Maeve hadn't been able to focus on the project meeting for one second. All she could think about was what Otis was going to say. Sure he had told her he didn't want to break up with her but what if he had just said that to calm her down? She had been feeling weird about how things went down with Isaac anyway and she wanted to tell Otis but given how pissed off he already seemed, she decided against it.
"Hey." Isaac said, coming up to Maeve at the end of the session.
"Hey." Maeve said, trying to sound as curt as possible.
"I wanted to apologise for making you uncomfortable. That was never my intension." Isaac said.
Maeve just nodded at him in acknowledgement; she really didn't feel like accepting his apology.
"Also I wanted to say how much I appreciate you not telling Otis about it." Isaac said.
"What makes you think I didn't tell Otis?" Maeve asked, trying to reveal as little as possible.
"He seemed very surprised and confused when I went to apologise to him for that. To be fair, the surprise turned into what seemed like blinding rage pretty fast." Isaac.
It felt like all the dots had suddenly connected for Maeve. Otis wasn't trying to break up with her; he was trying to tell her off for keeping the Isaac thing a secret. Or at least that's what Maeve hoped was going on because if Otis decided to break up with her over her non existent feels for Isaac, she wasn't sure she would be able to take it. She hated that things had come to this and knew it was all because of Isaac.ß
"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?!" Maeve screamed. She was starting to see red.
"Why are you so upset, I thought you would be happy." Isaac said.
"Why the fuck would I be happy?!" Maeve asked, it was taking all her self-control to not punch Isaac's face.
"Well because you keep talking about how much you love and respect Otis and I figured you would want me to apologise for what you deemed to be inappropriate behaviour." Isaac said.
"First of all, what the fuck does behaviour I deemed to inappropriate mean?! You know exactly what you were trying to do and now that it didn't work you're trying to start more shit." Maeve said.
"Why do you keep thinking I'm against you? I honestly feel so hurt by that. All I'm trying to do is be there for you because I understand you and your life. And I know that's something you try to deny to yourself and me but you know it's true. You've never had someone look out for you and whenever someone tries to, you push them away. You've done it all your life and you're doing it now. I get that you're with Otis, I may not like it but I accept it. I apologised to both you and him to show how much I respect what you have but all either of you have done is push me away. I get I fucked things up before but are you going to let that define how you see me for the rest of my life?" Isaac asked, his voice cracking a little as he spoke.
Maeve calmed down a little listening to Isaac's speech. She was still mad at him but she wasn't sure if she wanted to scream at him when he was being vulnerable like this.
"Isaac, I don't need you to protect me. I can appreciate the sentiment but just because we've had similar lives doesn't give you the right to disrespect all my boundaries. I know what I want and even if I didn't, what's best for me was never for you to decide." Maeve said, walking away from Isaac.
Isaac watched Maeve as she walked away from him. It hurt to see her turn him down like that but he knew it was just the walls she had taken years to build. Deep down, Isaac knew that Maeve still felt something for him; she was just suppressing it because she was with Otis. Isaac knew that the more time Maeve spent with him, the more she could see how much they belonged together. And for his chance at a forever with Maeve, Isaac was willing to work through this little bump in their road.
Maeve rushed to Otis, she knew she had to clear the air as soon as possible. She practically ran the entire way and pounded on Otis' door as if she wanted to break it down.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Otis asked, opening the door.
"Hey." Maeve said, pulling Otis in for a kiss. She didn't know why but she almost felt like she was worried it might be the last chance she had to kiss him.
"Wow. What was that for? Not that I'm complaining, I'm just curious." Otis said breathlessly, once they had pulled away from the kiss.
"I'm sorry." Maeve said.
"For what?" Otis asked.
"For not telling you about Isaac trying to hold my hand. I know it isn't the biggest deal in the world but I knew it would upset you and that's why I kept it from you. It wasn't because there's anything between him and I. I just wanted to protect you and us but I get why you would be upset." Maeve said, knowing she needed to get her side out of the situation out before Otis misunderstood things further.
Otis took a second to process what Maeve had said. He wasn't expecting her to know what was going on.
"How did you know I knew about it?" Otis asked.
"Isaac told me he apologised to you. What did he say?" Maeve asked.
"He told me he didn't mean for it to seem like he was hitting on you because he wasn't but he was still sorry." Otis said.
"What did you say?" Maeve asked.
"I told him I would kick his ass if he came near you." Otis said.
"You did what?" Maeve asked, a huge smile taking over her face.
"I told him I would kick his ass, why do you look so amused?" Otis asked.
"Because you are literally the least confrontational person I have ever met." Maeve said.
"Yeah well, I'm confrontational when it comes to you. That sounds weird and a lot like toxic masculinity. I mean I would want to protect you. Not that you need protection but that I would want to fight for you.." Otis rambled, not really sure of what he wanted to say anymore.
Maeve shut him up with a kiss because she knew he wouldn't stop until she made him. It was also because she loved him with every single beat of her heart and couldn't believe someone as kind and beautiful as Otis had fallen for her too.
"I love you." Maeve said, pulling away from Otis.
"I love you too." Otis said, leaning his forehead against Maeve's.
"I'm sorry for not telling you, it's not because I don't trust you. I do with everything I have and I want you to trust me too. I promise I'll tell you everything no matter how annoying. And I'm going to start now. So after the meeting, Isaac came up to me to tell me he apologised to you which was just to start shit up again but anyway he gave me a whole speech about how he was only looking out for me, how he respects us and how he wants nothing but the best for me because he understands my life. He also went off about how what he did with the message shouldn't define how I see him." Maeve said.
"What did you say?" Otis asked.
"I told him I know what I want and even if I didn't what I want wasn't for him to decide." Maeve said.
"What do you want?" Otis asked.
"You. Always." Maeve said.
Otis smiled and gave Maeve a small peck on her lips.
"Does it bother you that I don't understand your past the way he does?" Otis asked, suddenly feeling exposed having laid his insecurities out in front of Maeve.
"No, because you understand me way better than he ever could. You actually listen to what I have to say and what I want, while he just tells me what I want. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you didn't understand me because you do, better than I understand myself most of the time." Maeve said, searching Otis' eyes to see if she had gotten through to him.
"I think it's just because of how much he talks about it, how much he tries to prove to me that he knows you and a part of me knows that's not true but I can't help it sometimes. It's taken a lot for us to get here and for most of that time, I never felt that someone like you could ever fall for someone like me and that wasn't because of anything you said or did, it was all me." Otis said.
Maeve just looked at Otis in disbelief; she couldn't for the life of her understand why Otis would be worried. She knew they were different, both in terms of who they were as people but also the kind of people they hung out with but that's what made it so much better. She knew he was different from what she had known all her life and that's why she loved him.
"You just don't see yourself the way I do and I hate it. You're such a wonderful person Otis, you're the kindest person I know and I love that you're different. I love that your experiences have been completely different from mine because your perspective on life makes me see things I never would have earlier. Isaac is hurt because he's never known anything other than the kind of pain and abandonment he and I have seen but I don't want that anymore. I don't want to be bitter because I didn't let myself experience anything else. You're my something else, Otis. Knowing you, being with you is what's changed me." Maeve said, hoping her words could show Otis his truth.
"Thank you for seeing me." Otis said.
"Thank you for seeing me too." Maeve said, hugging Otis.
They stood like that for a while, just holding each other. All the anxiety and what ifs from their conversation had drained them out. They needed some time to just be together without having to do anything or worry about the world. They just wanted to have the chance to stay close to what felt safe and real, to have feel the warmth they could only find in each other.
