the next time maeve saw xolo was a couple of weeks later, to film a couple of press interviews for later release. the two had kept in contact through texts— they were friends after all— but even with only the distant contact, it was hard for maeve not to think about her and xolo, and xolo and lacy.
it's not that she was avoiding the man; her slipping into her dressing room at the last possible moment and avoiding the casual conversation between the cast and crew that had taken place beforehand was unrelated.
her outfit was fairly simple, and definitely something she would have chosen for herself, which is one of the many reasons she loved adrianna so much. slipping into the tartan trousers, black spaghetti top and netted shoulder cover, the makeup and hair artists buzzfeed had assigned her made quick work of getting her ready.
xolo grinned as she walked up and sat on the stool beside him, crossing her legs and resting her hands over them.
"nice to see you, maeve. it's almost as though you've been avoiding me."
"hard to avoid you when you text me like seventeen times a day."
"and you answer atleast twice, so who's the real winner here?"
"not me," maeve huffed with a small smile as the interviewer entered, handing the two of them laptops.
the interview they were doing today was buzfeed's sink or ship, where they would complete a quiz about which fictional couples they supported or didn't.
when the cameras started rolling, they introduced themselves professionally. neither of them were new to the business; they knew the chemistry they had to keep up throughout interviews and press.
"okay, first couples: do you prefer rachel and ross or rachel and joey from friends?"
"oh, rachel and joey on principle," maeve assured immediately, clicking the button on her laptop screen. "ross sucks."
xolo tutted, shaking his head.
"i have to say rachel and ross."
"of course you do." maeve shook her head, laughing a little as the man scoffed.
"okay, next up, and i already know my answer to this. bella and jacob or bella and edward? it's obviously edward-"
"jacob-"
they spoke at the same time, and xolo practically shivered at the icy look she gave him, telling the cameras so.
"we will have words about that later." maeve smacked her lips together, scowling at xolo's laptop screen as he read off the next one.
"oo, this one's close to home. cobra kai, baby! miguel and sam or robby and sam? i already know where my loyalties lie."
biting her lip, maeve decided to have some fun.
"i've actually not seen cobra kai," she blatantly lied, causing the man to gape at her. "but i have to go with that one on principle." maeve selected the option on her screen, causing xolo to gasp.
"which one did she choose? sam and miguel?" the interviewer asked from behind the camera.
"sam and robby," xolo scoffed dramatically, shoving into her gently and causing one of her legs to drop to the floor. she shoved him back playfully.
the interview continued for about five more minutes, and once it came to a close, they were whisked into a new outfit for the next one, to give the impression they weren't all filmed in the same building on the same day.
today, it may have just been the two of them, but with all the interviews being centered around dates and relationships and couples, it felt like lacy was trailing around with them to maeve. and of course, she didn't think bitterly of the girl, but she'd be lying if she said the situation was anywhere close to sweet, for reasons she was not prepared to admit.
the final interview of the day they arrived at was the best friend quiz. where anyone had gotten the idea that maeve and xolo were best friends was beyond the girl, but she went along with it anyway.
she was observant enough to answer all the basic questions about xolo: his star sign, where he grew up, even his full name. and somehow, xolo could do exactly the same for her, though she had a feeling that was something to do with whoever he'd been inconspicuously texting beforehand— taiyo, most likely.
she'd relaxed into being in front of the camera, and being in the company of her co-star again, before the next question caught her off guard.
"maeve, what was the last date xolo went on?"
she didn't let her face drop on camera— or atleast, she thought she didn't. she was too well trained for that.
"oh, wow." she scratched the side of her jaw awkwardly. "you know, i actually don't know that one. i have no idea."
xolo blushed, glancing down at his fancy fucking shoes before spinning his own whiteboard around, with a terribly drawn coffee cup on it.
"i went on a coffee date with someone last week. it was great. we had a lovely time."
maeve raised her eyebrows, making brief eye contact with the boy.
"oh, yeah! i did know that."
she put her own blank whiteboard down, looking forward and waiting for the next question as xolo nodded, tight lipped.
when the interview ended, she tried to make a quick escape, but xolo caught her before she could manage it, grabbing her wrist before she could pass into her dressing room.
"so, uh, you know about me and lacy?" he ran a hand through the back of his curls awkwardly.
"i do." maeve gave a clipped response.
"i'm sorry i didn't tell you. i just- well, we'd just- and i didn't want things to be awkward."
"rather presumptuous of you, don't you think?" maeve cocked an eyebrow, before relaxing her face into a smile upon realising this wasn't going to get her anywhere she wanted to be.
"it's fine, xolo, really. i mean, why would i care?"
okay, that came out a little harsher than she had intended, but he seemed to laugh it off in a stiffer manner than usual.
"no, right, exactly. why would you care? i don't even know why haven told you."
the girl shrugged a little over-enthusiastically, running a hand through her long hair.
"no, me neither, but hey! i'm glad it was great. you had a lovely time."
xolo sighed, somewhere on the line between amused and defeated, and maeve wasn't sure she wanted to push it in either direction anymore.
"coffee with you sounds like my worst nightmare, however. and i love coffee," she threw out there to level the playing field back to it's usual angle before slipping into her changing room, not sticking around to gauge his reaction.
☆☆☆
MAEVETANNER
LIKED BY LACYABU AND OTHERS
MAEVETANNER thank you so much for having us today buzzfeed! check out the sneak preview of our interviews below where you can learn more about xolo maridueña than any sane person ever desired to know <3
TAGGED: BUZZFEED, XOLO_MARIDUENA
VIEW ALL COMMENTS
USERONE their banter is everything to me
USERTWO you're SO pretty maeve
USERTHREE the snippet they chose i'm losing my mind
HAVENANGELICA maeve tanner i'm obsessed with you
⤷MAEVETANNER havey you're the love of my life <3
USERFOUR they're never beating the dating allegations i fear
⤷USERFIVE i never want them to beat the dating allegations i fear
USERSIX THEY SET THEM UP SO BAD
USERSEVEN miss tanner we all know u know when his last date was because it was totally with u
TAIYOCURTIS ok so i'll come clean and say i did have to tell this man your middle name but he knows his shit when he comes to star signs
TAIYOCURTIS he even knew your rising sign
⤷MAEVETANNER HE EVEN KNEW MY RISING SIGN??
⤷XOLO_MARIDUENA libra sun scorpio moon leo rising
⤷MAEVETANNER what is wrong with you
USEREIGHT the way maeve scratched her jaw and xolo looked away from the camera and blushed was SUCH a tell
USERNINE my parents
XOLO_MARIDUENA just let me know when to expect to be shanked for being team jacob
⤷MAEVETANNER no i'm a fan of the element of surprise
⤷TAIYOCURTIS it's deserved though
LACYABU love u guys 🩵🩵
⤷MAEVETANNER awh lace love u