Never Really Over

Chapter 14

A/N: Hey guys! I know I said I would update more often but my laptop stopped working like a week ago so now I'm using an old one, which is why I couldn't write last week. I'll try and be more consistent now hahah. Also, some of you have asked me about whether I plan on continuing this story and I 100% do! I'm not really sure how long this will be because I haven't figured out an ending yet, so I'm going to keep writing as long as it feels right. I promise to give it a proper ending whenever I know the time has come, so you guys don't have to worry x

It had been two days since the groups had been assigned and to Otis and Maeve's credit, they had managed not to kill anyone yet. They tried to make it a point to keep their group meetings as brief as possible while also being honest about how they were going.

The truth was Maeve wasn't really worried about Otis being with Ola given the fact that Ola was very clearly in love with Lilly. It was Ruby she was worried about. She had never seen Ruby being so publicly nice to anyone before. She almost seemed to gravitate towards Otis and Maeve absolutely hated it. She of course tried to be mature about it and not sucker punch Ruby every time she saw her and it was somehow getting a little easier.

It was the end of the school day and Maeve and Otis were standing by his locker as he put his books back into his bag.

"Do you want to grab a burger right now?" Maeve asked.

"I wish I could, I'm starving but I have a project meeting." Otis said.

"Oh." Maeve said, the disappointment clearly etched on her face.

Otis was about to speak but stopped because his phone began to buzz.

"What's up?" Maeve asked.

"Ola can't make our meeting." Otis said.

"So is it cancelled?" Maeve asked, getting excited.

"No, I don't think so." Otis said, while replying to Ola's meesage.

"So it's just you and Ruby then?" Maeve asked, trying her level best to hide her discomfort.

"Yeah..um.. I could cancel." Otis said.

"No, you don't need to." Maeve said, surprising even herself.

"Are you sure?" Otis asked.

"Yeah, I mean the project is due in a few days.." Maeve said, trying to convince herself more than Otis.

"Yeah and we're super behind schedule, I'm kind of surprised Ola would just not show up." Otis said.

"Hmm." Maeve hummed in response, trying to stop her imagination from getting the best of her.

"How about this? The project meeting is at my house, why don't you come over after? We can have dinner and watch a movie or something?" Otis asked.

Maeve thought for a moment. Her instincts were screaming at her to say no, to push Otis away. It was always better to run, right?

"Sure." Maeve said with a smile, somehow having fought off her strongest instincts.

Otis smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. He knew what she was thinking, all the words, the thoughts she refused to say out loud. He knew just telling her she had nothing to worry about was not going to help, so he decided to show her.

Maeve pulled away with a smile on her face. She loved Otis and she knew it every time her heart threatened to explode out of her chest whenever he was around. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She knew that sounded super cliché and cheesy but she also knew it was completely true. She always wanted him to be with her, which was why she had to let him go and trust that he loved her just as much.

Otis walked Maeve home and then headed back to his own house for his meeting. As she walked towards her trailer, Maeve saw Isaac waiting for her by her door. She was surprised to see him because he hadn't come to school that day.

"Why weren't you at school today?" Maeve asked.

"I just didn't feel up to it." Isaac said.

"What's going on?" Maeve asked.

"Just family stuff." Isaac said.

Maeve could sense he didn't really feel like talking about it much. "If you ever want to talk to me about it, you can." She said with a small smile.

"How are things with the project? " Isaac asked, changing the subject.

"They're okay, Jackson and I did some research at school today, so we should be fine." Maeve said.

"So I didn't completely fuck everything up by not showing up?" Isaac asked.

"No, you didn't. Which is surprising since this assignment much like the rest of world is dependent completely on you." Maeve said sarcastically.

"Of course it is, I'm shocked you guys survived a day without me." Isaac said.

Maeve rolled her eyes and began climbing the stairs of her trailer.

"Joe wants to look for our parents." Isaac said suddenly.

"What?" Maeve asked, turning around.

"Yeah, he came to me today saying we need to look for them." Isaac said.

"Why?" Maeve asked.

"He didn't say why but I think it's because we're having trouble getting by and he isn't sure how long we're going to be able to manage without them." Isaac said.

"Do you want him to find them?" Maeve asked, sitting down on her steps and putting her bag beside her.

"You know how it is. A part of me does and I hate that part of me, the part that will always want them around and want a normal family. But the rational part of me knows that they can give me nothing but pain." Isaac said.

"I know, I'm sorry." Maeve said.

"Yeah well what are you going to do?" Isaac asked.

"If it's money problems, I can help Joe get a job. I could talk to the manager at the Pretzel place." Maeve said. She wasn't always Isaac's biggest fan but she knew what it felt like to be in his place.

"That would actually be amazing, thank you so much!" Isaac said, putting his hand on Maeve's.

Maeve looked down at the their hands and pulled away. She didn't like where things were heading. She never truly believed Isaac was any kind of threat to her relationship with Otis, she thought he actually transferred schools because Moordale was better than his old school. And maybe that was still true but the vibe she was getting from him wasn't platonic at all. She could sense he was trying to pull something.

"I'm going to go." Maeve said picking up her things.

"Maeve! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Isaac said.

"You know that I'm dating Otis, right? I love him and as much as I want to us to be friends and for their to be no drama, I will not let anything hurt my relationship with him." Maeve said, suddenly getting a little angry.

"I would never try and come between you two." Isaac said.

"How can you say that with a straight face?" Maeve asked.

"What do you mean?" Isaac asked.

"You literally lied to my face about Otis and deleted his message, just to make sure he and I couldn't be together. How do you expect me to believe that you would never do anything to come between us?" Maeve asked.

"Look, Maeve I screwed up." Isaac said, moving closer to Maeve.

"I forgave you back then, I won't do it again. Don't try and pull anything." Maeve said as she walked into her trailer, slamming the door behind her.

Isaac just waited outside her trailer for a while. He still had feelings for Maeve; he couldn't imagine a world where he wouldn't. He had no idea why she was with Otis, someone who would never understand the kind of things she had been through, the kind of things she had seen. Maeve deserved someone who knew how to protect her and Isaac believed more than anything that that someone was him.