Work Text:
You can't deal with this alone, Max!
You're pathetic.
I'm trying to help you, but you just push me away!
He's tired of you.
Fine! If you don't want me here, I'll just leave!
Another person leaving you, guess that's just your charm.
--
Let's back up a little bit...
--
Max was having...a day.
First, he slept through his alarm and got to class late, getting an earful from the teacher. Max had to hide his flinch at the tone and loudness of her voice. Then, he accidentally spilled paint on his almost-finished art piece that was due tomorrow (he had to restart the whole thing and somehow get it done by tomorrow). That also granted him a quick scolding from the teacher once he saw the mess and forced Max to clean it up while he watched. And NOW, he had to go to lunch, where people always shouted to their friends even when they were right across the table.
Currently, he, Hazel, Felix, and Robbie were at the table, only waiting for the rest of their group to join them. Hazel was telling a story of what happened in her first couple of classes that Felix and Robbie were listening to, but Max's focus drifted to his thoughts. He kept thinking about his art project and how he was going to find time to complete it. Tonight, Luis and Felix were supposed to switch rooms so each respective couple could have their alone time. Luis would only add as a distraction. Guess he has to break the news that they have to reschedule. The boy is interrupted by Robbie's voice joining the shouting ones.
"Luis! Chloe! Over here!" His voice was a happy loud, but a loud one still that made Max flinch and cover his ears. Hazel gave him a glance.
"You ok?" She asked in a low voice, trying to not be overheard by the two newcomers as they walked to their table and sat down. Max gave a small nod, moving his hands back down to his lap.
"Hey, Hazel." Luis greeted as he sat down next to Max. "Hi, mi amor." He wrapped an arm around Max's shoulders and gave the side of his head a quick kiss.
"Hey Lu." Max replied, the ends up his lips quirking up the tiniest bit for his boyfriend. Luis started eating his food as Max tried to get his focus back on track and not about his art project. The table continued its conversation, only growing a little bit louder once the last four people of their group joined them. The hatter started disassociating from the world once he finished his food, trying to not focus on the loud voices around him and how it made him remember his childhood. Not good memories either. All of a sudden, he flinched away from the boy next to him when he shouted something over to Robbie, his lips turned to Max so it was like he shouted in his ear. Hazel quickly whipped her head around and hit Luis' arm with her non-hooked hand when she heard the shout and felt Max flinch into her.
"You want to be any louder there, Muscles? Maybe want to watch where you're shouting next time." She said as she pulled Max out of his boyfriend's arm and wrapped her own arm around him, her hand coming to cover his ear. Luis' eyes widened as he saw Max's uncomfortable expression.
"Maxie, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize I was that close to you." He rushed out an apology, his hand reaching for Max's who resisted another flinch away and let him clasp their fingers together. "Max?"
"It's fine, my eardrums are just ringing a little bit right now." He tried to reassure the bigger boy, but that only made him look more guilty. "Hey, it's okay." Max reached up to caress his cheek before pulling away and standing up. "But it is getting a little bit loud in here in general, so I'm going to see if I can find a quieter place to hang for a little while."
Running away from your problems, typical.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Luis was quick to ask, getting ready to stand up with him, but Max only pushed him back to his seat.
"No, it's okay. I'm probably just going to work on my art project anyways."
"Didn't you finish that already?" His boyfriend asked, his voice confused. Max tilted his head a little bit from side to side.
"Let's just say a little mishap happened and I have to restart." Luis gave him a frown that turned into a pout.
"Does that mean no hanging out tonight?" He gave him the puppy eyes that Max can never resist.
"We'll see how much I get done right now." The hatter reasoned, immediately looking away so he won't get caught up in the eyes. He leaned down to give Luis a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later." With that, Max walked away from their table, hands already reaching for his art notebook to start sketching again.
On the way to the library, the place he chose to go because it was 1) quiet and 2) close to his next class, the boy could swear he heard footsteps behind him, but when he glanced back, no one was there. This happened multiple times before he arrived at the library, but before his hand could reach for the doorknob and open the door, a hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him back.
"Where you going, Hatter?" A boy's voice sounded from behind him until he got turned around. Max met the eyes of Navi, son of Prince Naveen and Tiana, and Peyton, son of Peter Pan. As nice and cool as their parents were, their kids were clearly NOT the same. The hatter inwardly sighed as he faced them.
"What do you want Navi?" He asked, wanting to get this over and done with quick. His tired response got a laugh from the other two boys.
"Aw, that's no fun, Maxie," the purple-haired boy tried not to cringe at the nickname only Luis was allowed to call him, "not going to even let us play with you first?" Peyton smirked, glancing down at Max's bag.
"Whatcha got in there, Hatter?" He asked, his hand reaching for it only for Max to pull it away and take a step back from the boys.
"None of your business, Pan." He gritted his teeth. Why were all HKs and AKs such assholes unless you were friends with you? The two boys smirked at his reaction.
"I don't know, Peyton, seems pretty important." Navi nudged his friend, tilting his head to the side as he stared at Max's grip. "Wouldn't happen to be a book of little drawings, right? Drawings that I'm sure your little buddies praise you for but are actually laughing about how stupid they are behind your back?" The hatter's grip became tighter when he saw Peyton try to secretly move away from Max's sight.
"You realize your words can't hurt me, right? And you're not getting my notebook, Peyton, you're not slick." He snapped, already done with the two boys trying and failing to corner him. This only angered the boys even more, but before they could do anything, all three boys heard a girl's voice floating down the hallway, the sound of her shoes hitting the ground accompanying it.
"I know you aren't messing with my crew member Pan, Navi." Hazel yelled down, her hook spinning on her finger lazily as she watched the two bullies' eyes widen a bit before scoffing and looking back at Max who didn't look affected by their glares.
"This isn't over, Hatter." Navi said before grabbing Peyton and walking away just as Hazel reached them.
"Damn, I kinda wanted to hook someone today." She said, glaring at the two boys until they disappeared. She then turned to look at her friend. "You okay?" Max nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied, shaking his head free of the nerves that slowly crept in when he got cornered. "Just sucks that I'm still the only one who still gets treated like that when it was all of us that saved Wonderland AND Auradon."
"Has this happened more than once?" Hazel snapped, her eyes making sure to keep eye contact with Max, something he really struggled with when he was nervous or lying. Max sighed, there was no lying to his best friend.
"Please don't tell Luis." Was the only thing he said.
"Don't tell him? He should be the first one to know! Well, second, after me of course. Which he will be once I march back into the lunch room!" She spun on her heel, ready to walk back, but Max grabbed her wrist.
"Hazel! Please? He has enough on his plate with everything else going on, he doesn't need to worry that I still get picked on once in a while." She looked down at the hand on her wrist before looking back up at Max's pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry, Max. If it was the other way around, I'd want Luis to tell me you were being bullied over being kept in the dark." With that, she walked off in the direction of the lunch room. The hatter sighed in frustration as he watched his best friend leave. He could try to catch up with her and convince her to not tell his boyfriend, but that would get him nowhere.
But now, Max really didn't want to talk to his boyfriend about this.
A few weeks ago, Luis had caught Max being bullied and stopped it, and pestered Max about why he wasn't told of it. The boy lied and said it was a one time thing, and Luis told him to always tell him if it ever happened again. The hatter saw how frustrated Luis had gotten when he found out about it and how he felt about being told of it. He knew that once word reached his boyfriend's ears, that hell would come to his bullies in the forms of Hazel, Luis, and the school administration, and then hell would come to him in the form of an upset Luis. And on top of everything he already had to deal with today, he did not want to have that conversation. So, Max did the only reasonable thing there was to do.
He hid.
With how many times you've ran away, it's surprising there are still people willing to chase you.
Not in the library of course, that would be too obvious since Hazel would tell them where he was last seen, so he ran to the back of the school. There was a hidden passageway through one of the janitor's closets that led to a sectioned off balcony. Max had, ironically, stumbled past it a few bullying incidents ago, and made that place his sanctuary to when he needed to get away. So, he ran there and made sure the door wasn't noticed before heaving a sigh and dropping himself and his belongings on the ground.
Now, to wait the day out.
Max pouted at the thought of not being able to have dinner, but he supposed he could sneak into the kitchens after everyone went to bed to sneak some food. The boy pulled out his sketchbook and finally continued re-drawing his art project. At least this space was good for one thing today.
Before he knew it, hours passed. People walked up and down the hallways, in and out of the front and back doors, and Max had stayed in his little safe haven. His art project was, thankfully, redrawn and finished up, and his stomach was starving itself. He reluctantly pulled out his phone to check the time and scroll through his missed messages. It was 9:42pm, way after curfew. He bypassed a few unimportant notifications and read the messages from his friends.
Haze:
Max, where did you go?
Luis is losing his shit
Max, seriously
Where are you?
Answer your phone!
Istg if you ran off only to have Pan and Navi get back at you the second I left, I'll murder you myself
Dr. Fashion:
Dude, everyone's freaking out
Especially your bf
Where did you go?
Max?
Maaaaaaax?
Younger Princess:
Max, where'd you go?
I brought cookies to dinner
You weren't there:(
I made them to cheer you up!
I gave one to Luis to give to you when you turn up:)
Nepo Baby #1:
Max, where in Wonderland are you?
Hazel told the whole table what happened
We're worried something happened to you
Please answer someone at least?
Rob:
Where'd you go, man?
Felix is worried about you
Are we not switching rooms tonight...?
Sorry, that was insensitive to ask
My Strong Boy<3:
Max, where are you
Baby, please
Just tell me where you are and I'll come find you
You don't even have to tell me anything else
Just let me know you're ok
Baby?
Max?
Mi amor, por favor
Me estoy preocupado mucho ahora, Max.
No has respondido a nadie y está oscureciendo.
Te has perdido la cena; por favor, Max.
Max's heart clenched at the worry in everyone's texts, especially his boyfriend's. He felt so guilty that he unknowingly worried his friends that much, but he knew he couldn't face them then. But, he also may have made things worse. Luis' messages stopped right after dinner, and that was three hours ago. Luis was probably so mad at Max now.
The boy gathered all of his belongings and carefully slipped back into the janitor's closet and slowly out into the hallway once he made sure the coast was clear. He started down the hallway to his dorms before his stomach reminded him of its hunger. He turned around.
After making a pitstop at the kitchens to steal something that could somewhat make up a dinner, he ate it on the way to his dorm, not knowing if it was Felix or his boyfriend waiting inside. He got to the door and sighed. Only one way to find out.
Max slowly turned the doorknob and stepped into his room. He was met with his boyfriend sitting on his bed, back against the headboard, but head smushed against his chest, asleep. He sighed, a small smile playing at the edge of his lips, but they slowly fell once he realized that he had to face the music sometime. Might as well get the emotions out now. He closed the door a little too loudly, which caused the sleeping boy to jolt awake, his eyes swiping across the room before landing on Max. His figure relaxed before tensing up again once he realized it was his boyfriend.
"Max!" He stumbled off the bed, his legs carrying him to the shorter boy, pulling him into a hug. It was supposed to be a comforting hug, but then the taller one remembered what happened and why he was so relieved to see his boyfriend. "Where have you been?! Everyone has been trying to get ahold of you and you didn't even bother answering any of them!"
"I'm fine, Lu-"
"No! You're not fine. You say that just so I won't ask more in-depth questions and force you to tell me everything." Luis interrupted. "Well I'm not buying it anymore. Hazel told me what she saw and what you said. How could you not tell me the bullying was still happening? You told me it was a one-time thing, not that it happens continuously." He waited for Max to have an answer, but when he didn't, he continued. "You always do this; you downplay your feelings and what's happening to you until it unravels in one big mess! I thought we promised to be honest with each other?" His voice slowly got louder, not noticing Max's figure taking tiny steps backwards and folding in on itself to seem smaller.
"It's not like that-" Max's voice was so quiet, but Luis still interrupted him.
"Yes, it is, Max!" Luis yelled, his eyes shutting for a longer period of time, missing the flinch Max made at the loud noise. "I just want to help you with this- WE all just want to help you with this! You can't deal with this alone, Max!"
You're pathetic.
"Can you please stop yelling?" The hatter quickly blurted the words out, his body not being able to handle the stress of the yelling.
"Really? Out of everything being said here, that's what you focus on?" Luis let out an unbelieving laugh. "This seems to be the only way to get you to listen to me! I just want to help you, but you keep pushing me away!"
He's tired of you.
"It's not like you make it easy!" Max snapped, his own voice scaring him. "You're the perfect, goody two shoes! I'm the son of the latest biggest villain of both Wonderland and Auradon! I can't just tell you everything wrong with me and expect you to understand or help me with it, because you can't! You don't know what it's like to be judged based off of your dad, you don't know what it's like to know there's another universe where your life was perfect and your dad loved you instead of being locked up for being crazy, you don't know what it's like to feel like shit for not being what his boyfriend deserves!" Luis looked at him and scoffed.
"I don't want perfect, Max! I just want you, I want honesty!"
"Well, I can't give that to you, Luis! So you might as well just leave now!" Max yelled, turning his back to his boyfriend so he won't see his eyes fill with tears as he hides his shaking hands by crossing his arms. He heard his boyf-Luis scoff again.
"Fine, if you don't want me here, I'll leave!" With that, the boy opened the dorm room door and slammed it closed, the hatter's whole body flinching at the loud noise that seemed like it echoed in his mind.
Another person leaving you, guess that's just your charm.
The purple-haired boy stared at one spot in his room for a few moments as the tears overflowed and spilled down his cheeks. He only snapped out of his trance when he unconsciously licked his lips and tasted the saltiness of his tears. He slowly unfolded his arms as he turned around at the spot Luis was just in. His lips trembled as he tried to swallow the sob building up in his throat. The hatter made his way to his bed and sat on the end of it, his hands finding one of his pillows to hug to his chest. More tears silently spilled down his cheeks. He heard a knock on the door before the knob slowly was turned.
Felix poked his head in, his eyes landing on the boy sitting on his bed. He slowly walked into the room, leaving the door open behind him only for another figure to slowly make their way in the door. This time, it was Pink. Max had no idea why she was there, but he wasn't in a spot to ask. His friend came and sat beside him, an arm already coming up to rest around his shoulders. The girl made her way to the other side of Max and slowly sat down beside him as well, her hand slowly reaching for one of his.
The trio sat there for a few moments in complete silence. Pink rubbed tiny circles on the back of Max's hand with her thumb, her other hand soon joining the other and starting to play with the boy's, and Felix's hand rubbing his arm in gentle movements. Max was grateful they didn't try to get him to speak. He didn't even think he could. His tongue felt too big for his mouth, his throat tricked him into thinking it was burning from his tone earlier, and his whole being just felt tired from the stress of the day and the poor excuse of a dinner he had.
Once Max's tears finally slowed down and his eyes started to hurt from the air, he reached up to rub at them, Pink's hand falling from his and Felix's retreating from its spot. His hands fall back onto his lap with the pillow as his friends waited for him to gather his words. It took a few minutes, but he finally was able to muster up his courage.
"Is-" he had to clear his throat, "Is Luis really mad?" He asked Felix. His friend just shook his head.
"No, of course not. That boy could never be mad at you." He insisted. "When he came back to the dorm, he had this look full of guilt on his face, he looked like he made the biggest mistake ever and was about to cry for the rest of his life." Pink jumped in softly.
"He also texted me what happened and thought I could be here for a little more moral support." She mentioned, giving Max a small smile. He nodded, showing his acknowledgement.
"Thank you," he said, "for coming, I mean."
"Of course, Max. We'll always be here when Luis messes up and does something stupid." That got a laugh out of Pink and Max and caused Felix to smile before the hatter shook his head.
"It wasn't even his fault. Luis just wanted me to be honest with him and I couldn't even do that. So I just told him to leave." Max revealed. He paused for a few seconds before opening his mouth again. "He was just being very loud and it reminded me of him." Maddox had a tendency to be very loud with his mutterings on the Isle and when he punished Max for interrupting him. The dislike of loud noises only got deeper the longer he was on the Isle with its bangs and clashes everywhere from turf wars and fights that took forever to stop.
"Then he's an idiot for not knowing how much it was bothering you." Max just shrugged at his friend's words, not wanting to speak bad about his boyfriend-could he even call him that anymore?
"It's whatever, now. He probably doesn't want to see me right now, maybe ever again." Pink and Felix quickly shook their heads.
"No, he just..." Pink trailed off as she tried to find the words. "He just needs time to sort through his thoughts. He doesn't want to hurt you again or push you away." Max nodded, but didn't entirely believe her.
"Why don't we just try to sleep right now, okay? We can save this conversation after you've had a full nights rest." Felix decided. Pink nodded with him.
"Yeah, we may not be a strong, tall male that you're used to sleeping on, but I think both of us can make up for it." She declared, already standing up and dragging Felix's mattress off of his bed and gesturing for the boys to get up so she can grab Max's as well. After realizing what she was doing, the boys grabbed their blankets and pillows to make a big bed on the floor for all three of them. Pink made sure they were all in the right place before finally deciding it was done. "Bedtime!" She clapped her hands and the two boys gave a small laugh as they climbed in, Pink going to turn off the lights before joining them.
Max was snuggled between the two, Pink using Max's shoulder and a pillow to rest her head and Felix wrapping a loose arm around Max's middle. The hatter smiled to himself as he closed his eyes and tried his best to fall asleep, not taking very long before his mind slipped into dreamland.
The next morning, he slowly woke up to the sound of voices all around him.
"I can't believe they had a sleepover without us!" A heard a familiar voice. Another one piped up right after.
"Yeah! We love sleepovers!" Another voice joined in and scoffed.
"You only love them because Pink brings snacks and you end up falling asleep with your limbs somehow on top of everyone around you." She sounded annoyed, but not seriously annoyed. Max felt movement next to them. "Smees! Sh!" She quickly shushed them as she noticed the movement as well.
The hatter slowly opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. Felix was also waking up next to him, and Hazel and the Smees were standing next to their makeshift huge bed. He glanced to his left and noticed Pink was still asleep, her head resting on his upper arm now. He slowly removed his arm and kept her head up before moving a pillow to place it on. He turned back to his friends.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, his mind temporarily forgetting the events of yesterday. Hazel looked at him with a small glare.
"Really? You disappear for hours yesterday, don't answer anyone, and then when we check your dorm the next morning, you ask why we're here?" She asked, her voice sounding annoyed, but also concerned. The memories flooded back to him. He looked down to his lap.
"Oh, yeah." He missed the look Felix gave Hazel as he mentally told her to not be so mean. Hazel sighed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound mad. We were just really worried about you yesterday, Luis more than anyone. Where is he, by the way?" She asked, looking around and at the open bathroom door. Max froze at the sound of his name, Felix's hand coming to rest on his.
"We got into a fight last night and...I told him to leave and he did." He admitted, his eyes staying on his hands. He didn't notice Hazel move until she crouched in front of him.
"Hey, it's ok. I bet Luis is really mad at himself right now. The boy loves you too much to hurt you without hurting himself in the process." Her voice was softer than usual. Max gave her a small smile. The moment was interrupted by Pink waking up herself. She rubbed her eyes open and sat up, joining the other two boys in looking at the three newcomers. Her eyes lit up when she saw the twins.
"Smees!" She squealed, the boys smiling over at her.
"Smees!" They yelled together, both bounding over to her, stopping next to her side of the bed and patting her head. She smiled at them.
"Anyways, are we heading to breakfast or not?" Hazel interrupted, looking at everyone. Pink nodded before looking down at her sleep clothes and then at Max and Felix.
"You don't have any clothes I can borrow for breakfast, do you?" She looked between the boys who looked at each other and shrugged. They both got up from the bed and looked through their closets, trying to find something that would both fit and suit Pink the best. Max offered a pair of jeans and Felix had a shirt. It definitely wasn't something Pink would openly wear, but she didn't care, she accepted them with a smile.
The boys quickly changed while the younger girl was in the bathroom, Hazel moving over to Max once he was styling his hair. She knocked his hands out of the way as she moved the strands herself before messing everything up and plopping his hat on top. Max gave her a small smile as he shook his head.
"Thanks, Haz." He said quietly. The girl just shoved his shoulder before pulling him into a tight hug.
"Are you okay?" She whispered to him, feeling him nod into her shoulder. "Was it bad?" Max shrugged his shoulders a little.
"He was upset and he got loud, I was upset and I got quiet." Hazel nodded in understanding.
"He'll come around and apologize."
"He was just worried, he doesn't need to apol-"
"Yes he does, Max. He knows better than to push you, even if he didn't know how you deal with loud." She said it like loud was a concept instead of an adjective.
"Then I need to apologize as well, I know better than to keep things from him." She sighed, she couldn't argue with that. There was still some part of her that felt guilty of being the reason Max felt he had to avoid everyone since she told them the truth.
"Fine, but let's at least eat first." Hazel finalized, eyes flickering to the bathroom door when it opened. Pink came out in an outfit that was very different than what she usually wore, but it strangely suited her. "Damn, Pink. Guess we're finally corrupting you." She joked, Pink shaking her head, but not hiding the small smile forming on her face.
"Never, Hazel. HKs for the win!" She boasted, jokingly. The group of six then worked together to put the beds back to normal before all leaving the room. The group joked and shoved each other on the way to the cafeteria, Hazel wrapping a loose arm around Max to keep him beside her, her overprotectiveness unconsciously slipping out. When they reached the cafeteria, surprisingly no one turned to stare at them. Well, surprising to Max. Usually, people would take one look at them and stare whispering. Today, no one even looked their way. It was like they were invisible.
The group made their way to an empty table, all six of them setting their things down before leaving it again to get food. When they returned, the other four still hadn't met up with them. They all shrugged like it was nothing and continued their conversations like normal. Max was quieter than usual that morning, but the group didn't blame him. They all made up for it, but made sure they weren't too loud for Max.
There was a break in one of their discussions with the arrival of the last four people of their friend group at their table. The only free seats were at one edge of the table and right next to Max at the other end of the table. Max and Hazel were locked in a heated debate about something, but the boy didn't even realize it was to distract him from the seating arrangements. The two princesses and the two boys stood around the table as they looked around where to sit. Well, more so where Luis should sit.
The boy himself looked at Max, who wasn't looking at him. His hesitation to sit next to the boy caused Felix to scoff softly, rolling his eyes at Luis. He got up from his seat to sit next to his friend, affectively taking away his choice of where to sit. The rest of the bench shifted with him to make room at the other end of the table for the four HKs. Luis averted his gaze from all of his friends when he sat down at the end of the table, fully on the opposite end of Max.
The young hatter himself didn't realize what happened until he turned back to his food and jumped at the sight of a plate next to his. He looked up to see his friend and made a confused look, looking to where Felix used to sit (where Squirmy sat now) and where he was now. Then he looked to the rest of the table and his eyes fell on Luis who sat nowhere near him. His face fell when he noticed the distance and he quickly looked away before the taller one could look back down the table. Felix just wrapped an arm around the boy and pulled him closer.
Breakfast, thankfully, wasn't too long after that. The group of ten finished their food relatively quickly and made their way to the cafeteria doors, Max still noticing that no one was staring at them or coming up to them to insult the VKs. He leaned over to whisper to Felix and Hazel, but they just shrugged. Pink overheard the whispered question and looked between Luis and Max with a sad expression. She was one of the only people that knew Luis had went to the administration to report Navi and Peyton among others that he's seen try to insult any of the VKs and they had a serious talking to with their parents and right after the students left the office to let the adults talk, they were met with Luis, Robbie, and Chloe. Luis and Robbie threatened them with their stature and size while Chloe was there with a hand on her sword.
Since it was a Friday, not many of them had a lot of classes that day. Max's art class wasn't for another hour, for example, so the group just hung out on the bottom floor to wait out the time until the last of the group's last class ended. Some shared homework, others talked nonsense, and the last few just rested for the last bit of time they had before they had their own classes to get to. But, like time usually does, it sped past and Max had to leave for his class to present his project.
His friends all waved bye to him as he got up, hiking his bag up on his arm. He waved back with a small smile before walking off, the smile slipping off of his face once the group couldn't see it. Fridays used to be his favorite because Luis would always be able to walk him to his favorite class. He'd hold his hand and then act all silly when walking. One time, he thought it was best to twirl Max in a circle a bunch of times until Max broke free because he was so dizzy. Now, there was no hand to hold and no smile to stare at.
Or, that's what he thought until he heard running footsteps behind him. He turned to his side just as they reached him and stared at the figure of his boyfriend walking beside him. Max stared at him for a little bit before looking away, awkwardly. The silence between them itself was awkward. Neither knew what to say.
"What are you doing here?" The hatter asked quietly. Luis was quiet for a few seconds before replying.
"I always walk you to class on Fridays." He answered, his shoulders shrugging along. The other boy nodded along to that answer, not knowing how to reply. "Did...Did you sleep well last night?" He heard the boy tentatively ask. Max took a glance at him.
"Mostly. Pink made a huge bed on the floor for us and Felix to sleep together on." He saw his boyfriend tense up a little at the knowledge that he slept in the same bed as someone who wasn't him. "You?"
"Yeah, I uh...Robbie and I talked for a little bit before we went to bed. Felt like I didn't sleep at all, though." That made Max look a little closer at the other boy. He finally took note of the slight eye bags he wore and the tired look in his eyes. His movements were a little sluggish than they usually are, but that could've been from something else.
"That's good." Was all Max said before looking away. The silence crept back in between them. Neither knew what words to say to make up what was broken between them last night. They both knew it wasn't the worst fight they would possibly ever have, and definitely not the worst fight in the world, but it was more complicated than what they had to deal with so far.
They didn't have to deal with the silence for much longer before they found themselves near the entrance to the art room. Luis hid his disappointed face and turned to the shorter boy.
"I guess I'll see you later?" He asked, his voice unsure. Max nodded, not being able to look up at the boy. He turned to head in, but Luis ended up reaching for his wrist to pull him back. "Can we..." he trailed off, his voice losing sound.
"What?" The taller boy took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.
"Can we talk later? Not fight, just...talk. About everything? Yesterday, the past few weeks, everything?" He asked, his voice sounding anxious for an answer. Max finally looked up at him and saw the nervous look on his face.
"Yeah, we can talk later." He agreed after a few seconds. Luis nodded, satisfied with that answer. Max went to, again, walk into his class, but the boy hadn't let go of his wrist. "Luis? I need to get to class." He said, trying to pull his wrist away, but Luis only pulled the wrist closer to him, the body it was attached to following. Max snapped his head up to look at his boyfriend. "Lu?" The boy didn't answer him verbally, only pulling him into a tight hug that lasted a few seconds before placing a kiss on his temple and pulling away.
"I hope your presentation goes well, mi amor." He whispered to him before letting go and walking away. Max gently touched where Luis' lips had been with a small smile before finally turning around and walking into his class.
The rest of the day swam by pretty quickly due to the power of the author getting impatient (I really am, I want to write more oneshots), and with lunch over and done with along with everyone's classes, the group had agreed to go their separate ways to rest up a bit before joining for their weekly movie night in Red and Chloe's room. Max knew that was code for "Max, Luis, this is the time to talk to each other and make up or else we'll have to go through an awkward sleepover night with messed up sleeping arrangements."
The hatter knew where he should wait at, and when the last bell rang, he gathered up his stuff to make his way over. The big tree where Max and Luis had first confessed to each other wasn't occupied when he walked up there, so Max plopped his bag on the ground and sat down next to it, back against the tree and legs brought up to his chest. He closed his eyes for a few seconds to revel in the sunlight and quiet before he felt a presence next to him. He didn't have to open his eyes to know it was Luis. There was another silence between them again, this one not as awkward and tense, but not their usual peaceful silence. Luis broke it.
"Did you really sleep well last night?"
"As best as I could. Pink and Felix helped, but it took a little for me to actually fall asleep and stay asleep. Did you?"
"...No." Luis admitted, Max finally opening his eyes to look at him. "I couldn't stop thinking about how you looked and was so mad at myself for being the reason you looked like that. Robbie tried to comfort me, but...I knew I didn't deserve it."
"What did I look like?" The hatter asked, his voice quiet. Luis looked over at him now.
"Like I had just killed a newborn cat you just got attached to." That made Max crack a smile. "No, but seriously. You looked so upset and uncomfortable and I just...kept going. You asked me to stop yelling and I just got louder." He paused for a moment. "I don't like who I became last night. I don't like who I am when I fight with you. You're the love of my life and I treat you like that? I don't deserve you." Well that's ironic.
"You yelled because you cared. Yes, you ignored a request, but you were just stressed and worried about me. I don't care that you didn't listen to me, I cared that you knew I was okay. And I am, thanks to Hazel." Max said, his hand reaching over for Luis'. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the bullying. I really thought I could handle it and it would go away and be old news. But then it didn't, and then everyone found out. I got scared, so I ran and hid. I'm sorry for worrying you guys and not answering, I just felt that it was the right thing to do at the time." Luis looked down at their connected hands and squeezed them.
"I'm sorry for yelling and upsetting you. If I could go back and redo that whole fight, I would've listened to you and kept my voice down. I would've listened to you and your struggles instead of patronizing you about being honest." He apologized as well, looking into the eyes of the boy he loved most. "Honesty isn't the most important thing in a relationship. It's safety, and loyalty. And I need to know if you ever don't feel those things while being with me." The hatter nodded.
"I do feel those things with you, all of the time. There's never been a moment where I didn't feel safe in your arms." Max replied, his hand squeezing back. Luis smiled at him.
"Ok." He said, that tiny word having so many meanings. The two were quiet for a few more moments before the older boy finally asked the question he was dying to ask. "Where did you go yesterday? No one could find you anywhere." Max hesitated for a few seconds. "Please, Max. I don't think I can handle another day of not knowing where you are if you run off again." That made the boy sigh and tell him the answer.
"There's a secret door inside a janitor's office that leads to a closed-off balcony. I found it awhile ago and I go there whenever everything gets too much." He revealed, his thumb tracing circles on his boyfriend's hand. Luis nodded and pulled his hand away to push himself closer to Max and wrap an arm around him.
"Ok." He said, not opening his mouth to ask anymore questions. The couple sat there in their, now peaceful again, silence. Both of them knew that there was a much deeper conversation to have in the future, but the past 24 hours had enough emotions running through their bodies, so they could take a little break from serious conversations.
Their friends finally found them an hour later, just before dinner came around, and secretly smiled at each other when they realized they had made up. They were all secretly glad to know they wouldn't have to move around sleeping arrangements and deal with the tension between the two as well.