Nev and Max (a Love Story)

Nev had never gotten out of a car so fast in his life. Max didn't move after his head hit the ground and Nev's stomach turned. He rushed over to Max and dropped to his knees. He was checking his pulse as Naomi burst through the door.

He found out later that Naomi was First Responder certified. Meaning she was very comfortable being the first and only one right in the heat of the action. Watching her work Nev figured out who she reminded him of. She reminded him of the mom of the twins on the Rugrats. Very much in control of the situation. She could handle anything thrown her way.

Nev was thankful for that at the moment because he couldn't seem to do anything but hold Max's hand. He mindlessly answered "what happened" questions but was oblivious to Naomi yelling at him to call 911.

Someone did call 911 and the ambulance pulled up with sirens blaring. Nev was getting in the back of that ambulance with Max one way or another. Luckily there were no objections to that.

The paramedics told him that Max was going to be fine. He was just unconscious from hitting his head.

Max was admitted to the hospital for observation. Nev was forced to wait outside while they got him situated in a room. He used this time to tell the crew what was going on. The crew in turn, let the girl know that the show was being postponed. She, surprisingly, was very understanding and concerned. They wouldn't continue with that episode until Max was feeling up to it.

The sun fell and rose again but Nev had little perception of time. He was there at Max's side and hadn't moved. His head was laying on the bed and his hand was locked with Max's.

He had told the crew to go back to the hotel and he would tell them if anything happened. No point in them waiting out in the waiting room for who knew how long.

Max finally stirred about a day and half in.

Nev was in the same position he had been in since he got here, with his head down on the bed. He was awoken by Max moving.

They exchanged sleepy smiles and through a massive headache, Max managed to ask what had happened.

Nev explained everything the doctor had told him from the multiple tests they had run while he was unconscious. As far as they could tell there was no damage. He had just been knocked out and would wake up when his body felt it was ready.

"God, I feel like shit." Max rubbed his face and then ran his fingers through his hair. He hissed as he hit the goose egg he had from hitting his head.

"Yeah, the doc said that was going to be tender for a while. You knocked yourself out pretty good."

"I want to stand up." Max made a sloppy attempt to move to the side of the bed and Nev rushed over to make sure he didn't crash into the floor.

"You are probably going to be too dizzy for that."

Nev's words were felt more than heard as Max allowed Nev to help him lay back down. His head was in a tailspin and if Nev hadn't been there to help him, he would be in the floor.

When the room stilled, Max spoke. "Ugh, I wish I could take a shower. That would make me feel so much better."

The nurse had warned Nev about this. For some reason when people come out of a coma the first thing they want is a shower. Which didn't make much sense to Nev. All they had been doing was lying in bed. The standing-up thing was understandable, but a shower first thing? But with Max being the one asking, all Nev wanted to do was get him naked and give him what he wanted. A shower that is.

Nev shook thoughts of the two of them in the shower out of his head. There's no way that would work out right now. Max was far too dizzy.

The nurse had said she would come in and give him a sponge bath when he was ready. Nev wouldn't let that happen. If anyone was going to give Max a sponge bath, it was going to be him.

So the nurse brought in a kit for Nev to use and told him the basics of what to do.

Nev got up from the recliner that he had come to think of as his own, and walked over to the tray where the kit sat. He off handedly picked it up.

"Well," Nev cleared his throat," since a stand-up shower is pretty much out, the nurse brought this."

"She brought me a bed pan?" Max looked confused. As well he should. This make-shift "kit" was no more than a bed pan, a sponge, and a pack of some soapy stuff to mix into the water.

"Um, no, it's a sponge bath. Not exactly the Ritz," Nev shrugged his shoulders and absently pushed around the stuff in the small tub, "but it's really your only option for getting clean."

Max crossed his arms over his chest and shimmied a little, "I may be a bottom, but I'm not the diva." Then he stuck his tongue out at Nev.

Nev was very happy to see Max joking around and returned the gesture.

"But who, pray-tell, is going to give me this sponge bath?" Max's arms were still crossed but he was looking at Nev with a devious smirk.

Max's grey hair was a mess and the hospital gown they had put him in made it look like he was wearing an old woman's night gown, but he was the most adorable thing Nev had ever seen.

Nev sat the tub back down on the tray and drug it behind him as he sauntered over to the bed. "I thought I would." Then he raised an eyebrow, "Maybe we can play doctor."

Max's tongue dragged across his chapped lips. He must look as terrible as he felt but Nev was actually offering to sponge him down. The way Nev was making his heart race could not be good in his condition so he took a deep breath in an attempt to collect himself. Nev was standing there at his bedside with the sponge in his hand.

"You actually want to do this?" Max asked, bewildered that Nev was being so open and caring.

Nev looked down at him with a sheepish grin and said, "Well, the nurse did offer. But. I told her if anyone was going to sponge you down, it was going to be me."

Nev had emphasized the word "down" by trailing a finger down the inside of Max's forearm.

Max swallowed the gasp that almost escaped. He somehow managed an "ok" without squeaking, though it mostly came out as a whisper.

This didn't quite do it for Nev, so he move closer and leaned down with his hands on the bed on both sides so his wrists were nearly touching his hips. Getting eye level with Max he whispered, "You want that right, Max?"

Max's mind was racing with things he could say and ask. When had Nev begun to feel this way? Was this just a phase of him being nice because he was hurt? Either way, Max nodded and brought a hand up to Nevs hair. Nev turned his head in so he could kiss his wrist.

Their eyes met again and Nev could sense the burning questions Max had. To avoid the questions for now he broke the tension with, "I'll go draw your bath." Nev grabbed the pan and went into the attached bathroom to warm some water. From the bed he heard, "Bring me my toothbrush!" which he did while the pan filled with warm water and dissolved the pack of soapy mix.

The nurse came in to check up on him and remove the cath and any other unnecessary equipment now that he was awake. She moved quickly and with the precision of a surgeon. The only explanation must have been that she did this often.

Nev came over to the rolling table with the pan full of soapy water just as the nurse was finishing up. The nurse gave Nev a coy smile and Max thought he might have even caught her wink. Out of nowhere the thought crossed his mind "Oh no she didn't" which made him giggle a bit.

Looking at Nev he realized they had the same look on their face and had a totally linked moment that only happens between the best of friends.

That is what made this so right. Max had been waiting so long for Nev to realize it and prayed he actually had. They would be the perfect couple because they were best friends. They were already so close that it didn't make sense that they weren't together. Everyone always asked if they were. Friends, family, tv show hosts asked and all the fans of the show wanted them to be together. But every time they were asked, Nev would answer the same way. "We are partners, but not in a romantic way." There would be no way Max could answer that question because every time Nev answered it another piece of his heart was ripped out.

Max sent up a silent prayer to anyone listening, that Nev truly felt the way he was acting and that the song and dance of "just friends" could end.

Nev dipped and squeezed the sponge a few times to try and get some froth going to no avail.

"I don't know if this is going to do much good as far as a shower goes." Nev said looking down at the suds-less water.

"As long as it's coming from you and not that wench nurse." Max retorted and they both cracked up.

"I guess we should start with getting this hospital gown off." Nev said with eyes sweeping down Max's body. "Strip for me."

This time there was no containing the catch in his breath. Suddenly it felt like there weren't enough air in the room. But somehow hands found their way up his neck and around to the back to the string. With him being previously comatose, there had been no reason to tie any more than the top. So with just a tug of the string, he was then free to slip the hospital gown down his chest. Nev eyed him as he did. Max decided to prolong this a bit and stopped at his hips.

"The rest?" Nev raised an eyebrow at him and more commanded than asked.

Falling back on the bed with the back of his hand on his forehead, and doing his best impression of a southern belle he said, "I just don't believe I have the strength."

Nev bit his lip and tried to compose himself, but God all he wanted to do was straddle Max and kiss him. Which just might happen. But after the bath.

"Slide over Scarlett O'Hara." Nev said as he sat down on the side of the bed and pulled the tray with the pan of water closer.

He wrung out the sponge and brought it to Max's chest. The first swipe went over his right collarbone and down his arm. Flip sponge. Up his arm on the inside. Dip squeeze. The same on the left. Dip. Squeeze. Chest next. He wasn't ripped but shit he was in shape. Focus. Swipe across under collarbones and down left side. Max's abdomen tightened. He's ticklish. Flip. Slowly slide sponge up and over his peck. Dip. Squeeze. Nev purposefully started back at the bottom so he could run the sponge up and over the other peck. Max was now as hard as a diamond. Having the guy you were into sponging you down could do that to a person.

Nev ran the sponge down the middle of his chest and made sure to linger near the line Max had drawn by not taking the gown completely off.

"Now see," Nev said with a devious smile and trailing the sponge lightly across the line, "if you had just taken this completely off, I wouldn't have to torture you like this."

Nev then trailed the sponge down and along Max's penis. It twitched and Max threw his head back against the pillows. The sound he made was a combination of a groan and a moan. Nev took this opportunity to slide down lower in the bed. With the gown still in place, Nev parted his mouth and ran his lips up his shaft. He ever so lightly grazed his teeth over the head while touching the underside with his tongue.

This time it was definitely a moan and a "please."

Nev thought about continuing with the bath for a second, but the guy was on the brink as it was. To leave him like this would be true torture. So he slowly pulled the gown off and put the sponge back in the bucket.

He leaned up to kiss Max and wrapped his hand around his shaft. He did a few strokes like this and then slide back down in the bed to get a better angle. Once between Max's legs he made eye contact and slide his tongue up the underside of his shaft. He slid his thumb down that same line as he took him into his mouth. He went down to just below the head before coming back up and swirling his tongue around the head. Then he took the full length down to the back of his throat. Nev never knew he didn't have a gag reflex. Max drove his fingers into Nev's hair and moaned as he came.