eyes [maxpres highschool au]

four. aftermath

   Preston drove himself to Max's place, all the while gripping the wheel like it was the only thing keeping him connected to reality. He arrived in about 5 minutes. Max was waiting outside, looking anxious. When he saw Preston pull up, his eyes widened.

   "Preston! Oh, thank god you're okay," he mumbled.

   "Thank you, Max..."

   The shorter male scoffed. "Don't mention it. Nobody deserves to go through that."

   Preston smiled and followed his classmate inside.

   "Preston! It's been awhile!"

   "Wh- David? You're here?!" Preston exclaimed at the sight of the camp counselor.

   "Oh, right, I forgot to mention. My parents didn't care enough to ever pick me up from camp, so David kidnapped me," Max explained.

   "Adopted, Max. I adopted you."

   "Same difference."

   "Anyways, Preston... I'm sorry that happened to you..." David apologized.

   "I'd prefer to forget about it for now..."

   The redhead nodded in understanding.

   "Anyways, who wants some ice cream?" David announced, clapping his hands. Nikki's eyes widened as a grin spread across her face.

   Max scoffed. "Don't get too excited. All he has is Ben & Jerry's."

   "THATS EVEN BETTER!!"

   Max rolled his eyes, leaning back onto the couch. "You guys are imbeciles."

   David brought out a pint of ice cream for everyone. Nikki devoured it in seconds, Max barely touched his, Neil seemed confused at the many different flavors, and Preston enjoyed it as normal.

   "Anyways, uh, Preston?"

   "Hm?"

   Max aimlessly tapped his spoon against the coffee table. "What's... uh... what's your favorite musical?"

   Preston gasped dramatically. "How dare you make me choose! Each one is unique in its own way, each has its pros and its cons! I could never!"

   Max found himself smiling. He was glad to see Preston easing back into his normal bubbly self.

   The teenagers made normal conversation for a couple minutes, before Preston nudged Max with his elbow.

   "Hey, can you do me a favor and put my hair up into a bun? It's getting all over my face," Preston asked.

   Max stared at him for a few seconds before shrugging and taking the hair tie he was offered. "Eh. Got nothing better to do." Preston decided not to question how Max knew how to make a bun, and instead focused on the closeness of the two. He could feel Max breathing on the back of his neck, and he was glad he was wearing foundation, or else everyone would have noticed his very obvious blush. He wasn't blushing because of feelings or anything, no, he's just not used to someone being so close to him. Yeah. That was it.

   That was all it was.

   Right?