The Fade

12

When we return to the living room, Maeve is wide-eyed and... shocked? Disgusted? She so often looks disgusted, it's hard to tell.

"What's up?" Jamison asks, plopping onto the couch.

"You- you-"

"Spit it out."

"You two- I KNEW IT!" she yells, jumping to her feet and pointing an accusatory finger at us. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

"Knew what?" I ask slowly.

She gives the loudest, most exaggerated sigh I've ever heard in my life. "You two are... You guys are a thing."

"A thing?" Jamison raises an eyebrow. "You'll have to be more specific."

"A thing! You know, an item! A pair! A couple! You said you weren't, but I knew it!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold your horses. We are not a thing, item, pair, couple, whatever. We are traveling companions and nothing more, isn't that right, Hals?"

"Completely right."

Maeve rolls her eyes. "Of course you would say that. You may not see it, but I see it. You don't have to admit anything. I already know. You can't fool me."

Jamison and I exchange a glance. "Too bad there's nothing for you to see."

"YOU WERE KISSING IN THE BATHROOM!" Maeve jumps up with each word, landing hard on the couch cushion to accentuate each one.

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh.' I heard! And if not for the fact I love this episode more than life itself, I would've been watching too!"

Talk about invasion of privacy.

"Okay, first of all, didn't your dad tell you it's rude to eavesdrop and downright creepy to spy on people? And second of all, and most importantly, we were not kissing in the bathroom. That's just gross."

"People kiss in bathrooms all the time."

Jamison reaches for the remote to turn off the TV. "Maybe if you watched a little less TV, you'd know that the real world is a little different."

"Whatever. Fact is, I heard-"

"For God's sake, it was my knuckle. She kissed my knuckle, okay? That's it."

Maeve scrunches up her nose as she turns to look at me. "Why would you kiss his knuckle? That's so weird."

"Not as weird as you making such a big deal about it. We were just screwing around."

"That's another thing people do in bathrooms!"

Jamison actually facepalms. "That's it. If you ever turn on a TV again, you are only permitted to watch Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and other wholesome programming."

She sticks her tongue out at him and hops down from the couch. "You guys can make up all the stories you want, but I know what I heard, and I know what I've seen. I know." She gives one last defiant huff before spinning on her heels and stalking off to one of the bedrooms.

"She really knows how to make a scene, doesn't she." Jamison flicks the TV back on and resumes the episode Maeve paused.

I take Maeve's place on the couch, leaving a couple feet of space between the two of us.

No sense giving Miss Trigger-Happy any more ammo to use against us.

***

I wake to what sounds like raccoons ransacking the kitchen.

I roll over and see that Maeve's side is empty, the sheets cool. She's been up for a while.