chapter nine
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It was five in the morning.

     Don't ask Kevin why he was awake, he wouldn't be able to tell you. Anyone who knew him knew that he was not a morning person. But at exactly five that morning, he'd opened his eyes and had been unsuccessful in getting them closed again, which was how he ended up bumping into Maeve as he was walking out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later.

     She gave him a strange look as she sidestepped him. He considered that he might've been staring too long, he probably had been. He hadn't spoken to her since the Exy store, and dinner that night had never been more awkward. Though he'd had Wymack there as a distraction, it felt like her eyes were knives and he their target. When he looked at her again, she was aggressively brushing her teeth like he wasn't still standing there.

     He gulped,"Are you heading out?"

     Permanently furrowed brows, another look, she gestured to her attire as if it could say for her— isn't it obvious?

     "Can I join you?" He blurted out before he could stop himself. She took her time rinsing before she reached for the floss.

     "Can you keep up?"

     He paused. Probably not. But she didn't wait for his answer, just walked past him again. He'd never changed clothes faster in his life, worried that she would leave him behind, even if she hadn't exactly agreed. He was pleasantly surprised when she was still there, only moved on out so that she could stretch.

     She stared up at him expectantly when she finished and he wasn't doing anything. He thought he heard her ask whether he was too good for stretches, but his mind was elsewhere. While she was bent over, reaching for her toes, her entire back already exposed from the sports bra she wore, he'd caught sight of a tattoo, located on the left side where one's lungs were. Both black and red outlined a shape he hadn't had enough time to make out.

     She was snapping her fingers in his face, he now realized, she rolled her eyes and asked,"You coming or not?"

     He nodded because he didn't trust himself to speak and she took off without another word.

     Kevin had to run fast to keep up with her, strangely enough, considering he had much longer legs and so his strides were longer too. However, the thing about Maeve wasn't just that she ran fast, but also far and for a very long time. They were one hour in and he was sure they'd run at least thirteen miles. He regretted skipping out on stretching just to save time.

     "Idiot." Maeve rolled her eyes at him when he nearly collapsed because of his leg cramping up. Nevertheless, she'd helped him stay standing, pulling his arm up around her shoulder and helping him all the way back.

     He was out of breath and sweaty and she looked like she'd just taken a stroll in the park, he groaned as she tugged him along further,"You know, you could be nicer."

     "Why should I be?" She scoffed,"You're the tonto who ignored pre-workout rules, aren't you supposed to be a "serious" athlete? Going on a run without stretching? Idiot."

     "Okay, I get it!" He snapped,"I thought you were in a rush—"

     "I literally asked you if you were going to stretch and waited for you." She argued back.

     "Yeah, yeah, I'm a fool, I get it and my pain is my fault, you could be nicer though, it's easy, I call it being human." Kevin looked up, saw that they were nearing the house, and turned back to Maeve, who was frowning as she always was, but she said nothing more to him as she pulled out a key from who knows where and unlocked the house.

     She dropped him down onto the couch where he'd previously been struggling to sleep and disappeared. He almost thought she wasn't going to be coming back when she tossed an ice pack at him and left again. This time, though, he could hear her in the kitchen and she brought a bowl and glass of water with her when she returned the second time. Both were held out to him and he hesitated, when he looked into the bowl he did so again and she almost looked like she'd punch him in the face.

     "Eat." She ordered.

     It was just a variation of fruits over a thick purée, also topped with granola. He didn't know why he overthought it, but by the time she came back a third time he'd already eaten three spoonfuls, having not realized how hungry he was. He stared as she plopped down next to him without a second thought and turned the tv on for background noise. Her own bowl was topped with the same fruits and granola, only she'd added nuts and some peanut butter as well, and she drank coffee instead of water.

     "I wouldn't have taken you for a morning person." He said and she shrugged.

     What he'd really wanted to say was that he wouldn't have taken her for the nurturing type, though he supposed she got it from Abby.

     "Yet here we are."

     "Or a healthy person." He added.

     "It's called balance." She sipped her coffee,"The good and the bad."

     "You're literally drinking acid." He pointed out and she nodded.

     "That's the bad, but what are we eating? That's right— healthy as fuck açaí bowls, don't act like you don't approve, you know you love it."

     He did enjoy it. He was still hungry though, and she seemed to read his mind as she stood up and took his empty dishes before plucking the now warm ice pack off his ankle. "Don't worry, that wasn't your whole breakfast."

Kevin couldn't help himself as he followed her into the kitchen this time, she glanced back, narrowed eyes directed down at his ankle, but she didn't say anything to try and kick him out so he leaned against the countertop where he thought he wouldn't be a bother to her and watched. She hand washed their dishes before reaching into the fridge and pulling out a bag of frozen strawberries, she then made pancake batter from scratch. Though she hadn't put any of the strawberries in and he considered that this was her being thoughtful toward those who didn't like strawberry pancakes.

     "I didn't know you cooked."

     "Every morning." She replied.

     He felt like he was drowning in answers, they'd never talked this much and she never answered his questions... though he technically hadn't posed any and maybe that was the trick to getting her to talk.

     She looked back on him and his thoughtful gaze,"Don't assume things about me, Day."

     "I'm not." He lied.

     "I can see you the wheels turning in your head, stop thinking, it's bad for you." She'd finished whisking her mixture,"Ever make pancakes?"

     "No." He frowned.

     She nodded,"Right, at Evermore you guys probably just had big buffets waiting for you for every meal." She missed how he immediately straightened up at the mention of his past as she continued getting a griddle ready,"Well, it's not like that here at poor people central, here we actually—"

     "Teach me." He cut her off and she finally looked up, eyebrows shooting upward.

     "What?"

     "How to make pancakes." Kevin moved her aside with ease and took her place in front of the griddle,"Tell me what to do."

     "Well, wash your hands first. And second, don't go standing so close to the griddle because you're making me nervous, rookie." Maeve now handed him the stick of butter she'd been holding,"Lather this onto that."

     Kevin did as he was told, careful to move his fingers away quickly when the butter became a tiny square. Take the bowl of batter and spoon it onto the hot plate, round shapes are encouraged. Easy enough, right? He'd seen pancakes lots of times, eaten them. The thing about Kevin, though, was that he was a perfectionist and trying to get his pancakes as smooth and round as he could resulted in almost burning a few.

     He surprisingly wasn't insulted or scolded for that and when he turned around he found that Maeve had climbed up onto the countertop and was eating strawberries out of the bag, she'd pulled back and just let him... be.

She hopped down and turned down the heat gradually until it was completely off, piling a new tower of dishes into the sink before surveying his stack of pancakes with a small nod.

     "Not bad for a newbie."

     "But not great either." He countered and she shrugged.

     "You can't be perfect on the first try, I bet you weren't amazing at Exy when you first picked up a racquet at, what, five years old?"

     He cleared his throat,"Seven, actually." She turned around quickly and he almost laughed,"Shocked?"

"Uh, yeah!" She scoffed and went on to point out,"The son of Exy only has four extra years of experience on me, that's one for the history books."

Kevin did chuckle then, leaning back against the counter, only to pull away just as fast with a sharp gasp. He looked back and realized he'd placed his arm right on the knife Maeve had set down after cutting a few strawberries — the ones she hadn't eaten — in half, she looked at him now in a way he couldn't quite describe.

Almost like she wanted to call him an idiot again, but refrained, instead she just sighed and dragged him over to the bathroom where their unusual morning together had begun. She flicked the lights on and moved around with ease, reminding him that she lived here and he was just a summer invader. They didn't speak as she grabbed his arm and cleaned it of the little blood the knife had drawn, thoroughly disinfecting it before sticking an orange bandaid on him.

"Not as good as Abby, but I think you'll live." She said when she finished,"Never would've taken you for someone so accident prone."

"I'm not." She rose her eyebrows. "Usually." He added and then, without thinking of what the consequences would be when he spoke what was on his mind, he asked,"Why do you pretend you don't care about anything or anyone?"

     Maeve took a step back, eyes darting toward the floor,"Bit early for that, isn't it?"

     He shook his head,"You like sunsets and you wish on shooting stars, you see Betsy every week, and you claim to hate the Foxes, but you get along with the twins and you don't find Nicky as annoying as you want us to think, I know you're friends with Renee, and Matt, and you cook breakfast every day, you drop off donuts, and—"

     Kevin was cut off with an abrupt kiss, hard and heavy against his lips, sour strawberries on his tongue. Like with anything, he hesitated before what was happening fully hit him and he properly pulled Maeve in, tugging her waist toward his with one hand and burying the other in her hair. He was transported back to the roof and a wish he hadn't even realized he'd made. Unfortunately, it was over just as quickly as the shooting star had gone.

     Their breaths mingled with each other and Maeve's thumb slowly dragged over his lip as he pressed his forehead against hers.

     "I thought that might shut you up."

     He tested his luck and kissed her again, and she surprisingly didn't pull away, instead she pushed him up against the sink and kissed him back like all their previous interactions didn't exist and this was what she'd wanted all along. Maybe it was what he'd wanted. In the end, it was he who stopped them from going any further, lips numb as he asked her to wait.

He didn't know what surprised him more, the fact that she willingly stepped back or the part where she didn't lash out at him. He was out of breath and at a loss for words,"You're not...?"

"Gonna pressure you into doing something you don't want to do just because there's something I'd like to do?" She picked up where he left off when he couldn't figure out how to ask and shrugged after,"No, I'm not."

She stepped up to him again, trailing a path from his top to his bottom lip with her finger a second time, as if trying to memorize the way they felt. He knew this meant it likely wouldn't happen again, kissing her... and so he dragged his eyes to her lips too, thinking about mapping them with his own just second ago, their unexpected softness, and how the taste of strawberries felt almost forbidden.

They made him dizzy, even with her hand still on the back of his neck.

She fell away from him again, opening the door he couldn't remember either of them having closed,"Won't be long until everyone's awake, and I still haven't showered." She sounded almost scolding toward herself,"You should eat breakfast if you're still hungry."

     He wanted to stop her when he saw that she was looking at him like before. Disconnected, uncaring, cold... but he couldn't bring himself to say anything and she wasn't the type to wait around.

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maeve: *kisses kevin to avoid talking feelings*

tonto = fool