Persephone
With a sigh, I grab a hold of my suitcase handle, putting all my weight into my arms as I force it from the bottom of the bus. I never realised I was this heavy of a packer until I started working, I swear, I don't even know why I pack half the things I pack. I tug and tug and tug, a wave of exhaustion flowing over me. I'm on my fourth tug (literally, why is this stupid thing so heavy??) when a warm hand crosses over mine, tugging the case out from the undercarriage easily. I turn my head, unable to stutter out a thankyou to Max's self-satisfied smirk before his own head drops, pressing his lips to my forehead. Their warmth couldn't have been touching my skin for more than a few seconds, but in my world of events, the world seems to slow around me, with each event slowed like a picture show. Eventually though, and probably longer than what is deemed socially acceptable for a situation like this
"Why aren't you inside already?" I ask, pushing a breathless strand of hair from in front of my eyes as I stare up at Max. On trips like this, it's normal for the players to shut themselves into their rooms the second they reach the hotel, and for the team's staff (a.k.a. me) to run around getting things prepared, well after the player's get settled. So technically, by this ruling, Max should already be standing in the lobby, not nestled next to my ear, breathing hot breath onto my skin, and causing goosebumps to arise out of thin air.
"Why? To leave you hopeless and stranded on the side of the road? Never." I snort, attempting to take my case from Max. He doesn't let me though, keeping his hand planted firmly on the handle, and raising a challenging eyebrow. His own bag is slung over his shoulder, (he's a much lighter packer than me) and in that moment, I give up fighting. He can be all macho and carry my bag if he wants to, it's his funeral, not mine.
"I was not hopeless and stranded, thankyou very much." We turn, and I press my hands further into my pockets. The cold, dark air flies around us, blasting every inch of uncovered skin I have. I'm already wearing Max's beanie on my head, the one thing I managed to forget in my mass of luggage.
"So this was just... what..." Max's eyebrows shoot up comically, as he surveys the environment around us. "You vs case. MMA?"
"Yeah, I whooped her ass."
"With my help."
"A tag-team."
"Meaning you still needed me out here, or you would have failed, miserably?" Max reaches around my body, pushing the hotel lobby door open from behind. He shoots me grin before I turn my head, stepping into the warmth with an already warmed heart.
"...No?"
"You don't sound overly confident there."
"I would have been able to get it out..."
"Eventually."
"Right."
"If I hadn't helped you, I would have looked out my window while doing a shit tomorrow morning, and still, you would have been struggling." A loud giggle escapes me throat, but I quickly slap a hand over my mouth and lower my voice level, spying at least a dozen sets of eyes on me. Max simply lowers his head, chuckling to himself silently.
"Doing a shit?"
"It's the best way to start your morning." I spy Max's expression suspiciously, looking for any sign of humour or a joke. When I don't find anything other than his usual daring look, I can't help but laugh in surprise. Or fright. Probably both. Hah.
"I think we're becoming a little too close."
Max snorts, moving an inch closer, until our bodies bump together in sync, his bag-laden arm curling around my waist.
"We could get closer, I'm sure."
I didn't even need to ask how. My mind asked for me, betraying every inch of willpower I thought I possessed.
"Can I help you?" My eyes snap forwards, out of their trance, and Max and I instinctively step forward toward the now-empty front desk, our motions timed to perfection. Max smiles at the receptionist, and before either of us can utter a word, she holds out
I take a second to look around the well-lit and bright lobby area. I hadn't it when we first got here, Max sort of had me...preoccupied. December's only just hit, yet twinkles light up every inch of this place, gold and silver and every colour in between. There's a tree that's been stood up in the corner of the room, it's own light blinking shades of blue, red, green and purple. There's a smell about the air too, someone chocked full of cinnamon and wood. It's perfect.
A hand is waving itself in front of my eyes as I stand rooted to the spot, and I push it away, not allowing anything or anyone to ruin this moment for me. It's not until Max pulls, literally pulls, my arm that I relent, smacking him on the shoulder as he tears me away from the lobby.
"I was looking at that."
"I know. I spoke to you like 10 times and it was like you couldn't even hear me."
"I couldn't. Was too busy." Max snorts, shaking his head, as he leads me towards an elevator. We're silent as we step into it, and as Max's finger slides over the button marking '6'. The doors slide closed, and the elevator whirrs around us, starting it's ascent up the winding levels. It's cool in the large, metal box, and I shiver a little, a shiver that turns into a full-blown jolt as the elevator shudders, stopping in it's place. Max pulls me closer to him as the shudder rebounds across the four walls, holding me in place as the world moves around us. Once the aftershock comes to a close, I tilt my head, looking at Max with wide eyes.
"Max..." I breathe out, my voice barely above a whisper. A slight panic rises through my throat, although rationally, I know I should try to remain calm in a situation such as this. But when you're stuck in an elevator, who is just immediately calm. Like who automatically thinks to be calm rather than spin into a panic where they talk in long sentences that make no sense and they can't stop talking and oh my god I'm doing it right now and I don't know how to stop and-
"Pers, Pers, can you hear me?" My eyes fly open, blinking in surprise that they were even closed in the first place.
"Yeah, yes, sorry, I don't..."
"Hey, it's okay. Just stay calm, we'll get out of here." Max let's our bags drop to the floor as he scoops me into his arms, calming my breath by running a supportive hand across my back. Eventually he let's go, giving my hand one last squeeze before he turns to the control panel, pressing the open doors button. We both watch the doors, and listen for a noise, and when nothing happens, Max moves to the emergency buzzer, waiting in silence for a beep. It crackles to life in a few seconds, the noise sending a sigh of relief to my beating heart.
"Hello? Front desk, Nathan speaking."
"Hey Nathan, uh, myself and my girlfriend are currently stuck in an elevator. We were meant to be going up to the sixth floor from ground. We uh... we need help." A laugh, a laugh bubbles in Max's throat, provoking a scared one from mine.
"I am so sorry." Nathan's voice replies. "That actually just buzzed on our system here, and I was about to call maintenance to see what the issue is. So everyone is okay in there?"
"Yes, there's just the two of us in here, and we're both okay. But, would you be able to contact Coach Steven Adams, he's in this hotel somewhere, and tell him that Max Morin and Persephone Miller are stuck in an elevator, but are okay? Thanks buddy."
"Yep, sit tight, I'll call back in a minute or two when we get some details sorted out." The line crackles to a halt, and silence returns to our small space. Max turns back to me, and in two steps, he's caught me in his arms, and is pulling me to the floor, to sit down. I let myself fall into him, my entire body relaxing. Max sits behind me, against the wall, and pulls me to lie with my head nestled into the base of his neck, the warmth of his own body overtaking the fearful coolness of mine. He runs a hand across the outer side of my arm, allowing me to snuggle into his body. Even as I lie here, focussing on how to breathe, I can't help feeling like this shouldn't be happening. That I shouldn't be enjoying feeling Max's chest against my back, his hands wrapping tightly around my body.
Because it'll just confuse everything more, in the end. That I have no idea what I'm doing, and that I'll just end up attached and heartbroken in the end.
I lift my head from his chest, in an attempt to create just an inch of space between us. Breathing room. But before I can truly move, my heart betrays me, and the hand Max was using to trace circles over my arm trails over my shoulder and neck, until it comes to a stop at my cheek, cupping its warm flesh. For balance, I let my hands fall to his body, one resting on his chest whilst the other snakes around the back of his neck, and into the bottoms of his soft, silky hair. I gulp, as Max rests a hand on my lower back, pulling me closer to him by every missing second. His calloused thumb runs across my cheek and down to my lips, tugging them sideways before tracing over the bottom half. A breath gets stuck in my throat, making me shudder, and forcing my eyes shut. Max's laboured breath fills my ear, tensing the small pile of air left in our gap. My eyes flutter between open and shut as I feel myself being tugged towards Max, every part of me screaming for his lips to touch mine. Somehow, he must be able to read my mind, as he tilts my chin upwards with his index finger, angling my lips to his.
Although I was hoping to expect it, his kiss still takes me by surprise, knocking all the air out of me. Cold air hits my nose as I breathe in forcefully, my heart taking over from my head. I clutch the ends of Max's hair tightly, causing him to groan into my mouth. His hand presses into the small of my back, tilting my entire body forward until I'm almost entirely leaning against him. I feel his muscles tense against my chest as he takes my added weight, with my other hand going to clutch the taut muscles of his shoulder. Our kiss becomes more intense as Max angles my neck upwards, gaining him access to the corner of my neck. He immediately attacks it, the new position causing a small cry to escape my throat. I adjust my legs so that I'm now straddling Max, my hands moving to cup his face, forcing his lips back to mine. I feel him sigh into my mouth, the sound sending a pulse of heat down into my stomach.
And it feels like the night we kissed for the camera's, where everything felt amplified. But better. So much better. Because even though the other one felt real, in my heart, the camera factor couldn't be ruled out. Here, there was just the two of us, two pairs of lips meeting, and two hearts comparing rhythms. Two souls knotting together, against the advice of everything they had put in place.
The line crackles again.
We break apart, my eyes now wide open and alert. Max looks the same, glancing between me and the control panel.
What the fuck just happened?
After a moment, Max sighs, letting his hands fall to underneath my body as he pulls both himself and me from the floor. Placing me on the ground, he crosses to the control panel, just in time for a voice to echo over the line.
"Max? Are you there? It's Nathan."
"Hey Nathan, we're both still here. What's up?"
"Well, the maintenance team have checked out the elevator, and they've said it's stuck pretty badly, just above level 5."
"So... what does that mean for us?"
"We've called the fire department, and they're on their way over here now. There's not much we can do for now, but we'll be able to move you in the next half an hour or so. There'll be someone calling out to you from the outside in the next few minutes, so keep an ear out for that, if you could. All okay?"
"Yep, great. Thanks again Nathan."
"It's my pleasure, hang tight guys."
With that, the line falls silent again, and Max turns from the panel, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. I can feel the tension in the air, so poignant and strong the people outside probably can as well. I wring my hands together, trying desperately to break this uncomfortable moment before it can snowball into something worse than it needs to be.
"I'm sorry about that... before." I begin, an embarrassed flush letting itself loose across my cheeks.
"I didn't mind." Max instantly replies, his cheeks going an instant red as he tries to backtrack. "I mean... I uh..."
"It's okay, you don't have to explain. We both... we both know what happened."
"Okay."
A few moment later, he breaks the silence.
"I didn't regret it, if that's what you're thinking. I never have."
My heart speeds up as I watch his eyes, dark and telling, skirting over every inch of my face, looking for a response. Desperate for a response. Because I could absolutely wrong in every possible way, but this doesn't feel like it used to. Doesn't feel like what we agreed on all those months away, stuck in a stairwell away from the rest of the world. And it's only now, when we're stuck in a elevator away from the rest of the world, that it's been opened up, for all to see.
"I believe you." Because I don't either. I never have, and never will.
A/n:
i've re-entered my fearless era, and all is not well (says through tears)
okay i'm not kidding, but i just loved this chapter. idk, i've been a bit stuck in writing for a while, but this felt GOOD. so i hoped you enjoyed it as much as i did (no pressure, remember, everyone is entitled to their own opinions :))
anyways, just wanted to let you all know that i have exams coming up in the next 4-6 weeks, so i may be a little awol for a while, and i apologise for that. school is still my top priority at the moment, so i'm incredibly sorry that wattpad is secondary to that, and therefore this story may be on a little hiatus. i'm not saying i'll be gone entirely, you never know, i might have a little spark of joy next week, or the weeek after and sit down to write, but i can't promise anything, sorry babes :(
i'll always love you guys, all of you that read and vote and respond to my stories. you'll never understand how much of an impact you've had on my life, and the little thrill i get each time the little orange notification button lights up.
okay im crying again, STAWPPP
until next time, ems xx