Steve had known it was a dumb thing to say, but Maeve reacts as if he just asked her to go for a swim in raw sewage, and it sort of hurts a little, way deep down, for reasons he couldn’t explain if he tried.
“I don’t know why I said that,” he says again, embarrassed and awkward in a way that he rarely gets. “I just— I’ve been thinking about school, and what kind of career I want and like, it’s kids, right? I have to do something with kids. So I guess it’s on my mind.”
She’s still staring at him and Steve swallows hard, because yeah, it was sort of a huge and very dumb thing to say, but is just the hypothetical thought so terrible?
“I don’t want kids,” he tells her quickly, and then shrugs helplessly and sits up a bit straighter, twisting to face her. “I mean, I do someday. Like way, way in the future. But not now.”
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“I don’t know why I said that,” he says again, embarrassed and awkward in a way that he rarely gets. “I just— I’ve been thinking about school, and what kind of career I want and like, it’s kids, right? I have to do something with kids. So I guess it’s on my mind.”
She’s still staring at him and Steve swallows hard, because yeah, it was sort of a huge and very dumb thing to say, but is just the hypothetical thought so terrible?
“I don’t want kids,” he tells her quickly, and then shrugs helplessly and sits up a bit straighter, twisting to face her. “I mean, I do someday. Like way, way in the future. But not now.”