Need to get this off my chest but liiike.
There's so much potential for delicious angst in Maxwell's storyline before him and MC finally get their happy ending: the pining, yearning, the "you're here for Liam only and no one else", the constant forced proximity what with how he basically has to babysit us/mc and show us the ropes as we navigate our new life in a royal court .....
All while pretending to be the simple-minded, immature, scatterbrained, comic relief bestie because that's all anyone has ever given him grace to be and he'd rather mask his growing feelings behind ill-timed humour because he knows you're in love with Liam. Can see it in the way your eyes seek him out at every event and in the way you smile at him – radiant and so besotted it makes Maxwell's heart ache in his chest. Longing settling deep into his bones because he wants you but he knows he can never have you.
Because even if you weren't in love with Liam – perfect perfect Liam, wise and kind and gentle and brave, the future King of Cordonia, everything that Maxwell knows he can never be – there's the fact that you're here on behalf of House Beaumont. You're here to save them from ruin. You're his gamble at restoring his once great House, now almost in ruins, to its former glory. His chance at redeeming himself. His chance to prove to his brother that he's not just a screw up, that he cares about them – House Beaumont and their legacy – just as much as Bertrand does.
And Maxwell may be many things but he isn't selfish no matter how much he wishes he could be – if only so you could look at him, smile at him, dance with him like you do Liam.
And Maxwell has just about enough self-respect to know when to bow out. His sense of self-preservation just strong enough to keep him from staring for too long as you twirl around the ballroom with Liam, breezing through the steps of the Cordonian Waltz with an effortless grace. Maxwell downs a glass of the strongest liquor he can get his hands on, numb to the way it burns down his throat but acutely aware of the burn in his chest as he tries not to think about how he was the one who taught you that dance.
But maybe, maybe, if he was just that little bit selfish; if he'd let his gaze linger just a moment longer, he would've caught your stare over Liam's shoulder – brows pinched and lips turned down in the an imperceptible frown as you watch him from afar, brown hair tousled artfully and tan skin glowing something ethereal under the dazzling lights and chandeliers.
You wonder why you feel so wrong when you have Liam smiling warmly at you, his hand on your waist squeezing gently. Wonder why you feel so cold when your hand fits snug in his own larger one as he guides you around the dance floor, his eyes tracing every minute detail of your face. Why it is that you still feel hollow and bereft when you have the sole attention of the one person in this room who seems to captivate everyone else with minimal effort.
And more than anything else you wonder why you're so upset when Maxwell finally catches your gaze, smiles wider than you've ever seen him, and shoots you a subtle thumbs up as Liam pulls you just that slightest bit closer. This is what you came here for – to be with Liam, to help House Beaumont – so you try your best to quash down the urge to pull away and let Liam lead you around the dance floor until your feet hurt as much as your heart does.
*le sigh* if only i could write ..
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