Author's Notes: Thank you all for your kind words. I really appreciate them.

Chapter 8

Maeve and Otis leant against the fence overlooking Otis' property, their eyes roaming the bushes and trees and the river in the distance.

"I'm sorry, Otis," Maeve said, leaning her head towards him while still looking at the view. "But you look so cute when you're embarrassed."

Otis didn't respond and Maeve looked at him and noticed he had been watching her out of the side of his eye while facing straight ahead.

"I get it," he said. "You're mean."

Maeve smiled. "Do you remember at Aimee's party when you stumbled in on me and Jackson and you were so embarrassed and you knocked over the lamp because you couldn't get out of there fast enough?"

Otis rolled his eyes at the return of the memory.

"You were really cute, Otis," Maeve murmured. "Really cute."

"And that justifies freaking me out, does it?" he said with mock aggrievement.

"Yes."

"Fine," he said with mock curtness.

She smiled and gently stroked his arm. "Can you forgive me?" she mock pouted at him.

"I'll think about it," he mock pouted in return.

"I won't do it again," she promised, not solemnly.

Otis turned to look directly at her. "I'm sorry, Maeve," he sighed.

"Otis, if you apologise for being yourself one more time," she began. "I am going to take my top off and tell your mum to call the paramedics."

"I thought you said you wouldn't do it again?"

"I lied."

Otis shook his head and smiled. "You'll be the death of me, Maeve Wiley."

Maeve returned his smile then leant her back against the fence and looked up at him. "I really am sorry, muppet. I just… when I read that letter… The gift is brilliant, but when I read that letter…"

"I don't want you to feel you can't be you around me, Maeve," Otis murmured.

Maeve bit her lip and looked at him and was about to say something but changed her mind and simply said, "Just let yourself be you as well, Otis."

Otis sighed and nodded, unconvincingly.

"So, were you having a panic attack when you went to get the trophy?" Maeve asked.

"No," he said as he returned his gaze to her. "I didn't. I panicked more when I stole that chocolate bar because you dared me to."

"I didn't make you do anything you didn't want to do. And you didn't steal it. Ola let you have it."

"She took pity on me. Unlike my girlfriend."

Maeve watched him out of the corner of her eye then finally asked with as neutral tone as possible, "Did you like Ola?"

Otis dropped his head and smiled slightly and looked directly into her eyes.

"She's very funny and she's very nice and kind. She seems really smart and she's really vibrant and alive and no-nonsense and she has really beautiful eyes. But she's the opposite of me in so many ways."

"Opposites attract," Maeve said as neutrally as possible.

"There I am talking about the sexism inherent in fairy tales and she's all, 'Cool, I'm gonna dance,'" he said, smiling at the memory.

"You looked really good, dancing," Maeve said softly.

"I don't really dance."

"Sounds like she might have been good for you, provide a balance."

Otis looked at Maeve tenderly. "I don't want an opposite, Maeve. I want a complement. And you're right, there is so much I don't know about you so maybe we aren't really complements but the time I've spent with you, it's like you've helped me find bits of me that I never even knew existed until you brought them out of me."

Maeve gazed softly into his eyes, then ostentatiously sniffed and shrugged and turned away. "Wish I could say the same, Milburn. You're just making me soft."

Otis laughed. "Are you suggesting I should call Ola and tell her I've made a mistake and I prefer the Goddess to the Lion?"

"You do and I go all Fatal Attraction."

"So why are you asking about Ola?"

Maeve dropped her head and sighed. "Complete honesty," she murmured.

"What?" Otis asked, puzzled.

Maeve took a deep breath and raised her head to look directly into his eyes. "I told Ola you were a virgin."

Otis blinked in surprise. "When?"

"At the dance."

"Why?"

"I bumped into her in the lav and… I was jealous. I didn't want you being with her and I thought… I don't know what I thought… I was being that girl."

"That explains it," Otis murmured.

"What?"

"Just before we argued Ola said she hadn't been with anyone. I didn't know why she said that. Came right out of left field."

"I'm sorry, Otis," Maeve said, softly.

"What did you say to her?" There was no accusation, only curiosity in his tone.

Maeve swallowed before speaking. "I said you were really inexperienced, that you hadn't had sex and were really confused about all that stuff and she shouldn't be surprised if you didn't seem keen." She bit her lip and studied him.

He pondered and nodded. "Accurate." He smiled gently at her. "But Ola saying that wasn't what made me call her a goat, if that's what you're thinking."

"And I lied. I said I hadn't seen her when you asked and I had. I just didn't want you finding her."

Otis looked at her, fondly. "In terms of lying between us, Maeve, I'm still the lego medallist."

"And I told Aimee."

Otis smiled and nodded. "I expected you would tell Aimee. She's your best friend. Girls talk."

"You don't mind?"

He grimaced slightly. "Can't say I'm wildly thrilled about people knowing, but no. Not about Aimee."

"And it's getting broadcast over the school PA tomorrow morning."

"That might be a step too far."

Maeve smiled then said quietly. "There's nothing wrong with being a virgin, Otis. I mean, I will admit it puzzles me how you can still know so much but it's not an issue for me and Aimee."

Otis studied her for a moment then nodded, accepting her words.

"Do you want to know what Aimee said?" she asked.

"What?"

"That if you're the Pleasure Master now then once you have sex you're going to be the Pleasure Champion."

Otis snorted.

Maeve and Otis leant against the fence, eyes glued to each other. After a moment, she reached up to stroke his hair and for the first time noticed the cut and scrape near his temple.

"Bloody hell, Otis!" she said, alarmed. "What did you do to yourself?"

"What?" he asked puzzled and then realised. "Oh, it's nothing. I had a near death experience."

"What?"

"Joke, Maeve. Lily and I were riding down Bleaker's Hill and I took a tumble off my bike."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. It's not even hurting anymore."

"Why the hell would you ride down Bleaker's Hill?"

"Lily and I don't like losing control and I thought riding down Bleaker's Hill would give us a breakthrough."

"Did it work?"

Otis took a slow breath. "We both realised that losing our virginity is not a race. It'll happen when it happens." He paused a moment then continued quietly, "But what that means for us-"

"You're going to need to take it slowly," Maeve said softly, understandingly.

"Still want me to be your boyfriend?"

"If we haven't had sex in thirty or forty years I'll have to think about moving on but right now, yeah, I still want you to be my boyfriend."

Otis smiled softly at her then sighed. "I think I'm going to need a safe word."

"A safe word?"

"When Lily… I needed a safe word."

"What type of sex did you try to have?" Maeve asked, frowning.

Otis chuckled briefly. "It was when she tried to kiss me. I turned and she's lunging in for the kill like a shark. I barely escaped with my life. I'm glad you didn't try that."

"I thought about it."

"You know," Otis began, pondering. "I don't think Lily and I ever actually kissed. She tried but… I just… I don't think our lips ever connected so I think that makes you the first girl I've ever kissed, Maeve."

Maeve smiled and shook her head in amazement. "The way we were snogging on—"

"'Snogging'?" grimaced Otis.

"Would you prefer 'smooching'?"

"'Kissing' seems acceptable."

"The way we were snogging on our bench I would never have guessed. You're an amazing kisser."

"I watch a lot of rom-coms," he shrugged, trying to conceal how much that felt good to hear.

"So what was your safe word?" Maeve asked.

"Flamingo."

"I'll remember that."

"You don't want me to come up with one specifically for us?"

"Nope."

"I had to use it."

Maeve was silent as she watched him wrestle with his thoughts.

"It was bad, Maeve," Otis said after a moment. "With Lily... I was pathetic. I had a really big full-blown panic attack and next thing I know I'm staring up and Lily, mum and Ola's dad are all looking down at me like they thought I'd died."

Maeve gently watched him.

"I wanted the ground to just open up and swallow me and I could disappear and never be seen again," Otis murmured.

"You weren't into Lily. Do you think it would be different if it was with someone you actually liked and wanted to be with?"

Otis dropped his head and turned to lean over the fence, eyes roaming across the view. "I have issues, Maeve. I'm not normal."

"Don't put yourself down, Otis," Maeve said quietly.

"I'm odd. You've said I'm odd."

"'Compellingly odd', Otis. 'Compellingly'."

"You know I'm very unusual."

"You're not scaring me away, Otis."

"I'm going to be high maintenance."

"Back off if you say 'flamingo'. Take things slowly. Not a hardship. How else can I help?"

"The thing is, Maeve, you shouldn't have to help. You are not the doctor if the wound is solely mine."

Maeve smiled fondly at him. "Otis, you're not just my boyfriend, you're one of my two best friends. And yes, as much as I love Aimee, the conversations I've had with you have been the deepest and most meaningful I've ever had with anyone."

Otis looked at her and pursed his lips and swallowed.

Maeve continued, softly, "You were there for me on a day when I really needed someone to be there for me. You were there for me this morning when I really needed someone to be there for me."

Otis kept silent.

"You're one of only two people who have shown me lately that I mean something to them. Let me be your friend, Otis. Let me help if I can."

Otis nodded and couldn't bring himself to speak.

Maeve was silent for a moment then shook her head and said, quizzically. "'I am not the doctor if the wound is solely yours'? Alanis? Seriously?"

Otis acquired a lesser form of embarrassment. "It's mum's. She used to play Jagged Little Pill constantly during the divorce. I mean, constantly. I think she played You Oughta Know for two and a half days straight."

"No wonder she's crazy," Maeve murmured.

Otis continued. "She had to tell me that when we had visitors I wasn't allowed to go around singing 'Are you thinking of me when you fuck her?'"

Maeve smiled and thought his half-singing voice was nice.

"If I hear that song one more time I really am going to become Hannibal Lecter," Otis continued.

"It's my favourite song," Maeve said, straight-faced.

Otis scrunched his face and looked at her and breathed, "Really?"

"No," she smiled. "It's okay but I never really got into her. BMT."

Otis frowned. "BMT?"

"Before my time."

"Nirvana's before your time."

Maeve shrugged. "Mum. Same thing. She loved Nirvana. Every April she'd put everything she had on constant rotation for four days."

Maeve studied his face as he focussed on hers.

"She loved their final studio album," she continued. "Me, too. Scentless Apprentice. In the chorus, Kurt is just screaming 'Go away! Go away!'"

Otis' breathing slowed as he gazed softly at her.

Maeve pursed her lips in a close approximation of a smile. "Seem familiar?"

Otis' eyes softly embraced her.

"I think those CDs are the only thing mum hasn't lost track of," Maeve said quietly.

Otis' breath hitched and he stepped forward and as his arms opened, Maeve stepped into them and his arms embraced her and she rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"See, you're here for me, Otis. Let me be here for you."

Otis quietly held her in his embrace for long moments and then cautiously began, "Maeve…?"

"Ask, Otis. If I don't like the question, I'll just tell you to fuck off."

"Before we go down and I introduce you to mum, do you mind if we spend some time up here snogging?"

She looked at him and smiled and their lips touched and their kisses were sweet and tender and every so often so much more and at the edge of conscious thought Maeve noticed how comfortable in his own skin Otis was at this moment.

Otis held Maeve's hand gently as they stepped through his front door.

"Welcome to Casa Otis," Otis said.

"You live here alone?"

"What?"

"Shouldn't it be Casa Milburn?"

"Welcome to Casa Milburn."

Maeve smiled and Otis led her into the kitchen where Jean was wiping her hands on a tea towel as she watched them enter, softly expectant and intrigued.

"Mum," said Otis. "This is Maeve. Maeve, this is my mum."

"Pleased to meet you, Maeve," Jean said, stepping forward and holding out her hand.

"Good to meet you at last, Mrs Milburn," Maeve said, taking Jean's hand.

"Oh, please, call me Jean."

"Good to meet you, Jean. I'm sorry, I forgot to bring something."

"Oh, don't be silly, Maeve. None of those formalities."

Otis looked at Maeve then at his mother. "Mum, Maeve is my girl… friend."

Maeve pursed her lips together in a smile and looked blandly at Jean. "Yes, I'm his friend who's a girl. And he's my friend who's a boy."

Jean struggled to conceal her smile but Maeve noticed her eyes gleam.

Otis swallowed and said, more firmly. "Mum, Maeve is my girlfriend."

Maeve leaned closer to Otis and murmured in a voice she knew Jean would hear, "Are you wanting your mum to congratulate you, Otis?"

She watched Otis for a few moments as he struggled to find a word to say then stepped closer to him and put her free hand on his chest. "I'm teasing, muppet. You have gotten so soft since I asked you to be my boyfriend. You used to be able to handle something like that."

"I'm—"

"Paramedics," Maeve said in a gently warning tone.

"Flamingo," Otis squeaked.

Maeve turned to Jean who was no longer trying to conceal her smile. "Sorry, Jean, private joke."

Maeve turned back to Otis and held up their hands that were still clasped together. "Besides, I think this might have been a giveaway, muppet."

Otis pursed his lips in a smile and nodded.

"Would you like something to drink, Maeve?" Jean asked.

"Oh, just water for the moment, please. Thanks, Jean," Maeve said.

Jean began to turn away but turned back when Maeve continued, "And do you have a first aid kit?"

Maeve glanced between Otis' eyes and their clasped-together hands and Otis released his gentle grip.

"Otis has done himself a damage," said Maeve as she reached up and gently brushed his hair away from the cut and scrapes near his temple.

Jean stepped forward with concern. "Otis, what happened?"

"Nothing, mum. Just playing silly buggers on my bike and took a tumble. I'm fine."

"Are you sure you don't have a concussion?" Jean asked.

"No, no, I'm okay."

"He's seemed fine, Jean," said Maeve. "I think it's just a cut and a scrape but if I can get a first aid kit I can clean it up for him."

"Certainly," said Jean. "Otis, you know where the first aid kit is."

Otis nodded and moved away to fetch the first aid kit.

"Do you want me to do it, Maeve?" Jean asked.

"No, I'm fine," said Maeve as she rummaged in her bag for some tissues. "I can do it, thanks, Jean."

Maeve looked at Jean and gave her a small smile and Jean nodded and moved away to get a glass of water for the younger woman, smiling gently to herself.

Maeve walked over to the sink to wet the tissues she had found and when she returned Otis had placed the first aid kit on the kitchen table and sat down on the nearest chair.

"It's a lot of fuss over nothing," he said dismissively.

Maeve dragged a chair closer to him and sat down.

"Give me your head," she said.

Otis leaned closer to Maeve and she began to gently wash the cut and scrapes with the tissues. Otis sucked a breath in through his teeth.

"I thought you said it didn't hurt," Maeve said.

"That was before you started grinding into it," Otis replied.

"Suck it up, muppet," Maeve commanded with a smile.

Once she had finished cleaning the wound she opened up the first aid kit and took out some ointment. Otis' eyes followed every movement as she put some of the ointment onto her fingers and raised her hand to his forehead and gently began to rub it into the cut and scrapes.

Maeve looked directly into his eyes. "Flamingo?" she asked, softly.

"No," Otis replied, softly.

Maeve smiled and finished rubbing in the ointment then looked at the first aid kit again and took out a box of band aids and looked at Otis.

"Do you have any that say shark bite?"

Otis chuckled. "No," he said, smiling at Maeve.

"Pity. I'll have to get you some. Never know when you might need one."

Maeve placed a blue band-aid across the cut and smoothed it and then let her hand gently cup Otis' cheek as she looked into his eyes again.

"Better?" she murmured.

"Much," Otis replied.

Jean waited near the fridge, watching the two of them as they were lost in each other's eyes. Jean noticed her son's comfort with Maeve's touch.

After a few moments, Maeve became the first to move, releasing Otis' cheek and beginning to collect the rubbish.

Jean stepped forward and placed the glass of water on the table near Maeve. "There you go, Maeve."

"Thanks," Maeve said and took a sip then, holding the tissues and rubbish in her hand, asked, "Bin under the sink?"

"Yes," Jean said.

Maeve walked over to the sink to throw away the rubbish and Jean and Otis shared a silent look.

She seems nice, mouthed Jean.

Otis nodded, trying not to let his smile overpower him then stood and started replacing items in the first aid kit.

Maeve returned to their side and Jean spoke to her. "I thought we'd have dinner outside tonight. Veggie & tofu stir-fry?"

"That sounds nice, Jean."

Otis walked over to put away the first aid kit. "Do you need a hand with anything, mum?"

"No, I'm fine, darling. Just make sure the table's set."

Jean turned to Maeve again and a gleam of mischief sparkled in her eyes. "So now you've finally met Otis' crazy mum, do you agree with him?"

"Mum," Otis protested.

"Oh, I'm sure the word 'crazy' came up quite often, Otis," said Jean, glancing teasingly at Otis.

"Not a lot," said Maeve blandly.

"Maeve," Otis protested.

"I notice you didn't say 'Not at all', dear," said Jean, smiling at her.

Otis returned to their side, glancing between them, trying to find words to say.

Maeve gently took Otis' hand. "Toughen up, muppet. It seems there's two of us now."

Otis smiled uncertainly at Maeve and muttered, "I think this was a mistake."

Author's Notes: Note – in this story, Otis never found out his mother was writing a book about himself because he was too busy writing the note of apology to Maeve.