Fantasy World

"Night, Mace!" Stephanie yawned out as she walked back inside. 

Steven and Maci watched her walk away from them. "Night," the brunette called out. The door slid shut, leaving them secluded from everyone inside Steven's house. 

The two sat in peace out on the balcony. Steven sat in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt while Maci was curled up in her pajamas and one his blankets. It was fairly warm outside for 10 pm, but with her small body she didn't retain a lot of her body heat. 

After being booted from her dorm room, Steven opened up his house to her. She planned to sleep on the couch until she and one of her friends found an apartment to rent. Her few boxes of things were stacked up in his garage currently. 

"Can I ask about something?" Steven questioned. 

Maci rested her head against the back of her seat. "Of course."

Steven shifted so his feet slid off the railing and down to the ground. "What... What's going on with your dad? I mean, I know you guys don't talk much as it is..." he drifted off. "And I know you and your mom are..."

"Distant," she supplied. He awkwardly nodded his head, unsure if this was dangerous territory. 

Maci sighed and pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Remember when I stayed with you guys for a few weeks when I was 10?" she asked. He nodded his head. "My home had turned into World War III pretty much. My mom found out my dad was cheating on her and he was just livid. Your mom heard them screaming and throwing things one day when she was picking me up for a play date and decided to take me in while they figured things out. My mom has always been pretty unstable. She takes medication now, but she didn't while I was younger," Maci admitted. She had never even told Stephanie about the pills. She felt so insecure about it all that she refused to talk about it with her. 

"Dad... He had a temper. She spent a lot of her time trying to please him. He was always my biggest critic when I was a teenager. College was my first escape from that. They got a divorce and he moved to Nova Scotia, but he stayed on my case about everything," she told him, stressing the last word. "He was always a big business guy, but away from his office he acted like some frat boy..."

Steven frowned and reached over to take her hand. She moved it away, though. She could finish the story on her own. "Dad didn't do much for me support wise. He never attended games or anything..."

"You mean science fairs?" he teased softly. 

Maci cracked a smile. "Yeah. Close enough." He chuckled at that. "The last time we talked, I told him that if he couldn't be involved in my life if he was hell bent on criticizing me. I may have thrown in a few choice words. He finally got the picture, though. He called me only on holidays and birthdays after that. This is the first time I've seen him since then," she summed up. 

Steven offered her a smile. She returned it, taking his support with no words. He pulled her hand closest to him over onto his lap. He toyed with her fingers, lightly running his fingers over the new polish. "What happened to the bolts?" he asked. 

"I ran out of my white," she told him. 

"Looks like I'll have to go get you a graduation gift then. Can't have you not sporting lightning bolts on your finger nails," he commented. 

Maci laughed, pulling the blanket a little closer. "Shut up. No graduation gifts," she told him. 

He turned her hand over in his and began tracing the faint lines in her skin. Too late for that warning. "When do you think you want to head up to Toronto?" he asked. 

She was quiet as she debated it. "Never."

Steven laughed, looking over at her. "Come on, a lot of people miss you, I bet."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I think I might stay here this summer... Get myself a job and apartment," she mumbled. 

He frowned at the thought. Two months without her around? He didn't want to do that at all. "Can I persuade you with food?" he asked. 

Maci giggled. "No. I think I should stay here. I can get settled in and all that," she told him. She snuggled further into her chair, shivering slightly. 

Steven watched her for a moment before lightly tugging on her hand. "Come here," he told her. 

She rolled her eyes playfully before standing up and walking the foot to his chair. He pulled her down on top of him, moving the blanket so it was only laying on top of her. Maci melted into his body heat, savoring it. 

"I don't know if I'm a fan of that idea," he told her as her head rested on his chest. 

"Oh really?"

"Mhm. You're going to tempt me to come back earlier than normal," he confirmed. 

She smiled against his T-shirt. "You can come back and find me with short hair, tattoos, and piercings," she teased. 

He snorted. "I'd like to see you around needles," he replied. 

She laughed, knowing he had a point. She hated needles. "Then you'll find me with short hair."

He lifted his hand to play with her hair. "You'd be cute with short hair," he mumbled. 

She looked up at him excitedly. "Wanna come with me to get it cut tomorrow then?" she asked. 

He groaned loudly. "When I went with you last time, I almost got raped! Or do you not remember that? I think her name was Willow... She grabbed my junk and all," he reminded her. 

Maci buried her face into his shirt as she giggled madly over the memory. "Junk? I thought guys all cherished their parts," she teased. 

He gave out a dramatic sigh. "It's just a saying! They aren't actually junk to us," he stated. 

Maci bit her lip, trying to keep her thoughts away from the past. In her pause, he changed the subject again. "So, we're obviously not giving this up..." he began. 

Maci shut her eyes. Right. Stephanie. "Break it to her this weekend?" she mumbled. "I'll go out with her to a park or something. Then you can talk to her when she gets back?" 

He wrapped his arms around her. If they were going to tell his sister that they had a 'thing' then that surely meant he could ask her to be his girlfriend, correct? He placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Sounds like a plan," he agreed. 

"Think she'll want to kill us?"

"Yup."

"Think we'll walk away with bruises?"

"Most definitely."

"Any possibility it's somewhere I can cover with a dress?"

"Not a chance."

Maci let out a sigh. "So we're going to do it. We're going to tell her about us," she mumbled. 

"That we are," he agreed. 

"Are you scared or nervous?" she asked softly. 

He lightly brushed the hair from her face. "Terrified," he responded. 

Her bright eyes met his as she looked up. "Why are you so calm then?"

He gave her his best smile. "Because in the end, I've got you."