The Usual... A Max Schneider Fan Fiction

Chapter Eighteen: Spoiled

She smiled. "Oh, no, darling," she told me. "You're a guest; I've got this," she spoke kindly, before looking over at her son. "Max, why don't you take Symphony out around New York?" she suggested. "I bet she'd like that."

Max was suddenly beside me, his hand on my hip. "Sounds fun," he stated, kissing my temple. "How about it, little dove?"

I nodded, smiling. "I'd love to," I spoke, feeling him playing with my hair again. Max chuckled, nuzzling his nose into my hair.

"Great," he spoke, closing his eyes, content. "I'm gonna go take a shower, okay?" he said. "Then you can get ready and we can go."

I nodded, turning and pecking his lips. Max laughed, squeezing my hip and slowly walking from the kitchen. I smiled absently to myself, shaking my head at my loving boyfriend and walking back over to the kitchen table, sitting down in what was his seat. Charlotte watched Max disappear into his room, and waited a minute or two, before looking at her husband and turning the water off.

"Symphony," she spoke my name. I looked up at her, smiling slightly as she dried her hands. Dan looked at me as well, watching carefully as his wife came and took the seat beside me.

"Ma'am?" I said politely. Charlotte smiled a little, taking my hand gently.

"Can we ask you a question?" she began, watching as I nodded for her to continue. She bit her lip, tentatively, much like Max did when he was nervous or anxious, and glanced at Dan, who showered her with support through his soft gazes. He nodded at her, and she sighed a little, looking to me again.

"Has Max told you about Adeline?" she asked quietly. My body tensed at the name of Max's late girlfriend, slowly nodding to Charlotte.

"Yes, ma'am," I said. "He's told me everything, I believe."

Charlotte sniffled a little. "Then you know how much he's been through in the last couple of years," she stated. "All the hell she put him through before she died, and how torn up and broken he was after the fact."

I just nodded again. "Yes ma'am," I repeated. "For six months, he said he barely left his apartment..." my face fell at the thought of the man I loved laying in his bed, all by himself, for days on end. I sighed lightly; no wonder he hated sleeping alone.

Dan gave a humorless laugh. "It was hard to get him out of bed at all, even for us," he told me, gesturing to his wife and himself. "He was pretty much in a constant state of depression... up until about five months ago."

I was about to ask what happened that changed him five months ago, before the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

Me. I was what happened.

"And then he met me..." I breathed. His parents nodded.

"And then he met you," Dan repeated.

Charlotte gave me a small smile. "We knew Adeline wasn't the girl Max thought she was," Charlotte spoke. "But we never said anything, because, although he really wasn't, he claimed to be happy..."

Dan watched me. "But with you, he hasn't told us he's happy; that's how we know he's truly in a great place."

Charlotte laughed a little at my confused expression. "I don't think I follow," I said. "Max hasn't told you he's happy, but because of that, you know he is?"

His parents smiled. "Exactly," Charlotte said. "You see, Max is almost always very aware of himself, even when he doesn't realize it," she began. "Back when he was with Adeline, he was always very careful to assure his father and I that he was happy with her, even though he wasn't, because he knows that's really all his father and I care about, his happiness," she laughed a little. "He knew somewhere inside himself he wasn't truly content. With you, he hasn't told us even once, because, in all honestly, he doesn't care; he doesn't care if we know he's happy because he truly *feels* happy. He doesn't feel the need to assure us because either a), he knows we see it, or b), he feels happy enough that even if we didn't see it, he wouldn't care, because he loves you, Symphony..." Charlotte slowly trailed off. "Did any of that make even a lick of sense to you, darling? I know I can be jumbled."