Words You Wouldn't Say

When Max woke up again, the television was off and his high school year books were on the coffee table.

He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes, and Mike glanced at him. "Morning sleepy head," he said casually. He had Max's freshman and senior year books open, and was studying them quietly. Max raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm looking at the way you changed from when I first met you to when Chester first met you." Mike gave a short laugh, flipping the page in Maxwell's freshman yearbook to his senior photograph. "Look how awkward I was." Then he pointed at Maxwell's picture. "But you weren't."

Maxwell pursed his lips. "You changed when you met Chester too." Mike snorted.

"Yeah, I dyed my hair blue and got baggy pants. So edgy." His voice was dry, and Maxwell couldn't help his laugh. Mike flipped back to his freshman picture and sat back. "You looked so innocent back then." He grinned, looking at Maxwell. "Sorry for ruining that."

"No you're not," Maxwell said with another laugh.

Mike's smile didn't falter as he glanced at his phone. "Are you hungry? Chester invited us for lunch." Maxwell's stomach grumbled and Mike smiled up at him. "Guess that's my answer."

Maxwell rolled his eyes and stood, moving to find his shoes. "Chester owes me a four course meal for this bullshit," he said. Mike grinned, moving out into the hallway, and Maxwell finished, locking his door. As he started for the stairs, Mike's phone rang, and when he looked at it his expression grew dark.

"Go ahead, I'll meet you at the car," he said, tossing Maxwell his keys. Maxwell bit his lip but went ahead, figuring he didn't really want to stick around for the fight that would probably ensue. He hurried down the stairs but didn't go straight to Mike's car, instead peeking around the corner into the alley.

Police tape blocked it off past the trash cans for the building, and Maxwell raised his eyebrows, curiosity baiting him forward. He took a careful step and saw a policeman rush out of the area, hand over his mouth. He paused then and decided he didn't want to know, hurrying to get into Mike's car.

After a few minutes, Mike climbed in, his expression pensive. He glanced at Max and said, "I have to pick up my son. His mother has some doctor's appointment, and she doesn't want him to be there."

"Should I stay, then?" Maxwell asked cautiously. Mike shook his head.

"Chester's already waiting for us. I'll just pick him up and we can go." Max nodded slowly, and they were on the road to Mike's house once more. He told Max to stay put when they got there, then went inside. Max tapped his fingers against the door as he waited, watching Mike as he appeared with a baby seat in hand and a baby bag slung over his shoulder. He carefully fitted the seat into the back of his car, then dropped the bag next to it, handing the baby his bottle before getting into his seat and pulling out of the driveway. His lips were pursed and his expression glazed over, and Max decided it was best not to question what had happened.

The drive was silent and full of tension, but it didn't feel directed at Max like it had the day before when he first saw Mike again. Thinking back to that moment, he'd had no idea of what he was getting himself into.

Chester waved to them as they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. Max climbed out of the car awkwardly as Mike grabbed the baby and his bag. As soon as Otis saw Maxwell, he made grabby hands.

Maxwell loved children. They were honest and cheery and had the craziest stories. As soon as he saw Otis, a grin split his face and he took him into his arms. Mike looked at him in shock, but didn't protest, watching as Maxwell cooed at him and laughed when Otis grabbed at his hair.

Chester grinned knowingly. He led the way into the restaurant with Max following behind, Mike hovering behind him with his hand almost touching his back. Max knew it was because he was holding Mike's child, but that didn't make him feel any less awkward about it.

They were seated at a table and Max gently set Otis in the high chair, letting him play with his fingers as he flipped through the menu.

"How was your night?" Chester asked. Max looked up at him sharply, then glanced at Mike, who was glaring daggers. "What?" Chester was feigning ignorance, and Max had the strong urge to punch him.

"I think you got Mike dumped," Max said conversationally, before turning all of his attention to Otis, who was babbling at him. Max pretended to understand him, nodding along like each sound of Otis' mouth was a coherent sentence.

"Max got locked out of his apartment building," Mike said. "So I let him stay in the spare room -"

"The one where Anna's sleeping?" Chester said. Max glanced at Mike, who had a shocked look on his face. "Oh come on, give me some credit."

Mike rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yes. She came home and threw a fit, so I took Max to his apartment and we stayed there until you asked us to come eat." Chester's eyebrow raised.

"With Otis?" Mike gave a confused, "No," and Chester grinned, causing Mike to groan.

"Stop looking like that," Max chided. "He was only staying while his wife cooled off. I fell asleep." Chester wagged his eyebrows and Max wanted to smack his forehead. He sent Chester a short glare instead and turned back to Otis as the waiter appeared.

They ordered and the waiter disappeared. Otis started to fuss, so Maxwell picked him up and held him on his lap, giving him strawfuls of the lemonade he was drinking, laughing softly at the sour faces Otis was making. Mike and Chester watched in amusement, then all of a sudden Mike grunted.

Max glanced up, eyebrows raising in confusion. Mike was rubbing his side, and Chester smiled innocently at Max. Max glanced briefly at Mike, then turned his gaze to Chester.

Mike excused himself and headed for the bathroom, and Max watched him walk out of earshot before turning to Chester, gaze hardening. Chester sat straighter in alarm.

"Stop," Max said. Chester opened his mouth to respond, but Max said quickly, "I know what you're doing. You've been doing it since you talked about me at dinner the other night."

Chester's eyebrows raised and he grinned. "He told you about that, huh?"

"Why are you trying to ruin his marriage?" Max asked quickly. Chester had a way of distracting people when he wanted to. Now, he simply frowned at Maxwell.

"Max, you haven't been there to see it." Max scowled. "He's not happy with her. He's just been pretending, and it's miserable just to watch them." Otis made a noise and grabbed for the lemonade, and Max moved it out of the way, giving him another straw full of the liquid. Otis smacked his lips happily. "That marriage has been over for ages, but Mike's been trying, and she's just getting more and more frustrated with him. I'm trying to help him realize that he needs to let go."

Max scowled again. "So why are you dragging me into it?"

Chester scoffed. "C'mon, Max -." His sentence was cut short and Max turned to see Mike walking back into earshot. Chester smiled winningly at him, and he raised his eyebrow.

"What were you talking about?" he asked as he sat.

"Just how great you look in that shirt," Chester said. Mike snorted and Max turned his attention back to Otis. "I'm sure you'd look better with it off, right Max?" Max choked on his lemonade and glared at Chester, who smiled back innocently.

Max turned to Mike. "So, Mike, which countries have you visited where murder is legal?" Chester made an offended sound while Mike grinned in response.

The food arrived and Max set Otis back in the high chair so that he could eat. Mike and Chester started talking about the new album, and Max listened quietly, occasionally giving his attention to Otis so he wouldn't make a fuss while they ate.

Chester paid the bill and said he had to leave, but Otis needed his diaper changed, so Mike disappeared into the bathrooms with him while Max followed Chester outside, determined to finish their conversation.

"Don't push them anymore, Chester," he said, grabbing Chester's elbow. Chester gave him an indignant look.

"I'm looking out for one of my best friends, Max," he said. "You may not see it that way and whatever, that's fine, but Mike was always happiest when you were in the picture."

"You seem to forget it was Mike who pushed me out of the picture," Max said, feeling indignant himself.

"Oh, come on," Chester said. "We all know Mike was stupid back then, okay? He made stupid choices and he's had to live with them." Max opened his mouth to say that Chester had made stupid choices too ("I'm pretty sure Talinda was not the wife you had when you left.") but Chester cut him off. "Look, it was obvious the moment we saw each other in the coffee shop that you still have some pent up feelings. And the way you guys sparked at his house? I'm telling you, I'm not as stupid as I look."

"No one said you were stupid, Chester..."

He gave Maxwell a sharp look. "The way things ended was piss, okay? And Mike's had to deal with the consequences of that for years. Are you going to keep punishing him for that, or are you going to let him make it up to you?"

Max made a small noise. "He's married."

Chester snorted. "Not for long." He rubbed his face and sighed. "I wouldn't be pushing at Mike if I didn't know it was going to end for sure, okay? I know I seem like an asshole, but I wouldn't ruin his life on a whim."

"So you are ruining his life." Chester grinned and shoved at Maxwell lightly.

"Think about it," was all he said before he started toward his car. Mike stepped out of the restaurant, glancing after Chester, who waved as he got into his car and sped off. Mike raised his eyebrows at Max, who took Otis and started for his car.

"What were you guys talking about?" he asked as he unlocked it, putting Otis' baby bag in as Maxwell buckled Otis into his car seat.

Maxwell got into the passenger seat before answering. "Just remembering some things that happened before you left for your first tour." It wasn't a total lie, because Maxwell had remembered a lot of things that had happened before they left.

Mike drove him to his apartment, and Maxwell paused before getting out of the car. He looked up at Mike and said carefully, "You wanna come up and stay a while?"

Mike's face went blank with relief and he nodded gratefully, climbing out to get Otis and his baby bag. Maxwell led him upstairs to his apartment, spotting his landlord on the way, but he didn't remind Max of his payment next week like he usually did. He just smiled and waved as Max passed him by. Max gave a small wave in return, confused, but headed up to his apartment.

He cleared away anything that might hurt a baby and picked Otis out of his carrier, letting him explore his new surroundings as he crawled across the floor. Mike relaxed against the couch and Max joined him after a time.

"Does he know how to walk?" he asked.

"He can grab on to things and take tiny steps," Mike said, watching as Otis inspected one of Max's binders for his law class. "Even then he still manages to fall." Max smiled slightly, watching Otis as he continued to explore. Mike yawned beside him.

"Have you slept since this morning?" Max asked, looking at him. Mike shook his head, glancing at Max. Max became increasingly aware of the fact that Mike was very close.

He scooted away and said, "You should sleep. I'll watch over Otis." Mike stared at him, then nodded. "You can use my bed," Max said, pointing to his room. After a second, Mike stood and made his way toward the room, kissing Otis quickly before disappearing behind the door.

Max sighed softly and rubbed his face.