Textbook Romance

Max came out of the shower dressed in a pair of blue basketball shorts that I knew came out of my bag. When I walked up to take his place in the bathroom I chuckled at the fact that he too, smelt like my favorite strawberry shampoo and conditioner. "I should blacken your other eye for that," I said as I walked past him, looking at my shorts on his body and the black and blue that surrounded his eye.

"What?" he asked, "For wearing your shorts? You wore mine first, Nev."

I shook my head as I slipped past him into the bathroom and stood in the doorway. "For the little stunt you pulled on stage."

Max chuckled and shrugged his bare shoulders. "Don't worry, Nev, I think your boyfriend will work on that tomorrow."

"You'd deserve it," I said pointedly as I leaned against the doorway with Max standing a couple feet in front of me, a smile on his lips as he shrugged again.

"I know. But I'd rather someone try to beat me up for being honest than for being a liar."

I bit my lip as a new subject came to mind. "How are you doing?" I asked, "You know..."

Max shrugged. "Just been pretty shaky," he murmured as he pushed his dripping hair out of his face, "Almost messed up on stage, luckily I caught myself before it could get to bad."

"I didn't hear anything," I told him honestly, thinking back to the show and trying to remember if I had heard anything out of the ordinary.

Max just shook his head. "My fingers wouldn't stay on the frets."

I sighed as he balled his hands into fists at his sides. Even with his muscles tightened I could see his hands shaking. "I'll come talk to you when I get out of the shower," I told him with a small smile, "I stink, seriously."

Max chuckled but shook his head, "No you don't, you're just being a wuss."

I stuck my tongue out at him before I went to shut the door. Before I could Max called out to me. "Nev?"

The softness of his voice caused me to look up at him. His eyes were hazy green, like always, but there was an honesty brewing on the surface that stopped my voice in my throat, so I just looked to him in question.

He reached forward and grabbed my hand from my side. He slipped his fingers between mine and held on tightly. I held my hand steady as his shook in the slightest. After a moment his hand stopped shaking as noticeably from how hard he was holding onto my hand. It didn't hurt so I held on just as tight until he gained control of it. Then he pulled his hand back and nodded.

"Thanks," he said quietly before turning and walking away. I thought in that minute that it was for more than just holding his hand.

I bit my lip and I went into the bathroom and shut the door. I climbed out of my clothes and into the shower, turning the water on as hot as it would go, seeing as all the guys had taken showers before me to wipe the sweat from their bodies like I was doing now.

I couldn't help but laugh when I noticed that my shampoo and conditioner were almost empty. I washed my hair slowly and left the conditioner in as I washed my skin, so that it would soak into my hair and leave the smell and softness behind.

I got out when the water ran cold and wrapped a blue towel around my tattooed body. I shook my hair out and brushed it with the comb that was left on the sink, knowing that the owner wouldn't care too much. I wiped the fog off of the mirror and looked at myself.

I sighed before cracking the bathroom door open and sticking my head. "Can someone bring me my bag?" I called, knowing that they must've all migrated to the back room to play games.

"I'm on it," Max called back from the bunks.

I listened as his feet hit the ground with a 'thump'. Then a second thump as he dropped down from my side of the bunks with my bag. "Here you go," he said as he appeared in front of me, still shirtless and just in my shorts. He handed me the bag that contained my clothes and glanced at me with a tired smirk on his lips.

Since I was standing there in just a towel, I thanked him before turning and shutting the door so I could get dressed. I cursed when I realized that he was wearing my only pair of basketball shorts. I grabbed for my soft pajama pants instead and pulled them on after dressing in my undergarments.

I pulled a tanktop on over my head and pulled my hair out from under it. I tied the wet mess of tangles up on my head before I headed out towards the bunks so I could toss my bag up there. Max peaked his head out of his bunk when I walked back there.

"Want to watch a movie with me?" he asked, a tired smile on his face.

I shook my head. "I'm going to bed," I told him as I started climbing to my bed, my arm muscles aching in protest since I had been packing, unpacking, loading, and unloading boxes for the last two hours.

Max pouted, "Come on, Nev, watch a movie with me."

I shook my head and pulled my curtain on him jokingly, causing him to groan. "Come on, we can watch a DVD on your computer."

"Max, go to bed," I said as I snuggled under my blankets and let my head drop to my pillow.

Everything was silent for a moment and then my curtain was pushed open as Max climbed up next to me and crawled under my blankets. The boy reached to the shelf next to my bed and grabbed my laptop, ignoring me as I protested and told him to go to his own bunk.

"You can borrow my laptop, just go away," I pouted, wanting to push him out of my bed, but not wanting my computer to go crashing to the ground.

Max shook his head though and opened it up. I noticed then that he had brought one of his own DVDs when he climbed up. He popped it in as I whined.

"Max, I'm going to sleep," I told him as I closed my eyes, ignoring him and his movie.

Max whined, "Nev, you're a loser. Wake up."

"No, I'm tired," I said, scooting over as far as I could in the other direction, although our shoulders and hips were still touching.

"Are you still mad at me?" he asked as he reached out over and cupped my face with his hand.

I opened my eyes and looked into his. "No," I said simply, wishing he would back up so that our faces weren't so close together.

Max rolled his eyes. "Yes you are. I'm surprised too, usually girls love it when guys call them beautiful and gorgeous. Especially when they're telling the truth."

"Max," I whispered, "I have a boyfriend."

He shrugged and turned his attention to the movie that was now playing on the screen.

"Max," I called, trying to get his attention. "Max."

Max didn't look at me.

"Max, you have to listen to me," I said as I reached over and turned his head so that he had to look at me.

"What?" he asked, finally, as his eyes bore into mine.

"I. Have. A boyfriend," I repeated slowly, pausing on each word like that would make him understand, even though I knew he was trying not to.

Max closed his eyes, causing me to stare at him. Causing me to try and understand what he was thinking. Then he closed the laptop and pushed it onto my lap. He opened his eyes and slid up so that he was almost sitting up without banging his head on the ceiling of the bus. "Goodnight, Nev," he murmured before he slid out of my bunk and hit the ground hard, his feet making a lot of noise.

I watched as he turned and went to the back of the bus to spend time with his band. I sighed and pulled my curtain shut, sticking my laptop back on the shelf and turning snuggle into my blankets that now smelt like a mixture between strawberry shampoo and Max.