Things between Otis and Maeve had been quite shit. Otis had tried to reach out to her over the next couple of days but she hadn't returned any of his calls. He would've left her a message but knowing their history with those, he figured it was better to just talk to her in person.

Otis was taking stuff out of his locker, getting ready to go home. The day had been absolute hell, he'd spent the whole day either overthinking about what to say to Maeve if he saw her or being completely ignored by her when he did.

"We have an appointment right now." Maeve said, appearing next to Otis.

"What?" Otis asked.

"We have an appointment right now." Maeve said, repeating the first words she had said to Otis in days.

"Oh okay." Otis said, awkwardly.

"Is that going to be a problem?" Maeve asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"No no, I just didn't think you were talking to me." Otis said.

"We run a business together, that's all this is about." Maeve said, even though she didn't mean the words.

Otis visibly deflated, he kind of expected Maeve to shut him out but somehow hearing her say how little she seemed to care about him really broke his heart.

"Okay, let's go." Otis said, shutting his locker.

Maeve and Otis walked to the dingy bathroom they called an office. Not a single word escaped either of their lips but the tension was palpable. It almost felt like the weight of their unspoken words would make the old bathroom come undone.

In the time they waited for their client to arrive, Otis thought and rethought about making conversation, just anything to make him feel like their situation was salvageable. Just as he was about to gather the courage to comment about the weather the client walked in.

Otis had chemistry class with the tall guy standing in front of him, with blonde hair and blue eyes shinning in the sunlight. He looked a bit like an Abercrombie model and Otis was definitely not the only one who had noticed. Maeve was clearly checking the boy out.

"Hey, thanks for doing this." The boy said.

"No worries Chris, what's the problem." Otis asked, wanting to get on with it.

"So I've been hooking up with this girl." Chris said.

"Okay, what's the problem?" Otis asked.

"I think I'm in love with her." Chris said with a dreamy look on his face.

"And that's affecting your performance?" Otis asked. He was normally so awkward about everything, especially sex but whenever he was conducting a session, Otis was like a boy transformed.

"No." Chris said.

"It's affecting her then?" Otis asked, getting kind of confused and irritated at the same time.

"No, she's great and she seems to really enjoy it. We both do." Chris said.

"Okay, I'm not really sure I understand what's going on." Otis said.

"Well, I think I love her and we agreed that this was going to be a casual, friends with benefits kind of thing." Chris said.

"Okay, but you know that this is a sex clinic, right? I'm here to help you with sex related problems. Emotions aren't really my domain." Otis said.

Maeve scoffed at that. God did she know how pathetic Otis could be when it came to dealing with emotions.

Otis shot Maeve a look, partly because he was getting kind of sick of her being so mean but also because he was embarrassed at how true his statement was.

"I know but I've heard you kind of get to the root of problems for people, kind of like therapy. Can you help me out this one time? I would really owe you." Chris said, trying to convince Otis using his puppy dog eyes.

Otis turned to Maeve to ask her what she thought. Maeve shrugged in response, as if to say it didn't matter to her since they were getting paid.

"Okay fine, this one time." Otis said, his voice already sounding a little defeated.

"Thanks man!" Chris said.

"Okay so why is you being in love with this girl a bad thing?" Otis asked.

"Because this is supposed to be casual, neither of us signed up for being in love or whatever. What if she doesn't feel the same way?" Chris asked.

"Okay, has she given any sign that she might feel the same way?" Otis asked.

"Not in words. But she always wants to hang out even when we aren't hooking up and she likes to hold my hand when we go out sometimes. But more than anything and this is going to sound super cheesy and if you ever tell someone I said, I'll deny it but sometimes the way she looks at me makes me feel like she might like me too." Chris said, his ears turning a shade of pink.

"That's actually sweet man, you should tell her." Otis said.

Maeve looked at Otis in disbelief. It was insane how easily he told Chris to reveal his feelings but when it came to his own it felt like Otis had locked them in a safe at the bottom of the sea.

"Yeah but what if she doesn't feel the same way?" Chris asked.

"What if she does?" Maeve asked, surprising herself. She normally stayed silent during these sessions but she couldn't help herself.

"But if she did, wouldn't she have said something?" Chris asked.

"What if she's waiting for you to say something? What if she's scared too and all she needs is some reassurance that you feel the same way?" Maeve asked.

Otis was looking at Maeve in awe; both of them knew she wasn't talking to Chris at all.

"You're right, I like her too much to fuck this up." Chris said.

"You should shoot your shot, in a non creepy way of course." Otis said.

"Yeah, thanks Maeve." Chris said, walking out of the bathroom finally feeling like the biggest load on his chest had been lifted.

Maeve and Otis had one of their signature staring contests, where it almost felt like they were communicating telepathically or something. There was so much Maeve wanted to say in that moment but she was sick and tired of being the one putting herself out there, only to feel utterly rejected at the end of it. She was the first to look away and began heading towards the door.

"Maeve, wait!" Otis called out from behind her.

Maeve despite her best judgment stopped in her tracks because even though she would never admit it, hearing Otis say her name always had an effect on her.

"What?" Maeve asked.

"I know I've been fucking up but can we just talk for one second?" Otis asked.

"What is there left to talk about Otis? I have nothing left to say, I'm all talked out." Maeve said, turning around and facing Otis.

"Alright fair enough but can you at least hear me about?" Otis asked.

Maeve took a deep breath and didn't say anything. She just shook her head as if asking Otis to continue.

"For the past few months, all I've wanted is to find the right words to say and describe how I feel about you. I've thought and overthought this to such an extent that it's left me paralysed. So instead of trying to find the right words, I'm just going to speak from my heart and tell you the words you were supposed to hear in that message. I love you, Maeve. It's as simple and as complicated as that. Before I met you, life was passing me by. I didn't want to be seen because I didn't believe I deserved to be. I just thought I would get through life staying in my own lane and trying to hurt as few people as possible. My dad and the way he treated me and my mom fucked me up in ways I am yet to discover. And I was okay with that version of my life until you came along. It's like you opened my eyes to my own life and everything I had been missing out on. You showed me that I was good at something that everything, all the broken parts of me could be used to help other people as they fixed their broken parts. You more than saw me; you pulled me out of the darkness and shone a light on me. And I think I knew I loved you from the second I bumped into you in the hallway and you called me an idiot. I have loved every you every second since then. Even when you shut me out, but especially when you let me in. Even when you call me a dickhead and but especially when you smile at me and somehow tell me exactly what I needed to hear in the moment.

My inability to say these words was never because I didn't feel them; it was because of the intensity of my feelings for you. You deserve someone who tells you they love you everyday, someone who doesn't let you down. Someone who says these words before they lose their essence. I know I'm flawed and awkward and so deeply confused but I am also someone who loves you with everything he has. And I just want you to know that." Otis said.

He didn't know where he found the courage to say everything that he had held back for so long but Otis knew by the look Maeve had on her face as she was walking to leave that if he didn't say them now, their meaning would be lost forever. The only thing worse for him than Maeve not loving him back was her not being a part of his life at all.

Maeve hadn't said anything in response; she was just staring at him. Otis didn't push her for an answer. They had waited for each other for so long, what was another few minutes?