My Gorgeous Nightmare

I didn’t have work the next day, and Max and I decided to have one of our lazy days, where we laid in bed and did nothing but watch movies and have our random conversations.

So far, we’d watched the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and I was restocking our popcorn and drinks while Max set up the next movie. I was done before Max, but he’d had trouble finding his copy of Sweeney Todd, so he was just putting it in. I made myself comfortable on the bed while I watched him set everything up. When he finally pressed play, he took his time joining me.

I couldn’t keep myself from watching Max walk across the room and climb up next to me; his bed was kind of high up off the ground, and I had to climb in, while Max just sat down. He sat facing me, staring at me. “Is this an unannounced staring contest?” I asked, sitting up to face him.

Max nodded, not breaking our gaze. We didn’t move for the next few minutes, not even to quote the movie we’d both memorized from watching so often together. After a few minutes, Max gave up, groaning. “I think my eyes are going to fall out, they’re so dry!” he whined, rubbing them.

“I think you’ll live,” I said.

“But what if I don’t?”

“Hmm…Then I’ll come to your funeral after submitting you to the Darwin Awards as the first person to die from a staring contest.” Max pretended to be hurt, but I could see him trying to hide a smile. “So, what did I win?”

Max looked around. “This bowl of popcorn!” he shouted, holding it out to me.

“But I popped the popcorn, put it in that bowl, and carried it up here. I think I deserve something I didn’t have to do all the work for,” I said, taking the popcorn anyway. Why pass up the chance for free food, even if I was going to be eating it anyways?

I watched Max as he thought for a moment. He looked nervous about something. “Are you sure you want your prize?” he asked. I nodded slowly. “It’s something I’ve wanted to give to you for a while now, and this is the best time for it.” I wasn’t sure if I should be worried or not.

Max leaned forward and kissed me softly. Max still looked nervous when he pulled back, and he wasn’t meeting my eye. What he didn’t know was that I’d been waiting for that to happen since he’d come to pick me up that night. “You don’t want to be with me, my life is a nightmare,” I said. I didn’t want to hurt him if I didn’t have to.

Max shook his head. “I’ve wanted to be with you since I met you. And I don’t care if you’re life is a nightmare; so is mine. Please, move in here with me. I’ll help you sell your things, and that way you won’t have to worry about paying your rent or any of that. I love you,” he whispered.

“Max, you’re my best friend. I’ll move in, but you know I don’t believe in love, and I don’t want to hurt you.” I couldn’t lose him.

“We can make this work,” he said, taking my hands in his. “We’ll be together; it can be like we’re married, just without the paperwork. And if we can’t make a relationship work, we don’t have to go through the trouble of getting a divorce, and we can stay friends.”

“Let me think about it,” I said. “I’ll give you my answer before I leave tonight.”

We laid down on the bed together and started the movie over, quoting every line and singing every song, just like always. I could feel Max watching me, though he looked away when I turned my head. We passed the rest of the day like that, until I had to get home.

Max walked me to my place so I wouldn’t have to go alone, and he didn’t want to waste gas going such a short distance. After I unlocked my door, I turned to face Max. “I have to work the next two days, but then I’ll be off and we can move my things out,” I said.

Max grinned, following me in to my apartment. As soon as the door was closed, he wrapped me up in his arms and kissed me passionately. You can guess why he didn’t go home that night, and I was late getting to work in the morning.

1 Year Later

Max and I had been together for a year today, and I’d told him I needed to talk to him after work. I had the day off, but he’d spent the day at the studio recording for ETF’s new album. I had probably worried him when I said we needed to talk. He shouldn’t have been though; I’d never been happier, and everyone we knew had told me the same of Max.

I was in the kitchen when Max got home. I heard him put his bass away before flopping on the bed. I waited a minute before going into our room and sitting by him on the bed. “Max, I need to tell you something,” I said quietly. He sat up, looking more nervous than I’d ever seen him. I took a deep breath. “Max, I love you.” It took a moment for it to sink in, but when it did, his face broke into a grin and he pulled me to him.

“I thought you were going to say you were moving out,” he sighed. “This is so much better though. I’m glad you’re my gorgeous nightmare.”