We slip into the house in the early hours of the morning, tiptoeing our way through the entry and down the hallway, coming to a stop once we reach the silent living room. The only sound in the air around us is the distant sound of the refrigerator from the kitchen and our breaths mixing together in the limited space between our bodies. I meet Caden's sad and guarded gaze in the dimly light room and sigh, stepping slowly towards him in order to press a kiss to his cheek.
"Are you okay?" I whisper, my mouth pulling into a thin line once the words leave my lips.
Caden runs a hand through his hair, the sleeve of his suit now wrinkled and unbuttoned as it reaches my gaze in the dark. "I'm just ready for all of this to be over." he tells me truthfully, his eyes moving around the room aimlessly before finally resting on my own, a sheepish smile crossing his face as he scratches the back of his neck.
"Me too man, me too." Derek's booming voice announces as he struts into the room, grinning to Caden and I as he passes us and plops himself lazily down onto the couch. I stare at him, dumbfounded as he claps his hands together, the sound echoing in the otherwise silent room. "So, how was the dance you two? Was it magical?" he asks sarcastically, adding in a dramatic sigh at the end as he bats his eyelashes, awaiting a response from the both of us. "You kids stayed out pretty late."
"Oh, shut up." Caden shakes his head, pushing his best friend roughly in the shoulder as he takes a seat next to him on the couch. The both of them start to rough around, and the sight strangely makes a smile form on my face, my heart clenching at the sight of them before me. I know I should probably stop them, but I can't find it in myself to do so, so instead I let them wear themselves out. They end up laughing lightly at each other, sprawled out and exhausted with their legs stretched out in front of them.
"Are you guys done now?" I tease them, shoving at Caden's legs so I can worm my between their two sweaty bodies. I lay my head against Caden's shoulder, looking to Derek with a goofy grin on my face as the two of them nod their head yes, high fiving loudly right over my head.
The room quickly falls silent after that, the three of us sitting motionless as we all come off of the brief high. We all take a moment to let a silence fall thick into the air, the weight of what the rest of the day has to bring settling above each of us.
"How are you guys really?" Derek asks, his eyes searching mine and Caden's back and forth as the words fall from his lips. I shrug, the movement falling short against Caden's stiff body pressed beside me.
"I'm just praying that this works out. If I think about it for too long, it all just starts to seem impossible." I mumble, Derek slowly nodding along to my words after I finish.
"It happens to me, too. I believe in us, though. I think we can do it." Derek says, offering up a hopeful smile that brightens up the room, if only just a little bit.
"We've gotten this far, haven't we?" Caden speaks softly, his chest vibrating under my touch. "We all love Max too much to let him go back to David."
I look down to my lap and nod, pressing myself further into Caden's side with a sigh. Derek looks towards the two of us and smiles, wrapping his arm around me in a side hug. "Promise me that no matter what, Max comes back with us." I whisper shakily to the both of them, feeling both Derek's and Caden's grip on me tighten.
"Promise." they both mumble at the same time, their voices blending together in a scratchy mess as they hit my ears, the end result still succeeding in making a lump form in back of my throat.
I feel Caden's lips press against my temple for a long while, my eyes falling shut in peace with his touch. Then, ever so quietly in my ear, I hear his voice tell me the words that I desperately need to hear; "Everything is going to be okay."
Hey guys! Short filler chapter to bridge the gap until the next one! Things are about to go down next chapter! I hope your excited/ nervous. I'm uploading it right after this one, so you don't have to wait.
This book is almost over, but there are still a few big things to come that I'm sure you guys will like!
I hope everyone is having a great summer so far, mine's been pretty great! Comment your favorite part of summer so far below, or what you're going to do later!
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Love you guys,
-M
YOU ARE READING
Saving Max
Teen Fiction"What are you doing here?" I ask Caden, ushering Max into the hospital room and closing the door behind him, the sound echoing off the walls. "I'm here to see the person who's been helping my brother. I wanted to say thank you, and let you know that...
