Just Fine (RE-EDITING)

Chapter Five

Something didn't settle right in here and Alvin didn't like this. He didn't like how Max was changing a bit into something more normal all of a sudden, especially now. Alvin shuddered at that thought, just imagining how Max would be if he was slightly more intelligent, less bubbly and more... boring.

That Max was someone that Alvin would've died to be friends with in the beginning but after knowing this Max, the young scientist was sure that he didn't want to be with any other versions of Max except for this one. "Max?" Alvin asked slowly as Max looked at him, eyes demanding the young Ackerman to continue on with his line of question. "Are you alright?"

Max raised an eyebrow before he chuckled. "Yes, of course I am, bro. Why?" he asked as Alvin narrowed his eyes at Max.

"You seem to be..." Alvin trailed, "...normal," he finally said, trying not to offend the snowboarder. Max couldn't help but to laugh at Alvin's way of phrasing his words before he shook his head and stood up.

"Hey, mind if I joined you?" he asked as Alvin looked at him, confusion lingering a bit before he saw Max pointing at his bed. Quickly scooting over a bit, he patted an empty spot next to him. Max took that as an invitation and went over to Alvin's bed before sitting next to him, sighing in content. Silence lingered on before Max laid down on the bed on his back, wriggled a bit before he let the comfortable mattress relax him. Alvin turned his body slightly so he could face Max properly and looked at him even more confused.

What was Max doing?

Max noticed the look Alvin was giving before he looked at him in the eyes, smiling warmly. "I was trying to be more gentleman-like."

"Gentleman?" Alvin asked, as Max sighed a bit and placed one of his hands at the back of his head, enjoying the comfy mattress.

"Yeah, you know," Max said as he looked at his best friend's eyes. "Like listen to when someone is speaking, not being stubborn at another person's ideas. Things that people do when they're dating someone."

Alvin's mind had stopped working for a moment or two before his face lit up red. He was still not used to this conversation. Max seemed so serious at times like this that Alvin was starting to feel doubt at the easy decision he had made. He wasn't used to dating anyone and he wasn't used to feeling any emotions that resembled attachment except for his parents and his sister.

He didn't do love.

He couldn't even imagine himself ten years from now, being in love. That mere thought sounded so impossible in the young scientist's mind. Besides, the darker path inside his mind seemed to breach out to loneliness, as if it was something definite for him. Nobody liked him sincerely enough, nobody had tried to. When he first entered high school, people gave him sceptical looks and sneering laughter whenever he wasn't looking.

He rarely got bullied, mostly because they knew that he was Abby's brother. Abby had a reputation in Blizzards Spring High, as someone good natured and kind and they assumed that Alvin was something like that, if not a little bit dorky. Nobody had walked up to him and introduced himself and Alvin remembered feeling really alone for the first time in his life.

Suddenly, there came into the picture, Max. Him and his bubbly personality, shocking him from his daily grey routine and normalcy. It irked him in the beginning, wanting nothing more than his old life back but when he got used to the vibrant colors that blotched his life up in so many ways, he didn't want to go back to his dull grey life. He wanted those colors to stay.

So, when love didn't come to him, he decided to keep it like that.

If he wasn't worth much to anyone right now to be loved, then he wasn't going to waste his time to get someone to notice him. He didn't want to change into some Casanova just for the sake of getting someone's attention. He didn't want to love somebody knowing that he had to change his "dorky" ways. He liked being himself, even though occasionally he would start to doubt that persona named Alvin.

But Max, he seemed to take whatever Alvin threw in his way with a proud smile. The snowboarder claimed that he never had a brother before and he enjoyed taking care of Alvin somehow. But that was what Alvin gets scared of. He doesn't like to be taken care of, he doesn't like being dependant on someone. He knew that one day, someone's gotta grow up and leave. He would be alone all over again and Max, he wouldn't be with him forever, best friend or not.

"I..." Alvin tried to get some words out but at the end, his reddened face just gave Max the amusement he needed.

"Dude, your face is red," Max said as Alvin slowly looked at him, fear suddenly washing into his mind. This was the truth, it seemed.

He was really dating someone.

But eventually Max would get tired of him and leave him alone.

Max noticed the sudden change of emotions on the young scientist's face and slowly sat up, frowning a bit. "Shred?" he asked as Alvin went spiralling in panic with this new found information inside. "Shred," Max said softly as he touched Alvin's shoulder, jolting Alvin out from his daydream.

"We can't date, Max," Alvin blurt out all of a sudden, causing some shun silence in the room as Max furrowed his eyebrows at him. "This is... this is wrong."

"Shred, dude, what's wrong?" Max asked as he properly sat up and approached Alvin who looked panicked out for a moment. "Shred? Come on, man. Talk it out, what's up?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Alvin exclaimed, causing Max to flinch and dropped his hand which was touching the younger Ackerman's shoulder. "This is weird. I'm not the boy to experiment these things on, Max," Alvin said as he sighed loudly.

Silence lingered on before Max sighed too. "I just wanted to try this new gentleman thing, didn't think you would hate it," Max said softly as he rubbed the back of his neck slowly. Alvin looked at him before confusion lingered on. Seconds passed before Alvin realized that Max didn't get what he meant.

"No, Max, you don't understand."

"Let's go on a date then," Max suddenly said.