Moving Forward

Wasting Time (4)

She snorted, but dumped her trainers by the door anyway. "Do you have coffee?" Max nodded. "Cream, no sugar please." Max exchanged the cream for milk with her consent since he didn't buy cream.

Of course, the coffee was instant and made Lara cringe a little, but was apparently decent enough for her to deem it drinkable and sit down - on the actual sofa, not the array of cushions on the floor, unlike Max. There was only one sofa, and although there was enough space on it for three, he preferred to sit on the floor with his cup of tea on the other side of the coffee table.

Leaning back on the sofa, her blonde locks tumbled over the back and glinted with the sunlight as she took sips of her coffee.

"So?" Max prompted.

She flashed him a grin. "Well, I'm not sure about you, but I really would like to do something interesting today."

He couldn't help the eye roll. "Like what?"

Rather dramatically, Lara stood, grinning down at Max with what could only be described as an idiot smile. Really, could her mouth get any bigger? He didn't stand with her, being both too lazy and too unimpressed to even bother. 'Something Interesting' to Lara was most likely 'Something I Don't Want To Do' to Max.

"Go put some pants on," the girl ordered, "we're going paint balling."

"I'd rather not." Was Max's immediate reply, trying his best not to show any emotion on his face.

If he was being honest, he would've have told her it sounded like a great idea. As it was, though, Max hadn't been able to do anything relating to guns in the civilian world without slipping into flashbacks or setting off his PTSD. Even laser tag was too much for him at the moment. Once or twice, he'd even shifted unbidden in a reaction to perceived threats. Games like Call of Duty and Halo were certainly out. And since paintball actually hurt, that was a definite no.

Of course, he wouldn't be telling Lara any of this - mostly because it was none of her business. But also because talking about it put him in a dark mood that was unpleasant for everyone to deal with.

"Aw come on." She pleaded.

"No."

"Why no?"

Max blinked, irritation beginning to bubble in the pit of his stomach. "Am I not allowed to not want to play paintball?"

"But it's so fun. You'll be missing out."

"No." Max's voice was a lot more guttural than he'd intended, but it got the point across. He didn't want to play.

After another two minutes of Lara suggesting annoying things to do, they finally settled on taking a tour around town.

It wasn't very big, but Max knew that already. Evergree(n?) was a kind of rest point for people who got lost too far from the main motorway, according to Lara. The field they held the founding of the town festival at was where they held pretty much all town festivals, or just where most people went to hang out. Near it was a lake that was lovely in the summer and froze over during winter. There was also a diner and a couple of bars, along with a restaurant that Lara said made the best burgers.

Back at his house, Max finally dug up the courage to ask Lara about River. He'd been trying to avoid thoughts of the other man all day, but apparently it just wasn't happening, so there was only one option left: embrace it.

"Lara," he called, interrupting the girl's ramblings, which he hadn't actually been listening to. "What... what can you tell me about River?" Max knew he was normally soft-spoken anyway, but his tone now was definitely in the range of being bashful and shy.

She flashed a wicked smile. "Why do you wanna know?"

This was going to be painful. "It's... I..." he grumbled under his breath. "I think he's... interesting." Yup, definitely painful.

"Is that what you call having a crush?" Lara giggled. Max chose to ignore the comment. "That's sweet, so I'll take pity on you just this once. What do you wanna know?"

"Anything." Max didn't really have anything specific in mind. He just wanted to know about River.

She grumbled. "God you're difficult." And then, with a sigh, flopped back to lie on the sofa. "His family has been living here for at least four generations. His dad's a busy guy, owns a company and everything so he's out of town sometimes. Kyle occasionally goes with his dad, but I hear the business is more likely ta be passed onto Carter."

"Is... is," Max cleared his throat, staring at the floor, "is River taken?"

Lara giggled. "Finally at the heart of the matter. No, he's not got a partner, luckily for lil ol' you."

At that, Max felt his face set fire, and knew instantly that she and Marie-Anne would make great friends. Why did he always befriend the weird girls?