— so you take requests huh 👀👀👀👀👀👀 write max x reader where reader takes over his video as a joke and then when the video is published, the viewers eat it up and say that its better with you on the channel as a joke ofcoursez so lowkey now you compete with max who would do better on each others channels in a span of a weekz but lowkey max boosts your channel more while his channel was slightly loosing and then by payment he fricks with us 👀👀👀👀👀👀
— eat it up! , max (3fs)
divider creds: @/im4yeons & @/𝘶𝘻𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘰
summary: You record a video on Max’s channel for April fools and the fans love you! Max decides to make a challenge with you; you both switch channels and whoever does better within three weeks has to do whatever the other wants. What happens when you want something intimate?
warnings: SMUT, cursing, sex, P in V with protection, kissing, making out, dirty talk?, praise, stealing clothes, fluff, whimpering, BRING BACK MEN WHIMPERING!!! dom max & sub reader but I do dabble in sub max… Max being Max, idk is this ooc for him.. lemme know pls 🙏
word count: 3.4k
a/n: omg. i’m lowkey so proud of this and i’m sorry it took forever I got sick :(
The notification hit Max's phone at 12:39 PM on April 1st while he was lying in his bed.
3fs just uploaded: IM TAKING OVER (not clickbait)
He stared at it. Blinked. His thumb hovered over the screen. Had he forgot that he uploaded a video? He then clicked on it, the sound of your voice filling his ears.
"Hello everybody, my name is 3fs and welcome to escape the backrooms." You started off, staring at the camera with a mischievous grin.
"You probably notice something different, hm.. I wonder what it is.." You say and tap your chin, pretending to think. "It's April fools and i'm officially taking over Max's channel because obviously i'm better than him." You shrug with a smile. "And yes, i'm recording this in his office. No, he does not know i'm recording. Okay, let's go!"
The raw file was two hours of backrooms footage, but you cut it down to about an hour. Most of it was just you running around in the liminal space and trying to figure out where to go.
"THERES SOMETHING BEHIND ME! Wait it's a chair– ooh, and almond water!"
"Max, if you're watching this, i'm so sorry i'm actually ass." You blurt out and then cover your mouth, "Oh gosh, I forgot he doesn't cuss. BRO IM SORRY–"
Then came the hard part. You kept dying to the entity for at least 15 minutes and couldn't get past this part.
"Max!" You yell for him and hide the recording app. "He's gonna help and not even know i'm recording," You turn back to the camera with a grin.
You place the headphones around your neck as the floorboards creek, him opening the door.
"Hm?" He hums as he takes in the sight of you playing on his computer. "Wh- what are you even doing in here, bro," He asks with a laugh.
"Trying to play the backrooms. I was bored and i've been wanting to play this for a while anyways." You explain and turn around in the chair to look at him. "Can you help?"
"That depends. What part?" He steps closer and places a hand on the back of the gaming chair while leaning over. He had no clue you were even recording.
"I've been stuck here for like– twenty minutes or something, and it just keeps killing me and I can't find an exit." You explain and try to do it again, this time with him watching.
"No, no, no, you gotta find a ladder."
"Well, how do I do that genius?"
He rolls his eyes with a smile and places his hand over yours on the mouse. Blush creeps up on your cheeks as you let him guide you.
"You gotta follow the flickering lights," He explains and places his other hand on the keyboard. After a bit of walking, and avoiding the entity, you reach a hole in the wall and a ladder.
"Bingo." The warmth of his hand leaves yours and you look up at him.
"Okay, Leon Kennedy, thanks." You tease and laugh as the game loads to the next stage.
"That was a compliment!" He says as he leaves the room with a smile.
"No it wasn't!" You yell back at him and turn towards the camera, "Bro was clueless that I was recording. Okay, what the heck is this next place?" You chuckle and continue in the game.
The video was a hit. It got thousands of views and did just as good as Max's normal videos. The comments were filled with praise from viewers and they even asked for more of you!
You hear a knock on your door about two hours after you posted the video and open it to Max.
"You actually did it." He says, crossing his arms. You've talked about posting on his channel without him knowing before, but have never actually done it.
"I literally have your password." You respond with a laugh and let him inside your apartment. You both lived near each other and have been friends for a while, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to show up unannounced.
"How did you even– when did you even record this?" He thinks as he sits on your couch. "Oh my gosh, was it that day–"
"Yup." You nod and head to the kitchen to grab a snack and some waters, "I was recording that whole time and you were clueless," You explain and sit down next to him as you hand him a granola bar.
He thanks you as he shakes his head, "I'm a frickin' idiot."
"Common knowledge."
"Hey," He bumps your shoulder with a small laugh. "The comments loved you too. I'm starting to think they like you better than me."
"Sorry to break it to you, but they totally do."
As you're both eating your snacks and talking, it goes quiet for a bit longer than usual, and that's how you know he's planning something.
"What are you thinking now?" You question and turn to look at him.
"How'd you even know?"
"You do that thing with your face. Y'know, you like scrunch it up–"
"Okay," He laughs and licks his lips as he gathers his thoughts, "So, what if we switched channels?"
"Hm?"
"You have a youtube, right?" He asks and you nod your head, "Cool, so, we switch channels. I post on yours, you post on mine. Whoever does better within like– let's say three weeks, has to do whatever the other wants."
"Yes. Absolutely yes, that sounds so fun." You immediately agree and think of all the things you can make him do when if you win.
"Okay, hand over the password." He makes a gesture with his hand.
"Oh jeez," You cover your face and start to blush, "You cannot make fun of me. Max, i'm so serious–"
"What! It's just a password,"
"Yeah, a password I made when I was twelve." You explain as Max pulls out his phone to write down your password.
"You haven't changed it once?" He questions and pulls up his notes app.
"No," You shake your head, "Okay, ready? If you laugh i'm deleting your channel."
"Woah! Okay," He chuckles and gets ready to type.
"Spongeman51 with an exclamation mark–" You're cut off with the sound of him laughing hard. He covers his mouth as he quickly writes down your password.
"Your channel is gone by the morning!" You threaten and then stand up to walk away.
"Wait, please bro!" He says between laughs and gets up to follow you.
You both announced that you were switching channels as a challenge to see who can do better over the next three weeks. You two gained a lot of subscribers before even posting the first video, which was great.
The next few weeks you both posted every five to six days, on the same day and at the same time. It was mostly solo videos, but you guys did collab a few times.
You were winning and it was obvious. Your videos on Max's channel was getting more views than usual and more views than Max's videos on your channel.
"Did you see the views I got on the most recent video?" You excitingly exclaim to Max who was on the phone with you.
"Yes.." He sighs, "I'm so gonna lose. You're going to make me go out in public with an embarrassing frickin' costume or something," He shakes his head.
"How do you know that's what i'm going to have you do?" You ask. You had a plan on what you were going to have him do, if and when you won. You didn't know if he would agree, but it would be worth a shot.
The next video you uploaded was a collab, and you were playing Ghost Janitor. Max had just played it with Jacob recently but thought it would be fun if you both gave it a go.
"MAX, MAX, MAX–" You repeatedly scream his name and follow him down the stairs in the game.
"WHAT?"
There was silence for a moment before your character got up real close to him, "Calm as a cucumber." You whisper and then turn around in the game to the ghost launching at you. You scream and jump back in your chair as your headphones fall off your head.
"That took years off my life, oh my gosh," You place a hand over your heart and laugh, mostly because of Max's laugh.
The three weeks were up and you won.
You had a celebration by ordering pizza and eating dessert while watching your favorite movie, cozied up on the couch.
You were thinking about what you wanted Max to do and one thing was on your mind.
Fucking.
Maybe it was just ovulation week, but Max was starting to look really good. You've known him for a while but haven't thought about him this way until recently.
The way his hair rested, the way he was a gentleman, his biceps– especially his biceps.
"Shit, what am I even thinking?" You whisper to yourself and sigh. Maybe this would mess everything up. Or it could make things better.
You hear three knocks on your door before it opens, you seeing Max walk in. Of course he had to walk in at this exact moment.
You gave him a spare key for emergencies, but he doesn't really use it for that. He comes over whenever he wants, to cheer you up, or just hang out with you.
"Wow, look at you. Are you treating yourself for winning and making me look miserable?" He jokes and sits down next to you on the couch.
You cross your legs and look over at him, "You don't look miserable."
"Will I after you tell me what i'm supposed to do?" He questions.
You gulp.
A beat passes and silence falls over the room other than your favorite movie playing in the background at a low volume.
"You okay?" He checks on you and places his arm on the back of the couch.
"Mhm, yeah." You nod your head and sit up. "You have to post an embarrassing story." You make something up on the spot as your cheeks flush red.
"Really? That's it?" He says after a moment. He knows something is wrong, you'd never give him a dare that easy.
"Come on, you can tell me what you actually want me to do. I can take it." He flashes a smile at you. Your breathing picks up as you cross your arms.
You were gonna tell him. You had to.
"I want you to– I want you to fuck me." Your voice is shaky as you blurt it out.
Silence. Absolute silence.
"I– wh– what?" He stutters, completely taken aback by your request. He was expecting, 'Go into a restaurant butt booty naked,' not that.
"I shouldn't have– shit, i'm sorry–" You whisper and make eye contact with him. He was completely red as he still tried to comprehend your words.
"Is that what you want?" He cuts you off. You're silent at this point and raise your eyebrows. "Is it?"
"Yeah," You murmur quietly, nodding your head.
"Then okay." He licks his lips and scoots closer, his cologne infiltrating your senses.
"Max," You say and stop yourself before kissing him, his hand immediately going to your cheek as his thumb rubbed back and forth.
The next few moments were a blur. One moment you were kissing for the first time, the next you were straddling him about to take your shirt off.
You both were breathing heavily as you haven't come back for air in a while, too focused on kissing him.
His hand wanders under your shirt and sits at the top of your waistband. His hands were cold, making you twitch at his touch and also making him smile against your lips.
You pull back with a big breath, a trail of spit connecting you two.
"Your hands are freaking cold," You breathe out and place a hand in his hair.
"It's cause your apartment is sixty five degrees right now." He cheekily smiles and kisses down your jaw to your neck. He was nipping there softly and making small marks as you played with his fluffy hair.
Max looks down for a moment at your pajama pants and pulls away from your neck, his lips swollen.
"Are those my pants I thought I lost?" He laughs and looks at you through his eyelashes.
"I– um, not guilty." You bring him in for another kiss, both smiling into it. You tug on his hair to get a better angle and he whimpers. You can start to feel him get hard under you and you grind your hips slightly, a whimper leaving both of your lips.
"I'm taking those back after this." He says as he pushes your shirt up slightly to place his hands under them.
"No you are not," You respond and he stands up as you yelp. He holds onto you as he takes you both to your room, laying you down on the bed gently.
"Yeah, I am." He gets on top of you, pushing your shirt up even more this time, "Is this okay?" He asks for permission. Even during sex he was the sweetest.
"Yes, Max–" You let out a noise as he places his cold hands under your breasts, just teasing. He had that cocky smirk on his face too.
He pulls your shirt off completely and throws it in a pile on the floor. He takes in the sight of your bare chest and you feel self conscious for a moment.
"You're gorgeous. My pretty girl," He praises and kisses down your chest. You arch your back into his mouth with a heavy breath and place your hand in his hair once again.
"Max," You sigh his name out as he looks up at you while still kissing on your chest.
"Yeah? Just tell me what you want," He whispers and leaves a final kiss at the bottom of your breast before sitting back up.
Your hands wander over his covered chest and look up at him with that look. He almost went insane.
He immediately took his shirt off as it joined the growing pile of clothes on the floor. Your eyes widened as you took in the sight of him. You knew he had a sleeper build, but shit.
"Since when did you get so ripped?" You ask and lick your lips as your hand wanders down and down. He didn't have a huge six pack or anything, but it was still obvious he worked out. Ethan was right that he kind of had the visitor build from No I'm Not a Human.
"I'm not ripped," He blushes with a smile as your hand trails down to his happy trail.
"Still, you look handsome." You compliment and spread your legs a little more to let him in.
He leans down to kiss you with a huge smile on his face, his hands wandering to the waistband of your pants.
"Can I take these off?" He asks between kisses.
"Yeah, of course you can." You maneuver to help him remove his your pajama pants. You were now only in your underwear, them being absolutely soaked.
"Frick," He murmurs, still trying to keep his language PG even though the things he was doing right now were R-rated.
His thumb brushes over your covered heat and you let out a whimper, grasping onto his shoulder.
"You're needy today," He says, smearing your wetness around and just teasing you.
"Max, please just– stop teasing," You let out a heavy sigh as he listens and pulls off your panties.
He begins to lay down, about to eat you out when you stop him, "Max– I love that you immediately went to eat me out, but I need you, like now. Next time you can do it, okay?" You explain and cup his cheek.
He gets back up, "Yeah, of course. Anything you want." He kisses your face a few times before removing his pants and boxers. "There's gonna be a next time?" He teases.
"Shut up," You pull him down for a kiss, it turning sloppy quickly. You pull back and reach to your nightstand, opening the top drawer to grab a condom.
"You dirty dog," He jokes, and gasps as you smack his arm playfully. You hand him the condom as you help him put it on. He wasn't huge but probably around six inches and about a normal thickness. He was whimpering and leaking the whole time while putting it on.
"You ready, gorgeous?" He asks and pushes a strand of hair behind your ear as he examines your face.
You nod your head as his hands move to your knees, spreading you wide for him. He pushes in slowly, going at a slow pace before bottoming out with a loud groan.
"Shit," You curse and adjust to his size, holding onto his biceps as your nails dig into him. You wanted to leave marks. You were assuming he wanted too as well as your neck and chest were covered in them.
He started to move once you said you were ready, one hand moving from your knee to your hip with a steady grip.
"Gosh, feel– so good," His mouth drops open for a moment before biting his lip with a groan.
He starts to move faster with a steady pace, making sure you were okay. You moan as your back arches from the pleasure, Max's hand pushing your hips back down.
"You tryin' to run from me?" He cockily states and rubs his thumb back and forth on your knee.
You hum and shake your head as he speeds up and your arms wrap around his neck, pulling him into you deeper. You both let out a synced moan, staring at each other before kissing sloppily.
Your hand caresses his cheek and you pull back with a moan, your thumb tracing his eyebags and then going to his lips.
Everything stops as he hits that spongey spot inside of you. You let out a loud groan, throwing your head back as your back arches and you clench, hard.
"Jeez," His eyes dart around, not knowing what part of you to look at. "Is that the spot? That feels good?"
"Yes! Fuck–"
"Language, baby," He says, trying out something new as he stares into your watery eyes, speeding up and repeatedly hitting your spot.
"M' sorry," You immediately apologize and your arms fall back onto the bed as you clutch the sheets with a string of moans.
"Max, I'm gonna cum. Please– please let me," You beg with a heavy breath, staring up at him through your eyelashes.
"Yeah, i'm right there with you," He groans as he places kisses on your jaw, going up to your lips. "Go ahead, let go for me, yeah?"
As soon as he said those words, you were gone.
Everything clenched as you let out a loud moan, tugging on his hair as your back arched. Your head threw back onto the soft pillows as you clench around him.
"Shoot, I can't–" He whimpers, letting go as you spasming around him made him completely let go. He spilled into the condom and stayed there inside you for a moment, you two breathing heavily, just skin on skin.
He pulls out of you as you both moan from the loss of warmth, sitting up and disposing of the condom. He kisses you all around your face as you laugh, your voice hoarse from all the moaning.
"Gonna grab you a towel and some water. I'll be right back. Just say there and look pretty for me," He says and gets up from the bed with a smile and disappears into your bathroom.
You can't believe you just had sex with Max, a guy who doesn't even cuss. You can't believe he actually agreed to your dare from winning the challenge.
He comes back into the room with a damp wash cloth and some water in your favorite cup. He kisses your forehead and spreads your legs, cleaning up the mess you both made. You were sensitive, letting out small noises as he cleaned you up.
He picks up the cup of water and takes a sip before handing it to you. You gulp down almost the whole thing before he stops you.
"Hey! Leave some for Mr. Max over here," He takes the cup from your hand and drinks the rest, sitting the empty cup on your nightstand and laying beside you.
"Mr. Max?" You say with a laugh and turn to face him on your side. "Also.. what are we gonna tell the fans I made you do?"
Friends to lovers, reader likes plushies (mentioned once), jealous Max, flirting, Plenty is tired of his friends, might be ooc. English isn’t my first language. GN reader.
The discord makes a notification when Eddie and Plenty join the call, for a while it was just Max and you catching up about your day, what you did, what you ate, all of that, he was sharing his screen, amazon up as he planned on buying things.
“Yoooo, what are we doing?” Eddie asks as he turns his camera on too.
“Max wants a new camera lens” you mumble as you look at the call, a loud thumb can be heard before Plenty turns on his camera, his headphone tangled on himself and a can of soda slammed on his table. “On amazon? Dude, go out and buy it”
“Shut up, I wasn’t showing you” Max adjusts on his chair, moves his headset. “Show me the kart” Eddie says, almost starting to laugh “I wanna see”. Max clicks on his kart and when it opens a variation of items show, a camera lens, a new portable battery, a 3foot long cable for a phone charger, a squishmallow.
“Yo, Max, what is that?”
“Shut up!” Plenty chimes in, his mouth full of reheated food.
“Nothing.” He closes the tab. Stopping his stream.
“Bro, had like 4 plushies on his kart” Eddie laughs and you sit there awkwardly. “Are those for you?”
“Of course not, I’m buying them for a friend.” Max pulls at the collar of his shirt before looking over at your camera, a soft smile on your lips, because about 20 minutes ago, you were telling him which ones you though were cute.
“Ohhh, a friend right” Plenty mumbles, rolling his eyes. “So, can you buy me one too? Oh, I need a new bed for Gilbert, he chewed on the one I bought last month”
“Of course not, buy it yourself”
“I never asked him to buy them” you say.
“I know” “Duh” Eddie and Plenty talk at the same time and they both laugh at how obvious Max is at times. “You probably said, oh that is cute, and he added it to the kart while you talked about how you saw a cat on the street and you wanted to take it home” Plenty rants, running a hand down his face.
“I didn-”
“How do you know?” Max laugh nervously.
“GUYS, MY PC ALMOST DIED ON ME” Jacob screams into everyone’s ears when he joins the call, making everyone jump on their seats. “Hop in the game, hop in the game” he keeps speaking really close to the mic urging everyone to move fast.
----
No matter how many times someone said it, you are quick to brush it off. “Max is just kind” or “we are just close” and “we are just friends”. Just friends, is something Max has said a lot of times to, specially on late night calls when you went to bed and only the 4 guys were left to talk.
“Like, you two act like you have been dating since kindergarten” Plenty says, tired of Max denying he is in love with you.
“No, we don’t” he argues, like always.
“Bro, you cuddle all the time, you are always texting each other, your wallpaper is a picture of the two of you,” Max opens his mouth but Plenty keeps talking “shut up, you ALWAYS bring an extra hoodie just in case, that one time when we were at that arcade and that dude was flirting you got jealous.”
“I wasn’t! why would I be?” Plenty groans, almost plucking his hairs out.
“Because!”
“Dude, just let him sulk, just wait until someone who has balls to come by” Eddie says as he tries to not laugh at the way Max frowns.
---
You sit on the couch of your apartment, the guys were over for a hang out, take out, soda, horror movies, dumb comedies and maybe some videogames. Your leg is pressed into Max, your chin resting on his shoulder as the both of you watch tiktoks on his phone. From time to time, you like one for him or send one to you, his free hand rests on the couch, near your body, tugging at your shirt without thinking about it.
“I’m done” Plenty mumbles, opening up a can of soda.
“Let him” Eddie mumbles between gritted teeth.
“I’m fucking hungry” Jacob groans, interrupting both of them in case you hear. “Let’s go out”
“No, I don’t wanna drive” Max turns off his phone and puts it on his lap “and you are all gonna leave fries all over my car, no way”
“It’s better if we eat there, the food is warm and not soggy” Plenty argues, you nod softly.
“Yeah, let’s go out” you say, stretching out your arms to push the laziness away.
“Yes, let’s go out, sure” Max says, all of a sudden eager to drive. Eddie just laughs, reaching over the couch to grab the shoes he kicked off a long time ago.
----
“Order extra cheese, extra, put extra” Plenty pushes on the screen of the self-ordering machine, you stand close to them, looking over their shoulders to look at the menu.
“It’s not working, I’m pressing” Jacob says irritated.
“Press harder”
“Hi, are you on the line?” a random voice cuts pulls your attention away from the loud voices of your friends. Besides you a boy with blond hair smiles at you.
“Oh, no, my friends are struggling to order” you say and chuckle softly when you look over at them and watch Jacob try to push Plenty out of the touch screen.
“I’m also here with my friends” he says, his hands on the pockets of his jeans now, smiling “maybe we can hang out for a bit, you know, there is a bar nearby, or an arcade if you are more into that”
“Oh, that sounds fun” you nod along” but I would have to talk with my friends and when they are hungry, they are a bit grumpy”
“I mean, we can always go together, I wouldn’t mind spending time alone with you” he tilts his head “I’m Bryan by the way”
“Nice to meet you, I-” before you can try to work around his answer you feel someone stand near you. “Sorry dude, we have plans” Max says, voice lower than usual, serious.
“Oh, you are one of the friends” Bryan sizes Max up “I came with my friends too, I can introduce you, I have some cute friends that-”
“Not interested” he says and then looks down at you “We are at the table, come on” his hand grabs yours, his fingers squeezing yours as he drags you along without giving you time to say goodbye.
“I told you, wait for someone with balls to come b-” Eddie gets cut out when Jacob elbows him on the rib, making him groan in pain. “Hi friends” he says, his hand on his rib to sooth the pain.
“Hi, oh wow, that’s a lot of cheese” you say as you sit down looking at the bacon cheddar fries in the middle of the table, Max slides on the couch of the booth, his knee searching your yours below the table.
“Yeah, Plenty was an idiot and pressed the button like 5 times” Jacob glares at Plenty who is too busy eating his burger to care.
The ride home was quieter, music on medium volume as you look out of the window. Max opens the door for you after parking the car. Everyone crashes into the couch or the rug on the living room, Eddie turns on the tv to search for something to watch as you walk to the kitchen, Max follows quietly and Eddie makes sure to turn up the volume so Plenty and Jacob don’t snoop in whatever happens there.
“Are you mad?” Max says quietly as he looks at your back, how you close the fridge and put the six pack of sodas on the counter.
“Why would I be?” you look up at him, sometimes he looks so small, no matter how big and strong he is, sometimes he does something with his eyes that makes him look like a lost puppy.
“I just- you didn’t talk to me much at dinner and, you usually bump my knee back…” one of his hands rub the back of his neck, trying to stay calm.
“I’m fine… are you okay?” you ask, taking a step closer “Because if you ask me, you seemed pretty mad, mind telling me why?” your arms cross over your chest, like daring him to speak, urging him to be honest with his feelings for once.
“I- I just didn’t like the guy”
“Why?”
“He was… blond” He shrugs and mentally slaps himself, because what the fuck is that answer. “I mean, he didn’t seem nice, who asks someone to go to a bar? And, he offered to introduce me to cute friends, what guy does that without their friends’ consent? And-”
“You were mad because he asked me out?”
“I- no! I didn’t say that, I said… I mean.” He runs a hand down his face; he is stuttering again. “He seemed like a bad guy for you”
“You always say that”
“Because it’s true, you deserve way better than some random guy, they don’t know you, I do…” Max voice dies down when he realizes what he said. “I-” he freezes, his chest raising and lowering faster than before, this was the first time he said out loud what he has always known, what he has been feeling since that sleepover in seventh grade when you patched up his knee after he fell from his bike, what he write in his diary, what he only admits to himself before bed, that he is in love with his friend, that he is in love with you.
“Yeah? Then do something about it” your voice is softer now, you make the first step and close the gap between the both of you, you can smell the faint scent of his cologne, you can see his eyes dart from your eyes to your lips and back at your eyes, the way he gulps and how his cheek blush.
“Can I?” he whispers, his hands reaching out to grab your hips like a lifeline, scared to let go, scared that if he moves too fast or things too much he will wake up. You nod softly, giving him the final green light, Max closed his eyes when his lips softly touch yours, his hands circling around your back to hug you closer, your own arms wrapping around his neck and playing with his hair.
“OH MY GOD, FINALLY” Plenty stands at the door of the kitchen with an empty water bottle, the both of you jump, breaking the kiss but Max arms lock around you, keeping you close to him, his face hiding in the crook of your neck out of embarrassment. “Men, I just fucking lost 20 bucks to Eddie”
“THEY KISSED?” Eddie screams from the living room.
"Yo, Rogurt said you guys are stuck? Ugh, these damn doors- hold on, i'll grab something to-" The door finally gives way with a jolt, light spilling in as Ethan yanks it open.
You stumble forward, eyes squinting against the sudden light. Max's hand shoots out instinctively to steady you, fingers gripping your arm before he realizes what he's doing.
"Finally," Ethan says "You good Max? You're a little pale, what'd you two even do in there?"
"Nothing," Max blurts, a little too fast. Too defensive. He clears his throat, stepping back and running a hand through his hair like that can shake off what happened. "Just got stuck, that's it."
You mumble something that you intended to sound casual, but your voice doesn't cooperate. You can feel the heat still clinging to your skin where his hand touched you.
Ethan shrugs and walks off, muttering something about bad hinges. It's just you and Max in the doorway, free technically, but neither of you move.
"You okay?" he asks finally, quieter now, the edge in his voice now replaced with something much softer.
"Yeah," you say, though, it sounded more like a question.
Your eyes meet for half a second too long, he looks away first.
"Cool," he says under his breath, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Good."
And then he's gone, walking off like he needed space from being suffocated by you, leaving you standing there with your heart racing.
For the rest of the night, he didn’t speak to you, he couldn’t even look at you. And for some reason it makes you feel sick, half convinced he lied about all of what he said, just fucking with you.
After dinner, the boys left a mess in the kitchen which left you to clean up after them. Max walks into the kitchen and begins to clean as well. It's just you two, and it makes you mad, now all of a sudden, he wants to be near you, acting like nothing happened.
The silence between you felt like it had teeth. You could feel his mood simmering, short, chipped movements, the kind that say I'm fine, even though he clearly isn't.
After a minute or two, finally, you break first. "Are you gonna keep ignoring me, or-?"
"I'm not ignoring you." His tone flat and quick.
"Could've fooled me."
He slams a drawer shut a little too hard. "What do you want me to say?"
"That you're not acting like a total jerk, maybe??"
That gets him. He turns towards you, his jaw tight. "I'm acting like a jerk? You're the one who-" He stops himself, runs his hand through his hair, "Forget it."
You step closer. "No, go ahead. Finish that sentence."
He exhales sharply. "You're the one who keeps pretending nothing happened."
You blink. "Nothing did happen."
"Yeah?" he shoots back, voice slowly rising. "Then why can't you even look at me right now?"
You freeze, and so does he, realizing what he just said. The air between you two feels like it could snap in half.
He looks away, much quieter now. "See? That's what I mean."
You swallow hard. "You think you're the only one who's felt weird about it?"
He scoffs, "So what, we're both losing it over nothing?"
"Maybe it's not for nothing."
That shuts him up, for a long second. And neither of you breathe.
When he finally speak, his voice is rougher, smaller. "You shouldn't say things like that if you don't mean them."
"Who said I don't?"
He lets out a small, humorless laugh. "You have no idea what you're getting into."
He's still right there, close enough that you can feel his breath shift the air between you. But this time he didn't need a small closet to do it, he chose to. The silence stretches until it hurts.
You whisper, "Say it, Max."
He doesn't blink. "You already know."
"Then why won't you admit it?"
His jaw tightens. "Because once I do, I can't take it back."
You take half a step forward, it's reckless, instinctive. "Maybe I don't want you to."
That lands like a spark in a dry forest. He exhales slowly through his nose, eyes flickering down, then up again- like he's fighting every muscle in his body to stay still. He's significantly taller than you, it almost makes him look scary in this moment.
"Stop looking at me like that," he says.
"Like what?"
"Like you're waiting for me to screw up."
You shake your head. "No. I'm waiting for you to stop pretending you don't want to."
You could see him freeze in his thoughts, knowing it spread like electricity. He moves just enough that the edge of his shoulder grazes yours, deliberate, careful, testing the waters. Every single breath feels louder than it should. He steps back, looking like a troubled puppy.
You take that step forward, "If you won't say it, I w--"
"Shut up."
He breaks, immediately grabbing your face and kissing you. He wasn't gentle, he wasn't careful. There was no time for that. He had been waiting so long it was painful. He was starving.
You kiss him having no choice but to melt in his hands. Doing so as his other hand flies to wrap around your waist.
He pulls away and takes a step back, eyes full of shame, slightly shaking his head. "I'm sorry- I--"
You grab his collar and pull him down to kiss him. His eyebrows furrow as a quiet whimper escapes his throat, grabbing the counter beside him to keep his balance. He pulls away softly and stares at you with the most yearning eyes you've ever seen.
"See? That wasn't nothing." he says softly, still drunk from that kiss.
