Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay. Took a while to get the structure worked out. I know (vaguely) where I'm going but not necessarily how to get there and sometimes ideas or their executions just don't work.
And it's a huge fall off that tightrope across the Grand Canyon. Still not sure if I've slipped off it with this chapter and I'm still falling and just waiting for the splat.
Warning: Teenage boys again talking about s-e-x.
Warning: Teenage girls again talking about teh secks as writted (sic) by a bloke who has a vague memory of overhearing conversations between only women many moons ago about that very subject.
Warning: Basically, the dialogue and descriptions are going to get more… earthy… from now on since Otis and Maeve are becoming more intimate and Eric has no filter. (Aimee's no slouch in that department, either.)
Please let me know if you think I'm going astray.
Chapter 11
Day 2
Otis dashed out his front door, calling back, "Don't forget I'm having dinner with Maeve tonight, mum."
He dashed up the stairs to the road where Eric was sitting on his bike, waiting for him.
"You're looking chipper this morning," Eric said.
Otis nodded, a little breathless as he started unchaining his bike from the fence. "I'm… feeling good, Eric, yes."
"Did you and Maeve break your bed last night?" Eric asked.
Otis dropped his head and smiled. "Eric," he protested without force and continued freeing his bike.
"I bet you did. You wouldn't be smiling like that if you didn't. Little Cupcake Otis."
"We did not," Otis said firmly.
"If Maeve is a little cupcake this morning, I'll know you're lying, Otis."
"Maeve and I did not have sex last night, Eric."
Eric glanced down at the house. "Is that a lawyer's answer? Is she still in there and you gave her your morning wood and now she's just waiting for me to leave so I won't find out?"
Otis dragged his bike around and straddled it then checked his helmet. "Why are you so interested in my sex life with Maeve? Or lack thereof," he hastily added at Eric's look.
"Because I'm hoping that when you finally do it with her you'll loosen up, man."
"Well, we didn't, so… not-loose Otis," he said, indicating himself and starting to ride off.
Eric stared after him for a moment then began to ride to catch up to him.
"I'm so disappointed in you, Otis," he said.
Eric and Otis were at their lockers, transferring items to and from their bags.
"Did I tell you I think Mum may have a real thing for Ola's dad?" Otis said.
"Really?" Eric asked, intrigued.
"Ola said they shagged and she said her dad really seemed to like Mum. And the way Mum seemed after I said something about him last night… I really think she might."
Eric pondered for a moment. "So if Ola's dad becomes your step-dad, that means Ola will be your step-sister which means you will have dated your step-sister."
Otis hadn't thought of that.
"That's weird even for you, Otis."
After a moment's pondering Otis said, "We wouldn't be blood-related so… not an issue."
"Everybody knows Greg Brady did it with Marcia when they were alone in the house," Eric said, smugly. "You and Ola could be Greg and Marcia if it doesn't work out with Maeve."
"Don't jinx things, Eric," Otis said, mildly annoyed, then continued, "Not that I believe in jinxes."
Otis closed his locker and recoiled when he saw Maeve leaning against the lockers beside his, soft smile on her lips, gazing at him with soft clear blue eyes. He wondered for a moment why he was suddenly reminded of Aimee.
"Morning, Greg," Maeve said softly.
"Morning, Marcia," Otis said after a moment, smiling softly at her, eyes shining.
"That only works if Ola's dad adopts me," Maeve murmured.
"We'll set up a dinner with him. Give him a sales pitch."
"You really want to date all your step-sisters, don't you? Bit of a worry," Maeve said, smirking.
Eric closed his locker and smiled at Maeve, completely forgetting his words of moments earlier. "Good morning, Maeve."
Maeve glanced at him. "Morning, Eric."
"You're a little cupcake this morning," Eric said cheerfully, giving Otis a knowing sideways glance.
"What?" Maeve stared at Eric, confused.
Otis leaned towards her and murmured, "Eric thinks we had sex last night."
"Did we?" she asked, looking at Otis questioningly, biting her lip, eyes glittering.
Otis smiled. "No."
"We didn't have sex last night, Eric," Maeve said, not taking her eyes from Otis'.
Eric shook his head, pouting. "You two are so disappointing," he said as he walked away.
"I'll catch you in free study," Otis called after him without taking his eyes from Maeve's.
"You okay after last night, muppet?" she asked softly, studying him.
Otis nodded. "Yeah," he said softly.
"You didn't freak out once I left?" she asked, eyes roaming his face.
"No," Otis said, shaking his head then he took a breath and continued. "But I'm really sorry I didn't ask first, Maeve."
Maeve nodded, adoring him even more.
"I'll ask next time," he promised.
"You're so sure there's going to be a next time," Maeve smirked, then touched his arm at his almost-crestfallen reaction. "It's okay, Otis. We were in the moment. That happens sometimes." She bit her lip. "You're just lucky I didn't grab you someplace."
Otis swallowed and Maeve sucked in a breath through her teeth.
"Flamingo," she said sheepishly.
Otis shook his head. "It's okay. That's… a normal thing, isn't it?"
Maeve sensed he was talking more to himself than to her.
"I'll settle down when we're at school, muppet," she promised.
"Maybe just when we're in public," he said softly. "I think I need you to push me a little, Maeve." He looked directly into her eyes. "I think I want you to push me a little."
Maeve studied him carefully, wondering exactly what understanding he had come to overnight.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
Otis nodded. "Yeah."
"You think it'll help you be outside your head more?"
Otis struggled to find the words to say then gave up. "I need to think about it more. I can't articulate it yet. But… can we talk about it later? At break?"
"Of course," Maeve said.
Otis nodded his gratitude.
"So did you tell Eric?" Maeve asked.
"No."
"It's okay. I don't mind. I've got Aimee, you've got Eric."
Otis hesitated, then said, "Maeve, when I said 'thanks for y'know' I wasn't just meaning that."
Maeve smiled. "You have been worrying about that all night, haven't you?"
"No," Otis said, sheepishly. "I only thought about it this morning."
"I knew what you meant, muppet," Maeve said softly.
"It was a really great night, Maeve."
"I'm sorry I took so long to text when I got home. I was just… thinking about it."
She wondered if he suspected what she was doing while she was thinking about it. The way he seemed this morning she was certain he had been doing his version of the exact same thing.
Otis opened his mouth to say something and the final bell rang.
Otis' shouders slumped. "We still need to talk about where we're going for our second date," he sighed.
"We'll talk at break," Maeve said then leaned forward to kiss him before hesitating. "Um… we didn't actually discuss levels of PDA at school."
Otis smiled and leaned forward and kissed her tenderly – no tongues. "I think I can handle this."
"Comfortable," Maeve murmured.
"Present in the moment," Otis murmured.
Maeve smiled gently. "See you at break, muppet."
Otis watched Maeve walk away then turned to walk to his own class. He wished it was free study. He really wanted to talk to Eric.
Eric may not be able to say anything to actually help but Otis hoped hearing his own thoughts outside his own head may allow him to know whether he was on the right track or setting the foundations of a disaster.
Otis looked up as Eric approached their regular place in the study room.
"Still disappointed in you," Eric said as he sat down.
Otis shrugged and said, "I can't help it if your expectations exceeded reality, Eric. I mean, did you really think I'd be comfortable enough to have sex with Maeve last night?"
"I never thought you'd be comfortable enough to even wank before you died, but five minutes after she kissed you, you were in the old toilet block jacking your beanstalk. Maeve Wiley clearly has magic powers."
"Keep your voice down, Eric," Otis said, looking around to be certain no-one had heard.
"Did you at least let her try to flog your bishop?" Eric said, lowering his tone.
"No," said Otis, hoping Eric would hurry up and ask the right question.
"So what did you do all night?" Eric asked as if on cue.
"Ate," said Otis, blandly, concealing his smile. "Mum cooked a very nice meal. We all talked. Really good conversation."
Eric rolled his eyes.
"We also danced," Otis continued. "Really nice dancing. Maeve was brilliant. I really enjoyed that."
"That's vertical sex. It's something," Eric said.
"And we kissed. Lots."
"Was there tongue?" Eric asked.
"Yes," Otis said, softly smiling.
Eric was surprised. "It's nice, isn't it?"
Otis nodded.
"So what else did you do?" Eric asked, almost indifferently.
"I touched Maeve's breast," Otis said, airily.
Eric's mouth dropped open and he was too stunned to speak for a moment before finally recovering his wits and saying, "You pervert."
Otis smiled at Eric, glad Maeve had given him permission to talk about it and hoped he didn't sound as if he was bragging. It wasn't about that.
Eric leant back and glared at Otis suspiciously. "Wait, was this an accidental brush against it while you were dancing or a full-on grab of a hunk of Maeve Wiley boob?" he asked.
Otis sighed and rolled his eyes and shook his head and wondered if Eric could actually hear himself as he spoke. "We'd finished dancing and we were lying on my bed and we were kissing and I… cupped it—" Otis held out his hand as if cupping an invisible breast, hoping no-one was looking. "—but I didn't even realise I'd done it until Maeve told me."
Eric heard the concern in Otis' voice. "Did she mind?" he asked, softly.
"No. She asked me to do it again."
Eric gave a small smile. "Did you?"
Otis nodded. "It felt good."
"Did your hand fall off?"
Otis rolled his eyes. "No."
"Did you get another boner?"
Otis hesitated then said, "Not then, but… afterward. After she left."
Eric noticed how Otis seemed less uncomfortable talking about it than just the day before and realised. "You had another wank, didn't you?"
Otis nodded. "Last night. And this morning."
Eric smiled. "No wonder you didn't realise you grabbed her boob. Your hand's numb. It's all that wanking."
"I just woke up with an erection and I was thinking about Maeve and last night and dancing and the feel of her breast and I just started-"
"'Wanking,'" Eric urged.
"- masturbating until-"
"You came," urged Eric.
"-I ejaculated."
Eric rolled his eyes. "You are going to have to start talking like a sixteen year old. But it explains why you were a cupcake this morning. I'm proud of you, Otis."
Otis smiled softly. "I felt really good this morning. I didn't feel uncomfortable afterward. Even last night was a bit uncomfortable. But this morning… I thought about Maeve being naked and kissing me and I just started stroking it."
"How long did you last?"
Otis shrugged. "About ten minutes." He looked at Eric with concern. "Is that normal?"
Eric shrugged. "I once spent an hour wanking to Denzel." He thought a moment then said, "Maybe that's why Maeve was a cupcake this morning."
Otis finally remembered the context of how Maeve reminded him of Aimee. "You think Maeve masturbated about me?" he asked, stunned by the thought.
Eric rolled his eyes in annoyance. "'Wank', Otis. Just say 'wank'."
Otis swallowed and said, "You think Maeve… wanked about me?"
"Did she want to play groin buddies with you last night?"
"Yes."
Eric nodded to himself in satisfaction. "You gave her blue ovaries. No wonder she had to butter her muffin herself."
"I don't think it's called 'blue ovaries', Eric."
"So what is it called, Mr Teenage Sex Therapist Whisperer?"
Otis thought for a moment. "I don't know."
Eric's eyes lit up with inspiration. "'Blue clit'."
Otis shook his head and rolled his eyes then glanced down at the table and gathered his thoughts. "Maybe I've been overthinking things, Eric."
"Maybe?" Eric shook his head incredulously.
"Maybe I don't need to take it as slowly as I thought I might," Otis said.
Eric studied Otis for a few moments before speaking. "Are you sure, Otis? I mean, I want you to bang Maeve and all that but you do get stressed when you and your sex life collide. That's why it's so weird when you're so normal about other people's sex lives. Mostly normal," he amended.
"When Maeve tried to kiss me on the bridge, I freaked out. But when she kissed me at our wall—"
"You got a boner and freaked out."
Otis thrust his hand in Eric's direction - palm up - as if that proved his point. "About the boner. Not about the kiss."
Eric frowned, puzzled.
"I really want to be with Maeve, Eric. And when I compare that time with Lily—"
Eric frowned, confused. "Lily?"
Otis realised they hadn't had a chance to talk about it. He swallowed and his voice was small. "When we were… after I hurt you—" Otis began then stopped as the Headmaster's voice came over the tannoy: Maeve Wiley to the Headmaster's office.
Maeve emerged from the Headmaster's office, thankful it hadn't been as bad as she feared. She turned the corner into the hallway and was both surprised and pleased to see Otis waiting for her, his face full of concern.
She smiled gently at him. "You waited for me."
Otis stepped toward her. "So what's happened?"
"It's not as bad as I thought. Suspension for a week and then I have to be a good girl for the rest of term."
"A week?" Otis repeated, dismayed.
"It's not expulsion."
Otis opened his arms and Maeve stepped into them.
"You shouldn't even have to face suspension," Otis said, grimly.
"Let it go, muppet," Maeve murmured.
She stepped back and nodded her head to indicate they should start walking.
"I've got to grab stuff from my locker. I'm not allowed to be on school grounds until after the suspension."
They started walking along the corridor and their hands reached out to meet without either of them consciously thinking about it.
"Are you going to be in the mood for our second date tonight?" Otis asked. "We can cancel, if you want."
Maeve thought for a moment. "Do you want to just come over to the caravan and we can order pizza? I'll invite you in this time."
Otis looked at her and smiled. "That sounds perfect."
Maeve glanced up at him and the tone in his voice and the look in his eyes suggested to her that there might be more than just hugging and kissing and touching her breasts that night and she wondered what the best term for the female equivalent of a boner was.
Aimee sat at the breakfast table in Maeve's caravan and looked questioningly at the girl sitting opposite her.
"So I've got to make sure that I don't keep the queen?" Aimee asked.
"That's right," said Maeve.
"Okay," said Aimee, nodding. "Shouldn't be hard."
Maeve refrained from pointing out she had won twelve packs of cigarettes off Aimee so far and glanced at the clock.
Aimee noticed. "So what time is he getting here?"
"About an hour. Said he was going home to shower first." Maeve began dealing out the cards. "I'll have mine in a bit."
"Do you want me to be gone before he gets here?"
Maeve shrugged. "It's up to you. You can stay for pizza, if you like, but…" Maeve smiled to herself. "I'll need you to leave soon after. Sorry."
Aimee noted Maeve's tone and glanced up from her cards. "You think you're going to do it tonight?"
"I don't know if we'll actually have sex but… I think we'll definitely get to second base." Maeve drifted off into thoughts of Otis touching her down there.
Aimee was puzzled. "I thought you said he touched your boob last night."
Maeve returned to reality, frowning. "Boobs is second base?"
Aimee nodded. "Kissing is first, especially if you're Frenching. Boobs is second, either over or under your top and bajingos and maypoles are third. Oh, and full on shagging is a home run."
"How do you know all this?" Maeve asked.
"Do you remember Biff? That American exchange student a couple of years ago? He told me."
Maeve smirked. "Did Biff get a home run?"
Aimee smiled at the memories. "He won the World Series."
"What the fuck is the World Series?"
Aimee shrugged and held out her cards for Maeve to choose. "Dunno. Just something to do with baseball and there's lots of home runs."
Maeve selected a card from Aimee and compared it to the other cards in her hand. "You call it a bajingo?" she asked, grimacing slightly.
Aimee nodded. "Bajingo. Fanny. Minky. Muff. Vag. Used to call it me Minnie when I was a kid."
Maeve scrunched her face in amusement.
"What do you call yours?" Aimee asked.
Maeve shrugged. "Pussy. Fanny. Minge. Vag. I used to ironically call it my cock-hole but one guy was a real dick with that one so I don't use it anymore."
Aimee grimaced. "Why are guys like that?"
"Too many of them don't just have dicks," Maeve said, holding out her cards for Aimee.
Aimee selected a card from Maeve and studied her own cards.
"So what does Steve call it?" Maeve asked.
Aimee smiled. "Little Aimee. And I call him Big Steve."
Maeve grimaced and supressed a shudder then smiled at a thought. "I was thinking of telling Otis I call it my cookie because I've called him my cookie monster and what does the cookie monster eat?"
Maeve opened the door to her caravan and looked at Otis as he stood at the foot of the stairs, staring at her with a glittering smile.
He noticed she had changed from this morning's outfit to what looked to be the same white top she had worn that day in the pool but he wasn't certain if it was the same black bra visible beneath it. The skirt seemed to be the same one she wore on their first day of the clinic unless she had another skirt of the same colour with fraying threads hanging down. He had never caught a glimpse of her pants but in his dream they were pink so he imagined they were pink beneath her skirt.
He wondered if his thoughts fell on the right side of desiring her and not on the side of objectifying her.
"Entrez-vous?" Maeve asked and stepped back.
Otis walked up the steps into her caravan, hoping his face hadn't registered what he had been thinking about.
When he stepped over the threshold and stood silhouetted in the doorway, Maeve bit her lip and silently watched him as he looked around, not noticing Aimee sitting at the breakfast table just out of his vision.
He smiled as he noticed where she had placed the trophy.
"It's bigger on the inside than on the outside," he said.
Maeve snorted. "Yeah, my own personal TARDIS. Wish it could take me somewhen else."
Otis looked softly into her eyes. "It's nice, Maeve," he murmured.
"I'll give you the tour later," she promised.
He nodded. "Have you ordered?"
"Yeah. They'll be here in about twenty minutes."
"Oh," said Otis, remembering. "I've spoken to your teachers, got homework you can do during your suspension and I'll check with them every day in case new things come up."
"Thanks, muppet," said Maeve, softly, not wanting to tell him that Aimee had also offered to do the same things.
Otis shrugged. "You'd do the same for me."
"No, I wouldn't," she smirked.
Otis smiled. "I get it. You're mean."
"Mean as mean can be."
Otis put his bag down on the couch then Maeve put her arms around him and reached up to kiss him and this time there were tongues.
Maeve sighed and murmured, "Still so comfortable."
Otis smiled and stepped back and turned and recoiled as he finally noticed Aimee sitting at the breakfast table, smiling broadly at him.
"Aimee," he said.
Aimee waggled her fingers at him then glanced at Maeve. "You're right. He does look like he's a good kisser. Sure I can't test drive him?"
Maeve smiled at Otis' reaction. "Lips off, Aimee. Besides, he's not interested. Are you, muppet?"
Otis glanced at Aimee then looked at Maeve, eyes wide. "I can't win this one, can I?"
Maeve pursed her lips in a smile and shook her head. "Nope."
"Jeez, Maeve," Otis said, shaking his head, then noticed the cards on the table. "What are you playing?" he asked, relieved he'd found an escape hatch.
"Scabby Queen," said Aimee. "I think I'm finally getting the hang of it."
"Oh, great," said Otis as he moved to sit opposite where he imagined Maeve would have been sitting. "What are the stakes?"
Maeve smirked and sat opposite him. "Loser buys the other two a pack of cigarettes each."
"I don't smoke," said Otis.
Maeve shrugged. "Then I'll just have to bum them off you."
"That means you can't lose," protested Otis.
"House rules, muppet," said Maeve as she began dealing the cards. "Unless you want to play Strip Queen."
Maeve noticed Otis startle and tried to keep her smirk hidden.
"Oh, great," said Aimee, brightly. "I can call Steve and we can make it a foursome."
Otis stared open-mouthed at Aimee and turned redder than anybody Maeve had ever seen.
"You are so easy, muppet," said Maeve.
"He really does look cute when's he's flustered," said Aimee.
Author's Notes: Otis may not be as ready for the next step(s) as he thought he might be.
I hadn't originally intended to end this chapter here but I think the next bit of the night deserves a chapter of its own. Sorry if it doesn't feel quite complete.
The next chapter will delve deeper into sexual talk between Maeve and Otis so if you think I'm going astray, please let me know.
Not sure how long it will take to complete – there needs to be a balance between Otis' desires and his issues – and that's the tightrope I'm walking since I don't want to screw it up completely and have you feel like you've wasted your time.
Thank you again for your kind comments and kudos and for helping this story reach 2000 hits.
