Bathroom (Max x Bradley) - Maxley

CHAPTER 12

I woke up to the sound of an alarm clock, my body hurting. I didn't sleep much last night, but that is OK. I quickly turned off the alarm, not wanting to wake up the sleeping beauty. Bradley woke up multiple times during the night, scared and confused. But I was there to comfort him. At around three o'clock was the last time he woke up, and since then he slept without any complications.

I didn't have a lesson until ten thirty, so I just stayed sitting, listening to the soft snoring of sleeping Bradley. I wasn't sure if he had any lessons in the morning, but I didn't want to wake him up. He looked peaceful, and school will only stress him out more.

I scrolled on my phone, reading all my messages. The group chat with PJ and Bobby was filled with questions about where I was and similar. They even made some conspiracy theories about me, all false. I was about to answer their questions when Bradley groaned. I quickly put my phone away and looked at Bradley, waiting.

He slowly opened his eyes, groaned again, and then- vomit. Thank God I put the bin there. I gently stroked his back, trying to make him feel better. When he finished, I gave him the water from the coffee table, hoping he would feel better soon. He drank the water, looking thankfully at me. He set up, slightly shaking.

"What time is it?" was the first thing he asked. I was a little disappointed. I spent the whole night here because he took something, and he didn't even thank me. Nothing. "It's only six in the morning, so you can still sleep." He looked at me as if he just noticed me. He wanted to say something, but he thought twice about it and didn't say it. We just sat there in silence for a while, neither of us knowing what to say.

"Thank you," I thought I heard Bradley saying, but I wasn't quite sure. "How much do you remember from last night?" I asked, still secretly hoping for the kiss that almost happened yesterday. Bradley stayed silent, just slightly turning his head away from me. "All of it. It will never happen again."

I froze. Hurt, I looked over at him, trying to find his eyes and make sense of it all. But I couldn't see them, with him being turned away from me. A bitter laugh left me. I got up, took my phone, and left. "Goodbye Bradley. I will no longer bother you." I took my skateboard, and all of my stuff and skated to my dorm, feeling angry.

I got to my dorm, left my stuff there, only taking my phone, my earbuds, and keys, and left the room to look for a boxing ring I heard someone talking about a week ago. I angrily stomp in the direction I believe this establishment is located, ready to rip someone's head off. I was mad at Bradley. For taking drugs and toying with my feelings like that. I was mad at Tank for ruining my favorite tank top for no reason. But I was mostly mad at myself for letting them. I let Bradley toy with my emotions and I let Tank get his way with me as well. But I wouldn't let them anymore.

I got to the place, surprised at why they were open so early in the morning. But I couldn't care less about that right now. I went in.

"Hey kid, are you lost? What can I do for you?" "I would like to punch something or someone. How much?" The man at the desk looked amused at me. "Ay, Sam. The pretty boy over here wants to blow his steam off. Prepare something. Well, pretty boy, because I see you here for the first time and it isn't even seven in the morning yet, that would come to a great discount for you. For an hour, five dollars for you. Whatcha say?" I only handed him a five dollar bill, going straight into the changing rooms.

I put all of my stuff in a locker and thought about leaving my shirt on, but I couldn't care less. I decided to fuck it and took my shirt off, better said Braley's shirt, standing there only in my pants. I closed the locker and went out.

There was only one more person in the gym, and he was cleaning some equipment, so I assumed he was Sam, the man that the man at the front was talking to.

"Hey there pretty boy. I'm Sam," I stand correctly, "... and you will train with me today. We should start with some exercises to get the blood pumping through your veins. Give me some simple push-ups, sit-ups, and run on the place for a bit. That should do it." I got down to start with pushups when he noticed my back.

"Whoa, dude, you're back. You have a-" "Yeah, I know. It's a touchy topic. So, could you please not?" I interrupt, showing my back to somewhere for the first time ever since that day. He stayed quiet and I did my exercises. After I was done, he showed me how to properly punch a punching bag. He said I should wear gloves, as it was my first time, but I insisted on doing it without them.

Sam was against the idea, but let me do my thing either way. I punched. And punched. And punched. Punched for all the times I got screwed up because of Bradley. Punched for all the times Tank punched me. Punched for every time Roxanne-

My hour was up. I didn't even realize it. My hands were a little bit bloody. I felt sorry for Sam who had to clean it up after me. I apologized for the blood and left. I went to my dorm, but I realized I had no bandages. So, I gave Mocha a quick call, having to had to speak with her either way.

Half an hour later, we were sitting with two cups of coffee in my dorm on Bobby's bed, her cleaning my wounds and me complaining about Bradley.

"... I stayed with him the whole night. Whole night! And he was so... Argh! Why is he so dense? Like, stop leading me on. Just say what you want and I will give it to you," I say, hurt and frustrated. Mocha, finishing with my first hand and moving on to the second one, just nodded.

"You know, guys don't know what they want. So don't take it personally. He just isn't sure what the feeling he's feeling for you means. As you said yourself, you were about to kiss. So there must be something because drugs are just taking your boundaries away. So, there is something, you just have to find it. But for the love of God, give the poor boy some space. He needs to figure it out on his own first."

We were sitting in a comfortable silence when she spoke up again. "When are you going to tell them? They deserve to know." I didn't have to ask her what she meant by that. I knew. But the answer, I didn't know that. I just shrugged, getting worried at the thought of telling my friends about Bradley. But I had the right to know, but I was scared. I was almost sure they would accept me, but all these 'what-if' questions were killing me.

"Soon," was all I could come up with. She signed, tired of me giving her the same answer for months.

She patched up my second hand without another word. "Don't be mad at me. I just- need to plan it all out. Be prepared." "Max, I am not mad. Maybe a little, but that is not the point. The point is, that I will stand with you. I understand if you need more time. It is a big step, after all. But I believe in you. And don't forget, I love you no matter what." "I love you too," I said, being glad I found my soul sister.

At that moment, the door broke down and PJ barged in with Bobby in his heels. "I knew it! You were cheating on me! But with my best friend? How could you! Max, how dare you as well. You know I love her-" ", PJ. You love me? You never told me." While this was going on, Bobby just sat down on his bed and fell asleep.

"PJ, what are you talking about? Nobody is cheating on anybody," I said, trying to de-escalate the situation. "Well, poor anybody. Nobody was a shitty boyfriend anyway. Anybody should find themselves someone better," Bobby charmed in, not fully asleep yet.

"But you said you love her. I heard you!" "I meant it in a... sibling way. Not romantically. Platonically." Mocha was not helping me, still daydreaming about PJ telling her he loved her.

"Then what were you doing all this time? You were practically hanging out every day. You were hanging out with my girlfriend more often than me. And you had no valid reason. So, what was I supposed to think? So please, Max, explain."

I froze. I couldn't. Not now, not ever. "Well... we were talking..." PJ was waiting for me to continue, but I couldn't. "About what? What was so secret you couldn't talk about it with us?"

"We- we were talking about... my crush," I said, finally, face getting red. "So? What, you were talking about some chick for hours? So, who is she?" PJ argued, still not convinced. "It's not a chick," I muttered under my breath, too scared to speak up. "What?"

"It's not a chick!" I screamed. The room fell silent.

When I said soon, I didn't mean this soon.