Max is on her way home from game night (which is now less of a game night and more of a Lara-and-Brit-distract-Max-from-her-piteous-love-life night) when her phone buzzes with a call. Not wanting another driving charge smearing her record and license, Max ignores it. It’s probably Gabi with some motivating speech anyway– Lara always tattles when she leaves early.
She doesn’t check her phone until she’s spread out on her couch with her TV playing some mindless sitcom in the background.
Max’s heart practically stops in her chest when she checks her missed calls.
There’s no name, but there doesn’t need to be, this number has been embedded in Max’s brain pretty much since it was given to her.
Reyna.
There’s a voicemail too, which is weirder than the call itself, and Max doesn’t think before jabbing at the screen and pressing her phone to her ear.
Max isn’t sure what’s happening, but she knows that Reyna is crying harder than Max thinks she’s ever seen or heard, and for some reason, Reyna wants her to fix it.
That’s really all the information Max needs to call Reyna back. She presses the phone to her ear as it rings and hopes she’s not running into a situation she’s ill-equipped to deal with.
Of course Max doesn’t answer. She doesn’t know why she’d expected her to.
It at that point when the barman realises she’s having a meltdown, and asks if she was okay, if there was anyone they could call, and she shakes her head, pushing away from the bar.
“No. There’s no one.” She whispers, turning and walking away, her phone clutched in her hand. She’d just have to deal with it by herself.
Her phone starts vibrating as she exits the bar, and she stares at it in confusion for a moment, tears blurring the words on screen until she blinks them away.
[Max Clarke CALLING]
She answers quickly, trying to fill her lungs enough to talk. And when she does, it’s quiet, not wanting to talk to loud in fear of screaming.
She’s five? six? drinks in when she gives into her tears and the alcohol and presses call.
[CALLING: Max Clarke]
It rings. It rings and rings and she’s about to hang up, to give up, because why would Max answer? when she hears Max’s answer machine message.
She speaks without thinking, her sentences broken up by her tears.
“Max. Max, I fucked up. I fucked up so bad. I don’t know what to do. I know you probably don’t care because we—we broke up but I need help. I need you.”
She wasn’t even sure how it’d happened, she and Max had broken up and she’d ended up in Andy Johnson’s bed.
She hadn’t meant to end up here, in the arms of her ex, in his bed, back in the old habit of faking oh so well, because he truly was incredibly underwhelming, absolutely the worst lay of Reyna’s life. An irony that does not escape her. She’d slept with him to take her mind off her breakup, and he wasn’t even good.
They hardly talk, not even when Reyna almost says Max’s name as she “finishes” which only throws her back into her emotions, her sadness, which was the one thing she wanted to avoid, the whole reason she was with Andy in the first place.
They spend the entire time either between the sheets or with their lips locked, and Reyna can’t deny, her ex may have been terrible in bed, but he was an excellent kisser.
And then he has to go and ruin it.
“Reyne, does this mean...” Andy trails off, not finishing his sentence, and Reyna shakes her head.
“No. This was just a fuck, Andy. We broke up for a reason.” She tells him, which is when the reality of what happened finally sinks in, and she feigns nonchalance to avoid crying on the spot.
“Thanks for the lay, good to know you still suck in bed. Later, Johnson.” She adds, making a hasty exit, tears stinging at the back of her eyes.
She doesn’t make it halfway down the street before they start to fall.
To make it worse, there was only one person who could talk her down from the breakdown fast approaching, and it just happened to be the one person she couldn’t call. The reason she’d gone to Andy in the first place.
She heads into the first bar she sees and orders three shots of vodka, knocking them back in quick succession, wanting to forget as soon as possible.
She’s five? six? drinks in when she gives into her tears and the alcohol and presses call.
“Really? Harry Styles? You had to make me the most ugly one in that group?” Reyna’s words are joking and she grins at the other, glad she hadn’t overstepped the mark, glad she still had a chance with the brunette. She squeezes Max’s hand back, running her thumb over the skin of her knuckles, a small smile still tugging at the corner of her lips.
She opens her mouth to respond to Max’s words about their interactions, but finds herself cut off by the sound of her phone ringing loudly, a volume reserved only for her mother’s calls, which she had agreed not to do while Reyna was having her date night. Glancing at Max apologetically, she stands, removing her hand from Max’s hold and moving to the phone.
“Reyna, you need to come home, Thalia’s in the hospital.” Her mother’s voice is frantic in her ear and Reyna almost drops her phone in shock. “I’ll be there as soon as I can…” Her voice shakes as she hangs up the phone, turning to Max with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I’ll explain later, but I gotta go, my daughter– my daughter’s in hospital…”
“To be fair, they’re all pretty ugly, but Harry is the best out of a bad bunch, so…” Max says with a small grin, heart fluttering pleasantly at the squeeze of her hand and the gentle touch at her knuckles.
The phone ringing startles Max slightly and she offers Reyna a small, encouraging smile as the blonde moves towards the phone, its not like she herself would ignore what looked like an important, potential family, call.
She watches, somewhat alarmed as Reyna’s attitude almost instantly deflates and feels something in her chest pang when Reyna tells whoever is on the other end that she’ll be with them soon. I told you so, the pessimistic voice whispers, but Max ignores it when Reyna turns and her heart clenches painfully for an entirely different reason at the utter distress on her face and the unshed tears shining in her eyes.
I gotta go, my daughter– my daughter’s in hospital…
The words send Max reeling and she jerks upwards from her seat. “Wait, what? Daughter? You have a…” But Reyna has already raced from the room and Max sits heavily back into her chair. Shit. She thinks panic bubbling in her chest. She has a kid. A fucking kid. Dropping her head into her waiting hands Max groans and wonders what the fuck she’s going to do now.
“Well good luck, i’m sure you’ll do great! And oh my gosh, that’d be amazing! I’ll be expecting a shout out for inspiring the character.”
“Oh absolutely, and I’ll make sure to make it a clumsy seal too, keep it true to your real life self, as the guy who spills blood all over his teacher...”
Max feels a blush crawl across her cheeks at the other’s words and shyly ducks her head. When Reyna apologises, she lifts her head again, a frown on her face. “What are you apologising for? Momentarily becoming Harry Styles? Because that was honestly the sweetest thing ever.” She says softly, squeezing gently at Reyna’s hand, comforting the blonde and herself as the nagging in the back of her head returns in full force, reminding her that she’s too far gone and things will only ever end in tears.
She hums at the other’s words. “Well, it wasn’t exactly the chore you make it out to be, six months talking to you was probably one of the easiest things i’ve ever done.” She admits, biting her lip as the truth spills freely and her brain reprimands her. “And as for not being a monumental fuck up, i’ll guess we’ll just have to see. The Max Clarke story isn’t full of sunshine and rainbows unfortunately.”
“Really? Harry Styles? You had to make me the most ugly one in that group?” Reyna’s words are joking and she grins at the other, glad she hadn’t overstepped the mark, glad she still had a chance with the brunette. She squeezes Max’s hand back, running her thumb over the skin of her knuckles, a small smile still tugging at the corner of her lips.
She opens her mouth to respond to Max’s words about their interactions, but finds herself cut off by the sound of her phone ringing loudly, a volume reserved only for her mother’s calls, which she had agreed not to do while Reyna was having her date night. Glancing at Max apologetically, she stands, removing her hand from Max’s hold and moving to the phone.
“Reyna, you need to come home, Thalia’s in the hospital.” Her mother’s voice is frantic in her ear and Reyna almost drops her phone in shock. “I’ll be there as soon as I can...” Her voice shakes as she hangs up the phone, turning to Max with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I’ll explain later, but I gotta go, my daughter-- my daughter’s in hospital...”
Max snorts slightly at the words, shaking her head fondly. “Me, eye-candy?” She asks. “I’m a wallflower at best, besides, from your looks alone, my sister thought you were way out of my league. You’ve definitely got the eye-candy part down.” She smiles fondly at the memory before reaching out and gently twining their fingers together again. “And given your radiant personality, I was half convinced she was right.” She chuckles softly and squeezes the digits locked with her own.
“You seem to have an awful lot of confidence in me Reyna,” She says, worry nagging at the base of her skull. The memory of Jess and the conversation with a rather bitter housemate reminding her that she’d been a disappointment before and could easily become one again. She blushes at the compliments, shooting Reyna a shy smile and a mumble of thanks before bringing Reyna’s hand to her lips and kissing the knuckles. “Well, lets hope I can keep up my Reyna smile record, huh?”
A laugh, short but loud, falls from Reyna’s lips as Max denies how pretty she is, and Reyna shakes her head fondly, far too fondly for this early into the relationship. “I’m sorry, do you see Shrek in the mirror or something, because all I see is beauty, and someone who doesn’t realise just how beautiful she is.” The words leave her lips quietly, and when she realises what has been said, her eyes shift down, locking with her food, avoiding Max’s own gaze. “Sorry, I uh, sorry...”
She doesn’t answer right away, about the confidence, an instead she raises her drink to her lips, using it as an excuse to stay silent. She lets out a sigh as she places her drink down, her eyes finally meeting Max’s own once more, finally replying to the comment about confidence. “If anyone can put up with me and my bullshit for 6 months and then want to meet me, they have my trust, and I’m confident that you’re not a monumental fuck up like my ex was, so that’s definitely something...” Her last words are spoken with a slight laugh, though there is still a large amount of truth to them.
“Oh wow, that’s so cool, the whole fictional world is your oyster then! Can i expect a signed copy of your first published book?”
“Yeah, I’ve always loved reading and writing so I don’t see why I can’t enter the world for myself. You can’t expect that, maybe I’ll do one better, name a character after you. A talking seal maybe?”
At the softly spoken words, Max fights back a smile, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip painfully as she realises that maybe she hasn’t completely fucked things up, again. At Reyna’s offer, she can’t fight back the smile and glances shyly back up at the blonde, taking a moment to calm her rapidly beating heart and the warnings her brain is throwing at her, before responding.
She taps a finger against her chin, considering- probably far too literally than she’s portraying, the memory of the aftermath of Jess making her genuinely weigh up the pros and cons of having something official with Reyna, and then lets a grin slowly twist her lips upwards. “I guess that’s a pretty good deal.” Max tells the other with a small shrug. “For me anyway, I don’t really see what’s in it for you, but i’m sure i’ll be reaping a lot of… benefits.” Her grin turns wicked and she shoots Reyna a wink, but her confidence instantly falters at the compliment.
“I… thanks. I’m glad i haven’t been a disappointment thus far, it’s been a while, plus you’re kind of stupidly gorgeous and it throws me off my game a little.” Max tells her, with a small, nervous laugh.
Reyna watches carefully as the other sinks her teeth into the flesh of her lip, ignoring the nerves pooling in the base of her stomach, though she manages to ignore them when Max smiles at her, the sight soothing her worries ever so slightly, something that only left a nagging at the back of her mind, one that lingered, questioning her decision about hiding Thalia, questioning her lies.
“Oh I’m sure I’ll get something out of it too, plus, you’re definitely eye candy, so imagine the jealousy we’ll inspire, people wanting what we got...” Her words are mainly joking, though Reyna can’t help but regret them once they are spoken, her eyes fixing on the plate of food in front of her.
“Trust me, you can’t disappoint me, Max. You’re damn impressive, both looks wise and personality wise. No one has made me smile this much before.”
After a momentary choke on her drink at the tender brush of lips against her knuckles, Max finds herself relaxing and shrugs slightly. “Well, when your girl keeps dropping un-subtle hints, you’ve gotta promise to deliver eventually.” She says with a smirk before the words she’s spoken hit her fully, and she feels her face flush once again and nervously pull her hand from Reyna’s to drum her fingers nervously against the table.
“I mean, ya know, if that’s, uh… appropriate for me to say… I mean, i didn’t- don’t know if you want to put a label on this yet…” She rambles, eyes darting between Reyna’s own and the table top furiously. “Shit. Sorry. No filter.” She mumbles, shooting the blonde a sheepish smile as she gestures to her head. “I, uh, didn’t realise i’d be so bad at this, sorry.” She says with a small, apologetic smile.
Max’s words take a few moments to sink in, her heart stopping momentarily as she realises what was said. Your girl. The words circle her mind and it takes all of her power to not allow a large grin to spread across her lips. The way the other pulls her fingers away however, has her looking directly at the brunette, an eyebrow raised.
The other stumbles over her words and Reyna releases a small sigh, smiling at the other, shaking her head slightly. “Don’t apologise for that sentence Max Clarke. Don’t you dare.” Her voice is soft, trying not to show how much she was freaking out on the inside.
“I’ll be your girl, if you’ll be mine.” She speaks with slight confidence, pretending that Max’s words hadn’t caused her heart to falter in its beating before starting to race with excitement. “And you’re not bad at this, you’re actually pretty amazing, believe it or not.”
“Little relatives are just the cutest aren’t they?” Max says softly, giving into the itch in her fingers and delicately brushing them against Reyna’s, linking them hesitantly at the warm smile on the blonde’s lips hindered by the faraway, slightly sad look in her blue eyes.
She snorts at the turn in conversation, shaking her head fondly at the blonde before genuinely contemplating the offer and shrugging. “Maybe. I mean, my bed is in my room, which is far, and since we’ve been eating, we’re gonna need to wait at least half an hour before sex.” She says, grinning at the ridiculousness of her words. “Like swimming… in fact, exactly like swimming, since both require getting wet.” Max chortles momentarily before realising she said that out loud and feel her cheeks heat up, and promptly takes a swig of her drink to distract herself from the embarrassment.
What is it about this girl that is turning you into such a bumbling mess? This won’t end well for you.
Reyna doesn’t respond to the comment about little relatives, only giving a small nod as she tried to push back the emotions sticking at her eyes, closing her throat, her eyes closing momentarily as she inhales deeply, her chest aching.
The feeling of Max’s hand on her own brings her back, reminding her that she isn’t alone, that being there doesn’t make her a terrible person, a terrible mother, that Thalia is wth someone trustworthy.
The comment about wetness completely snapped her out of her own mind, the sentence pulling a loud laugh from her lips, only increased by the way Max reacts to her own comment, Reyna impulsively leaning forward and lifting Max’s hand to her lips, placing a gentle kiss on the knuckles. “I didn’t expect you to be so forward Max...” She comments, sipping her own drink.
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