Stick Together (A Max Goof Love Story)

Missing You

"Nicole, sweetheart, are you alright?"

She looked up at her mother. "Hm, what?"

Her father rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You haven't touched your steak at all. Is something bothering you?"

Nicole let out a sigh. "Yeah. I'm fine." She obviously wasn't. She let out another sigh and takes a few bites of her dinner. After her fifth bite, she got up and headed upstairs to her room.

Her mother was about to get up and go after her, but her husband held his hand out, and shook his head.

"Leave her be. She wants to be alone."

Once she was in her room, she shut the door and leaned against it, and she let her thoughts takeover her.

Two years.

That's how long it's been since they moved to The Big Apple.

To some people, two years is a short time. But to Nicole, it felt like an eternity.

It wasn't that New York was a horrible place to be. There was so much to do, she's met some pretty great people, the sights were amazing, and she actually liked the school she went to. Heck, she's even made some friends.

But she still thinks of him.

His voice. His smile. His laugh.

She thought about sending him a letter, but she always stopped herself just as the pencil was about to touch the paper.

What if he doesn't care to read it?

What if he doesn't want to respond at all?

What if he just throws it away?

With those thoughts going through her head, she never actually sent a letter to him, or even wrote one.

He probably doesn't even think of me. She thought sadly, walking over to her dresser to get ready for bed. When she opened the drawer, and reached for her night shirt, she stopped.

In the back of the drawer was that familiar blue and white tank top with the number one on it. It was still her favorite shirt. She pulled the shirt out of her dresser and looked at it. Of course she kept it. Every time her mom came into her room to get rid of some old clothes, that was the one she refused to give up.

After changing into the shirt, she turned the light off, climbed into bed, and pulled the covers up to her chin.

She didn't notice the tears streaming down her face until she felt the spot on her pillow where her head was become wet.

I miss you, Maxie.

________________________________________________________________________________

"I'll see you tomorrow, Max."

"Alright. Goodnight, Roxanne." After giving her a quick peck on the lips, and sending her a smile, Max was on his way back to his house after walking Roxanne home.

The closer he got home, the more he tried to avoid looking at the still empty house that was right beside his. And yet, he couldn't stop himself from taking a glance out of the corner of his eye. His heart started to break again.

Has it really been only two years? It feels like it's been forever.

"Hey, Maxie! How was your date?"

He looked up to see his father sitting down on the couch and watching TV. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice when he got home.

He looked at his dad with a forced smile. "Uh, hey Dad. It was great, thanks for asking."

"If you're hungry there's some leftover spaghetti in the fridge."

Max rubbed the back of his neck while walking upstairs to his room. "I'm uh, not really hungry right now."

Goofy looked at his son, concern clear in his expression. "Are you okay?"

Max didn't look up from the step as he nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just.....I just need to be alone."

Goofy knew what was wrong, but he decided not to bother Max about it. "Alright. If you need to talk, I'm right here."

"I know." With that, he walked into his room, shut the door and leaned against it.

He wasn't lying about the date. They went out for lunch at a small, but pretty decent café, then they went to the bowling alley to play a few rounds- and Max is still denying that he lost- and then they went to the movies. It really was a fun date night.

His relationship with Roxanne really was great and was everything he thought it would be.

And yet, through all of that, there was still something that kept nagging him in the back of his mind.

No not something.

Someone.

Her voice. Her hair. The way her eyes lit up when she smiled-Oh God, her smile.

He was starting to notice that all of his thoughts were centering around this certain someone more and more.

And he wasn't the only one to notice.

Sometimes Roxanne would have to snap him out of a reverie he didn't even know he was in. She didn't know what, or who, he was thinking about, and even though he knew it probably wasn't a good idea, he didn't plan on telling her.

Shaking his head, he started walking towards the bed, but stopped when he stepped on something. Looking down, a small, sad smile came to his face.

A yellow skateboard. The same one he taught her how to ride when they were kids. The same one she gave him the day she left.

He made sure to take good care of it. If it even had just one spot of dirt on it, he would have it off in a second. Once he was done with it, he would make double sure that it was inside the house, in his room, and leaning up against the wall.

He let out a sigh and dropped down onto his bed, stuffing his face into his hands to stop the tears that threatened to come out his eyes.

But they still rolled down his cheeks.

I miss you, Nicky. So damn much.