monster

maverick looked at her intently, focusing on every word she said as if they were the only ones that mattered. unable to help himself from it, he looked surprised when she continued. “i didn’t - want you to be - be sorry.” he admitted, hesitantly returning both his hands to rest on her waist, “and i - sure as hell - don’t - w - want to stop this. i got fed - fed up today. she - she should b - be in there tell - ing you how absolutely breathtaking you look, not - not tearing you down for m - making the decision to show your own body off. you have e - every right to do what makes you feel good, and it k - kills me that she can’t even let you do that in any sense. you’re extraordinary, kara, an - and i’d defend you again in a heartbeat.”

maverick’s hand hadn’t moved from it’s spot on her waist until she nearly sprinted out of the house, leaving him a bit more speechless than usual. avery was still pretty stunned by mav’s outburst, but took jasmines hand in his own, mumbling a quick thank you to kara’s parents, before nearly pushing maverick out the door. once outside, maverick spoke up again, directing his words to his friends, “give us - one - one second. we’ll - be right - there.” with that, he gently put his hand on kara’s arm, silently nodding to question if he could talk to her for a moment. “that -” he started, catching himself on his words and pausing to give his brain a moment to catch up, “that - didn’t - uh - feel fake.” his words were hushed, making sure to keep quiet in the off chance avery and jasmine could hear him. 

maverick didn’t regret his words for even a single second, he was tired of not only hearing her mother degrade her, but tired of hearing the stories about it. despite the fake start of their relationship, he cared deeply for her. maybe a little more than he’d care to admit. he was about to speak up once more to apologize to kara for his outburst, but before he knew it he was being turned around, and kara’s lips were pressed to his. the shock of the action stunned him for a moment, hesitating before one of his hands moved to her waist, returning the kiss. he pulled away after a moment, his brows furrowing at her, silently questioning her actions and making a mental note to verbally do the same later. “we - should go,” he offered, speaking to only his friends. 

avery laughed at jasmine’s question, “i don’t know, maybe the fact that half the time you’re stealing all my clothes. i’m left in shambles, i blame you.” he teased. “th -” maverick started, attempting to get a simple word out. sometimes this would happen, he would try to get something out, but his brain would so rudely cut him off to yell that it wasn’t finished processing yet, and his ability to speak would be hindered. mav managed to finish the word just before her mother began talking, a simple “thanks,” falling from his lips, his attention now turning to kara’s mother. the words that were spewing from her mouth enraged maverick, more so today more than likely due to his own stress and his own mother. but regardless, the anger was rising pretty rapidly. he hesitated, waiting to see if kara was going to say something herself, but as soon as her mother continued, maverick broke. “with - with all due respect, ma’am. i think she looks stunning, and even then, my opinion is a fraction of hers, and yours is even less than mine. clearly, you know nothing about your own daughter, or you would know she doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to. so if she didn’t like the dress, why in the hell would she buy it, let alone wear it.” maverick started, the tone in his voice something no one has ever heard before, never mind the lack of stutter, “you really have no right to tell her what she can and can’t do, or wear, with her own body. no one has the right to do that except for her. since - you know. it’s her body. i think i can speak for all of us when i say we love what she’s wearing, and we all think she looks great, anyone that says otherwise is clearly blind.” 

avery walked into the house first, noticing the slight hesitation maverick was having about entering. “hey, you work where i do for a day and you’ll learn that no matter what you do, your clothes are gonna get ruined. i ain’t got shit to say about this dude over here, though,” avery laughed as he came back at her comment, patting mavericks shoulder. mav was busy zoning out at things around kara’s house, but the hit to his shoulder brought him back to reality. looking up, maverick nearly choked just seeing the slight bit of kara that he could. she looked stunning. breathtaking, even, seeing as the male could barely breathe, “i - i do - my best -” he managed, more strained than usual. avery had already made his way to jasmine, hooking his arms around her waist immediately and letting himself wander into his own world as he admired her beauty for probably the 100th time today. “you - uh - you look - b - beautiful.” maverick complimented, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss to kara’s cheek - for show, of course. 

the boys got ready fairly quickly, and headed over to kara’s house as soon as they were given the okay to. thankfully, it wasn’t far at all, only a few steps down the block, and before mav knew it, his fist was knocking at the door. he tried to push the anxiety he was feeling down, hoping that once they got away from their parents and he was able to drink from the flask avery promised, everything would be alright.