CINEMA NERD - MAX COOPERMAN x READER
≽^• ˕ • ྀི≼ ------ max cooperman x gn!reader
SUMMARY : when a film nerd gets invited to the movies by their cutie patootie best friend, sparks fly. reader geeks out over the movie related stuff and max just falls more in love with them. <3
WARNINGS : none!!
GENRE : fluff fluff fluff SO MUCH fluff
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Thank God for Jake being the number one wingman. Without him, Max would have never even gotten close to wooing you..
That wasn't actually the case. At least, not yet. Max was only on step.. uh.. whatever, of his plan to have you fall head over heels with him. Having grown up going to all the same schools, he had always known you as 'that one person in that one class', but when you guys both hit high school, that's when it all changed.
You became hot, and he was just a boy! He couldn't help it at all. Max, the usually dorky and overly confident wannabe fighter, and you, who somehow became the prettiest person he had ever seen in just the span of a summer break, only became a duo after the handiwork of his best man.
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“You see that kid over there? Brown hair, slightly chubby, dorky shirt.. That's Max. He really likes you.”
“Pardon?”
“You should talk to him, he's a bit weird at times, but he's sweet.”
“..Okay?”
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To this day, Jake still won't tell Max what he said to make you change your mind on him. Because after that day, you and him became inseparable. Whatever Jake said, it sparked a beautiful friendship between the two of you. Friendship, nothing more.
He learned everything about you, from the smallest details to every interest you had; the way you carried yourself and were so unashamed to be open around him made him feel special. He had seen you interact with your own friends before, but seeing you so up close and personal on a daily basis made him feel like one lucky son of a gun.
In fact, you even seemed to hang out with your original group of companions and started hanging out with his little group more; him, Jake, Baja.. And now, you.
Oftentimes you two would hang out at his house; that boy was rich, and his parents were barely ever home. Today was no different, you two were just curled up on one of the sofas, watching whatever shitty MMA movie Max picked out. You couldn't complain, there was something really heartwarming about him geeking out over his dorky interests.
There was a comfortable silence between you guys, until it was broken by Max speaking over the television. “Dude, you know what would be so awesome!?”
To which, you responded with the same amount of enthusiasm as he did, “What would be awesome?!”
“If we went on a movie date... I saw a trailer for this movie the other day.. It's that one new Woody Allen movie.”
That made you immediately perk up, but not the fact that he was finally asking you out on a date after all this time; no, because of the idea. “DUDE.. You might be onto something. Woody Allen is a sick director, he's made some real gems before. In my opinion, he is wildly brilliant in his abilities to dir--”
“So.. wait, just to be clear, is that a yes?”
“A yes to what?”
“Going on a date with me?” There was his awkward aura radiating off of him in that very moment. As much as he loved you rambling, he need an answer. He seriously hoped you to realize that this was an actual romantic date, and not just some hangout between friends.
Note, he still didn't know that you knew about him being totally enamored with you. So, in his mind, him asking you out on a date would be some big revelation for you to figure out he liked you.
“Well, obviously.”
“I mean, like, an actual date.”
“I knew what you meant, Cooperman.” You giggled and playfully rolled her eyes, the noise made Max's heart skip so many beats that he didn't know how he was still alive. Your unintentional cuteness was going to be the death of him one day.
He stared. You stared back. “And you're fine with that? Because I really like you and if you aren't actually serious about this I want to kn-”
“Oh! I already knew that.”
“You did?” And just like that, his heart felt like it dropped all the way to his stomach, while his face turned a noticeable shade of red out of embarrassment. Was he really that obvious? “How?”
“Jake told me, silly goose! Before we were even friends, he approached me and was like 'hey, my friend Max really likes you, you should talk to him', so I did. And I really don't regret it.”
So That's what Jake said.
“And you like me back?”
“Obviously I wouldn't have hung out with you so much if I didn't. And, obviously I wouldn't have agreed to a date if I don't like you back. You're really dense sometimes, you know that?”
“Holy shit!”
Just then, he started planning out every aspect of the date in his head. From what he would say to the subtle moves he would make during the movie, what he would wear and what snacks he would buy.. He needed this to be perfect! “So.. Meet me at the movie theater later? Around 7? That's when the movie's showing.”
“Of course! See you then!” You hopped up from the sofa and leaned down to press a soft kiss to his cheek, one to prove how absolutely serious you were about the date. You lingered by the couch for a couple seconds to gage his reaction, and proudly sauntered away once the heat rose to the place your lips were just seconds prior.
Woah. Max would either have to thank Jake for this later, or curse him out for being so straightforward about his feelings for you. Either way, it worked out well, so it would likely be the aforementioned.
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7 PM sharp, Max was already there. Actually, he arrived almost ten minutes before, just to give himself time to mentally prepare for the date.
At first, the dorky boy was going to go all out. Suit and tie and everything.. But then he called Jake, who laughed in his face and told him that he didn't need to try so hard; that you already liked him anyways. There was no need to try and impress you when you were already enamored with him.
So instead, he went with a pair of jorts and a brand new tee he had bought just for tonight. Just a plain white one, no cheesy print on it like usual. It was just the right amount of casual, not trying too hard, still being himself, but also not completely lazy. In his hand, he had a couple of hand picked dandelions, did he know that they were just weeds? Not at all. Plus, he didn't have time or money to buy you a real bouquet. It's the thought that counts!
When you arrived, you were met with the sight of him nervously swaying on the heels of his feet, looking around in every direction to search for you. When he saw you, he was in immediate awe. You were always so effortlessly good looking that it drove him insane, “Y/N! You look.. woah.”
Max was the one who would have this totally hot babe on his shoulder, nobody else, he pulled you. That was an absurd idea. Now, all he had to do was not make a fool out of himself, ask you out on a couple more dates, and finally be able to call you his own; easy enough, right? He caught himself staring for a bit too long and snapped back into reality once that thought kicked in, in an attempt to fix his mistake, he held out the sad little bouquet of dandelions.
You took them with a goofy grin plastered to your face, the way your eyes scanned over them with a seemingly ecstatic demeanor made him feel like he did something right.
Which, to you, he was already doing this entire thing right by taking you; the biggest film nerd ever, to the movie theaters. He knew you aspired to go into film when you graduated, and he really did pick the best possible option for a location to ask you out to, whether intentional or not. “Thanks, Max!”
“Anything for you, baby.”
Good God. There were so many things he wished he could've said in that moment, but instead he landed on quite possibly the worst option of the bunch. Just as he was about to fix himself, you cut him off with a squeaky chortle. “Baby?”
“Sorry, it slipped out, I didn't mean to,”
“Dude, no worries, I kinda like it.”
There was no denying the uncharacteristic behavior from him, truly, he didn't want to make a single mistake on this date. All the cocky dorkiness was replaced with a nervousness like no other. “Hell yeah! Noted! Soo, babe.. baby.. uhh, sweet cheeks, hot stuff, angel, babydoll--”
“Pushing it, Cooperman. You can only be so much of a Casanova.”
“--right, so, wanna watch that movie now? Trailers should be starting soon.”
You gave him a goofy grin, and he felt his heart flutter. Everything you did made him gravitate to you even more, even if you didn't even realize how absolutely precious you were to him. “Sounds awesome!”
With the confirmation, Max took that as his chance to (not so) subtly reach for your hand, lacing your fingers with his own as he confidently walked the two of you lovebirds inside. He was proud to show off a smoke show like you, he didn't even know how he managed to bag someone as angelic as his cinema nerd best friend.
Hand in hand, the two entered and were met with the overwhelming aroma of buttered popcorn, along with the smiling faces of ushers. A true movie paradise, you could practically break out into some big musical number over the feeling of being back in the theater after what felt like forever. Your eyes darted all over to look at the posters, subconsciously gripping onto the palm you held onto-- Max, on the other hand, was more focused on you and gauging your reactions.
He was totally doing this again one day. He was certain this is what love felt like, God, he had it bad for you. Max led you to the ticket booth and released the warmth he held onto, as much as he didn't want to, and instead leaned over the counter and whispered as if it were some massive secret what they were seeing. While he got to business, you began to wander around and look at the upcoming movie posters.
“Hey, so, between you and me.. You see that smokin' hot babe over there? What would be the best seats in the theater that are still open? I need them to have the best movie experience.”
The tired man who looked no older than thirty unamusedly eyed up where he gestured, and was met with a very awestruck version of you. Young love. You were so out of Max's league, yet here he was, getting the perfect date for you. “Depends on what you want to see.”
“That one Woody Allen movie that just came out. Y'know? I think it's called like.. Christina.. Vicky.. Paris? Or something like that. I don't know, man! I just saw a trailer and wanted to use it as an excuse to take her on a date!!” Max didn't even realize it himself, but this was probably the most panicked he had been over an event since.. like, forever!
“Jesus, calm down. Vicky Cristina Barcelona. There's a few good seats in the middle, you can either claim row F or row G. Take your pick.”
“F. I think.” Max reached into his pocket and pulled out some spare money he had so he could just pay and get it over with, so he could get to the date; he slid over a couple hundred dollars. “Keep the change.”
“Holy-! Overkill man! It was twenty dollars!”
“Keep it dude!”
“Alright. Damn. Enjoy your movie, I guess. Maybe don't be so nervous. You'll do fine.” Advice from a (usually) underpaid movie theater worker. Funny, Max went into this believing it would all be easy. But now? Now that he was actually on a date.. with you? He couldn't help but make a fool of himself.
But then he went back over to you and saw those big eyes of yours admiring a poster, and God, that mushy feeling returned. “You ready babe?”
“Maaaax!! We should see Burn After Reading after it comes out. It had Brad Pitt in it! And it's from the same dude who made Fargo! It'll be totally worth the watch,”
“Of course we can!” His response came before he even had the chance to think about it. “But, uh, are you ready or no? I just bought the tickets. I'll buy you whatever snacks you want.”
“Awe, thanks Max. I am. Some twizzlers sound nice. Ooh! And maybe some popcorn!”
Pure admiration in his eyes, he planted a hand on the small of your back and led you two to the concessions. He couldn't have been any more in love with you..
“Whatever you want, baby.”
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≽^• ˕ • ྀི≼ ------ reblogs & likes are always appreciated, keeps me motivated to continue creating :)
A/N : sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long, finally got back to writing now that i dont have a pile up of missing work. i really like max yall