familiar? (𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕠)

24

when the two boys made it back to the hotel, it was only max inside.

"where's nick?" chris asks handing max his iced latte.

"he's gone to go see audrey and kennedy." max says with a smile, thanking chris.

"oh ok." matt says with a shrug.

chris looks over at matt, hinting for him to leave so he can talk to max. matt gets the message and begins to head towards the door again.

"where are you going?" max asks.

"i'm gonna go see art and vincent." matt smiles back, walking out the door before he can be questioned.

max doesn't bother to think much of it and just pulls out his phone to scroll on tiktok.

"you gotta ask nick out." chris says abruptly.

"umm- excuse me?" max laughs awkwardly.

"i know it's sudden, but i think you should go for it." chris tries to explain.

"incase you didn't know, i only realised i was in love with him an hour ago." max says, his voice tense. chris noticed that max was becoming tense and tries to break the tension a little.

"i know, and i don't wanna pressure you, but i really think you should do it."

"but i don't think i'm ready for that chris. you know that. this isn't as simple as me just having feelings for him. we have a history that he doesn't even remember." max says, raising his voice slightly.

"nick will understand. he will, trust me. you can explain what happened when you tell him." chris tries again to bring the tension down, but it doesn't do much.

"it's not that simple chris! you know that. if i ask him out i have to make him remember. and then i have to explain why i kept it a secret, why i didn't tell him as soon as i found out. i also don't know how he reacted to my sudden disappearance. i don't know if he was angry, sad, disappointed. and don't say you know, because i know you don't. so don't tell me that nick will 'understand', because he won't. atleast not straight away. and i don't want to lose him again. I CANT LOSE HIM AGAIN."

chris steps back, shocked at the reaction that he got. he wasn't expecting max to act this way. he expected a little resistance, but not a full blown monologue.

"im sorry. i shouldn't of brought it up. you can tell him when you're ready." chris says sympathetically. he sits down on the other bed, facing max.

max feels a twinge of guilt twist in his chest. it wasn't chris' fault. he didn't know the severity of the situation as much as max did. and that isn't his fault.

"i'm sorry, i shouldn't of yelled." max says, his head hanging low.

"no, you have every right to be upset. this is a big thing for you, a lot bigger than simply asking someone out. there's layers to this, layers to which i don't fully understand." chris sighs.

"look at you with the big words and sentence structure." max chuckles trying to break the tension. chris simply chuckles at the comment. it goes quiet between the two, until max speaks up.

"look," max puts his hand on chris' knee, making chris look up at him. "i'll think about it. i'm not sure when i'll be ready, or if i will be while you're still here in LA, but i'll consider asking him out, soon."

"you don't have to if you're not ready. it's your relationship, not mine." chris says worried.

max sighs, his head falling.