Richard and Maine showed up a few minutes later hand in hand, with Richard freshly showered and carrying his guitar. They were once again greeted by hoots and whistles as he assisted Maine to sit on one of the mats that was placed around the bonfire before sitting down himself. Sam was stoking the fire, adding some more driftwood and making sure that the flame was manageable.
"Took you guys long enough," Anne quipped. "We were wondering if you guys were coming down at all."
"RJ fell asleep while he was reading," Maine said as she told the excuse they've agreed upon to the team. "Took him longer to wake up."
"Yeah," Tom replied with a smirk. "We'll all pretend we believe you, Maine."
Everyone else laughed while the couple gave sidelong glances at each other, sharing a secret smile. Richard started checking his guitar if it's in tune to take his mind off the incident.
"I really don't see what the fuss is about," Jerald remarked. "I mean, this isn't Jase's first rodeo after all."
Richard shot him a look that made Jerald immediately regret his outburst. He felt Maine stiffen beside him but he was the only one who noticed it. He knew that she would bring it up again when they were alone.
But before any more discussion about his experience can be brought up, he strummed his guitar to focus their attention to the music.
"Any song request for tonight?" He asked as he strummed the chords to "Central Park" softly while he waited.
Ardee suddenly said a song title which Richard was familiar with. He started strumming the chords and began to sing. The rest of the team joined in as some of them also knew the song. With Jerald's outburst forgotten, the team enjoyed singing around the bonfire while Richard played for them. There were moments when Martin would ask him to play one of his original songs, and Richard would obliged, looking at Maine as he sang the songs he wrote for her. Maine would join in, singing the song softly but Richard would usually urge her to sing with him, stopping the vocals every so often so they could hear her sing solo while he continued to strum on his guitar.
It was also a great night for Ardee as she was the reason for the outing in the first place. They teased her nonstop and they made her feel that she would sorely be missed. But at the same time, they welcomed Patricia into the team. As she had met all of them, except for Maine, in previous rotations it wasn't hard for Patricia to join in. She was easy to get along with and was always ready for anything.
Before their night ended, Martin was already telling them of their itinerary for the next day which involved a lot of water activities at the beach.
"I really hope that you burned that hideous shorts you let Maine wear while we were at the Bahamas, Jase," Martin said. "I mean, seriously. It clashed with the rest of her outfit."
"Leave my shorts alone, Martin," Richard remarked. "It wasn't doing anything to you."
"It did such an injustice to Maine, Jason!" He said. "I was offended for her. You're lucky she loves you enough to agree to such an injustice. She didn't deserve that."
"What did the Captain do to Maine?" Asked Patricia as she tried to follow the conversation.
"Captain Jase made Maine wear one of his shorts when we were at the Bahamas," Raqz explained. "She wore it when we were by the pool and when we went to the beach the next day."
"It was horrible, Patty," Martin added. "It gave me nightmares. I mean, of all the things to cover up, it was her legs. You could have let her cover that ugly sc - "
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Martin," Richard's voice cut through Martin's ramblings even if it was just spoken in his regular tone. It was his monotone voice, the voice devoid of any emotion. He was looking at Martin menacingly, daring him to say something.
"Home?" Maine reached out to grab his wrist. She knew he was angry and was trying to calm him down.
He looked down at the hand that was holding his wrist and took a deep breath. The whole team was just looking at them, with Martin's face looking so horrified when he suddenly realized what he was about to say.
Richard turned to Maine and sighed. He said in a low voice, "I'll head back to our room. Stay as long as you like, Heart. I'll just wait for you there."
He kissed her cheek and slowly stood up with his guitar, then apologized to both Ardee and Patricia for turning in early. He left the bonfire without a second glance. Everyone turned to Martin then, and with a look they coaxed him to follow their captain. With frightened eyes, Martin stood up and called out to Richard as he rushed to catch up.
They were out of earshot when Richard finally let Martin caught up with him. He took a deep breath before he faced the older man.
"Jase," Martin started. "I'm really sorry."
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Martin," he replied. "Maine didn't deserve that."
"I know," he said remorsefully. "You know how my mouth sometimes gets way ahead of me. You know how much I adore Maine."
"But you still think her scar is ugly," Richard stated. "After everything that I had told you about her, her story, about our history. After everything that she had been through, you still think that her scar isn't worth looking at."
Martin stood there silent as Richard went on, "did you know that she didn't want to go out that time when we were at the Bahamas because of her scar? She didn't want anyone to see it. She was ashamed of it. But she shouldn't be. She had been through so much. She had suffered so much. She doesn't deserve to be scrutinized like that. Especially not from you, whom she greatly admires and respects. She doesn't deserve that from you.
"Her scar is beautiful, Martin. It's the most beautiful part of her. Anyone who doesn't see that is blind."
"I'm really sorry, Jase," Martin said softly as his eyes were brimming with unshed tears.
"I could take a beating, Martin," Richard continued. "I could take all the teasing and the insults. But please, spare Maine. She doesn't deserve it. Her heart is so good and pure, she doesn't deserve anymore suffering than what she already endured."
"I'll make it right with Maine," Martin said. "I promise. But Jase, I hate that you're angry with me. You're never angry with me. I don't like us like this. We've always been the tandem to beat. I hate that we're not in synced."
"In the most famous words of my good friend Martin Croft," Richard remarked with a half-smile. "'There's always the first time.' We're okay, Martin. Give me time to cool off. I'll be fine tomorrow."