He's So Aggravating, But I Think I Like Him

Chapter Twenty Seven

I pulled my hair into a tight bun and looked myself over in the mirror. I quite liked the new dress I bought this morning specially for tonight. It was a deep purple, skin tight dress with long sleeves.

It's been a little less than a week since Max, Macy, and I went to Disney World and he wanted to take me out to dinner for the first time. We've spent a good bit of time together since then as well. Jacky was watching Macy tonight while Max and I went out.

I told Clayton I didn't think me and him should go out again. I explained the situation to him and he understood completely, thankfully.

I heard a knock on the door just as I finished getting ready. I opened it to see Max in a tuxedo, which is something I never thought I'd see. He looked suprisingly good.

"You look absolutely beautiful," he said.

I smiled, "Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself."

I took his arm and we got a cab. It didn't take long for us to get to Olive Garden. Once inside, we were sat at a table and ordered our drinks.

We made small talk about how each other's day was and the weather until our drinks came. I ordered the chicken parmesan and he got plain spaghetti.

"So, tell me, what have you been doing for the past five years?" Max asked. We'd rarely spoken about my own past, I'd always tell him if we talked about it then, we'd have no topic for our dates to come.

I had to laugh out loud, "I've been living with Ronnie for the past few years and Falling in Reverse and myself of us have been trying to raise the demon we call Macy."

"Come on, she can't be that bad. She was rather good when I babysat her that one night."

He's a liar.

"She's awful. She drew on our walls at home with sharpie marker and I had to pay to get it covered up. She tried to cut Ronnie's hair while he was asleep just last week. She pulled the down the pants of her first crush at daycare once. She's a handful."

"That's not that bad."

"I think you're just refusing to see that you're daughter is evil and I'm gonna have to bail her out of jail twenty years from now," I said, and we both laughed.

"You know, one time she started cussing out Chuck E. at Chuck E. Cheese's because he scared her. The manager asked us to leave."

He smiled again, "That's actually pretty funny. Was she at a birthday party?"

I nodded.

"Whose?"

"Her own."

"She's silly," he said, and I nodded in agreement.

Our food came after and a comfortable silence fell between Max and I. The chicken parmesan was delicious and I almost didn't want to talk while I was eating it. Unfortunately, there was still something I had to ask.

"You're serious about wanting to give us another shot?" I asked.

He nodded, "Of course. You haven't changed much since I last knew you. I still think you're beautiful, I'd love to have another shot. And I'd love to be in yours and Macy's life more often, if not permanently."

I nodded. I knew Macy needed a father figure. "Uncle Ronnie" has been as close to that as he could be, but I knew it wasn't the same. Ronnie doesn't know much about being a dad. He hasn't really settled down yet either, but he has met this one girl, Crissy, and he seems to really like her, so we'll see.

"I'm sure she'd like to spend more time with you, now that she knows you're her dad."

That made him smile, "I still can't get over the fact that I have a daughter! A little person with similar features to mine with my DNA in her body. I get to be there on her first day of first grade, and sixth, and ninth. And I'll get to scare off boys she ever brings home. And grasp the "oh shit" handles in the car when she takes the wheel for the first time. And pay for her prom dress. And walk her down the aisle. If you'll let me do all of that, that is."

His little speech had my eyes watering at his excitement and...dare I say it...dedication, "Of course I'll let you."

His eyes looked to be watering too, but it was probably a trick of the light, "Thank you so much. You won't regret this."

"I know."

The rest of the night was spent with us talking happily and drinking wine and eating dessert. Max paid the bill and we walked out of the restaurant hand in hand.

"So can I be your boyfriend again?" He asked.

I smiled, pretending to contemplate, "I dunno. We should definitely go out on another date, just to make sure," I said playfully. I hoped he saw that I was just looking for an excuse to go out again.

He giggled, a cute and happy sound, "Another date it is."

We got a cab and made it back to the venue. He walked me to my bus and we stopped at the door.

"I had a lot of fun tonight," I said.

"Me too."

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, before saying goodnight. As he was walking away, I called his name and he turned around.

"You missed my lips, Max."

He smiled and walked back to me. He pulled me into his arms and touched his lips to mine. Our lips moved together slowly and passionately. It made me wonder if I'd sleep good without him tonight, as ridiculous as that sounds.

We pulled away from each other slowly, and he was the first to speak, "Goodnight, Miranda."

"Goodnight, Maxwell."

I walked onto the bus quietly and peeked into my bunk to see Macy was fast asleep.

I smiled and walked back into the living room and kicked my heels off, then plopped down on the couch with a happy sigh.

After tonight, every time I thought about the future, I actually saw Max standing beside me.