TANGLED PLANS

52

Max pulls away from the hug, his hand retreating from my back and falling to his side. Once he moves his head off my shoulder, he grazes his lips on my forehead. Whether it was intentional or not is answered when he whispers, "Thank you, sweetheart."

My cheeks are flaming by the time he moves his head away from mine. I look past him and take a breath. I needed a moment to disconnect my feelings from him. Once I'm sure I won't freak out over him anymore, I turn back to face him.

"I know a way to stop feeling for a little bit," I say to Max. He holds up the bottle again and says, "Yeah, so do I." I extend my hand over, grab the flash, and shove it under my shirt before he can make a move to take it. Max's eyes are light when he whispers, "You care about me."

"I do," I whisper, and he opens his mouth to say something but decides against it. I move the conversation back and say, "A healthy way."

His eyes show curiosity when he tips his chin toward me and says, "Okay, show me."

I stand up from my spot and hold out a hand for him. Max stares at it for a second before placing his palm in mine and pulling himself up as I do so as well. Once he is standing, I take my hand away and look at the rest of the path. "I started running during the summer. It was a way for me to release the pent-up energy. A way for my mind to relax."

"You want me to run? Ugh, I can't. Coach makes us do it at practice every time", Max complains next to me with a dramatic groan at the start. I only ignore him and look past the trees. The air was so nice and cooling at the same time. I loved this weather—the weather right before summer merged into fall. The perfect weather to spend outside

"Yes, but that was for the sport. That running was meant for you to be working toward something. But this? Surrounded by trees and distant laughter, this is a thing for you to do for yourself," I say with a small smile. "Let yourself run down this path, and I can guarantee you it will work."

Max hums from beside me, and I look at him. He isn't objecting to me; he is agreeing. His face holds a small smile when he says, "Okay, let's go." He starts to do quick warm-ups as I watch him. Well, what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't exactly leave him here and go on running. That would be rude, considering I meant for him to be running with me. We would be running together.

Once he is ready, he shakes out his body and says, "Ready?"

"Remember to let go of your thoughts," I tell him, and then break out into a run. Max's legs are longer than mine, but with my speed, I'm able to stay by him at all times. There are some times where he glances at me and makes the face of someone who is stressed, his eyes then glancing down at my legs. I've always felt that I ran fast, and for a while I thought I should join track. I just haven't gathered the courage to do so.

Max didn't glance at me after a while; his head shot straight forward, his eyes on the surrounding trees. I smiled to myself as I knew this was working. I start to fall behind him once he finds his rhythm and starts to run faster. We went around the full track, breezing past the kids that were packing up to leave for home. The remaining bit of the sunset was so pretty as we passed the place. It was a pink and orange sky, so soft and yet not short of beauty.

Once we go around the wood one more time and come back to the playground, Max stops and falls down on the grass. I'm breathing hard as I follow after him, my arm falling on his as I fall too close to him. I move my arm away, but Max moves his hand toward mine. When he spreads his fingers and places his hand on mine, I suddenly am not breathing hard anymore.

I swallowed the feeling away, trying to make my heart work again. I'm scared to look at him. I'm scared to see the neutral look on his face. The fact that we were holding hands didn't even matter to him; it had an effect on him the way it did for me. I push my fears away and look at him, only to find him staring at me already. His eyes were soft, and there was a flush on his face, whether from the fact that we just ran for fifteen minutes straight or the fact that he was affected by this as well.