Blurred Lines [BxB] COMPLETED

0.14

"I don't know. I wasn't with any of the others," he says. I'm about to ask where Mav is on impulse, but Jules speaks before I can, thank God. "Get an Uber."

I reach into my pocket for my phone, but when my fingers brush empty air instead, my heart plummets. "Fuck, I don't have my phone. I must've left it somewhere." I'm tempted to go back, but the amount of bodies pushing us away from the door convinces me against it. I'll just have to call Tristan to make sure it's not at his house.

Jules shakes his head. "Fine I'll get you an Uber but you have to pay me back."

"Yeah, I will. Just get me an Uber," I say.

The crowd of teenagers surges down the street, where they are either pouring into the cars already hazardously parked nearby or Ubers pulling up in front of other houses.

Jules is still behind me. We are a few houses down when he points to a black Prius and shoves me towards it. I open the back door and slide in.

"Jules Renshaw?" The Uber driver asks, a big guy with unruly, black hair. He smells like cigarettes and new leather.

"Yeah." The Uber driver puts the car in drive, but before he can accelerate the back door slams open again, and another body is shoved inside.

I scramble to the side, exclaiming, "What the fuck?" at the same time the person says, "Shit, sorry."

No fucking way.

"Mav?" I exclaim.

He turns slowly with an expression of surprise and confusion.

"Rhys? What—this is my Uber," Mav says, his voice harsh but his eyes still dazed.

"No, it's mine. Jules paid for me," I say. Mav looks to the driver and frowns.

"Well shit," Mav says. "You're not Amanda."

The Uber driver raises his eyebrows. "Dick." The one syllable comes out deep and gruff.

Mav's eyes go wide along with mine. "Sorry, what?" Mav asks, too shocked to sound offended.

"My name is Dick," he says with that same roughness.

"Oh, I-I'm Mav," Mav says, blushing with good natured embarrassment, maybe for assuming an Uber driver had cursed him out, or because he was caught in the wrong car. The police sirens wail louder, bringing him back to the present. "I'll go, I guess."

Mav turns and reaches out to open the car door, but before he fully leaves the vehicle, a feeling washes over me─which feeling, I can't say─and the word flew out of my mouth.

"No." Mav stills, turns his head back towards me, one leg in the Uber and the other on the street. "You'll get in trouble," I say as an attempt to explain. Mav's parted mouth tells me that he sees straight through it. He sits back down and closes the door.

"Okay. Then I guess we're ready to go, Dick," Mav says, then half turning to me, "Where to?"

We lock eyes. "My house."

Mav visibly swallows. "Oh. Okay."

Dick grunts and steps on the gas.

***

No one's home. Of course when I need someone home everyone's gone. So it's just me and Mav. Mav and me. How fucking awkward.

I glance at the clock just to give me something to do. Then I look away. But after a few moments I realize I hadn't actually read the clock and I have no idea what time it is and I can't bring out my phone because I left it God-knows-where.

Mav has his hands in his sweatshirt pocket, standing stiffly by the couch as if I have to offer him the seat next to me in order for him to sit.

I don't want to tell him that he can sit so I ask what time it is instead.

Mav looks at his phone before carelessly slipping it back in his pant pocket. "2:46 a.m."

I nod my head like I'm mulling this over. Can he just sit down? Maybe he shouldn't sit down. Maybe he isn't sitting down because he's waiting for someone to pick him up.

"Someone coming to pick you up?" I ask, hopeful. Mav's cheeks flush and I know he's mad. He takes his phone out, focusing on the screen.

"Well, no," Mav says, fiddling with his phone case.

"What?"

"No one's coming to─"

"Yes, but that's not possible. What about your parents?" I interject.

"They're asleep. I don't want to piss them off by asking them to pick me up at this hour," Mav says. He doesn't look smug, like I sort of expect him to look. If anything, his downward gaze is almost bashful. I push nonetheless.

"What about an Uber?" I ask. Mav rolls his shoulders like a bird ruffling his feathers, slightly annoyed at my question.

"I don't have any money," he says. I feel desperate trying to think of how he could get home.

"Text Jules, he could come pick you up."

Mav rolls his eyes. "You and I both know he'd never do that." I grind my teeth. He's right.

There's no one else. No other options except...

"You could drive me," Mav suggests. I scowl. Not only do I not want to drive him right now, but I'm also still drunk as hell. "Or I could...stay...here."

Mav's shoulders slump in defeat. Clearly neither of us want this.

"I guess you could stay," I relent. Mav scratches at the back of his neck, his gaze darting around the room, everywhere except me. "You can sleep in Kevin's room if you want. He's sleeping at a friend's house tonight."

"Okay, thanks," Mav says. He clears his throat. "I'm gonna go up then." He nods, turns, freezes, then keeps walking, away from me and up the staircase and I can't tell if each step he takes further away makes my breathing easier or harder, or maybe somewhere in between.

I pat my pocket out of habit, and realize I still haven't looked for my phone. Glad for something to keep my mind occupied, I rush upstairs, barely sparing Kevin's room door a glance before barging into mine.

There. On the corner of the bed, waiting for me to pick up on my way out the door hours earlier. I snatch it, the cool plastic of the phone case an instant reliever. Peering at the screen, I nearly drop my phone at the amount of missed calls and texts I have, mainly from Beverly and Jules. None from Mav.

I know Mav's not sleeping yet. He just didn't want to be downstairs anymore. Neither did I, and I've never been more grateful for my own room and my own bed, the white walls and boring baby blue bed sheets a welcome remedy to the exhaustion building up inside my head.

It only hits me how tired I am─not only because it's almost three in the morning, but because of everything that's happened and will probably have to happen─and the instant my head rests against my pillow, I fall into a deep, dark sleep.