Moving Forward

Time Together (10)

Dinner. With River. The thought made Max feel bubbly and warm and incredibly nervous. He came back downstairs wearing a simple pair of tight black jeans and a simple grey shirt. He'd combed his hair, too, making sure it wasn't his usual 'I woke up like this' style. Normally, he would have just left it... but then he got thinking and one thing led to another and he saw himself in the mirror...

Max got self-conscious.

Normally, he was the one suggesting a date, always asking Luke, always the one paying. He didn't know how to behave with River. It wasn't a date... probably. But still - Max felt like he was back in secondary school, openly gay and still unused to how his body was changing.

Obviously, he was done with puberty, but it didn't stop the nerves. It was absolutely pathetic and Max barely managed to contain the equally pathetic mewl that was brewing in his chest when he saw River - completely at home on the floor.

"I thought you said that was weird." Max said, voice barely above a whisper.

In the quiet house, River wouldn't have had any need to strain to hear Max. Even if he'd had human ears. He turned over with the faintest flush in his cheeks. "They..." he huffed, looked away, and then looked back. "They smell of you."

Max was hard pressed not to giggle - not that he could really say anything. River's words had rendered him completely incapable of forming human words, and instead all that came out was a weird, low pitched whine that Max had never made before - in human or jaguar form. He'd have to ask his mom which form it came from.

"Are you alright?" River asked, sitting up.

Max nodded, crouching down on himself. "I... can we... I'm alright." Then, once stood back up, he added, "Can we just go get dinner?"

River's head tilted, but he didn't say anything about the strange noise and instead followed Max out of the house into the car.

A frown marred River's face as he parked in the small car park in town. "Are you sick?"

"No," Max hummed, "I'm fine." And River didn't say anything further about the matter.

Within a couple of minutes, the pair was stood in front of a steakhouse, the temptation of meat being carried out on the breeze. Inside, the smell was even stronger. Letting River lead, Max followed him to the end of a bench, and sat opposite him whilst trying not to drool.

"I want whatever's making that smell." Max decided immediately.

River chuckled. "You think you can eat the entire menu?"

Max's mouth dropped open into a small 'o'. And then he pouted. "No, but it all smells so good."

"Hey, Kyle," a slight waitress smiled down at them, and it took Max a moment to realise she was actually talking to River. "What can I get you and your friend today?"

"Tonight." Max wanted to correct her, but held his tongue. That would be rude.

"Urm..." River looked over at Max and then turned back to the waitress with a smile that didn't make it to his eyes. "I think we'll both have the sirloin steak, rare."

Max watched the interaction with the concentration of a cat hunting a mouse, and once the waitress was gone, he lowered his head, preparing to pounce. "You don't smile with most people."

River frowned. "I do smile."

"No you don't," Max said shaking his head. "I'm not talking about the shape your mouth makes. Your eyes say you don't want to be there."

River blinked. Had Max confused him? He'd been quite blunt so that couldn't be it... could it?

River looked away and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't like speaking to people I barely know."

Max tilted his head. "But you like speaking to me."

Red flush. Max found he liked making River's face take on that colour, despite how faint it was.

The werewolf nodded. "I do..." and then a bashful smile appeared. "I really... really do."

Heat filled Max's face, turning his dark skin red. "I..." his forehead touched the table. "Oh my life." He groaned. This man... this man would be the actual death of him if he didn't stop being so fucking...

"Are you alright?" River asked, worry colouring his voice.

Max sat up immediately. "I'm fine." Just died for a second there, no big deal.

As River appeared to be considering whether to push it, the waitress strolled over with their drinks and food in hand. The pair ate in silence, Max occasionally peeking up to look at River and once or twice - probably quite a few more than that - found River's eyes already on him. The entire thing was an hour of blushing cheeks and mouthfuls of steak.

Somehow, they'd managed to completely ignore how the lights in the restaurant had dimmed even further, or how there were more than a few stares on them, or how, suddenly, the music floating over the speakers had become semi-romantic - or at the very least about sex.

Distantly, Max realised that his plate was empty, and now he was just staring without saying anything, but he did nothing to remedy the situation. Until an especially loud ahem caught his attention. Standing over them, a man that appeared in his late sixties smirked that the pair.

"As sweet as the pair of you are, we need the table, and I'm pretty sure you could go somewhere else to make googly eyes at each other."

Max nodded slowly, somewhat shocked at the forwardness, where River ran a hand through his hair and stood quickly. "Sorry, Rowland, we'll get out of your way."

"It's no problem, just a busy night is all. You two sweethearts have fun." Rowland replied.

River paid, to Max's surprise, and took hold of Max's wrist to lead him back to the car. Was the briskness due to embarrassment? Was that it? Because Max could understand that. But if River was embarrassed, why wasn't he red? Max was beginning to enjoy seeing the other man flush the gentlest shade of pink. Instead, River was wearing something of a poker face - to Max's severe disappointment.

The trip back to Max's house was silent, but the hold on his wrist that River hadn't given up - or even seemed to notice - was incredibly warm.

Without giving it any real thought, Max shifted the grip.

River glanced down in surprise, and then flushed at seeing their hands joined, fingers entwined. Warm. Together. Max smiled.