nick and max hopped off the rink and went to go sit with their friends at the table they grabbed when they got there. it was only matt, audrey and chris, the others were still all out skating.
"well hello you two." audrey said with a cheeky smirk.
"hello auds." nick smiles at his friend. "have you guys skated?"
"of course. audrey just wanted some chips and chris wanted a pepsi so we came here to get them." matt says pointing to the canteen which was only a few feet away.
"i see." nick says. the group fall into small conversation, just talking about anything that comes to mind.
max pulls out his phone and opens his messages. he looks at matt sneakily before sending him a message.
max
matt
matt felt his phone vibrate and picked it up from the table. when he saw the message he was confused and looked up at max with a complex look on his face.
matt
u good?
max
can we talk?
matt
oh fuck
have i done something?
max
NO
i promise everythings fine
there's just something that's been on my mind for ages now
matt
okayyyyy
you wanna go somewhere else?
max
if that's ok
matt
ofc :)
matt stands up from the table and starts to walk away, well more like skate since they all still had their skates on.
"where are you going?" chris asks.
"to skate." matt says, not caring to elaborate.
"i'll come with you." max says standing up. max looks down at nick and smiles, nick smiles up at him and mouths 'good luck' to him.
the two skate away from the group and sit down at a bench that's out from the others sight.
"is everything ok?" matt asks straight away, not wasting any time.
max watches out onto the rink, it was full of energy and he lets the silence hang as he watches the people skate past. he takes a deep breath and finally looks over at matt.
"first things first. i don't want you to freak out or get mad at me for not telling you sooner it's just that-"
"you're straight?"
max simply looks at matt is shock. but also not surprised at all.
"no matt- im definitely not straight." max chuckles.
"well then what's wrong?" matt asks also laughing a little.
"i told nick this on our date and it didn't go so well. so i just want you to hear me out, till i'm completely finished speaking." max emphasises.
"oh, ok. yeah of course." matt says, it hitting him how serious this actually is.
max let's out a long sigh, looking down at his feet anxiously.
"did you have a friend as kid that you did everything with? you went everywhere with. he also got on really well with your brothers?"
matt looks at him like he's crazy.
"max are you on drugs- what the fuck is that question-"
"just think!" max exerts eagerly. matt looks at him genuinely concerned that something is wrong with him but because max is his friend, he starts to think.
he wracks through his mind to find a memory of a boy. a boy that he was apparently really good friends with. he remembers having lots of friends as a kid, so it could be any of them.
he still has no idea why max would want to know.
he thinks back to all these significant times in his childhood, seeing if there's any kids in them that stood out to him.
until he remembers one memory that he hadn't remembered in a very long time,
9 years ago
"MATT!"
the boy heard his name being called. he went to turn around and see who it was but could hardly get there before he was tackled to the ground in a huge hug.
"what are you doing?!" matt giggles out as the boy hugs him around his neck.
"i'm here to play." he smiles.
"i thought you said you weren't allowed to anymore." matt says, his smile dropping a little.
"my parents are out at work or something. my grandparents are watching me." he smiles.
"well, what do you wanna play?" matt asks the other boy.
he thinks for a moment before his face lights up.
"where's nick and chris?" he asks.
"they're inside helping mum with lunch. why?" matt asks confused.
"we should play gang up tiggy."
(i'm not sure if tiggy is a world wide term or just and aussie one, but it's the game where one person is 'it' and they have to chase everyone and tag them, and then that persons it. hang up tiggy is where when they tag someone, they both become it and tag everyone auntie everyone is it but 1 person.)
"YES!" matt instantly starts to run up the little pebbled walk way that leads to his front door. he barges in, the other boy right behind him and runs into the kitchen.
nick, chris and their mum are all in the kitchen making egg and salad sandwiches.
"mum. ca- can nick and- chris come out to play with us?" matt says panting.
"of course they can. but lunch will be ready in 20 minutes so be back by then. and honey, youre totally welcome to join us." marylou smiles at the boys.
"thanks mum." all three brothers say at once.
matt and chris run out ahead of the two other boys, them walking slowly behind them, chatting gleefully.
"cmon you two."
"yeah, you guys take forever." chris groans.
"sorry, sorry. we're here now." nick replies.
"so who's it?" matt asks.
"SHOTNOT." they all cry at once. sadly, chris was the only one without his finger on his nose.
the boys played tiggy for the next 15 minutes or so before they heard. a car pull up a few houses down.
the little boy gasps and starts to run back to his house.
"where are you going?!?" matt cries.
"my parents are home!!" the little boy cries back.
"can you come play again tomorrow?!"
"maybe!"
but the little boy never did come back to play.
present time
matt gulps anxiously as he remembers the day. he turns to look at max.
"yeah, i remember someone." he says, his voice shaky.
"do you remember his name?" max asked?
matt thought over the memory, but he realised that no one had said his name.
"no, i don't." matt sighed. max couldn't help but feel his heart break a little inside. but he didn't blame matt, not at all.
"well, that boys name was max." max pauses after he speaks. matt looks at max, instantly knowing.
"and that boy-"
max was cut off by matt wrapping his arms around his neck. he was shocked by the sudden contact and took a few seconds to realise what was actually happening. he couldn't help but smile slightly as he wrapped his arms around matt.
matt has never hugged someone harder. he squeezed max so tight, cause he thought he'd lose him again if he dared to let go.
"where did you go? how come we never saw you again." matt felt small tears travel down his face. he felt a little silly for crying over this but he couldn't help it.
max patted the back of matt's head comfortingly. he waited for matt to pull away from the hug before explaining.
"my parents didn't like us hanging out together." max starts.
"why?" matt asks.
"because of nick."
"what- what's wrong with nick?" matt questions.
"well, obviously they could tell that i had a different relationship with nick compared to what i had with you and chris. and they didn't like that." max says looking down at his hands. matt kept trying to wipe away the small tears that just kept coming.
"so, what happened? where'd you go?" matt asked again.
"well, because they didn't like that, they sent me here. my aunty and uncle watched me and raised me. i haven't seen my parents for years." max says simply.
matt frowns a little at the story. he wastes no time in wrapping max in one more hug.
"well it's great to see you again. i honestly never thought i would." matt chuckles.
"well, we've been hanging out for the past 3 weeks and you hadn't noticed. so i thought i should tell you." max smiles.
"have you known this whole time?" matt asks.
"no, i found out about 2 weeks ago. so like 4-5 days after i met you guys." max answers.
"right." matt says. "well, you wanna go skating?" matt asks.
"yeah!"
max and matt skate onto the rink. they laugh and skate around together before chris and nick come into the rink.
"i'm assuming he told you?" chris says to matt.
"about us being friends as kids? yeah, he did." matt smiles.
"uhhh, finally. i don't have to keep it a secret anymore." chris says in relief.
"how long have you guys known?" matt asked his brothers.
"since we went to the mall."
"since the date."
"damn- why'd you tell me so late!" matt playfully pushes max making him almost fall over.
"i don't know! chris was the reason we even figured it out. and nick and i... well i think you can tell by why i told him before you." max smiles over at the brunette boy. he reaches his hand out for him and nick laces their fingers together.
"eww, pda guys. jesus." chris rolls his eyes jokingly at the two.
for the rest of the afternoon, those 4 skate around the rink at least 100 times, talking about memories they had, laughing about old times, and just enjoying each others company.
something that none of them knew they needed.
woahhhhh
that was long asf- my bad
sorry for not uploading in a while, i've just gone back to school so i don't have much time to write.
BUT I WILL FINISH THIS- IT IS BEING COMPLETED
i hope that y'all enjoyed this chapter. if you can, pls vote and comment- it's greatly appreciated :))))