Rose Tinted (boyxboy)

Chapter 26: The calm

"Just being with you is an adventure I thought I'd never have."

☆

Whilst Tayce is showering, Max is tucking into some cereal at the breakfast bar. He looks up to see a sleepy Donny come out of his bedroom. 

"Morning." Max hums with a mouthful. 

"Morning." Donny replies, pulling open the fridge and taking out a carton of orange juice, opening the lid and drinking straight from the source. "I had the strangest dream last night." Donny continues, as he now sits on the bar stool opposite Max. 

"Yeah?" Max replies, only half interested.

"Yeah, it was like...well you were in it and Tayce and spongebob squarepants for some reason and there was this noise." 

Max now stops chewing his cereal and looks at Donny with more interest. "...And what happened in your dream?" 

"I don't know. It was bizarre." Donny shakes his head in amusement. 

Max doesn't correct Donny to the fact that it was real and just finishes off his bowl of cereal.

It's not long before Tayce emerges from the bathroom. "Hey." He says a little shyly as he approaches Max, who is still sitting at the breakfast bar, finishing off his coffee. 

"Hey." Max replies back, not being able to suppress the smile from his face. 

Donny looks up from his toast, as Tayce sits alongside Max, with Max passing over a ready made hot drink. "Morning Tayce." He says smiling.

"Oh sorry, morning." Tayce looks up smiling.

"Do you like spongebob by any chance?" Donny says smiling. 

"Uh yeah, I guess." Tayce replies a little confused by the question. 

"I see." Donny replies with a grin as he gets up from his seat. "I see." He repeats, more to himself. 

Tayce looks at Max a little confused. "What was that about?" 

"A penny dropping I think." Max smiles. He then looks down at what Tayce is wearing. "You look nice." 

Tayce looks down at his cream jeans and blue hoodie. "Thanks, it's just nice to wear something else, now I have a few more clothes. I don't know if I'll ever get my other stuff back though." He sighs. 

"We'll get it back somehow." Max replies, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Jerry and I can go." 

"Thanks." Tayce smiles. He then pulls something from his back pocket. "I did get this back. Frank fixed it." Tayce pops his phone on the table. 

"How nice of him." Max says sarcastically. "I don't think much to the homescreen." 

Tayce looks at the image. Him and Frank at some restaurant. "Looking at it now just makes me feel sad." Tayce sighs. "It's like I'm looking at a different person."

"I'm surprised he hasn't bombarded you with texts." Max says, still looking at the screen. 

"Me too actually. I don't know how I feel about that to be honest. I kind of feel nothing." Tayce shrugs.

"But that's good. It means you're moving on." Max smiles. ''Maybe we both are."  Max goes back to drinking his coffee, absentmindedly tapping the side of the mug with his forefinger. ''Last night...this morning. How are you feeling? Do you have any regrets?" 

Tayce looks at Max as if he's just asked the most ridiculous question ever. "Of course not." He kisses Max on the cheek. "You've given me hope that love still exists. The real kind."

Max pushes Tayce back playfully. "Stop being so soppy." He laughs. But what Tayce said rang very true. Max may have given Tayce hope to love again, but Tayce had done the same for him too.

***

A couple of hours later Max and Tayce are standing outside the apartment, both getting ready to get on Max's bike and head for their shift at work. Max passes his spare helmet to Tayce. "I could get used to this." Tayce comments as he pulls the helmet over his head. 

"You're a little thrill seeker huh." Max laughs, putting his own helmet to rest on the saddle as he helps Tayce with his clasp. 

"Just being with you is an adventure I thought I'd never have." Tayce responds smiling. 

"You're killing me with your lines." Max smiles, leaning forward, kissing the tip of Tayce's nose through his lifted visor. He now grabs his own helmet and puts it on, before they both mount the bike and head off to serve chicken to the masses. 

***

Jerry looks across at Tayce, shaking a freshly fried batch of chicken in a metal strainer. He seemed happy, carefree, like he was his usual self, like he hadn't gone through the ordeal at his and Frank's house...something seemed to not sit right with Jerry. A niggle, like...he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Are you ok?" Jerry speaks quietly to Tayce over the fryer. 

"Yeah. Why?" 

"Frank. He's not tried to contact you or anything has he?" 

Tayce shakes his head, sticking out his lower lip a little. "No."

Jerry goes quiet again for a moment, he can't shake that feeling. "Don't you think it's a bit weird that he's just stopped? I mean he's not even tried to call your phone since giving it back. He's not called me either."

"Jerry, you sound like that's a bad thing!...maybe he's finally got the message." Tayce half laughs.

"Yeah maybe." Jerry smiles back. "But you're still being careful right?" 

"Yes." Tayce insists. "Look." Jerry looks down to Tayce's neck to see the small panic alarm hanging on a makeshift string around his neck. "Max's orders." Tayce smiles. 

Jerry finally relents a little. "Ok, but still... take care." 

"I promise. I think Frank may have finally got the message."

Jerry just nods he's not so sure.