiful," he said softly, taking a step closer to her and taking her hand. He lifted it to his lips and smiled at her, "My lady," he murmured.
Macy let out a snort as she blushed.
Kevin raised a brow and gave her a questioning smile, "Yes?"
"It just feels nice to hear you say that I'm beautiful. It's been a while since I've been told that.
They walked out of the alley and down the street, holding hands as they enjoyed the balmy island breezes. There was a small girl selling oranges along the street and she called out to them to please buy her oranges. Kevin smiled at the girl and bought two oranges for himself and Macy. He gave the girl a gold coin, worth much more than the two oranges and winked at her before walking off.
"Kevin…I don't think you should have done that," Macy said quietly as she peeled her orange, handing out gold coins like that…especially in a city like this…"
"Are yoo jelish?" Kevin smirked through a mouth of orange.
Macy gave him a cutting look before replying, "No, but I'm worried about her. I was older than her when I had to start working on my own and I was very, very lucky."
"And then you met me," Kevin said with a goofy smile as he swallowed the orange segment.
"Yes, Kevin, and then I met you…" she said with an eyeroll as she patted him on the shoulder. She stuffed the last piece of her orange into her mouth and smiled sweetly at him.
"We can go check on that little girl if you want, but we can't bring her on the ship. You can't go around collecting strays just because you feel sorry for them."
"Said the one who picked up this stray and took her back to the ship."
"That was different," Kevin said, giving his last piece of orange to Macy, "Shall we go get the food at the market now? We can get them to deliver it later."
"That sounds good. I suppose I should get out of this dress before that, huh?"
"Yeah, probably. Just in case-"
Just then, Joe ran past them, still in his dress and shouting in a really bad falsetto for the two men chasing him to stop.
Kevin and Macy stole a glance at each other, stifling their laughter.
Macy's getting kidnapped in the next chapter…and Kevin goes all Will Turner, just like I promised more than a month ago. I think after that, there's only going to be one more chapter.
PS: Go see How to Train Your Dragon. IT ROCKS.
