Legend (MxM)

Chapter VI

"I just want to stay right here to remember this exact moment." I said while closing my eyes. "I want to mark this on the calendar. December 30th, 2022."

Maverick remained still. We were still at the Field museum. For all we knew, it was getting dark outside. There was just so much to see! Maverick especially loved the Egypt exhibit. It was probably one of the most unique attractions of this place. We'd covered every floor on this place and were currently at ground floor. I behaved like a kid with ADHD. I just had to be everywhere at once.

I smelled a familiar smell. Like melted plastic. "I remember this was the place where I got a wax dinosaur. I can smell it from here." I paused and looked at him. Maverick just looked slightly curious as he regarded me in silence. "Thank you for this."

When he looked like he was ready to question, he held back. His mouth hung open slightly for only a moment before it closed. I think he found himself a little uncomfortable. That's when I realized I might have been standing too close. I tried to be casual about it. I was pretty sure I was. I wandered away to look at all the tiny figures. There were many tiny windows with tiny houses that reminded me of lego ones. I thought it was pretty fascinating.

"I had fun." I heard him say and that's when I heard the dismissal. I refused to take it personal and I had no problem respecting his boundaries. He easily respected mine.

"Yeah," Was all I could muster up. I continued to gaze at a castle figure. I had to hunch over slightly to get a good enough look. It felt as though the spell had broken but for some reason, I still didn't want the moment to end. I repeated the date, but in my head. It felt magic.

I heard some movement but it was hard to distinguish what he was doing. I found myself standing back up, my spine straightened out. I wanted to turn around. I wanted to stay where I was. I felt this emotion. Describing it was impossible. I just knew that I didn't know what to do with it.

"Are you sure you're in love with the person, or the chase?" I'd heard Kyra say this out loud once.

"People often want what they can not have." Thom said on a different occasion.

"Our lives are often blissfully short." Ryker said on yet a different occasion.

"Be true to yourself. You'll find your way again. It's inevitable." Sage words from Avery.

It was like I was visualizing each of my dear friends in a room alone. Even though the actual occasions of when these words were said, most was said in the company of others. I remembered that in a way, I vowed to carry this with me for when I needed it. The words managed to anchor me in place.

"I have a mutual friend who is throwing a housewarming party in a couple weeks." Maverick said. My body moved of its own accord. I found myself turning my head before the rest of my body followed. "If you wanna come, maybe your friends would be down too?"

This was pretty sensible. "Yeah I think I would be good with that. Today kind of felt like a thing high school kids would do together." I noticed the way his eyes softened briefly before going back to his usual slightly guarded look. I figure it would pass as a neutral expression. I tried to smile a little sheepishly at my poor humor.

It sort of worked. The right edge of Maverick's mouth quirked up a bit. Meanwhile, I was trying to compile a list of what to bring. Maverick noticed and took a step forward. I refrained from doing the same lest I spook him again. Honestly, if I were in his shoes, I guess I would have been too. There was a deep seeded issue that I could not fix. He was going to have to fix that himself.

"Chips and dip will do. Say for like, 25 people or more."

I held back my comment: that's a lot of chips and dip! I could make this work. So I nodded and said, "Thanks again for agreeing to meet my closest friends. Thom will always be like this big brother while Kyra is the middle child. That leaves me to be the baby of course and not particularly by choice. I didn't get to decide what year I was born." I laughed, though I noted there was a little awkwardness in it.