Max rolled over, finally acknowledging the time. A little past ten. He rubbed his face and tried to bring himself to roll out of bed. The camera guy he had shared the room with interrupted his internal pep talk by getting up and walking to the bathroom. A good excuse for him to stay in bed just a little bit longer. Even more of a relief was when he heard the shower start.
Max rolled back onto the side he had slept on and cuddled up with his pillow. He wondered what Nev was doing right this second. Also, how he had looked when he woke up, if his hair was as messy, and most importantly; if he was thinking the same things about him.
Max knew the odds of that. He wasn't a gambling man, but he'd be willing to bet that Nev was getting up to get on with his morning without even giving him a passing thought. But maybe, just maybe, if he were lucky, Nev would give him a personal wake up call. He sometimes did that if he had been cold the day before.
Sure enough there was a little tap at the door and Nev entered with a small camera in hand. Max pulled the covers up over his shoulders and pretended to be asleep so Nev would have to come closer. Nev crept up softly as if he were going to do that anyway. There was a shift of the mattress as if he had sat down then a hand went to his shoulder and softly shook.
"Wake up sleepy head." Nev drawled out as he snaked the camera around to get Max's "just woken-up face". Max noticed this and tried to give a convincing one. Nev grabbed the top of the blanket and pulled it lower to get a better shot with the camera. While doing this he lightly ran his fingers down Max's arm and they both wondered if the other had noticed that or not. Max gave a sleepy smile and opened his eyes only to a squint.
Max rolled back into the pillow and yawned deeply. If he couldn't wake up next to Max every morning then this was certainly the next best thing. He used the wall behind the bed to push off and stretched as far as his body could possibly go then rolled onto his back. He had slept shirtless and the stretching and flipping had the blanket around his abdomen, right where Max had intended for it to end up. Well, actually it could be on the floor along with his and Nev's clothes but with this little of a barrier between him and Nev, this was not the time to think of such things.
Nev tried to tear his eyes away from Max's chest but he just couldn't seem to. God, why had he picked last night to sleep with his shirt off. He had always been envious of Max's hair free chest, probably because it was the exact opposite of what he had. A thick carpet of dark hair covering his entire chest, and unfortunately lower. But the envy was not the reason he could not look away. Max had started working out with him and his pecks were becoming more defined. Also his abs looked tighter. He was nowhere near being ripped but the way his muscles sprawled across his chest is what held his stare.
"Camera guy was asleep when I got out of the shower last night. Didn't want to wake him up with the light and didn't want to fumble through my bag more than I had to."
Nev distantly heard Max's words and had a passing thought of whether or not he had managed to find his underwear in the dark. He cleared his throat and pushed those thoughts to the back burner where he usually kept them. He hit the little red button on the camera to end that recording, not really sure of what he had recorded.
Nev hopped up before he could continue his train of thought. "So, I'm going to run down to the lobby and get us some Starbucks. What are you feelin' this morning?"
A devilish smile played at Max's lips but he controlled it and concealed it. Oh today was going to be a good day. The days that Nev spent sucking up to him made him feel like the day before wasn't that bad. But Nev only kept this up if Max could play his cards right. Max needed to act mad still. The days was just getting started after all.
He sat up on the edge of the bed with the blanket still precariously covering his groin. He had seen Nev's wandering eyes and wanted to keep him guessing as to whether or not he had more on than this. "I'll have whatever you're having" he said absently as another yawn crept up. It was a nice touch to his nonchalance even though he hadn't meant to do it.
Nev looked crestfallen that Max hadn't shown more enthusiasm about his offer. Sure he was still getting them coffee but he wanted to get Max something that he wanted, not just whatever Nev was getting.
"Well, alright." Nev fiddled with the camera in an attempt to hide how hurt he was. He turned and started towards the door. With a backwards glance he added, "but you better be up and dressed when I get back."
As the door closed Max allowed the smile to finally break. He felt only slightly bad about the way he treated Nev on days like this because honestly, he deserved it. Nev couldn't be the one with the power all the time. It felt nice to have Nev's emotions in his hands instead of the other way around. He got up and started getting dressed. A good day indeed.
Max already had the laptop set up and the webcam in the optimum position when Nev returned. He walked carefully as he had two steaming cups of coffee in his hands.
Nev held a cup out to Max in a fashion that could have been taken as a peace offering.
"White mocha caramel" Then he made eye contact. "made with soy milk."
Max took the cup with a smirk and an approving nod. Ok. This boy was really trying today. Max didn't have anything against cow milk, it's just that soy milk gave coffee that little extra something. Especially Starbucks coffee.
Max took the lid off so it could cool a bit and breathed in its aroma deeply. He exhaled with a "hmmmmm". Nev was still standing there as if the coffee had displeased Max in any way he would have ran it back down to the lobby to change or fix it. Max said thank you and then suggested they get to work.
Nev took his seat in the office chair next to Max thinking that that was the best he was going to get of a thank you. Max was either still mad at him or was toying with him, either way he would go along with it because he felt like he deserved it. He wished so badly that he could openly have feeling for Max, but he had been suppressing it for so long now that it seemed second nature. Also, he didn't want to lose his friend. He had lost him once after Nev dropped out of college.
The pressure had become too much for Nev. He was failing most of his classes anyway and then that night at the frat house changed everything. He had been pretending for so long that he was strictly straight. He tried to drown out his thoughts and desire of Max in any girl that would give him the time of day, which in the Greek system, was plenty. That still hadn't changed his feelings for Max. That night had scared him so much because all of his suppressed thoughts had been brought to a boil so quickly.
Soon thereafter, Nev had dropped out of college to pursue other interests. Other interests that turned out to be nothing more than staying at home all day on the internet. He moved in with his brother and became a recluse. He tried to avoid talking to people because all they really had to talk to him about was, "so what are you doing now?" "do you have a job yet?" " I'm here if you need someone to talk to." And though all of this seemed concerned and helpful coming from their perspective, it had only made him feel worse, especially the last one. Most definitely he avoided talking to Max.
