Maeve had been understandably horrified since Jean had walked in on her and Otis. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to behave around Jean, at their dinner this weekend. Maeve decided she needed some advice from someone who had nothing to do with the situation, which is why she automatically turned to Aimee. In her own way, Aimee always knew what to say.

"So wait, she walked in while you guys were doing it?" Aimee asked, taking a bite of ice cream from the pint Maeve had just passed her.

"Well we weren't actually doing it, we were just making out." Maeve said.

"Did you guys do it after she left?" Aimee asked, with a glint of mischief in her eyes at the question she just asked.

"Aimee! No of course not, we were mortified. Sex was the last thing on our minds." Maeve said.

"Have you guys done it?" Aimee asked.

"Not yet." Maeve said.

"Do you think if Jean hadn't walked in, you guys would've gone through with it?" Aimee asked.

"I think so, I'm not sure." Maeve said, taking the ice cream from Aimee as a means of distracting herself.

"Why aren't you sure, do you not want to?" Aimee asked.

"I do, of course I do. I love Otis." Maeve said.

"So what's the problem?" Aimee asked.

"I'm not sure he wants to." Maeve said, staring at the pint of ice cream in her lap.

"Did he say something?" Aimee asked.

"No, he just always pulls away whenever things start escalating and when he doesn't, I do." Maeve said.

"Maybe he's just nervous. You guys have been back and forth so many times, it's not going to be like having sex with just anyone, it's going to mean so much more." Aimee said.

"Yeah, you're right. But sometimes I wonder if he even wants me in that way." Maeve said.

"He'd be crazy to not want you, you're hot as fuck. And besides, I've seen the way he looks at you, he's practically drools every time you walk into school with your leather jacket on. I don't think that's the problem." Aimee said.

"I don't know Aimes." Maeve said.

"Why do you pull away?" Aimee asked.

"Because of what you said. It's not going to be like sex with just anyone, I don't think I have ever loved anyone as much as I love him and that scares the living shit out of me. And even though I want to, so badly, us taking that step will mean me giving one more part of myself to him. And I know he loves and respects me and he takes me letting him in very seriously but what if it all falls apart after that? What the fuck am I supposed to do then?" Maeve asked.

"I get it but if you keep holding yourself back, this is bound to fall apart. And besides, if you're open with him and trust him and things don't work out, you know you did everything you could but it just wasn't meant to be. But if you keep pulling away from him, he's going to end up wondering if you want him and everything will turn to shit." Aimee said, taking a bite of her ice cream with such nonchalance that it was hard for Maeve to believe she was the same person who'd given her such mature and sound advice.

"You're right." Maeve said.

"And besides, if you're feeling a little frustrated, you don't really need Otis to help you feel better. Otis actually gives very good advice about how much we can do without guys, you should actually ask him." Aimee said.

Maeve just stared at Aimee in awe before bursting out laughing.

"What? I'm serious. Otis gave me some very good advice about.. self care and you should take his advice." Aimee said, taking another bite of her ice cream, still completely unaware.

"I love you." Maeve said, giving Aimee a hug.

"I love you too." Aimee said, hugging Maeve back.

"Jean wants me to come over for dinner this weekend." Maeve said, once she'd pulled away from Aimee.

"Oh wow, that's a big step. How do you feel about that?" Aimee asked.

"Scared. I'm not good with parents and after what she saw yesterday, I'm not sure I could've made a worse impression." Maeve said.

"To be fair, Jean is a sex therapist, dealing with people's sex lives is her job. I don't think she would be that bothered by it." Aimee said.

"Yeah but it's different when it's her son. Otis has been such an innocent guy that I hope she doesn't think I'm corrupting her son or something." Maeve said.

"Yeah I don't think she thinks that. You try to be all badass but you're a little bean and everyone can see that no matter how much you want to believe otherwise. She'll see how nice and kind you are at dinner and all her fears and concerns will be wiped away." Aimee said with a smile.

"Thanks babe." Maeve said, smiling back at Aimee.

"You're welcome, can we watch 10 Things I Hate About You?" Aimee asked.

"Sure." Maeve said with a sigh. They'd watched that movie so many times that at this point Maeve had stopped protesting because she knew there was no point. Aimee would show her, her puppy dog eyes and Maeve would give in anyway so why waste time.

Maeve felt a lot better after speaking to Aimee. She knew she had to talk to Otis about the doubts she was having but she had to get her timing right. She didn't want to send Otis into a spiral of freaking out.

Otis walked into school earlier than usual. He was supposed to meet Ruby and Ola in the field to discuss their project. Otis couldn't believe Mr. Hendricks had decided to delay their presentation by two weeks because he wanted to take a week off to go camping. As Otis walked onto the field, he saw Ruby sitting on one of the benches.

"Hey." Otis said, taking a seat next to Ruby.

"Hey." Ruby said, a tinge of sadness in her voice seeping through.

"What's wrong?" Otis asked.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"You seem like you've been crying." Otis said.

"What?!" Ruby asked, taking out a mirror to make sure her mascara was intact. She spent the next minute staring at her reflection and only put down the mirror when she was satisfied. "That's such a rude thing to say, Otis. Especially when I look this good." She said, pointing at her face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just worried about you." Otis said.

"Why are you worried?" Ruby asked.

"Because we're friends and you look upset and I want to make sure you're okay." Otis said.

Ruby's features softened at Otis' words. She wasn't used to having people in her life care for her like that.

"That's really sweet and I'm not really sure how to react to that if I'm being honest." Ruby said, fiddling with her fingers.

"Why?" Otis asked.

"Because no one in my life really notices me. They're there to the extent that they can be but no one picks up on when I'm sad or when I'm happy. Maybe it's because I've spent so much of my life hiding how I feel that I've gotten so good at it that even the people in my life can't see me anymore." Ruby said, as the tears in her eyes threatened to fall.

"I'm sorry." Otis said.

"Why are you sorry?" Ruby asked.

"Because maybe I'm one of the people who didn't see you even though I always said I would and I'm sorry." Otis said.

"It's okay. You have a lot going on with Maeve and Isaac." Ruby said.

"Yeah but I promise to still be there for you. I hate that you had to feel alone in whatever it is that you're going through." Otis said.

"My mom's pretty sick. The doctors say it's nothing to worry about but I'm really scared." Ruby said, feeling very vulnerable.

"I know that must be very hard on you. I'm sure she's going to be okay." Otis said.

"Yeah. I hope she is too. My dad's really busy with taking care of her and work and I get that but I just.. I feel like I have no one to turn to and it sucks because I never let myself feel like that." Ruby said.

"It's okay to need people, Ruby. " Otis said.

"Yeah well I don't want to. People suck and they disappoint you and they never completely understand." Ruby said.

Otis didn't say anything. He just stared at the grass underneath his feet.

"But thank you for trying." Ruby said, pulling Otis in for a hug.

"You're welcome." Otis said, hugging Ruby back.

Ruby felt weird hugging Otis. It wasn't the first time they'd hugged but this time felt different, a lot more intimate. Maybe because Ruby had poured her heart to Otis and for the first time she felt safe instead of scared while showing the more vulnerable parts of herself. She wasn't really sure what any of this meant, why everything felt different and new and confusing. But what she did know was that she liked it.