Getting Closer

Chapter Forty One - Juliet

After our hundredth time fucking, Max is almost lulled to sleep as half of his body lays across me. His steady breath comes tickles my shoulder as I think of how lucky I am to be in this position. Turning my head to my boyfriend, I say suddenly, "What would you do if I got pregnant?"

Without hesitating, he asks, "Assuming it's my kid?"

"Max!" I whine.

Chuckling, Max adds, "If you got pregnant, I'd want nothing to do with it."

Slightly shocked by his statement, my hand idly goes down to my stomach. "You wouldn't take care of me?"

"I would act like I never knew you."

"Maxwell!" I gasp. Sitting up in bed, I inadvertently shove him off of me.

Max shuffles around in bed, still lying down and his hand grazes my bare back. "Don't tell me you're actually mad at me?"

I turn around with my biggest pouty face I've ever had. "You just said you wouldn't take care of me or your child. How else am I supposed to react?"

"Well, are you pregnant right now?"

"No."

"Then don't fucking get mad over something that's fucking hypothetical."

I didn't mean for this to be so strained but he's the one to make it worse. Now both annoyed at one another, I take this as my cue to go. Shoving the blanket at his face, I get up and gather my clothing. After slamming his bathroom door shut, I hear him quietly curse as I'm sure he's pissed that I'm pissed at him. All he had to do was nod his head and tell me what I wanted to hear. Even though I'm deathly afraid of getting pregnant and taking every step at having safe sex, it still fucking sucks that if we were ever in that position, Max would just fucking leave me to deal with it alone. Doesn't he know just how fucked up that is?

When I'm dressed, I exit the bathroom to find the dickhead leaning against the only exit. We stare at one another but when I catch him glancing down, I feel like screaming. Confirming for me, Max asks again, "You're not pregnant, right?"

"Why? So you can fucking leave me in a ditch?" I snap.

He sighs. "Jules, you're being ridiculous."

"Let me set something straight for you. If you are to ever fucking knock me up, you can't just fucking leave me like that. Either you help me bring the thing into the world or help me take it out. I would rather rip my own throat out before being abandoned like that."

Max watches me for a bit but I've had enough. He already gave me an orgasm tonight, that's all he's good for apparently. Unfortunately, I have to walk towards him so I can fucking leave and that gives him an excuse to pull me into him. I shove my hand into his face and he whines, "Jules, stop."

"Well why did you have to ruin my good mood, you sick bastard?"

Max chuckles but I wasn't trying to be funny. Letting him do whatever he wants, he brings his lips closer to my ear and whispers, "I'd never leave you. That is the truth."

I roll my eyes. "I always knew you were a bullshitter."

Wrapping his arm tighter around my waist, "Maybe but I was joking before Jules. I wouldn't leave you or ditch you on the side of the road."

I pull back slightly so I can read his expression. Max doesn't seem to be bullshitting me right now. So maybe there is some truth in those words. "I'm still leaving," I announce and remove his arms from my body.

"Don't go."

Shoving him out of the way, I say as I head down the hall, "You pissed me off for no reason. This is your punishment, Torres."

"The way you torment me makes me want you even more by the way!" he shouts from his bedroom.

Purposefully shaking my ass a little bit as I bend to get my boots on, Max quickly runs to me and scoops me in his arms again. Now pinning me against the front door, I bite his bottom lip and dig my nails in his hip once I hear him moan. "Don't ever joke about that again," I say as we separate finally.

"Okay," he smiles.

"I mean it, fucker."

Laughing, he nods. "I won't leave you if I knock you up. Alright?"

I kiss his nose and nod. "Good."

Pushing him away so I can dress in my winter jacket, Max's eyes study me the entire time. "Did Charlie and Seth talk to you recently?" he asks when I zip up my coat.

"Well since I saw them yesterday, yes."

"Did they tell you about the New Year's party?"

"Yeah. Seth seemed like he was going to piss his pants because of how excited he was." And that's the truth. For the amount of times Seth swears off a party because of how sick he gets afterwards, he still shows so much enthusiasm when thinking about going to another. "I kinda thought I'd take you as my date," I say, not quite getting why Max is acting strange.

His mouth twitches and I hold my breath. "It will be the first time we're out in public together," he finally says.

My stomach drops. "You don't want to go with me?" I frown thinking that's what he's referring to.

Max's face scrunches up. "What? Of course I want to go with you. I meant that this is a first for me. And some might not like it."

I hesitate before responding. "Max Torres, do you finally care what others think about you?"

"Fuck no," he says and steps back towards me. "I don't care what they think about me. But I just want to warn you. Some people in our grade are absolute fuckers."

"I've dealt with Michael and his heathens he calls friends. I think I can handle some high school pettiness." When Max doesn't look convinced, I step up to him and drag a hand down his bare chest, taking in the slight sheen of sweat on his tanned skin. "I love you Max and I really do not care what others think of us."

Max puts a finger underneath my chin and lifts my head up. "I just want the world to know that I have the best fucking girlfriend on the planet. And I just know they're going to be jealous as fuck."

I snort and give him a wide smile. "So it's a date then?"

He nods. "A date."

***

I hover over Kate's name on my phone for almost an hour. When Seth wanted to go to the New Year's party in a couple days, I had only wanted to call Kate and ask her to be my date. But since kinda probably breaking up, I really shouldn't call her despite my want to do so. Anyways, she's out of the state on a family trip and I'm sure she wouldn't even answer even if she had wanted to hear my voice.

Frowning, I finally turn off my phone for the night and stare at my dark room. I can hear my dad snoring from the living room, the only thing constant in the months since mom left. No matter what room he's in, once he's asleep, the room will be filled with the loudest snoring you will ever hear.

I chuckle to myself before heading to sleep. Tomorrow will be another day to fix things.

Take it one step at a time.