it’s a new kind of intimacy: the closeness insisted upon, as well as the demands maverick makes. stefan had never been much for either. not genuinely anyway. keeping people at an arm’s length had always been easy but somehow, the inebriated boy in his arms had made it difficult.
“ i don’t have secrets. ” he protests, a fabrication of a grander scheme than maverick would ever suspect.
there were PLENTY, and every single one would be one taken to the grave. but there’s a feeling of obligation in his request — a big question eclipsing the small request that it really was. for all he knew, stefan’s skeletons were ones of insignificance; ranging from guilty pleasures to high school pranks rather than bodies left behind. a sigh, theatrical and shallow at best, and stefan rethinks their strategy. his car was closer than maverick’s place, not even a song’s worth in length, and so, their direction changes.
“ i grew up in portland. ” a pause, he considers the gravity of his confession—none, to most, but his past was a topic never spoken of, let alone with people as prying as maverick dunn. “ maine, not oregon. but i haven’t really… i left when i was seventeen, and i haven’t looked back since. ”
it doesn’t matter much WHY. but he knows the question is inevitable, like a rainbow after a rainstorm or as a more fitting metaphor, slugs. he goes on, hoisting maverick up and in turn, closer too.
“ kind of miss it. ” an unexpected addition, and stefan’s uncertain of its sincerity.
he was rethinking decision he’d made that night, but it was all through a haze.
he took shots because stefan didn’t smoke, and it was stefan’s bar, and stefan was looking REAL pretty tonight so he had to impress. you don’t go somewhere with a pretty boy and NOT impress them.
he poked his tongue to his cheek and focussed on the sensations. he thought if he thought too hard about walking, he might just fall through the earth beneath them. every step felt like he was close.
“not my portland”, he said, though it was more of a whisper. unsure if stefan even heard it, though it didn’t matter much anyways, he wasn’t going back to portland. oregon that was.
maverick pulled his head up to look at stefan, but it was really just staring at his cheek and sideburn. he really wanted to poke his face.
“would you ever visit ? “ he asked. maverick always wanted to visit home when he was away, but now that he’s living here again, he’s not quite sure what he was missing. “ ‘m always down for a roadtrip if you wanna.”