It had been almost a week since Alvin's weird feelings started up. It had also been a week since Alvin had woken up side by side with Max. That memory still made Alvin feel strange inside but it no longer felt uncomfortable. He had just came back home from school, deciding to grab something to drink and relax for an hour before heading to his workplace. In this entire week, Max hadn't changed or done anything weirder than that day.
Still, Max took this dating thing seriously. Alvin was being treated as someone important in Max's life, always listened to and always respected. Sure, before this, Alvin knew that he was still important to Max. But now, it was as if he was the first priority in Max's list, besides Max's priorities to the snow, of course. And soon, Alvin found himself liking it, this attention of being someone important to Max.
There weren't any more attempts on dates but Max was more attached to Alvin despite the protests that the young scientist was fine being left alone for a few hours with his experiments. He didn't need Max's attention all the time.
Walking into the living room, he took off his bag and placed it on the couch. He stopped for a moment and listened, realising that there wasn't anybody in the house. Alvin shrugged before he walked to the kitchen, heading straight to the refrigerator and opened the door. Bending slightly, he looked inside before grabbing a bottle of chilled mineral water. Closing the door, he walked to the cup rack and took out a glass before he poured the water in it.
Drinking the water, he noted that he was likely alone downstairs. He knew Max wasn't around or else he would've been eating something in the kitchen and his mom must have gone out somewhere. Abby was still in school having to finish up last-minute assignments and his dad was at work. Looking at his wrist watch, he still had forty minutes before he had to leave for work.
He could go and check up on his experiments, he mused on in his mind but after a few minutes of pondering, he realized it would be best if he turned up at work early. Maybe he could finish up his shift early if he started early. With that, he washed his cup and screwed closed the mineral bottle before carrying it to the living room. Grabbing his bag along the way, he walked out of the front door, closing the door behind him.
Once he made it to the Yogurt Yeti, he didn't hesitate to walk in, immediately greeted by the coldness and tanginess of frozen yogurt swishing through the air. He shuddered momentarily before he walked over to where Ms. Carpenter was, talking in her irritated demeanor to one of his coworkers. After letting her know that he was present, he quickly walked to the back of the shop to his changing room and changed into the shop's uniform. Placing his bag near his locker, he straightened his clothes and walked out, starting his shift early.
Attending customers to their fro-yo needs, Alvin was occupied for a moment that he didn't realise Max had walked into the shop, grinning wide when he spotted his best bro. "Shred!" Max exclaimed as he walked near Alvin, who had finished placing two toppings for one of the customers and sending them off with a smile. The youngest Ackerman looked at the snowboarder and raised his eyebrows even though a smile was carved on his face.
"Max," Alvin said before he returned to his toppings and arranged the containers neatly.
"Busy?" Max asked as he stood in front of Alvin. The young scientist looked at Max and looked around the place, taking note that there weren't any new customers at the moment.
"Well, I am working, Max," Alvin said as a matter-of-factly. Max just grinned even wider, his teeth were showing and for a moment, Alvin felt the weird feeling coiling up around his heart and squeezing it tight. Blinking a few times, the young scientist looked away and cleared his throat, frowning mentally as to why he was feeling like this more frequently.
"Ah, I'll just wait around here then," Max said as he shrugged and walked to one of the tables before sitting down on one the unoccupied seats. Alvin just stared at him, trying to figure out to why he was here.
"Why are you here, Max?" Alvin asked as Max looked at him and grinned.
"I'm waiting for you to get off work," Max said happily.
"Why?" Alvin asked after a while.
Max just shrugged his shoulders before he leaned into his seat and took out his smartphone. "Well, I just want to, bro," he said with a grin. Alvin looked at him for a few seconds before sighing, deciding to just ignore Max and carry on with his work like he was supposed to.
Max, as he said he would, waited for Alvin to finish with his shift. He didn't bother him like he usually did instead, he was playing a game on his smartphone while occasionally catching Alvin staring at him and flashing a smile. Alvin would look away immediately, adjusting his glasses in fleet of embarrassment and try to continue working.
As usual though, Max attracted attention wherever he was going. His fans, despite that half of them were teenage girls who didn't know the meaning of personal space, followed and crowded him and before Alvin knew it, Max was talking about one of his snowboard experiences and the people around him was laughing and grinning widely.
Alvin furrowed his eyebrows at that before sighing, wondering what it was that everybody saw in Max that seemed to be so intriguing. Sure, he knew Max's quirks and sure, sometimes he could understand why someone would die to just be in the same air space as Max but most of the time, he doesn't understand why people would seek him out like he was some meat and they haven't eaten for days.
The youngest Ackerman would also wonder if Max ever wanted to be alone for once. Not to be noticed except by the people who truly, deeply knew him. Shrugging the thoughts away, he attended to a customer who asked for a topping. Smiling and pushing his glasses back against his face, he gave the customer one topping, the maximum was two, and went ahead with his other chores like arranging plastic fro-yo cups against the fro-yo machines.
Soon, when he had some free lapse in his shift, his eyes found himself wandering back to Max, who was now entertaining a few girls as they giggled at him. Alvin raised his eyebrows at that and hummed to himself as he felt something weird coiling at the bottom of his gut.
"And I'm like, 'Whoa, man, slow down!'" Max said and the girls giggled, slightly blushing as well. Alvin felt the coil tightening before dread washed over him. He knew exactly what he was feeling in an instant when he saw one of the girls dragging a chair and sitting real close to Max, her thighs practically touching his as he continued on talking.
Alvin leaned against the counter and crossed his arms at that scene. He knew that Max wouldn't be too taken in with flirting. He was just him when it comes to that, as if he had that skill wrapped into his personality. He could charm any girl without any hesitation and Alvin found that thought quite disturbing.
Touching his chest absent-mindedly, he felt the same fluttering feeling in his chest again. And this time, it was accompanied by a weak dull ache when he realised that what they were doing wasn't going to last forever. Max was just trying to experiment with Alvin and by the end of it all, he would decide that he would like to be in a relationship with someone else. Someone who wasn't going to be Alvin.
The young scientist reeled at that thought for a moment, realizing that it had even occurred to him. When was he actually contemplating a real relationship with Max? Abby's words rung in his head and for a while, he just wanted to groan out loud.
Alright, so maybe it turned out that he liked Max that way after all. It had always been there and it just took him a while to finally understand why his heart fluttered so widely whenever Max was around and how his breathing would hitch whenever Max surged him into a surprise bro-hug.
And now, he was going to get really disappointed because this dating thing with Max just got a hell lot complicated for Alvin. A sharp giggle from one of the girls had Alvin looking back at them and he frowned. Max seemed to enjoy their attention and for a moment, Alvin felt abandoned.
So much for waiting for me until I finished my shift.
Max's eyes finally snapped over to him and Alvin immediately looked away, the frown deepening as he sighed and went back to work, wishing that the shift would be over soon. Once his shift was over, he quickly walked to the back of the store and headed to the dressing room to change. With that done, he took his bag and bade the manager goodbye before walking out of the changing room.
The snowboarder stood up as well once he saw Alvin before he said goodbye to the girls and followed Alvin. Alvin on the other hand, simply ignored Max and continued out of the shop and started walking back home. Max walked side by side with him quietly, occasionally glancing at him while he brooded.
He needed time to settle on with these newfound feelings for Max and finally try and get over them. Sighing, Alvin rubbed his face as he didn't even acknowledge Max. The trip home was quite awkward and tense and when Alvin finally opened the door to his house, Max was twitchy from all the silence.
Alvin though hurried off upstairs, greeting his mom and dad silently and for a while, Diane looked at Lloyd confused. "I'll talk to him," Alvin heard Max said but he didn't stop at the stairs or give any acknowledgement at all. Instead, the young scientist continued on his way until he walked into his room and slammed the door shut. He took his bag and dropped it beside the bed before sitting at the edge.
His mind was clouding and everything else was spinning inside of him. After a second, Max opened the door and cautiously walked in, noticing the look Alvin was looking at the floor, as if it had personally offended him. "Shred?" Max asked as he walked to his side of the room, not taking chances at whether his presence was welcomed at the moment or not.
Alvin sighed as he rubbed his face again before Max took a few steps away from his side, trying to get closer to Alvin. "Shred, dude? You okay?" Alvin looked away and bit his bottom lip, frustration filling up inside of his mind.
How in the world had he ended up liking someone like Max? When had this happened? Why had this happened? Most importantly, was it alright liking Max?
Max furrowed his eyebrows when he didn't get any answers and continued to take another few paces forward. "Shred, come on, bro. You know you can talk to me, right?" Alvin stood up abruptly at that and finally looked at Max. Max took a step back at the look Alvin was portraying and his eyes widened. "Dude?"
"When will this experiment end?" Alvin asked, his voice was low. Max blinked at him for a moment.
"Uh, experiment?" he asked, sounding a bit confused.
"This," Alvin gestured between them frustrated. "This thing we're doing."
"You mean, dating?" Max said only to be earned a glare from Alvin.
"Yes, Max," Alvin said tersely. "Dating. When will it end?"
Max seemed to tense up at that as he looked at Alvin, trying to analyse him. "Dude, did something happen? Why are you being so uptight?" Alvin went rigid at that before he shot Max a glare.
"Uptight?" Alvin sneered. "I am not uptight! I am frustrated and possibly at the verge of wanting to punch you in the face."
"Me?" Max asked loudly. "What did I do to you?"
"Everything!" Alvin yelled. "From the very beginning, you've decided to come into my life and have your way in everything you do. You take away my life and you make it all about you! Everyone in this house and at school keeps on gushing and talking about you, and your snowboarding, and how awesome you are—"
"Whoa, whoa," Max said as he raised both of his hands in surrender. "How is other people's reaction to me, my fault?"
"Oh, and then of course there are the girls who keep on swooning at you and looking at you with those stupid googly eyes like you're a piece of candy and it's so sickening to watch how they giggle and whisper whenever you show off!" Alvin heaved out loudly as Max just stared at him.
After a second, Max's face softened and he couldn't help but to end up giving the young scientist a smile, making Alvin to frown at him. "Dude," Max started as he sighed softly. "You don't have to worry about the girls. I only have eyes for you. I'm dating you, aren't I?"
Alvin became rooted on the spot as he stared at Max, his frown dying out from his face and his mind swirling in more confusion as he tried to register what Max had said. "What?"
"I mean, I can't ask them to stop thinking about me, I would be a jerk if I did that," Max said. "But you don't have to be jealous. I'm only with you and I'm only dating you."
It was official, Alvin was stuck in some kind of loophole that everyone else understood except for him. "Wait, what? Jealous?" Alvin asked as Max grinned. The young scientist's heart started thumping loudly in his chest at that grin and once again, something soft coiled in him. And then, the sentence registered fully and Alvin took a few steps back. "Max," Alvin growled. "I'm not jealous. You're not getting the point!"
"Sure I am," Max said as he raised his eyebrows, amusement in his eyes. "You were jealous seeing me with other girls."
"I am not!" Alvin denied immediately. He would rather die than admit that he had felt slightly jealous at the shop earlier. "Max, did you not get anything I was trying to say? Haven't you had enough of this? You've already dated me for more than a week. We can end this now."
Max tensed up again, his shoulders became rigid and his smile dropped away. Silence ventured in between them and before Alvin knew it, Max had walked up to him. Alvin looked at Max, wondering what this person in front of him was thinking when suddenly, he felt Max raising his right hand and slowly caressed Alvin's cheek. "Uh, Max?" Alvin questioned, immediately trying to back away.
Before he could, Max's left arm took charge and held around Alvin's waist, keeping him in place before Max moved in closer almost closing off space between them. Alvin felt his heart pick up speed and his breathing pattern becoming more erratic. His eyes stared into Max's, wondering what was going on.
His palms felt sweaty and for a moment, he felt bliss. "Max, seriously, what?" Alvin couldn't make any complete sentence as Max's right hand suddenly grasped onto his jaw softly. Alvin brought his hands against Max's shoulders and tried to push him off even though he didn't put any effort. Alvin noticed a soft smile on Max's face before his hand around the youngest Ackerman's waist tightened and dragged the boy closer to the snowboarder.
Their bodies now close with little to no space in between, Max's lips was directly against Alvin's temples. He felt Max's lips brushing softly against his temples and for a while, panic that was surging through Alvin's mind dampened into something sweet and soft that made him close his eyes. Seconds ticked on and Alvin's grip on Max's shoulder tightened when the snowboarder's lips dropped low to his ear.
"Just a bit longer, okay?" Max whispered softly and Alvin momentarily almost shuddered. "Okay?"
Alvin clutched his eyes closer, wondering what was going on to his own body as they felt weak. Alvin didn't really understand what Max was implying and just nodded against the snowboarder's shoulders. After a few more seconds, Max detangled himself from Alvin and took a few steps back. Alvin's eyes opened immediately and he almost dropped to the floor from how weak he felt.
Max didn't say anything else, instead, he hurriedly walked out of the room, the door closing shut behind him. Alvin felt his cheeks were still hot and not just his cheeks, his ears and down his neck felt hot too. He took in a huge breath of air as if he was holding his breath all along and finally ended up on the ground when his knees buckled.
He looked at the ground, mind confused at what had happened. One moment he was asking Max when they could end this and the next Max had him against himself and uttered something that made Alvin shudder out a response. His mind whirled around and he felt weird for a second.
Confusion filled his mind as he analyzed what he was feeling. It was confirmed now that he definitely liked Max that way but it didn't make sense as to why Max would hold him like that. It was weird enough that they almost did some other things not worth mentioning, but now this? For a moment, Alvin wondered if Max wanted to be in a real relationship with him as well. But later, he crossed that thought out when he finally registered to what Max had asked him.
And Alvin had agreed with Max to prolong this experiment.
He couldn't help but to feel slightly used and maybe he was angry at himself for letting him to be played. When had he became so chummy inside for Max, he would never know. Sighing, he rubbed his face with the heels of his palms and realised how shaky his hands were.
He couldn't fathom as to why Max wanted to continue on with this.
Even for an experiment, wasn't this a little too far? Now that Alvin was painfully aware of what he was feeling for Max, it was going to be a lot tougher to wish for this little charade to end.
For once in his life, he blamed himself for that.
Seriously though, what the hell was that?