Author's Notes: I hope this isn't too disappointing.

Chapter Five

Life Is Complicated

Otis followed Ruby into her loungeroom and saw Jeffrey and Roland sitting in their familiar places. He still sensed Olivia glaring at him from behind.

"Heeeeyyy…. OT," Jeffrey said, happily.

"Otis," Roland said, pleased, holding out his hand.

Otis shook it then noticed Jeffrey's hand and shook that, too.

"Sit down, son," Jeffrey said. "You're making the place look untidy."

"Do you want to share?" Roland asked, holding out his joint, already knowing the answer. "Or there's beer in the fridge?"

"Uh, no thanks," Otis said.

"You've got to loosen up, son," Roland said. "I keep telling you."

"Do you want a coke?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, please," Otis said and began to rise.

"I'll get it," Ruby said and walked through to the kitchen.

Roland turned and saw Olivia lurking in the doorway.

"Livvy," Roland said, happily. "Come to see the floorshow? Jeffrey. I'll hold him down. You beat him up."

"That'll be nice to see," Olivia said, smirking at the nervous Otis.

"Daaad," came Ruby's voice from outside the room.

"Just joshing, son," Roland said. "Give a dad one chance to defend his little girl."

"Daaaad," repeated Ruby.

"Otis knows I'm joking," Roland called.

"You look like you're going to shit yourself, OT," Jeffrey said, amused.

Ruby re-entered the room carrying a bottle of coke. As she handed it to a grateful Otis – "Thanks" – she turned to her father.

"You said you would be nice," she gently admonished.

"I am being nice. This is male bonding, Rubes," Roland said. "Otis understands that, don't you, Otis?"

"It's okay, Ruby," Otis said, softly reassuring as he took a nervous sip from his coke.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," she said then turned to Otis. "If you need anything, Liv and I will be in my room."

"Okay, thanks," Otis said.

Roland grabbed his daughter's hand gently as she was about to leave. "You sure, Rubes?" he asked, tenderly.

She looked down at him and nodded. "No secrets, dad. Whatever you need to say," she said, quietly, then gently extracted her hand and left the room, Olivia following.

Roland looked across at Otis and gently studied him then, when they heard the sound of Ruby's door closing, he said quietly, "She cried on her mum's shoulder for three days and she still asked me if I'd talk with you. Remarkable girl, my Rubes."

Otis nodded, guiltily. "I… I never knew how remarkable."

"We can never see things that are right in front of our noses," Roland said.

"Look, Roland, thank you, but this is an imposition," Otis said, getting to his feet. "I should go."

"Sit down, Otis. Sit down," Roland said gently, waving his hand.

Otis hesitated then sat down again.

"You lost a fine girl there, OT," Jeffrey said. "A fine girl."

"Was a two-way street, Jeffrey. Rubes has lost a fine boy."

Roland smiled kindly at Otis' embarrassment and shame.

"I was surprised when Ruby called, asked if I'd have a little chat with you. Pleased, 'cause we've been missing having you around. Haven't we, Jeffrey?"

"Indeed we have, Roland," Jeffrey said.

"But surprised. So what's this about, son?" he asked gently.

"How much did Ruby tell you?" Otis asked. "About what happened between us?"

"Not a lot. She mostly talked to her mum and her mum talked to me about some of it. I know it's about another girl."

Otis flinched.

"You can't choose who you fall in love with, Otis," Roland said, kindly. "My Rubes told me that one. Would have been nice for all of us if she were the one, but you always treated her right and I know you didn't cheat. Have no fear on that. I won't embarrass her by saying exactly, but she spoke so fondly of you. Her mum said no-one had ever made her feel special like you did. And because of you, I finally got to meet her other friends. Though I'll forgive you for Anwar."

Otis chuckled despite himself.

"What's her name?" Roland asked after a moment.

"Maeve," Otis said quietly.

"We've got a Maeve at the caravan park," Jeffrey said. "Nice girl. Thought she had something going with the boy in the caravan next to hers. They was so happy. Don't know what she did to him but they don't talk anymore and they both look sodding miserable."

"What's said tonight stays in the room, Jeffrey," Roland said quietly.

Jeffrey looked at Otis, frowning. "Your Maeve is our Maeve?"

Otis glanced at him and nodded.

"Ohhhh," Jeffrey said, understanding. "So you're the reason—"

"In the room, Jeffrey," Roland murmured.

Jeffrey nodded and fell silent and Otis felt both their stares upon him. He took a sip of his coke, then stared at the table directly in front of himself.

"Do you love her?" Roland asked then waited as Otis struggled to find an answer. "Didn't think it was that difficult a question. Did you, Jeffrey?"

"No," Jeffrey said, shaking his head.

"Yes," Otis admitted.

"So what's the problem?" Roland asked. "Ruby says she's unattached but you're looking like seven shades of hell."

Otis frowned, took a sip of his coke then stared at the table again, searching for the words to say.

"We're not good for each other," he eventually said. "Everything's been a mess between us ever since we met."

"What makes you say that?" Roland asked.

"It's so fucking complicated with Maeve," Otis said, anguished. "It's always been so fucking complicated." He took a deep breath. "Sorry."

"Life is complicated, OT," Jeffrey said. "You're young. You'll learn."

"Was it complicated with Ruby?" Roland asked, very gently.

"No," Otis said quietly.

"And you know why, don't you?" Roland asked, even more gently.

Otis seemed to collapse in on himself.

"Don't you?" Roland repeated.

Otis slowly nodded.

"You can't have love without the complications, Otis," Roland said. "You can't have life without them. If you're staying away from this girl because you think that'll make your life less complicated, you're setting yourself up for disappointment."

"We'll only screw things up and more people will get hurt," Otis murmured.

"Why do you think that's a certainty?"

"Because Maeve and I aren't even together and… it's a mess," Otis said.

"Is this about that voice mail?" Roland asked.

Otis looked at him in surprise.

"Ruby mentioned there was something about a voice mail."

"Yeah," Otis said after a moment. "A while back, I was angry with Maeve. Doesn't matter why. That's not relevant just now. But I hurt her. And someone else. I got drunk. Said some really shitty things. Untrue things."

"Did you apologize?" Roland asked. "Was that the voice mail?"

Otis shook his head. "I apologized in person but… I don't know if she thought I was sincere. Circumstances," he murmured, shifting uncomfortably. "So I left her the voice mail. Told her I was an idiot. Told her how I felt about her. Told her friend in the caravan about it because she wasn't there when I went to see if she had heard it."

Jeffrey frowned in surprise.

"And it wasn't enough," Roland murmured sympathetically.

"She never heard it. Her friend in the caravan deleted it before she could."

"The little shit," Jeffrey spluttered.

"In the room," Roland said.

"But that's—" Jeffrey began, outraged.

"In the room," Roland repeated.

"I'm sorry, OT," Jeffrey said, sympathetically. "I thought he was a nice guy."

"Yeah," Otis muttered.

"She found out?" Roland asked quietly.

Otis nodded. "That's why Ruby broke up with me."

"She may love you, but she's no fool," Roland said, gently. "But it's not your fault. And before you start to beat yourself up, there's no shame in trying to move on. I told you, you treated my Rubes like the princess she is."

"That was about a month ago, wasn't it?" Jeffrey asked.

"Five weeks," Otis said.

"So why aren't you over there with her, OT?"

Otis said nothing as he twisted the lid of his coke bottle back and forth.

"What's stopping you, Otis?" Roland asked gently. "If you love her, what's stopping you from trying to put things right?"

"Love's not enough, is it?" Otis asked. "It's never enough."

"It's a start," Roland murmured. "What makes you think it's better to be like you are now?"

"Because I have no idea how to form a successful relationship. I've got no example to follow. My mum. My dad. I've never seen either of them in a successful relationship. My dad was cheating on her all the time and mum… she just never let herself get close to anyone else until now. And that's falling apart."

"Ahhh," Roland said. "Rubes said you couldn't talk to your mum or dad about it."

"She said you and Del have a good relationship," Otis said. "She thought maybe…"

"Aye, that we do. Have a good relationship," Roland said. "But I wouldn't call it uncomplicated. Not even in the courting phase."

"Yeah," Jeffrey said. "Me and Cynth broke up 5 times during our first two years. Three of them after we were married. I remember having to drive her with all her things all the way up to her mum's house and back. I don't think we talked at all on the first trip up. Wouldn't call that uncomplicated, OT."

"Del and me didn't break up after we got hitched but it was a bit of rough time of it as we got used to each other," Roland said. "And it's not as if we never had a bit of a barney over the years but we worked through it."

"I don't know how to work through… us," Otis said.

"I think you're overthinking things, OT," Jeffrey said. "I like you, but you're a bit too much inside your head sometimes."

"Jeffrey's right, Otis," Roland said. "You want things uncomplicated? You don't get to have that. You may have felt it was uncomplicated with Rubes, but do you think it's uncomplicated now? Do you think it's uncomplicated for Rubes? She loved you with all of her heart and here she is, trying to help you deal with your feelings for the girl who took you away from her."

Otis glanced at Roland then stared down at the table, misery and guilt drifting off him.

"That's life," Roland said, kindly. "Life is complicated and there's nothing you can do to stop it being so."

"I just…" Otis began. "I just… I just don't know why it has to be this complicated. Ever since I met her, I've been torn up inside. I've just been screwing up and she thinks she's been screwing up. I just want things to go back the way they were before I ever met her. I was… comfortable there."

"Comfortable," Roland murmured. "But were you happy?"

"Happy enough," Otis mumbled.

"Well, you don't look happy enough now, OT," Jeffrey said.

"Was it all bad between you and Maeve?" Roland asked. "There must have been good things if you fell in love with her."

"Seems so long ago now," Otis murmured.

"So why did it stop?" Roland asked.

Otis shrugged.

"You said Maeve did something that made you angry and that's why you got drunk and said some things. Why didn't you just talk to her?"

"I don't know," Otis said, quietly.

"I think you do," Roland said.

"I just…" Otis began then allowed his voice to drift away.

"Pride, Otis," Roland said. "You let your pride get in the way."

"Pride goeth before a fall, OT," Jeffrey said. "And it sounds like you fell a long way."

"I realized long ago that when I let my pride take control, everything got worse between me and Del. Have you talked to the girl since it happened?" Roland asked. "Since she found out about the voice mail?"

"A little," Otis said without meeting Roland's eyes.

"Close enough to 'no'," Roland murmured. "What did you say?"

"I told her I was with Ruby," Otis said, miserable. "Told her we needed to move on."

"There's something more, isn't there?" Roland asked, very quietly.

Otis couldn't bring himself to speak.

"It was something harsh, wasn't it?"

"I told her I wish I'd never even met her," Otis said, ashamed.

"Ohhh, OT," Jeffrey breathed, both sympathetic and disappointed. "No wonder she's miserable."

Roland breathed deeply, then asked, "Did you mean it?"

Otis couldn't bring himself to speak.

"Do you actually like Maeve, Otis?" Roland asked. "I don't mean do you love her like her. I mean, do you like her? Do you respect her? Did you once consider her a friend?"

"Yes," Otis said uncertainly, not understanding where this was going.

"Then don't you think she deserves to hear more from you than that?" Roland said, not unkindly.

Otis knocked gently on Ruby's door and called, "Ruby?"

After a moment of silence, he called, "May I come in?"

He was just about to speak again when the door opened and Olivia quickly stepped through it, closing it behind herself.

"Not tonight," she said.

"I understand," Otis said, disappointed. "Just tell her, thanks. And let her know I think my head has been properly extracted from my arse."

"You don't look any different to me," Olivia said, coldly.

Otis nodded, accepting the rebuke.

"You never deserved her," Olivia said.

"I know," Otis murmured.

"Would Wiley have done this for her?" Olivia asked.

"Probably not," Otis said.

"I'll let you know when you can talk to her again," Olivia said in a slightly softer tone.

"Thanks," Otis murmured as he walked away.

Otis stepped out the front door of Ruby's house and was surprised to see Jeffrey waiting for him.

"You look as if Roland took you ten rounds against the ropes, OT," Jeffrey said as Otis approached.

"Feels like it," Otis murmured.

"You're a good kid, OT," Jeffrey said as they began to walk. "You just screwed up. You're young."

"I never meant to hurt her, except…"

"That's why you should go for the green, not the brew," Jeffrey said. "You would have been giggling in her arms wondering why you were ever mad at her in the first place."

"I doubt that," Otis said, smiling softly.

"So you going to talk to her, OT?"

"Yeah," Otis promised.

"When?"

"I don't know. Probably tomorrow. If she's at school."

"You should do it tonight, mate," Jeffrey said.

"It's late," Otis said.

"It's not that late," Jeffrey said. "Do it tonight. Get it over with before you forget what Roland told you."

"I won't forget," Otis murmured.

"You two would make a good pair if you can work it out," Jeffrey said. "She deserves one of the good ones."

"If she's willing to forgive me."

"That's why you should get it over and done with. So you won't be wondering."

Maeve heard the pounding but it was only as her consciousness registered the room that she realized it was someone pounding on her caravan door.

"Hey, Maeve. Maeve," she heard Jeffrey yelling out and surprise and concern washed through her.

"Maeve," Jeffrey yelled, continuing his pounding on the door as Maeve threw off the covers and made sure she was decent.

"Coming," she murmured then heard Isaac's voice calling, "What's going on?"

"None of your fucking business, you little shit," she heard Jeffrey yell and she recoiled in surprise then began stumbling, still half-asleep, to the bedroom door.

"Maeve," she heard Jeffrey yell as he kept pounding.

She reached the caravan door and called out, "I'm here," then opened the caravan door carefully.

"Jeffrey, what-?" she began then stopped as she saw Otis at the foot of the stairs.

"I got a stray that followed me home, love," Jeffrey said. "Cynthia won't let me keep it so I thought you might want it."

"Otis…?" she asked, confused, then watched as Jeffrey patted Otis on the back.

"All yours, OT," he said. "Don't muck it up. Was good seeing you again."

"Yeah," Otis said.

"Don't be a stranger," Jeffrey said as he walked away.

Maeve watched Jeffrey amble over to his own caravan then looked in confusion at Otis again. "Otis, what were you doing with Jeffrey?"

"Can we talk?" Otis asked without hope.