familiar? (𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕠)

25

max shifted uncomfortably in his seat. beads of sweat sitting modestly on his forehead, not leaving anytime soon. all he could think about was nick.

nick. nick. nick.

ever since he'd had that argument with chris- was it an argument? well whatever it was, ever since it'd happened, it was all max could think about. and the fact that nick was in the same room as him wasn't helping him at all.

he couldn't take it anymore. he had two options.

1. suffer through the anxiety and stress and just push through for another week and a half.

or

2. ask nick out.

max didn't know which option sounded more appealing. both made him extremely anxious, which he didn't like.

so he started to way up some pros and cons. but he couldn't do it here, in the same room as nick. that's a bit weird. atleast he thought it was.

"i'm going to the bathroom." he says abruptly. he stands up swiftly, not waiting for anyone to answer before going into the bathroom and shutting the door. he instantly locks it.

he sits down on the toilet lid and pulls out his phone and opens notes. am i crazy? he thinks. no, i'm not crazy, this is a logical way to go about it.

he taps his foot on the floor as he thinks. when some ideas come to his mind, he starts to type.

pros:
- nick likes me back
- we end up together

that's all he could really think of at the moment. that's not many options. he decides to start the cons, see how that turns out.

cons:
- he doesn't like me back
- it ruins our friendship and it becomes awkward
- he doesn't react well to me not telling him we used to know each other
- he ignores me
- i lose him again
- he doesn't remember me and denies we ever knew/loved each other and thinks i'm some creepy stalker

it wasn't looking good, max knew that.

"god dammit." he husks under his
breath. he didn't know what to do.

"hey bro, you almost done?" it's chris.

"yep, give me two seconds." max pockets his phone and flushes the toilet, to really sell the fact that he actually went to the toilet. he washes hands, also to make it believable but his hands were sweating like crazy.

he unlocks the door and meets eyes with chris. chris can instantly tell
somethings up.

"you good dude? you look really sweaty." chris whispers so the others don't hear.

"yeah, just a bit anxious." max chuckles trying to get past chris.

"if it's about what i said early, just forget i said anything. just do it when you're rea-"

"chris, it's fine. i'm fine." max says reassuringly, even though he was 100% lying. chris has a look on his face, like he doesn't fully buy it, but he'll settle for that answer.

max let's out a sigh of relief when chris lets him through and goes into the bathroom. he walks back out into the other part of the room to see everyone sitting in the exact same spots they were before.

that bathroom trip was pointless.

he hasn't gained any ground. he still has no idea what to do.

he walked sluggishly back over to where he was previously sitting. the tv was still going but the only one watching it was vincent. the others were either talking or on their phones. max sat down on one of the beds with a large force, just too tired to be subtle about it.

nick felt the bed move rather aggressively. he was sat up against the side of the bed, kennedy next to him. he looked up behind him to see max lying on the bed. he had his arm hung over his head, his arm covering his eyes. nick smiled sadly at how tired he looked. he got up from beside kennedy and sat down next to him.

max moved his arm off his face and opened his eyes to see nick. his heart rate picked up at the sight of the boy. but because he was so tired, that was all his body was capable of doing to show his nervousness.

"hey." max says softly, his voice hardly above a whisper.

"hey." nick says quickly. nick sits up against the back of the bed, right beside max. max puts his hands on top of his stomach, intertwining his fingers together.

they both sat in silence. you couldn't tell if the air between them was comfortable or tense. it didn't seem tense, but it wasn't exactly peaceful either. they stayed in that silence for about a minute or two before nick spoke.

"you ok?"

the question took max a little by surprise. he coughs, clearing his throat before he answers.

"uh, yeah." max replies simply. "why?" max looks over at nick.

"you just seem tired." nick looks back at max. they hold eye contact for what seems like ages. max can't help but grow quiet for a moment as he admires nicks blue eyes. they seemed so peaceful. yet they seemed so complicated, chaotic almost.

as max looks at him, nick can feel his heart rate rising at a steady pace. yes it was steady, but he was extremely aware of it. max had soft brown eyes. they looked so welcoming, so inviting. just by looking at him, he felt so comfortable, so at home. the way maxs eyes looked at him, he felt an oddly familiar feeling form in his stomach. it was nerve racking, exciting. he smiles slightly at the feeling. he didn't know where he'd felt it before but he'd missed it. how can you miss a feeling you've never felt before?

"well, i didn't get much sleep last night." max says, breaking the quiet eye contact they had. nick thinks over what he'd just said and can't help but blush.

"that'd be my fault." nick chuckles looking away. maxs eyes widen.

"what! no, it's not your fault. i had a lot of fun. and it definitely helped with my anxiety." he didn't even feel anxious last night. if anything, this whole situation has made him anxious.

"well i'm glad to hear that. you did go sleep straight after we got back though?" nick asked. he shifted so he was now lying on his side, his hand keeping his head propped up.

"yeah, i slept like a baby." max chuckles.

"well that's good." nick replies with a smile. nick looks at max with a small smile on his lips. he hesitantly grabs one of maxs hands and starts to fidget with his fingers gently.

max watches as nick grabs his hand. his inside quite literally erupt, explode, disintegrate. heat rushes to his face as nick fiddles with his fingers gently.

god dammit, he's so fucking adorable.

nick looks over at max for a reaction, a small smile on his face. max simply smiles back.

oh my god nick, what are you doing to me?

that's it. he'd made up his mind.

he was gonna do it.

he was gonna risk it all. their friendship, the memories they'd made, he was gonna risk losing him again.

he was gonna ask him out.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
it's still christmas eve at this very moment but it's christmas in 2 hours for me. still a whole day for most you guys though.

i hope you have a great christmas with family and friends.
there won't be a chapter tomorrow since i'll be with family and stuff :)

thank you for 4k READS?!? THANK YOU SO MUCH <3333
love you all🥰