Limoncello

Chapter 8

"For you I'd count the salt under the sea." ~ Pierce The Veil, Currents Convulsive

—

The drive home was silent aside from Maeve's quiet sniffles and the music that played softly from the truck's sound system. Folio's callused, and now bloodied, hand held one Maeve's silky, soft ones, while the other gripped the steering wheel. She delicately played with his fingers, careful not to hurt him, while discretely trying to assess the damage. The impact from that punch looked to have cut his knuckles a bit. Nothing severe, but enough to cause guilt to pang in Maeve's chest knowing that he cut his hand defending her. She felt her throat tighten and begin to burn and she tried to swallow down the new wave of tears that threatened to fall.

Suddenly the truck came to a stop and Nick put it in park. Maeve looked up and realized that she had zoned out for the entire drive, because they were already in his driveway and she hadn't even realized. She looked over at him, her eyes tired and puffy, darkness under her eyes from where her mascara had started to run. "Come over so I can clean up your hand, okay?" she suggested, her voice quiet and tight as she held back tears.

Nick nodded in response. "Okay," he said softly. "Let me just tell the guys." Maeve sniffled as she let go of his hand and slipped out of the truck. He got out as well and watched as Noah's car pulled into the driveway. Once it stopped and the guys began to exit the vehicle, he walked over.

"Hey," he sighed. "Maeve wants to clean up my hand," he held it up to show them, his hand and fingers noticeably trembling from leftover adrenaline. "I'm gonna go to her place after we put everything away."

Jolly spoke up, "Just go now. We'll take care of it."

"Are you sure?" he questioned. "I know the drum kit's a bitch to put away and-"

"Yeah, man. Just go be with your girl," Nicholas interrupted with a slight smile. "You need each other right now."

Folio shook his head as his face began to heat up, "Thanks."

He made his way over to where Maeve was still waiting by his truck. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and frowned slightly as he noticed her wiping her eyes. Before he could say anything, she cleared her throat and started leading him across the street, "Let's go get you cleaned up."

—

Nick sat on the toilet seat in Maeve's bathroom as she sat on the edge of her tub in silence, wiping the blood from his knuckles with a damp paper towel. Her touch was gentle, soft, caring. Despite the ache in his hand, he could only think about the way her touch made the world around him slow down. How she made his chest tighten with how full his heart felt. How she made his stomach feel like how the most beautiful firework show on the Fourth of July looked. He was so taken aback that, even after what she had just experienced at the bar, she seemed to be more worried about his hand and if he was okay.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Maeve stood up, still holding his hand. His eyes followed her as he stood up. She led him over to the sink and grabbed a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. She glanced up, peering at him from behind her glasses through her eyelashes. "This is gonna sting a little bit," she murmured. Nick nodded in acknowledgment as she poured some of the liquid onto his wounds. He hissed at the sting as the bubbling fluid flushed out the slight cuts. He grimaced as she dabbed his hand dry with a clean paper towel. She then applied some ointment and wrapped his hand in gauze. Holding his hand in both of hers, she finally looked up at him fully. She brought his hand to her lips and pressed a light, lingering kiss to the gauze, all while holding eye contact with him. "All better," she whispered into the gauze before letting go of his hand.

A smile spread across Nick's face as he looked down at her, his cheeks tinged pink and heart fluttering. "All better," he repeated softly. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. He kissed the top of her head as he held her close to him, "Thank you."

They stood like that for a while before finally pulling away from each other. "I'm going to get ready for bed," Maeve sighed. "You're welcome to stay if you like."

"I'd love to," he said softly. He watched as Maeve nodded and went to her room, then made his way to the couch where he sent a text to his group chat with the guys.

'Can one of you bring me some clothes to sleep in?'

Five minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Looking through the peephole, he found Noah standing there. He unlocked the door and opened it, taking the clothes from a smiling Noah. "Thanks, brother."

"No problem," he said, turning to walk off. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Folio rolled his eyes as he closed the door, locked it, and went to the bathroom to quickly change. When he walked back out in fresh clothes, Maeve was in the living room, seated on the couch, scrolling on her phone. Her face was washed, her pajamas were on, and her hair was up.

She looked stunning.

He sat down next to her and she looked up at him as she placed her phone next to her, "Thank you."

He raised an eyebrow, "For what, exactly?" He questioned, puzzled.

"Defending me," she breathed. "And for comforting me. And for staying with me."

Nick scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You don't have to thank me for that."

"But I do," she sighed. "You were there for me. That means a whole lot. I know I'm not worth all of the trouble that seems to follow me around, and I'm so sorry that you guys got pulled into that mess, but you didn't have to do any of that. You could've just ignored it. But you didn't. You helped me. So thank you."

Nick frowned as he processed what she was saying to him. "Maeve," he sighed. "I could never just ignore something like that. What happened is not your fault, so don't apologize. And I know we haven't known each other very long, but I can see that you're worth anything and everything that this world could possibly throw at me."

Tears welled up in Maeve's eyes once again and the heavy droplets began to stream down her face as she looked up at him. But before Nick could say anything else, her hands were on his cheeks and her lips were on his. His eyes went wide for a moment out of shock. He pulled her closer as his eyes fluttered shut and he melted into the kiss, their mouths moving softly against one another.

Maeve pulled away first with wide eyes, "I-I'm sorry. I should've asked to ki-"

"Hey," Nick smiled, slowly leaning back in. "Stop apologizing." He whispered against her lips before capturing them in another soft, slow kiss.