Chapter Text
Max woke up drenched in sweat from wearing the suit from the night before. He groaned as he peeled himself from his bed. The first thing he spotted were the flowers, Right.
He changed into something more comfortable before taking the bouquet out of the glass of water. He cringed as water dripped all over his desk.
He took the flowers to his kitchen counter, before trimming the stems with careful precision. He washed the cup, pretty sure that he’d drank out of it before putting the flowers in it, and the flowers were placed back into the glass. He smiled at the work he’d done.
“Seriously dude, this is getting embarrassing.” Bobby gives Max a concerned look from the living room, while Max flinches at getting caught.
“You’ve got to quit watching me then, it’s nothing, anyways. The flowers are just pretty.”
“I dunno man, you might wanna check those flowers for explosives.”
Max frowns, “It’ll be over when I plan my part of the bet. It’s gonna be better than his by the way.” Max sounds unconvinced of himself.
Bobby ponders for a moment before smiling and sitting up from the couch he’s sitting on. “Not to worry! PJ and I got this in the bag, we’ll totally beat him!”
Max grins excitedly, grateful for the help Bobby offers. He definitely needed the help.
Max
Are u up
Brad
No, I’m fast asleep.
Max
Haha
I need u to do something
Brad
Ready to forfeit?
Max
No
U need to meet me at the
Park at 3 on Friday
Don’t eat anything b4
Brad
I expected something more exhilarating.
Max
U will like it
Trust me
Brad
I doubt that.
Have a thrilling day.
Max
???
Brad
Nevermind I hope your day is awful.
“Are you sure you don’t have a secret girlfriend? You’ve been making heart eyes at your phone and smiling for the past ten minutes.” PJ was sitting across from Bobby and Max, he was eyeing Max suspiciously. They had gone out to eat breakfast together, but Max had been on his phone while they were waiting for their food.
“Yeah man, lemme see who you’re wooing!” Bobby grabbed the phone out of Max’s hand with a grin.
“Wait— you can’t!”
Bobby stared at the contact and the messages. He looked mortified as the pieces in his head had begun to click together.
“You’re kidding.”
“It’s not like that! He’s just funny, that’s all!” Max pleaded, eyes desperate.
“Funny? Max, he texts like my mom. I think watching the news is funnier than him.”
“Oh my god, are we still on about Bradley? You’ve gotta give it a break, dude.” PJ complains.
“You don’t understand, this has got to be perfect!
“Why?” Bobby asks.
“Because–“
“Because you’re obsessed! God, you’re worse than him.”
“Listen,” PJ begins, giving Bobby time to calm down, “We got this in the bag. We have the surprise, plus the picnic idea is perfect for something simple and sweet. Just because Bradley took you out on something doesn’t mean you can’t win through charm.”
Max sighs, relaxing a bit into his seat. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry guys, I need to stop stressing.”
The two boys sigh in relief at Max’s admittance.
“But there’s nothing going on!” Max clarifies, with a bit too much fire.
Despite not having to wear anything formal, Max was stressing out even more before the date than before the last one. He double checked for when the ‘surprise,’ which is what he labeled it, was going to happen, before grabbing his skateboard and heading out the door.
Bobby and PJ gave him some encouraging whoops and hollers right as he began to shut the door. He gave the two of them a thankful smile for their support before closing it. He took a deep breath, and made his way to the local park.
Max got there earlier than Bradley, wanting to have everything ready. He set out a blanket, even taking the time to make it as straight as possible on the grass. Then, he began to take food out of the basket he brought. It was simple things, sandwiches, fruit, tea, and cupcakes. Max was proud that he baked them himself. It wasn’t a lot, Max expected that they’d be eating more later. Once he was set up, he took a seat on the blanket and waited.
Twenty minutes had passed, and there was no sign of Bradley. Max didn’t want to believe he was being stood up, but a nagging voice in the back of his mind became louder as time passed. He got out his phone and typed out a text. He spent a couple moments analyzing it, trying to decide if it was okay to send, but before he hit send, the sound of footsteps trudging through the grass caused him to look up.
Max was relieved to see Bradley, but frowned and tilted his head when he noticed Bradley’s furrowed brown and gritted teeth.
“Are you okay?” Max asks, feeling himself to be genuinely concerned.
“Yeah, it’s whatever. The Gammas are just idiots.”
“Wait, I thought you got expelled?”
“Yeah, I did. I still have to live with them though.”
Max noticed that him asking questions only seemed to worsen Bradley’s temper, so he decided to stay quiet. Bradley huffed and sat down across from Max, eyeing the food on the blanket with thinly veiled scrutiny.
“Would you… like to talk about it?” Max finally asks.
“They were– actually no, I’m okay, It’s nothing.”
Max blinks at Bradley.
“Thank you, though.” Bradley mutters softly.
“No worries, man.”
Bradley’s still looking at the food. Right, Max goes into host mode, going over each item.
“I’ve got tea, it’s pretty fruity but it’s still good, and then I brought sandwiches and cupcakes made by yours truly, and the fruit is store bought, but I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Yeah that’s– that’s fine.”
Bradley still seems on edge, that won’t do. Max got out a ceramic cup from the picnic basket, giving it to Bradley. He looks at Max curiously. Max then grabs the canister of tea and gestures to the cup.
“Any tea for your majesty?”
Max asks in an embarrassingly poor British accent. He notices Bradley fail to hold back a smile. It also makes him smile, for some reason.
“Is that a yes, m’lady?” Max leans in closer.
“Gross, don’t call me that!” Bradley pushes Max away, but is chuckling despite.
In the process of being pushed away, Max spills a good portion of the tea on his shirt. Bradley gasps and goes silent, and Max is too shocked to respond.
Bradley cringes, before murmuring, “Uh, the roles are reversed?”
Max looks up at Bradley before bursting into laughter. He sets the canister down before holding his stomach as he cackles. Bradley looks at him like he’s crazy as he gives Max a small, concerned smile.
That is until Max lets out a sudden, “hyeuck!” Max covers his mouth, startled at the noise. Bradley’s smile drops and his eyes go wide. Max let out a couple residual giggles before hiding his face in his hands.
“Oh my god that’s so embarrassing, I thought I grew out of that.”
Max groans while Bradley continues to stare at him. When Max finally looks up at him, Bradley snaps out of his trance.
“No, it’s cool, I mean– it’s fine. Is your shirt gonna be okay?” Bradley asks, attempting to switch the subject.
“Uh, yeah. I think it’ll be fine. It’s just flavored water.” Max answers a bit questioningly. He decides not to interrogate Bradley about it.
Bradley stays silent for a moment, before giving Max an awkward look.
“So uh, your laugh?”
Max frowns, “Don’t talk about it, seriously. I don’t like being made fun of for that.”
Bradley looks like he's coming to a revelation. His arms swing up in front of him defensively as he glares at Max, “As if! I don’t even care about your laugh or your stupid voice or anything about you. It’s irrelevant, just like you, so why comment?”
Bradley whipped his head around to look away from Max, but the damage had already been done. Max paused to stare at Bradley with his jaw dropped. Bradley’s flushed ears were a enough signal that he wasn’t being truthful. Once Max recovered, he leaned across from Bradley with a tooth eating grin,
“You’re a lot nicer when it’s just you.” Max observed, his tone edged on teasing.
“What?” Bradley looked at Max, dumbfounded.
“Y’know, when you don’t have anyone to impress. You act kinda stupid when your guard is down but I don't mind.”
Bradley did not seem pleased by these words, “Watch your tone, freshman. Or else I might switch up on you.” He warned.
Max wasn’t phased, instead he laughed at Bradley, which caused his scowl to further. When Max finally relented, he took a cupcake from the plate holding them. He held one out to Bradley.
“Cupcake?” He asked.
Bradley took it without a word, inspecting the small cake, before taking an obnoxiously small bite. Max would’ve been hurt if he hadn’t been expecting that. What he hadn’t been expecting though, was for Bradley’s eyes to go wide as he took a much larger bite after the small one.
“You know how to bake?” Bradley asked with a full mouth.
“My dad taught me.” Max admitted, “It was kind of annoying at first when he tried to get me to make every possible food, but I guess it comes in handy when you move out.”
Bradley nodded, once again lost in thought.
The rest of the picnic portion of the date went by fairly smoothly. The pair spoke about their home lives before going to college and shared childhood stories. Max was particularly thrilled when Bradley admitted that when he was seven, he made a mini-business selling different bugs he found in exchange for snacks at school.
Bradley was in the middle of ranting about his time spent as a chess player when he was younger when Max checked his phone. It was five thirty.
“Crap, I totally forgot!”
“And I threw the king at him and yelled, checkma- Huh?” Bradley questioned.
Max shooed Bradley off the blanket before wrapping everything up and shoving it in his basket. He didn’t miss the way that Bradley cringed at the messy clean up.
“Come with me!” Max grabbed Bradley’s forearm, dragging him along with Max as he ran across the park fields.
“Hey, hands off!” Bradley shouted, a bit winded from the sudden tugging. Max didn’t listen to his protest, letting out giddy giggles as the two of them ran, they ran for an undetermined time, Max could only focus on the exhilarating feeling of running like the two of them stole something, while Bradley could only focus on Max’s smile and laugh. When they reached their destination, Bradley wheezed, kneeling to catch his breath. When his breathing went back to a normal rate, Bradley looked at Max when they reached the entrance, unimpressed.
“This amusement park is so boring that I forgot it existed.”
“Trust me, you’ll like this.” Max assured him.
Max murmured something about having extra time since they ran, and made a beeline to the ‘games’ section of the park. He looked at Bradley with a proud smile,
“You see, flowers only last a week or two. I can get you something that’ll last a lifetime.”
Bradley grimaced when they reached a ring toss stand.
“Watch and learn from a professional!” Max grinned as he gave the stand owner a couple dollars in exchange for thick, plastic rings. Bradley eyed the boy suspiciously.
Max threw a ring, it was hung perfectly on the knob closest to him. Max looked way too proud for what he did. Bradley pursed his lips in an awkward attempt to not smile fondly.
Turns out Max’s bullseye was beginner’s luck. Because when he threw the next three rings, he missed. It was quite embarrassing to watch on Bradley’s part. Max took a deep breath, face flushed in equal parts embarrassment. He took a while to aim the final ring in his hand, and then made a confident toss.
…he missed this one, too.
Bradley cringed as he watched Max sulk, “I couldn’t even get a small prize!”
Bradley glanced between Max and the stand owner looking at the scene awkwardly. He groaned, taking out his wallet.
“Five more rings, make it snappy.”
The stand owner grumbled something about a bad attitude while he gave Bradley the rings. Max finally looked up, he frowned.
“You don’t have to-“
“Shut your mouth, freshman.”
Bradley had remarkably better aim, and he managed to get all but one ring on each knob.
“Archery lessons.” Bradley explained before Max could ask. Max only scoffed, because of course Uppercrust took archery lessons.
“I’d like the stuffed snake.” Bradley demanded, holding his arms out like a spoiled child.
The stand owner seemed glad to have the pair out of their hands, giving Bradley the plushie before turning away. Max and Bradley began walking away, and as Max began to apologize, he was cut off yet again.
“Look, it’s not a big deal that you suck at ring toss.”
“Hey!”
“Let me finish.” Bradley growled, “I got what I wanted either way. Plus, you technically helped. If you didn’t get that ring at the beginning, I wouldn’t have this. So it’s whatever.” Bradley looked flustered as he held the plush close to his chest. Max smiled at the reassurance.
“So, snakes?”
“They’re my favorite.”
“Adds up.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Max stopped walking. Bradley was about to question him when he realized that they’d stopped in front of a ferris wheel. It looked unstable to a comedic degree.
“Yeah, no. I'm not getting on that.”
“Sure you are, come on!”
Bradley dragged his heels, but Max’s enthusiasm beat him. He sighed dramatically, crossing his arms as Max paid for their ride. Bradley reluctantly followed behind Max as they climbed on, Bradley held out his arms in an attempt to balance himself. When Max guided him to sit by holding his waist, Bradley made sure to hide his flush.
Max was particularly excited about this, the Ferris wheel ride was the grand finale, after all. Bradley took a deep breath as the ride began to start. He watched the ground get farther away from him, he grew less nervous as the ride continued, it was remarkably smooth for how it looked.
It had gotten dark, he could barely see Max’s face, only his figure watching the bustle of the park. There seemed to be more people there than before. People of all kinds were crowded near the entrance, watching for something. Until…
Fireworks.
The sudden sound made Bradley jump, he looked up from fidgeting hands to see bursts of red, green, blue, and purple. It reminded Bradley of when he was picking out flowers for Max, asking the florist for the meanings behind each bouquet and feeling each of the petals as if he were judging the entire shop itself. He remembered not being able to figure out why he was giddy that night.
Or excited in general. Why he felt like exploding when Max spoke to him, why he felt hot and angry when he heard Max laugh, why he wanted the attention of a lowly freshman like him.
He looked at Max, he was smiling at the fireworks, amazed by them. Bradley hated how he was amazed by the smallest things, how he was amazed by Bradley. He could see his face now, illuminated by the light from the fireworks, Bradley decided he looked best in blue light.
Maybe that’s why he was giddy and not disgusted when buying flowers.
“They had a firework event planned tonight.” Max explained, still looking at the show of lights. After a couple seconds of silence on Bradley’s part, Max turned to him,
“So, isn’t this the best–?”
Max paused when he saw the look on Bradley’s face, eyes going wide as his mouth clamped shut. A voice in the back of Bradley’s mind wondered how stupid he must’ve looked at that moment.
“Brad, are-“
Bradley gripped Max’s shirt, tugging him into a forceful kiss. Max yelped, gasping against Bradley’s mouth, trying to take a breath of air. Bradley began to pull away, panicked, but the slightest retreat had Max wrapping his arms around the back of Bradley’s neck and pulling him into himself.
The pair almost toppled over onto the seat with Max’s force, causing Max to smile. Bradley thought he must’ve been out of his mind, because he was beginning to smile too as they continued.
It felt like Bradley’s first kiss, but so much more. It had the aspects of inexperience and nervous energy but also the spark between the two felt so familiar. It was fireworks, literally.
Max ran his hands through Bradley’s hair, humming softly as Bradley held his waist.
“Hey, lovebirds! Ride’s over, time to get off.”
Bradley pulled away suddenly. Max blinked a couple times, snapping back to the present. Bradley looked at Max, horrified.
“Shit.”
“Whoa, language, Brad!” Max scolds playfully.
“I’ve gotta go.”
Max’s smile drops as Bradley almost trips over himself to get off. He’s shielding his face from the crowds as he disappears. Max feels ill.
Max really debates whether he should knock. This feels like a mistake, something that should certainly not be done. He’s already made it this far, though. And maybe if he just faces some of the things he’s been avoiding, things wouldn’t have so suddenly gone downhill.
He knocks.
The door opens seconds after he knocks, as if it were expected that he was there.
“Hiya Maxie! I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Max smiles gratefully at the familiar face of his dad, before entering the house, closing the door behind him.
“Can I get’cha anything? You look tired.”
His dad turns around and brushes the hair out of Max’s eyes. He frowns.
“No, I don’t need anything. I just want–“ Max takes a deep breath, before murmuring an embarrassed, “I just wanna talk.”
Max almost expects his father to jump at the opportunity to talk to him, which was the last thing he needed. He was not in a place where he could handle his dad’s excitement. To Max’s surprise, he simply sits down on the living room couch, patting the seat next to him.
Max sits, glancing around before turning to his dad.
“This is kinda, I dunno, a weird question to ask, but…”
He’s given an encouraging glance before he continues, “How did you deal with mom, yknow, being gone?”
Goofy looks surprised at the question. He thinks about it, however. Max is beginning to think he’s messed up considering the silence, until he finally receives a response.
“Oh, it was definitely an adjustment. You were so young and I wasn’t sure how you were going to manage.”
He paused, considering his answer more before continuing,
“I didn’t know how to do the half of it, to be honest. You were one tough cookie!” His dad smiled at him, which made Max chuckle a bit.
“But, I figured it out. I learned that life doesn’t end when someone leaves. Especially when I have the coolest son out there!”
Max thought for a moment, “So if someone leaves, should I just… find joy in what I already have?”
Goofy frowns, “I think it’s a bit more complicated than that.”
Max groans, “I’m not sure what to do! I don’t know what’s right for me.” He covers his face with gloved hands in defeat.
“Whoa, kiddo! What’s the matter?”
“You’d hate me for it.”
“For liking someone? Try me.”
“Try Bradley Uppercrust III.”
His dad bent over in laughter, “That would be a nightmare! See, nobody can be any worse than that boy.”
Max deadpanned, giving Goofy a look that could kill. His dad sat up.
“You’re serious?”
“I’m serious.”
He could hear the gears turning in his dad’s head, trying to figure out a kind response.
“That’s a rough situation.” He tried.
“I’ll say.” Max responded miserably.
“Okay, well… Do you know that you want him?”
“Huh?” Max asked dumbly, face heating up from the straightforward question.
“Do you know that you want him?”
Max thought, he thought about Bradley’s cocky grin, the way he’d get embarrassed when Max and Max alone complimented him. He thought about those stupid purple flowers in his room, the way Bradley spoke when it was just the two of them. The way Bradley looked when his face was flushed, the way Bradley spoke in a teasing lit, the way he held stuffed animals close to his chest like they were the most delicate things to ever be in his grasp, the way he yearned for Max’s attention. His hair, his eyes, his voice, his lips; if Max was certain of anything, he was certain of all that.
“I guess? I dunno.” He answered sheepishly despite his thoughts. His expression betrayed his words, and it was obvious to the other Goof.
“Go for it! If it’s something that’s got you acting all like this, it’s worth a shot. I trust you won’t make any bad decisions.”
Max felt his eyes burn, it was incredibly stupid, he thought. He’d never questioned his sexuality before. It hadn’t been one way or another for him, simply something that existed. He’d never been so dangerously in love with someone who was a boy. He lived in an environment that he knew he would be loved no matter what, but despite it all, he was overwhelmed, and grateful.
He pulled his dad into a crushing hug, and he only received Goofy’s signature “hyeuck!” In return.
When Max pulled away, his dad smiled at him, “Plus, if he hurts you, he’ll have to face me again.”
“Dad!”
Max
Srry abt last night :(
Can we talk??
Bradley stared at the two messages with furrowed brows. He wanted to spew curses at the stupid boy who caused this crisis for him.
He would’ve been normal if it weren’t for him. He wouldn’t have had friendship problems, he wouldn’t have been kicked out of the Gammas, he wouldn’t have lost the X Games, and he wouldn’t have fallen for the guy in question who caused all of these problems.
He continued to stare at the text before typing out a response,
‘No, we cannot talk.’
Guilt flooded his system the moment the message appeared on his phone. He quickly deleted it and tried something else.
‘Yes.’
Too straightforward, he didn’t want to talk anyways. He shouldn’t be lying.
‘I can’t stop thinking about you.’
Delete.
‘I never want to speak to you again.’
Delete.
‘Come over but we don’t have to talk.’
Delete.
‘I miss you.’
Bradley groaned into his pillow, which earned him a yelled, “Shut up!” From one of the Gammas through the thin walls. Perks of living with the group you got kicked out of, he guessed.
He settled on not saying anything, and leaving him on read. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t figure out a response. It didn’t make him a bad person, he reassured himself.
Ten minutes later, his phone dinged, and he scrambled out from the blanket he had wrapped around himself to grab his phone. When he read the message, however, he almost regretted grabbing his phone all together.
Max
Bradley’s chest ached, which was ridiculous considering the fact that he hated this guy. A voice in the back of his head told him he was even more stupid than Max for pretending that he hated him. He obviously ignored it, maybe the time spent with the Goof was making him lose his mind. He laid back down, holding a particular snake shaped stuffed animal suffocatingly close to himself. He shut his eyes, hoping that when he opened them back up, he wouldn’t feel as sick to his stomach.
He awoke to the sound of aggressive knocking on his door. He tried to ignore it for a minute or two, but whoever was knocking seemed to be persistent. He sat up in his bed, holding his head in his hands for a moment or two, before getting up to answer the door.
“I told you, I’m not going to–“ Bradley paused when he saw Max in the doorway. He took one look at the boy, who was looking back at him hopefully, before Bradley slammed the door in his face.
“Aw, come on!”
Bradley tugged at his hair frustratedly, what the hell was going on? He looked around his room desperately, before tidying up the floor, which was covered in clothes and papers.
“You can’t avoid me forever!” Max called out from the other side of the door.
Maybe he could avoid Max forever, he thought to himself as he folded a shirt. His room wasn’t perfect, but it’d have to do for now, he went back to the door, opening it before tugging Max in. Max yelped at the sudden movement, which annoyed Bradley.
“What do you want?” Bradley grit his teeth.
“Hello to you too, sunshine.” Max frowned at Bradley. He hated the way Max made him feel guilty.
Max sat down on Bradley’s bed, glancing at the piles of blankets and pillows that Bradley had apparently been resting in. The snake they'd won together was sitting on top of it all. He gave Bradley a fond look as he tried to hide the snake under a pillow.
“So, do we get shared custody?”
“Huh?” Bradley asked with crossed arms.
“The stuffed animal, do we get to share it?” Max asked, trying to lighten the mood.
“You barely helped.”
“That’s not what you said the other night.” Max gave Bradley a glare, Bradley hated everything about it, how something that used to invigorate him now made him feel so small.
Max sighed, “sit down.”
Bradley grumbled something about being invited to sit in his own room, but listened.
“I wanted an explanation, I guess.” Max clarified.
“What is there to explain? I made a mistake, big deal. No need to rub it in my face.”
“Was kissing me a mistake to you?”
Bradley didn’t answer.
Max put his hand on Bradley’s shoulder, “It’s not a trick question, I genuinely want an explanation. It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing for me, and it for sure wasn’t a mistake. I can’t say it if you don’t feel the same way. I want to know what you’re thinking.”
Bradley didn’t feel the burning in his eyes or the wetness on his cheeks until Max leaned in closer and wiped a stray tear from Bradley’s cheek. It wasn’t because of his words, they were barely touching at all. Bradley was just miserable.
“I want to know everything about you.” Max murmurs.
Bradley looks down, “Do you know why I was so angry with the Gammas the other night?”
Bradley doesn’t wait for an answer, “They thought I was too scared to ask out any girls. I flirt with girls but god forbid I actually make a move. And what’s even more stupid, was that being scared of girls would be so much better than the way things actually are.”
“You’re scared of being true to yourself.” Max acknowledged.
“That’s a lame way to say it.” Bradley chuckled dryly.
Max went into a thoughtful silence, before murmuring, “There’s no easy way to say this but uh, that’s something you have to figure out. It takes time for people to like things about themselves. It’ll take time. It gets easier every day, that’s how I think about it.”
Bradley wrung his hands together with a distressed frown.
“But… friends always make it easier. I know you’ve sort of, dropped in popularity, and I know they’ll probably be opposed to the idea at first, but Bobby and PJ are good friends, y’know? And they’ll come around to you, I know I did.”
Bradley hesitantly looked up towards Max.
“That’s so dumb.” He whispered.
“Don’t say I didn’t offer.” Max spoke with a small smile.
They sat in a pleasant silence for a couple minutes, until Max grinned, “So, about the custody?”
Bradley snorted, “Shut up about the snake for a second!”
“You never answered my question!”
“You know what, no! You’re not getting it.”
“It? You haven’t even named our child?” Max leans over Bradley’s lap to reach under the pillow for the stuffed animal. Bradley’s hands shoot upwards like he’s been burnt, but he quickly recovers and shoves Max off of him.
“I’ve got it!” Max announces, snake in hand.
“What? give that back! I’m not letting you keep that!”
Bradley tumbles onto Max, trying to grab the stuffed animal. They fight like elementary boys over the snake. Bradley pins one of Max’s arms to his side and tries to reach over for the plush. Max counters by tugging Bradley down on the bed with him.
The two of them laugh obnoxiously until someone slams their fist against the door from outside of Bradley’s room.
“Can you guys shut up?”
The voice from behind the door shouts. Bradley scrunches up his face like he’s betrayed himself, while Max only rolls his eyes and smiles. Bradley frowns at the precarious position, despite having nothing but innocent intentions.
“You know, I have a stuffed animal too.”
Bradley looks back at Max, “Didn’t really take you for a stuffed animal guy, Goof.”
“There’s plenty you don’t know about me.” It’s not a jab, nor is he blaming Bradley. It’s simply an observation. Max hesitates before continuing,
“Listen, we’ll take things at our own pace, yeah? This can be whatever you want, I just need to know what you need so I can give you that.”
Bradley fought back the urge to shout at Max for even thinking about saying those kind words. They felt pitying, and they were everything Bradley wanted to hear despite.
“I want to go on another date.”
Max frowned, “Will you bail out on me again?”
Bradley grumbles before piping up a bit too loud, “No! You don’t understand, I don’t want any elaborate meet ups with everything planned already. I just want… maybe a date over coffee?”
“Aw really? I enjoyed that fancy meal I ate with you.”
Bradley punched Max in the side, but it was light enough that he only received a chuckle in response. Bradley glared at Max before pecking him on the lips quickly, which silenced Max’s laughs.
Max responded with an equally shy but longer lasting kiss.
And it didn’t feel like fireworks, Bradley wasn’t bursting at the seams when he kissed Max. It was simple, in the comfort of his own room. They were surrounded by pillows and blankets which added to the safety net. It was something that Bradley hadn’t felt in a while since he left to go to college.
It felt like home.
Brad
You’re late.
Max
There’s still 10 mins until we
r supposed to meet
Brad
Just hurry.
Max
Aww Brad misses me :)
Brad
Has anyone told you that
you’re impolite?
Extraordinarily so.
Max chuckles at his messages as if he weren’t being insulted over text.
“Yeah, he’s officially gone off the deep end.”
Bobby observes while watching Max. PJ is sitting next to him, smiling at his friend’s joy.
“I think it’s sweet.” PJ adds thoughtfully.
“Calm down guys, it’s nothing serious. It’s just… a date?”
“You also said it wasn't a big deal before you kissed him.”
“He kissed me!”
“Tomato, potato.”
“That’s not how it goes.” PJ buts in.
“I gotta go guys, I’ll see you later!” Max grins at his phone as he walks out the dorm.
“Fill us in on the deets!” Bobby shouts as the door shuts behind Max.
And then Max was doing something he’d never thought he would do, go on a genuine date With Bradley Uppercrust III. It was easy to spot Bradley at the bean scene, he was fidgeting nervously in a booth by himself.
Max slid in across from Bradley, giving him a small smile.
“There you are.”
Bradley deadpanned. Max didn’t mind though.
“So uh, what are you getting?” Max asked carefully.
“Iced tea. Not a fan of coffee.”
“Really? I didn’t expect that from you.”
“There’s plenty of things about me that You wouldnt expect.”
“You’re right.”
Bradley paused, giving Max a confused look. Max continued,
“I’d like to know you, that’s why I’m here.”
Bradley scoffed, “As that's the purpose of most dates.”
“Well, our dates were about one upping the other. This is… more my speed, per say.”
Bradley fiddled with a sugar packet absentmindedly. “Right.”
“So… What's your favorite color?”
“Blue.”
“Favorite food?”
“Chocolate covered strawberries.”
Max chuckled, teasingly asking, “Best date you’ve been on?”
“Any date with you.”
Max went silent, before cracking a grin.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”