Kiss Me Again

Olivia pressed the skip button on her iTunes and smiled once Kimbra started playing through the speakers of her computer. Spending almost a month in Australia and traveling all over the country, mainly in the wilderness, she missed dressing up nice. She had a hard time picking out what to wear since she was just going over a friend's, but she wanted to desperately impress someone that evening. She just decided to settle on her favorite jeans and the tank top that he loved so much on her. She even grabbed the heels that her best friend had made since she went through so much trouble getting them for Olivia and she hardly wore them.

She looked over at her clock and saw that it was almost 9 o'clock, meaning that her ride would arrive any minute. Olivia quickly changed from her pajamas and into her evening clothes before leaving her bedroom. She was excited to see everyone again since she had been gone for so long. She made sure she had everything in her clutch since the last time she went out she had forgotten her keys. A loud knock on the door startled Olivia from her position on the couch. She shouted to the person on the other side of the door that it was unlocked and for them to come in.

Nareesha and Siva appeared from the other side of the door. The girls let out a little squeal when they saw each other for the first time in a month. "Liv, you look absolutely stunning!" Nareesha gushed, "I can't believe you've been gone for a month!"

Olivia smiled up at Nareesha since was wearing her heels. "I know! I missed you so much!"

"Well you obviously didn't miss me that much since I haven't gotten a hug yet," Siva said behind them.

Olivia turned around and hugged Siva with a big smile on her face. She told him that she missed him, as well as his cheesy jokes. He muttered an 'I told you so' to Nareesha, making her roll her eyes at her boyfriend.

"Well where are your shoes? We've got to hurry up and get to Jay's," Nareesha said.

"Hold on, will you? You're always rushing people," Olivia teased.

"I told you that you do that a lot!" Siva said, with a smile. "Now will you believe me?"

Olivia quietly laughed at the adorable couple as she put on her shoes for the evening. Nareesha let out another squeal when she realized that she was going to wear the heels that she had made especially for Olivia's birthday a few months ago. She had noticed that before Olivia’s departure, she had been dressing up a little more than she usually did. She didn’t know if it was because she just wanted to change her style, or if it was because she was seeing someone. Right now, she would have asked Olivia questions but didn’t since those thoughts slipped her mind from missing her best friend so much.

"Come on girls," Siva said as Olivia stood up, "the boys are waiting for us at Jay's!"

She grabbed her clutch from the coffee table before following the couple to the van. Siva sat behind his girlfriend and her best friend. He didn't mind since he knew how close they were and the fact that they weren't able to talk for a month. He knew that for the next week or so, he wouldn't hear much from Nareesha since she would be spending all her time with Olivia. They were all silent for a moment as they made their way to Jay's flat. Olivia began thinking, and she wasn't sure if she was more excited to be home, or just being able to see Max again. She didn't even remember the last time where she had obsessed over what to wear for such a simple evening.

When they pulled up to Jay's flat, the girls followed Siva out of the van and into the flat. Siva was greeted by a chorus of hellos when he walked in with Nareesha behind him. Olivia popped in not a second later, and was greeted by an even louder chorus.

Tom got up from the couch and walked over to Olivia to give her an air tight hug. "Hello there, Olivia. Australia did you some good," he smirked lightly, taking in her appearance.

She just rolled her eyes at Tom as she tried hiding her smile. Nathan lightly pushed Tom out of the way to hug Olivia. "You've had your turn, mate." Nathan said before he wrapped his arms around Olivia. "How was Australia?"

"It was amazing! Thanks for recommending that restaurant to me. It was good to eat some real food after the vegetarian diet I had to endure," she said, as she and Nathan still had their arms tangled around each other.

He quickly looked up and down her body, "you do look a bit skinner than you normally do. We need to take you out and get some meat on those bones!"

"What am I going to eat then?" Jay asked as he pushed Nathan out of the way to hug Olivia.

Nathan playfully glared up at Jay before walking away to sit on the couch. Jay was a bear compared to Olivia. He picked her up from the ground and squeezed her tightly. He put a sloppy kiss on her cheek and began telling her how much he had missed her and her help with taking care of Tia.

"Where's Max at?" She asked, doing her best to hide the even bigger smile that she was dying to let out.

"He’s out on the balcony. He got a phone call from 'you know who'," Jay mumbled. "Dressing up for him, I see." He said, noticing her dressy attire.

Thankfully, no one else was paying attention to her and Jay since they already cracked open a few beers. Jay was the only one who knew about Max and Olivia since he had accidentally walked in on them once. Max was terrified that Jay would end up telling one of the guys since he's been known to not be very good at keeping secrets. Thankfully he had been able to keep his mouth shut for the past few months.

"Be quiet, Jay," she blushed.

Jay sent her a smirk before he told her that she should go and check up on Max since he had been out there for a while. She walked towards Jay's kitchen since that was where the balcony was located. She could see Max on his phone, looking tense. She slid open the glass door, making Max turn around quickly to see who it was. She gave him a small smile as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Michelle, I don't have time to talk about this right now. I'll call you later," Max said, shutting off his phone and putting it in his pocket. "Hi,” he said, cracking a smile.

"Hi," she sighed, "everything okay with Michelle?"

Max let out a low chuckle, "she wants to get back together."

"Oh," Olivia mumbled, "fantastic."

He let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head. He leaned against the cement walling of the balcony as he saw how Olivia began to feel uncomfortable. "I told her that I didn't want to."

She looked up at him and he could see hope in her eyes once more. "Did you really?" She asked quietly.

He nodded, "I did. I told her that I didn't love her that way anymore and that there was somebody else. She got upset and that's when you walked in."

"M-Maybe you should go and talk to her," Olivia suggested.

Max shook his head. "I didn't get to talk to you or see you for a month. I think Michelle can wait a day."

He walked over and held out his arms. Her arms wrapped around his waist as his warm body touched hers. He kissed her forehead before resting his head against hers. He knew that his attitude was going to be different this night since Michelle had called. She could feel how tense his body felt and knew that he was going to be worked up all night.

She slightly pulled away and looked up at him. "I really missed you," she said softly.

"I missed you too," he huskily mumbled back.

Her eyes scanned his whole face. He looked just as tense as his whole body felt. She hated how upset he suddenly was, especially the night she was back. Her grip around his waist tightened as she decided to kiss him. She caught him off guard but he relaxed his body and eased himself into the kiss. The kiss was soft and gentle; she tried to pull away but he only kissed her again once he felt her lips leave his.

He removed his arms from her body and grabbed her wrists to drape her arms over his shoulders. His right hand cupped her face as his left hand rested on her lower back. Max began walking forward to push Olivia against the wall. Their kiss began to get more intense by the second once his body pressed even harder against hers. She knew what he wanted but there was nothing she could do to help him out.

"Max," she moaned lightly, "we can't do this here. We're at Jay's house."

He let out a low frustrating sigh as he pulled away. "You're right," he said sadly, resting his forehead on hers. "Sorry."

She gave him a little smile, "don't be. We'll take care of everything when you come over later tonight. We should go back out with everyone else. They're probably suspecting something since we've been gone for so long."

Max didn't say anything; he nodded and pecked her lips before following her back inside. Kelsey was in the kitchen putting the two cases of empty beer bottles into the recycling bin. She and Olivia quickly gave each other a hug before they all joined the group. Max let Olivia sit on the couch next to Nathan as he took the spot on the floor next to Jay. Everyone else was getting drunk and having a fun time as Max and Olivia sat there. Occasionally they would laugh and join in the conversation, but they were too busy thinking about their situation. All Olivia kept thinking about was Max and Michelle. Max said he was over Michelle and that he wanted to be with her but Olivia always had her doubts.

Max and Michelle were in a very serious relationship and were even engaged at one point. Things just stopped working out for them in the end and that was when he and Olivia started to happen. 95% of the time she would believe him when he said that he was over her and that she was in the past. The other 5% would happen on nights like this when Michelle would randomly call Max or someone would mention her name.

"O-Oh-liv-e-ah!" Jay sang as his heavy arm was draped around her shoulder. "Why aren't you drinking?"

"I'm tired. My sleeping schedule is still used to Australia's hours," she explained. "I think I'm going to go home now."

Jay frowned, "Liv, you just got here."

She smiled up at him, "it's almost two in the morning, Jay. I'll see you later this week and we'll do lunch or something."

He called her a party pooper before she gave him a peck on the cheek to kiss him goodnight. She said goodbye to everyone else, but they were too drunk to really realize what was going on. Max quickly stood up and tried sneaking out of the door, but Tom caught him and asked where he was going.

“It’s really late. I don’t want her going home by herself,” he explained calmly.

"Don't forget a-about our plans tomorrow!" Tom shouted, waking Kelsey up.

Max had a little smile on his face and just shook his head at Tom before leaving Jay's flat. He followed Olivia outside and stayed silent. They both were quiet on the cab ride back to her flat but neither of them seemed to mind. His hand somehow found hers in the dark and began to rub it lightly with his thumb. She looked over at him and gave him a smile before looking back out of the window. When they arrived at her place, he paid the cab driver before following Olivia inside her flat with his hand still attached to hers.

As they walked into her bedroom, she realized that she left her iTunes account on. She was about to turn it off, but he told her to leave it on. Olivia tossed her heels to the side before sitting in the middle of the bed. Max tossed his shoes to the side as well since he knew Olivia hated when he wore his shoes on her bed. He laid back into her bed as he sang along to the song that was playing. He pulled her over with his big hands, and wrapped his arms around her body once her back pressed against his chest.

"I love this shirt on you," he mumbled against her shoulder. "I don't understand why you don't wear it more often."

She playfully slapped his hand. "I wore it today for you, didn't I?"

She felt his chest move against her back as he let out a little laugh. "That you did."

Olivia's smile got bigger as she felt his arm tighten around her body. He left little kisses on her shoulder and the back of her neck as her fingers traced little patterns on his hand. Normally, she would have rolled over to kiss him back, yet this time she just stayed in the same position.

"Are you alright?" Max asked, realizing her unusual behavior.

She rolled over so she was able to talk to him face to face. She pursed out her lips, trying to figure out the best way to say what was bothering her. "You know, we can't ignore what happened earlier. That phone call with Michelle, I know it's bothering you."

“I don’t want to think about her tonight,” he said softly. “Tonight’s all about me and you.”

Olivia gave him a shy smile. “I think I’d love that.”

He smiled back at her, showing off his pearly white teeth. He slid his hand up her back and pushed her towards him so their lips would touch. She loved how warm and soft his lips felt against hers; their lips moved perfectly against each other as if they were just meant to be together. His touch was gentle yet he grabbed her just enough. She didn’t even remember the last time a guy had given her butterflies in her stomach.

Max made her feel like she was on top of the world. He made her feel special and that life was worth living. He always knew what to say to her to make her feel better. He had seen her at her worst, and when he stuck around, she knew that he was worth it.

“Can you spend the night?”

“Only if we get to do things my way,” he smirked against her neck. He kissed her neck lightly, making her sigh softly in pleasure. “I’m so glad you’re home, Liv.”