Sorry Not Sorry

-9 🛋️

My eyes blur as I stare at the tv, little carts zooming around. Someone says something to me, but I can't hear because my eyes droop shut and my head falls.

-

I wake up to a scream. I sit up quickly, my eyes darting. Kitty cries "How could I lose! I was coming first!"

"Baby, you got third. That's higher than me."

"Still."

I sigh, laying back in the seat. I wipe my eyes with a yawn. "Oh, Xavier's awake." Danny says. "Good morning, sleepyhead." He says, I wave back with a yawn.

"Is Max awake?" Kitty asks. I lay my head back on the couch, my neck fitting perfectly in the crook of the couch. Only it's not the couch, it's Max's shoulder, and his arm is draped over my back. "He's still sleeping like a baby." Katherine says.

I look sideways at Max's sleeping face. His cheeks are soft and his nose has a smattering of freckles on it. He looks calm, and his eye lashes flutter.

Did we seriously just fall asleep on each other shoulders? It's not even that late. I check my watch, it's 8. It was like, 4 when we got here. "How long have we been out?" I ask.

"You, like two hours, Max like one." Kathy says.

"I should be going home." I say.

"I don't think any of us are in the correct state of mind to drive you" Kitty says. "We have been racing each other for like- three hours. And we may have had a bit of alchohol."

I yawn. "What do I do then? Call a Uber?"

Danny thinks for second. "Max and I have a spare room." He says.

"Really? Perfect." I say. "That'd be nice."

Danny nods. "Cool."

I open messages and send my mum a text that I'll be staying at a friends house, and she sends back a thumbs up. I take a photo of Max sleeping. "I took one of both of you, if you want it." Kitty giggles.

"Hell yeah!" I say.

Soon, my eyes flutter back shut, and my head falls back into Max's shoulder, his hair in my face.

-

If my head could comfortably sit somewhere else, I promise I'd put it somewhere else. Not on the shoulder of someone who I claimed was my 'sworn enemy' like two days ago, but theres no place better right now, so this will do. And his shoulder is pretty comfy.

I think he's fine with it, since he technicaly did fall asleep after me the first time, so he chose to let me rest my head there.

-

I snort myself awake when the couch creaks. Danny just stood up, and it seemed like he was about to shake us awake. "It's time to go." He says.

I yawn "Ok." Max is somehow still asleep, so I poke him. "Max"

His eyes flutter but he keeps them closed. "He's awake." I say. "Maxxxxx-"

"Shush." Max says, putting a palm over my mouth.

"Gross!" I say, pulling it away from my face.

"Ugh- how long was I out?" He drawls.

"Ages, bro." Danny says. "We need to go home now."

I stand up, wiping my hands on my pants. I grab his hand and pull him up off the couch. "I just need to do one thing then we can go." I say, walking off into the bathroom.

I dry my hands on my pants, then walk back out to the entryway, where Danny and Max are standing. "Did you just piss with the door open?" Max asks.

"No." I say, "I just washed my hands."

Max blinks. "Oh."

"Letss goooooo" Danny says, pushing Max and I out the door. Crickets chirp and frogs croak up in the trees.

Max has fully woken up now, so he walks ahead. "Am I supposed to drive Xavier home?" Max asks, looking at Danny.

"Nah, he's staying in our guest room" Danny explains.

"Oh." He looks away. With a cough, he says "You'll have to set up the room for him. I don't think there's any sheets."

We walk down the path seperating Max and Kitty's houses. On our left is the road, and our right is some Bushland. In the distance, I can see the creek which Kitty mentioned during my first visit.

We approach the house, a heritage-looking house. "Woah. I didn't expect that." I laugh, taking in the ornate paint while waiting behind Max as he struggles to open the gate. A large oak is planted in the front yard, and I know younger me would've loved to climb it.

Max finally pushes the gate open and we walk up the Rocky gravel path to the front door. The front yard is mainly just grass besides the tree and a bench placed against the house, which Max sits down on to slide his shoes off.
"No shoes in the house." He says.

I nod, sliding my shoes off and kicking them under the bench. The fence surrounding the front yard is rusted white metal, and a vine grows on one side. It has dark leaves with splotches of lighter green and white.

I look up at the house, awe in my eyes. "This is so nice." I say.

Max laughs. "We both were so lucky to get it, and we worked our asses off for it." Danny nods in agreeance.

I yawn, and follow Danny and Max inside.

The inside is just as beautiful as I'd expected it to be, but with much more littered laundry and evidence of boys living in it, as suspected. The place is covered in plants in every corner, which I suspect are Danny's, since he grew the roses in Kitty's yard. "Can I see your room?" I ask Max.

He smirks, but quickly hides it with a cough. "Yeah, sure." He leaders me down the hallway, into his room, while Danny goes to the one across- which I assume is the guest, considering the pile of sheets in his arms.

"Welcome!" Max says, opening the door.

One wall has a large window, which I know would let lots of light in during the day. His bed is set up along the wall with the window, blankets draped messily along it. The big frog Squishmallow sits on the floor next to his bed, whereas the duck is in his pile of sheets. A nightstand sits at the head of his bed, with a plant, a book and his phone charger. I look around, looking at myself in the mirror which is propped up against one wall. A bookshelf sits near the door, the lower two shelves used to hold his six pairs of shoes.

He bends over and slides the shoes he had been wearing earlier into their spot. "It's so... Tidy." I say.

Max laughs, "It's all just a show." He says, holding back he covers of his bed, revealing a pile of clothes and shoes boxes bursting with stuff piled under his bed.

"God, Max." I sigh with a laugh.

"Max!!!" Danny shouts from the guest room.

"Coming!" Max tells back. "Stay here." He says, and I nod in response.

-