My Roommate Max... A Max Schneider Fan Fiction

Chapter Thirty-Four: Departure

~ If all of your walls are caving on you, and all your defenses can't protect you, than I'm gonna be the one to catch you when you fall... ~

Chapter Thirty-Four: Departure

"What are we doing?"

"I told you; sing-a-long time."

"What? Why?"

"Long story."

I gave Max a long look, my eyebrows furrowed. He looked up at me from tuning his ukulele, holding my gaze in his gentle brown eyes. We sat there a moment, staring at each other, desperately trying to understand what the other was thinking. The warm summer breeze blew my hair around my face, but I made no move to push it back, transfixed by Max's stare. He finally sighed, looking down and finishing tuning his instrument as he spoke.

"Look, love," he said. "The first morning we were here, I made a promise to myself and to Dustin." He paused, looking up at my brother across from us in one of our outside chairs. He'd led my family outside onto the patio, with me still dangling from his over his shoulder. Once he'd sat me down, we'd all settled in chairs around the table. The two of us of course, hardly able to sit apart, ended up with Max sitting sideways with me on his lap. I looked over at Dustin as Max continued his explanation.

"Blakely," he said slowly. "I've heard from every member of your family, that, when everything happened..." he paused, reaching for my hand. He ran his thumb over my knuckles to comfort me, not meeting my gaze as he picked up. "You stopped singing," he finally said. My gaze shot up to my brother, my eyes narrowing. Then I looked back at Max, taking his chin gently in my hand and making him meet my gaze. His hardened features softened as he met my stare, my blue eyes crumbling his resolve.

"You've known I gave it up since you found out about everything," I stated. "Why is this all coming up now?" I asked, releasing my grip when I was sure he wasn't going to look away again.

"Because," he stated, setting his uke down as he shifted, one hand going just under my shirt onto my back to rub small circles there. The other came to rest on my thigh, his thumb sweetly rubbing my leg through my jeans. It was one of those loving gestures that we'd both become so accustomed to doing, and in that moment when he just stared back at me, his eyes adoring, everything around us faded, and I lost touch with reality.

"Because why?" I finally asked, shifting my gaze away from him. I could sense his frown as his fingers stopped moving on my back.

"Because since then I've actually heard you sing!" he said, his voice a little louder. "And I know you love it!" He let out a small frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair as he stared at me. I avoided his gaze though, staring down at the ground with my hair hiding my face. My family had gone quiet, all of their eyes trained on Max and I. Max seemed to have forgotten all about them though, his eyes fixed on me. I felt him slowly reach over and push my hair behind my ear, his fingers gentle as he cupped my face and made me look at him.

"Look at me..." he said softly, running his thumb over my cheekbone. I brought my eyes up to meet his gaze, his brown stare holding mine. "I kinda get why you stopped singing in high school," he admitted slowly. "But love? It's over now. You can have it back, Blakely!"

His words slowly set in, and I felt myself sigh. His other hand came up to cup my face as well, his eyes searching mine. He fell silent for a moment, and I surprised myself by opening my mouth first.

"What did you promise my brother?" I asked slowly, habitually moving my hand on his chest. He reached down and guided my fingers over his heart, knowing the soft beating of his pulse under my palm would give me comfort. And it did; I felt part of myself relax as Max spoke.