MAURICE - harrington

vii.

ACT ONE, chapter vii.

♡

     For someone who'd never been in a relationship, Mars sure seemed romantic. On a theoretical level, that is. He seemed to know exactly what Steve needed to do and say to win Nancy back.

The easiest part was the flowers. Mars showed Steve a small flower shop in town that he'd bought Marmee flowers from before. The flowers weren't cheap, but Mars reminded Steve that that wasn't the point. The point was Nancy. 

The hardest part turned out to be words. Steve had been saying words for eighteen years, yet he felt he had no idea how to speak. Not in the way Mars knew how to speak. Watching Mars scribble something down on a crumpled piece of paper, his legs folded up oddly in the passenger seat, Steve thought was oddly like watching his grandma do a puzzle. Intense concentration on figuring out just the right pieces that go together. 

Mars eventually whipped his head up, his fingers extending and stretching out the ache.

"Boom, words," Mars slapped the paper into Steve's hand. Steve read over the words with an unsure look.

"Really?" Steve asked. Mars deadpanned.

"Just say them, doofus," Mars rolled his eyes. 

"Alright, fine, fine," Steve sighed. He fumbled with the page in his hand awkwardly, before reading it out unenthusiastically. "I've been thinking... I love you, and I'm sorry— Wait, I'm sorry?" Steve peered up at Mars. "What the hell am I sorry for?"

Mars gaped, staring at him and slowly shaking his head, "If you don't know then you're already a lost cause."

Steve sighed, crumpling up the page and tossing it into the back seat, "Look, I'll just... speak from the heart."

"What heart, Steven?" Mars smirked. "I'm getting more and more convinced there's just a dark abyss in your chest."

"Knock it off, McKay," Steve bit back a smile as he left the car, red roses in hand. Mars watched, absentmindedly drumming on his knees, as Steve walked across the yard toward the house, his hands moving slightly as he recited his speech to himself.

The odd thing was, Steve was stopped by a shorter figure in a maroon hoodie. Mars watched with furrowed brows as the shorter boy grabbed the roses from Steve and began a march toward the car. The boy pulled open the car's back door, before turning back to Steve.

"Do you still have that bat?" he asked.

"Bat?" Steve furrowed his brows. "What bat?"

"The one with the nails," the boy said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.