Catfished - COMPLETED

One month later....

           Max and Nev waited as Skype's ring rang in their ears. The laptop was balanced perfectly between them on the hotel desk. Despite the current event being routine, this particular Skype chat was a little more exciting. This chat was with a dear friend, rather than the typical Catfished/Catfish. After a minute, Lucy's face lit up the screen. She smiled wide. She waved with both hands and bounced in her chair.
           A loud chorus of "HEY!!!" came through. Max pointed his hand-held at the screen to capture the exchange. The guys couldn't keep straight faces. They both chuckled at Lucy's goofy little personality jumping off of their laptop.
           "What's up, Lucy?" Nev inquired.
          "Um. Not a whole lot... I've been traveling a little here and there," she answered vaguely.
       "Anywhere in particular?" Max asked with a smirk.
       "You know. All over the place. Just exploring away," Lucy raised her eyebrows at the camera with a grin and a shake of her head.
         "Anyways," Nev continued. "Have you spoken to Jeff since filming?"
        "After a couple of days, he did call me. He apologized for everything again. He said he still had feelings for me and wanted to pursue a relationship. I explained that I wasn't interested in tat with him. We haven't kept in touch at all."
        "And are you dating anyone now?" Max probed with a pleased look on his face.
        Lucy blushed. She started self-consciously playing with her hair. "Yeah..." She drew out the word, laughing at herself.
         "Hey!" Nev and Max both cried in excitement, throwing their arms up in unison.
        "Who is the guy?" Max asked.
        "I'm not telling you guys," Lucy told them through her giggles.
        "Well he is lucky to have you." Max winked at her through the screen.
       "Thanks, Max. Honestly, I feel like the lucky one. He's the best. He's helped me through a tough couple of weeks. I appreciate him," Lucy confessed. A soft smile lay on her lips. A look of pure happiness, contentment even.
        "I'm glad to hear you're doing so well," Nev continued the interview, edging toward ending it.
         "It's been awesome catching up with you guys." Lucy waved at the camera again. The screen went dark as the call ended.
        "Alright. Let's call Jeff and get this over with," Max said, frustration already building inside him.
        "Chill," Nev told him. Max put his hands up, as if saying What? Nev gave Max a pointed look, putting the Skype call through. The ring began. It ended when a clean-cut face filled their screen.
         Nev and Max were taken by surprise. "WHOA!" they both exclaimed.
        "Hey, guys," unrecognizable Jeff greeted them. He smiled and they could actually see it. Gone was the raggedy beard.
       "What's up, man?" Nev demanded, laughing at the stark difference from what he remembered.
       "A whole lot is up." Jeff was eager to tell them of his new lifestyle. "After talking to you guys and Lucy, I realized how far off base I was. I spoke to my family, told them how I was feeling. We had a real conversation and we're so close now."
"That's great to hear, man." Nev was genuinely so happy to hear this. These were the best after stories- when someone did something proactive to change what bothered them in their life, eliminated what made them unhappy. "Any romantic relationships we should know of?"
       Jeff nodded. "Yeah. I just started seeing a girl I have known for awhile." He was beaming.
        "So you've moved on from Lucy?" Max spoke for the first time.
        Jeff hesitated. "I'm trying to. You guys met her. You know how amazing she is," he confessed.
       "Hang in their, Jeff! You're doing great," Nev expressed. "Thanks again for chatting with us. See you soon!"
          The screen once again went dark as the call ended. Max and Nev exhaled a breath that they had each been holding through the call. They swiveled their chairs to face one another and shrugged.
       "Poor guy. Still hung up," Nev stated.
       "But he's making progress!" Max said excitedly.
        "True. He even held himself differently," Nev pointed out. He sat up straight and threw his shoulders back to demonstrate.
        There was a soft knock on the cracked door of the hotel room. A head popped through the crack, eyes wide and unsure.
        Max turned when he heard the crew saying hello. He saw a happy Lucy making her way through the crew's mess to see him. "Lucy!" he yelled in excitement.
       Lucy, who had been concentrating on picking a safe path through the debris, looked up and locked eyes with Max. She hurried through and tripped on a couple cables. She landed deftly a foot from Max and Nev.
         "Hey," she said, a bit breathless from her near-embarrassing experience. Max pulled her into a the chair with him and hugged her tight. Lucy giggled but hugged him back. "Hi, Nev," she said while Max buried his face deeper into her.
       "Hey, Lucy." Nev rolled his eyes. He had gotten used to their PDA recently, finding it funny now.
       Breaking the hug, Max gazed up at Lucy and gave her a quick kiss hello. "Are you done for today?" Lucy asked him. She ruffled his hair, making it stick up even more now.
       Max nodded.
       Lucy playfully slapped Max's chest. "Were you trying to make that interview hard for me?"
       Smiling, Max played dumb. "What do you mean?"
       "I mean... You could have allowed me to keep my first vague answers. You knew I was trying to avoid telling everyone over the show that we've been dating. 'Yeah. Just traveling... Not with Max or anything.' You kept prodding because you're the worst!"
      "I'm not the worst," Max teased. He tickled her sides and Lucy lost the anger aimed at him in her fit of giggles.
       Once she could breathe again, she asked, "And how was Jeff?" Her voice was tinged with a sad note. Her lips were pursed. Max was tight-lipped about the interview. She turned to Max's co-host. "Nev... How was it?" she pressed.
      Nev shrugged. "He's great. He looks fantastic. His relationship with his family is better. He's dating now!"
       Lucy clapped. "Awesome!"
       Nev continued hesitantly, "I am glad we did your interview the way we did though. That was a great idea, Lucy."
       Confusion rushed across Lucy's face. "Why? I thought you said he was good. He's dating someone new."
       "He is. But we asked about you...." Max explained. His voice was flat and low.
      "He said he's not quite over you, Lucy." Nev kept his eyes fixed on Lucy's. "He said he's trying though."
      Lucy turned her full attention to Max. "Were you nice?"
       "Of course I was. I was polite," Max matter-of-factly answered.
       "Good. Then yeah. I am glad that we decided not to rub his face in our relationship. Can you imagine him watching the episode air. Him having to see us happy together now?" Lucy shook her head, thinking of the pain Jeff had caused her recently.
       Studying Lucy's face, Max could not believe how amazing she was. "You're a beautiful woman," he whispered into her ear. Lucy rolled her eyes and looked everywhere but toward Max. "I'm serious here," Max continued. "You're one of the best people I know." He turned to the crew, who were packing up equipment from the day. "Hey, guys! Has any other person on the show cared as much about you?"
      After a pause, a camera man came forward. "Lucy, you are the only guest cast member to hold the door for all of us. That sticks with a person."
      "You made us cookies everyday we shot at your house. You brought us coffee every morning," a sound guy added.
       "And you're not even a morning person!" Nev testified. He laughed as he remembered early mornings with Lucy. She might have had no patience but she always was looking for ways to help everyone. He could still picture her running from the hotel to the car, her hands full of coffees, bundled in her coat, scarf, hat, and gloves.
        "See?" Max gestured to the room. "Al of these people were around you for several days in a row. You were going through emotional trials. But still, these people came to care about you. You are still thinking of the feelings of someone who hurt you. Deeply. Recently, even. You are a caring, selfless, goofball. You are  friendly and down-to-earth. We kind of like you." Max leveled Lucy with a smile, touching foreheads with her.
        Her eyes met his and she was struck by how soft they seemed. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him as tight as she could. She nuzzled into his chest. Lucy could feel Max take a deep breath and slowly let it out. His heart beat was calm. She could almost fall asleep right then, tucked away in Max's arms.
        A flash went off. Max and Lucy's eyes shot open. Nev stood over them with his camera. His guilty face froze, waiting to see how they would react to their moment being broken. Lucy was the first to start roaring with laughter. Max soon followed. Nev laughed with them, mostly in relief.
         Wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, Lucy looked at Nev. In her cockiest voice, she said, "Take a picture of this." She closed the distance between her and Max, kissing him deeply. Nev lined up the shot, when suddenly, Lucy flipped him off. Nev chuckled and took the shot.
         Max pulled away from the kiss first. "Welcome to the Catfish family," he told her.
         "I got the job!?" Lucy exclaimed, pushing against Max's chest to sit up.
         Nev answered before Max could. "Of course! Who would do a better job of assisting us then you?"
         Lucy was mystified. "This is awesome! So I get to keep traveling with you?"
         "Wouldn't have it any other way," Max assured her.

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And end scene!