• Before We Met •

7

After watching 'Maze Runner' for the hundreth time and fan-girling over Dylan O'Brien, I decided to sleep over at Max's since it was getting pretty late.

"Get off my arm ass-duck, it's asleep!"
I yelled, tugging at my hand which I soon realised, had fallen asleep due to Max sleeping on it.

"Always a pleasure waking up to your sweet voice, A," Max said groggily, and honestly, if I wasn't fighting a crisis, I would've said that his morning voice was hot but I was more focused on trying to push him off my arm.

"Get off!"

"Your arm isn't the only thing that's asleep, so please stop yelling," he whined.

"I'll stop yelling when you get off my damn arm!" I persisted.

With a groan, Max put his weight on his arm so I could get mine out from under him.

With a relieved sigh, I shook my arm a couple of times to shake the numbness away and got up from the bed.

"Come on, wake up. You still have to drive me home so I can change." I faced him.

"Just wear something from my closet, I'm tired." His voice came out muffled because of his face being smushed against the pillow.

"We still have to get up, school starts in an hour,"

Another groan.

"You really don't like the idea of me sleeping, do you?" He asked sarcastically.

He got up from his bed (whining a few times), and opened his drawer. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a 'Marvel' shirt, which I was a 100% sure I'd have to tuck in due to Max's tall frame.

"Here" he tossed the clothes over to me and grabbed another pair of sweatpants and a shirt for himself.

As I was walking out of his room, towards the bathroom, he called out my name.

"Oh and Aspen?"

"What?"

"Ass duck?" He asked while snickering lazily due to him just getting out of bed.

"I was feeling formal." I chuckled while he threw his pillow at me. It landed on my feet. I gave him an amused look.

"And you call yourself a jock?"

××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

The rover jerked to a stop as Max parked his car in his usual spot. "Should I wait for you after school?" Max offered as we both got out of his car.

"No, it's fine. Tryouts usually last for a while. I'll grab a ride with Sophie." I explained.

"You're actually trying out for the basketball team huh?" He asked, seeming impressed at my new-found interest.

"Yeah, I really miss basketball so I figured I should get back into it. Besides, I'm starting to get too lazy. Yesterday, I physically couldn't get up from my couch just to get a drink." I said, walking side by side to Max. 

He laced his slick fingers through mine and tugged slightly, indicating that he wants me to turn around. He stopped in his tracks and grabbed my other hand, while bringing them up just for him to press a delicately sweet kiss to my knuckles. He brought them down and stared slightly at the ground with a soft smile prancing on his lips. "Lazy or not, I'll still love you." He expressed while keeping his delicate glance on me. He was gazing at me almost expectantly, as if he was waiting for me to say something back. And I knew exactly what he wanted to hear.

I didn't know what was wrong with me. The most perfect guy, was standing right in front of me, with a smile that could literally melt my insides, waiting for me to tell him the three damned words that I just couldn't bring myself to say back to him. So, to avoid all possible akwardness, I did what I do best; make people walk away from me.

"Cool.. I love food! More specifically pies. I mean of course they'd have to be dairy-free because, well you know my lactose intollerant ass can't take it, but I feel like the different foods people like desribes their past. I mean if you like healthy junk, you probably were one of those prissy bitches that quote Mean Girls when they're with their friends and are actual mean girls with their family. You know how teenagers these days are! With their gizmos and all that mumbo-jumbo!" I rambled, making sure to over-exagerate my hand gestures.

There was a slight pause. But then, Max's hopeful demeanor slumped and he curtly nodded as if he confirmed that I wasn't no where near ready to admit my feelings to him. 

"I'll see you later, A." And with those half-hearted words, he walked off with a defeated sigh and left me to wonder why the fuck he loves me. Me. The girl who has an amazing guy in the grasp of her hand, that wants to offer her the world, if she'd only admit what she had been afraid to.

××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××