YOU 2 [Charli D'Amelio]

Chapter 198.

"Charli." Max's voice wakes me.

Without thinking, I sit straight up in bed and check the clock. It's only eight...it's Sunday. Why is she waking me up?

"What's wrong?" I ask, looking down at hee.

"Nothing, I have to piss and you were latched on to me."

"Oh." I lay back down and she climbs out of bed.

I stare at the ceiling and go over my options. How should I tell her about Seattle? When I mentioned it last night she didn't take it seriously, she just told me I didn't need to make a decision now. The problem here is that I've already made a decision, one that has me moving in a little over a week. No matter how many times I play this over in my mind, I can't imagine how she will react. I know one thing, she won't be happy. Will she be angry? Sad? I just don't know.

"What time are we supposed to be meeting Addison and Tristan?" Max asks as she crawls back into bed with me.

"I don't know, I'll text her in a few hours."

"You still want to go? Because if not, that's fine too." She smiles.

"Yes, we're going." I bury my face in the crook of hee neck.

"Last night was fun." She reminds me.

"Yeah." I say, hiding my face.

"You were.. demanding. Did you have a few shots of vodka that I wasn't aware of?" She chuckles and I playfully bite down on the skin of her neck.

"Someone's fiesty." Her hands grip my hips and pulls me to lay on her, chest to chest.

"I need to shower." I inform her while she attempts to lift the t-shirt from my body.

"No, you're not leaving the bed yet. It's been far too long since you've been in it and you just started something that I'm going to need you to finish."

"Me? I have no idea what you are referring to." I smile and she lifts her pelvis to show me.

"Don't act all innocent now when last night you were in your knees sucking.." I clamp my hand over her mouth and feel her laughter against my palm.

"Enough." I laugh and try to loosen her grip on my hips.

"Nooo..."

"It's not like I'm going anywhere.." I nearly choke on my words. I am going somewhere, soon, and I hope you'll come with me.

I wiggle out of her grip before my mouth starts running without my mind's permission.  Max makes a playful pouty face and it's adorable enough to make me lean down to kiss her forehead before heading to the bathroom. I expect hee to follow me into the bathroom but when I turn around in the hallway to look for her, she isn't there.

The water is hot against my skin and I pray that it washes away the anxiety of telling Max about Seattle.  She was so vulnerable last night, admitting that she was afraid of being expelled. I'm afraid for her, I wish I could fix this all for her, erase the impulsive mistake that caused her to get to this point.  I would do anything for her, even after everything she's put me through in the past six months since I've met her. It terrifies me to know just how much I would do for her  the prospect of England keeps crawling its way to the top of my mind. If she blows up and refuses to go to Seattle with me would I really give up my ideal future for her? Yes, I would. However,  I can't. I would never forgive myself if something went wrong and I know that I would end up resenting her, blaming her for holding me back and that's the last thing I want. 

The shower curtain is pulled back and I scream, if my hand wouldn't have  come up to muffle the sound, the neighors would have heard.

"Jesus Charli!" Max appears as startled as I am.

"You scared me." I reach for the red shampoo bottle.

"Who else would it be?" She half smiles and drops hee shorts to the tile floor before stepping into the small shower. 

I love watching the water blanket her and run down her naked body. It's quite the sight, the way her hair turns black when wet, the way the drops cover and roll off of her nose. I am only half aware that I'm still lathering the shampoo against my scalp and she is staring at me with an amused smile, obviously pleased to have caught me gauking at her.

"Come here." She reaches out and wraps her fingers around my elbow, pulling me to her. 

"What's wrong?" She asks once my body is flush with her.

"Nothing, just thinking."

"About what? Me?"

"Yes."

"What about me?"

"Our plans. . the future,  all the things you hate talking about." I manage a smile and she presses hee forehead against mine, the water incasing us.

"Hmmm.. you're right to stay quiet then." She teases and turns me around to have the water rinse the shampoo from my hair.

"Addison and Tristan are thinking of going to LSU next year together." I inform her after a few seconds pass.

"Good for them." She doesn't make the connection. 

"Honestly,  I'm surprised they are still dating." She says, handing me the bottle of conditioner.

"Why?"

"I don't know, they are just too alike."

"No they aren't!" I laugh.

Tristan and Addison may look alike because of their tattoos and piercings but they are nothing alike personality wise. Addison's personality almost reminds me of Max's,  she's outspoken and doesn't care what people think about her with the exception of her boyfriend and his family. Tristan, on the other hand has a harsh appearance but he's so kind and somewhat soft spoken. 

"I disagree, they are both lame asses."

"They are not!" I scowl at her.

She'snot the least bit intimidated by me or my scowl, instead she wraps her hands around my waist and squeezes my bottom.

"I will never get enough of you, you have to come with me." She breathes into my ear.

"Maxxy.."

"Let's get dressed and go meet these assholes." She changes the subject after noticing my apprehension. 

"Stop talking about them that way, they are your friends."

"That's exactly why I talk about them like that." She shakes her wet hair at my face. I squeal and pull the towel from the rack to rub it over her soaked hair, ending her playful assault. 

Two hours later I text Addison to get the time and name of the shop where are meeting her and Tristan, Max tells me that she's been to the place before and points to the ship tattoo at the top of her arm.

"This one was done there, I was wasted." She smiles at the memory.

"How touching." I roll my eyes and refill my coffee mug.

"It is a lovely story really, I almost puked on their floor."

"Are you sure you're even allowed back in there?"

"I'm pretty sure they wouldn't dare to tell me no." Her ego speaks,  loud and clear. 

Max insists on driving to the shop which is fine by me. I'm not too familiar with this part of town. Thick, black bars cover nearly every window of every shop on the street and a barefoot man with a thick beard is singing to himself as he crosses the street in front of us.

I have spotted more cop cars in the last ten minutes than I've seen in the last week.

"Where are we?" I ask quietly.

We pull up in front of a small cluster of shops, one of them has a large flashing sign that reads "tattooos".

"It's not the best part of town but you'll be fine." Max assures me as she pulls into the small gravel lot behind the building. 

Max grips my hand in her the moment I step out of the car.

"You're okay." She assures me again, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before we cross the lot.