Words You Wouldn't Say

Monday came, and with it, Maxwell's law class.

Mike tried to convince him not to go, but he couldn't skip it. He'd already missed two classes that semester pulling overtime at his work, and the work load was going to shift since they'd lost one of their group. To a murderer.

So Mike dropped him off at the campus and made him swear to call Chester on Mike's cell phone after he was out to take him home. Max rolled his eyes and swore.

Andrea gave him a grim smile when he sat next to her, and Melody turned to give them a sad smile. Jace sat down right as the professor walked in.

The professor looked disheveled, his eyes red and his glasses askew. He pulled his sweater down, fixed his glasses, and turned his gaze on the class.

"As you know, there's been another murder," he said. No one in the class responded, and he didn't say anything else. Minutes ticked by before he seemed to come back to himself, straightening some of the papers on his desk. "If the members of Ryan's group could come speak to me." He nodded to himself and said, "The rest of you can work on your projects or leave."

Everyone broke off into their groups. Max's group looked at each other before gathering their things and stepping down to the desk where the professor stood, shuffling and reshuffling papers with no purpose. He looked up when they were all gathered around his table, his gaze catching on Max. Max swallowed.

"I'll give you an extra week to get your project done," he said after a few seconds, his gaze turning toward Jace. Jace nodded. "I'm sure that will be enough time for you to get your project in order."

"Thank you, professor," Andrea said somberly. He waved her off.

"You're free to go. Maxwell, if you mind, please stay." The others paused and Max looked at them.

"I'll catch up outside and we can talk about the project," he told them. They nodded and walked away. Maxwell turned to the professor, who was watching his group-mates leave the class.

"I understand that you had a date with Ryan," his professor said. Max blinked in surprise. "He was my nephew. He was staying in my house while he came to school here."

Guilt bubbled up into Maxwell's throat. He hadn't even thought about Ryan's family. After a few seconds, he swallowed and said, "I did, professor. He never showed up. I didn't find out until I went home..."

His professor nodded and smiled weakly. "Take care of yourself, Maxwell." Maxwell nodded after a few seconds and the professor waved him away. He took the cue and left.

The others were waiting for him just outside of the hall. Andrea told him he'd be taking up the part of Dylan's boyfriend and he simply nodded, feeling drained. They talked for a while about meeting up the next day to work on the project, and then Mike's phone started buzzing in Maxwell's pocket.

"Hey Max!" Chester's voice sang through the phone when he answered. "You out of class yet?"

"Yes," he mumbled, excusing himself from the group.

"Good," Chester said cheerily, "because I would've made you leave anyway. C'mon, I'm taking you to lunch." Max saw Chester's car and he sighed, rubbing his face before waving to his group and walking toward it. "Don't sigh at me," Chester said, before hanging up abruptly.

Max rolled his eyes and walked over, climbing into the passenger seat of the car. Chester grinned at him. "Hope you're hungry," he said.

"Yeah," Max mumbled. "Mike said we didn't have any food in my apartment, so I didn't eat anything this morning."

"And you just trusted him?" Chester said incredulously, shaking his head. Max raised his eyebrow, but Chester didn't say anything more, just drove.

"Where are we going?" Max asked. "Why do you never have your kids?" Chester laughed suddenly.

"Some of them are visiting their mothers," Chester said with a nod. "Talinda is taking care of the others. I won't be long, though."

"Are we going to fast food?" Max asked with a raised eyebrow. Chester didn't say anything, just pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant. Max huffed in annoyance and crossed his arm, causing Chester to laugh again. He pulled up next to the restaurant and Max spotted Mike, who stepped forward to open the door. Max raised his eyebrow and climbed out.

"See you tonight!" Chester called out before Mike closed the door and he sped off. Max watched, mouth agape, and Mike laughed at his expression.

"He's got my bag," Max said after a few minutes. He turned to Mike. "Where's Otis?"

"With Talinda," Mike placated. He placed his hands on Max's shoulders and started leading him inside. "She needs the practice." Max raised his eyebrows but Mike didn't say anything else, just led them toward a table that had a little plaque reading "Reserved" on it.

"What's this?" Max mumbled as he slid into the booth, Mike slipping into the other side.

"Saturday didn't go well," he said. Max looked up at him. "But a bar date? So I thought I'd treat you to a date, to make up for it." Max couldn't help the short laugh that escaped his throat.

"Not everyone can afford five star meals, Mike," he chided, taking the menu the waitress handed him. Mike shrugged.

"Maybe not," he said with a nod, "but I can, so I'm going to treat you." Max smiled slightly, looking down at the menu and trying so, so hard to ignore the prices. After he decided what he wanted, he set it aside and looked up to find Mike looking at him.

"What?"

Mike smiled slightly, and looked down before putting a brand new cell phone on the table. Max started to protest, but Mike cut him short. "This isn't to pamper you," he said. "This is because it's necessary." Max stared at it sullenly. "You can't keep taking my cell phone all the time, but you need one of your own." After a while he sighed and conceded, taking it and handing Mike's own phone back to him.

Mike let him play with it while they waited for their food, showing him some of the fancier functions since Max already understood the basics. When Mike wasn't paying attention, Max snapped a picture of him and sent it to Chester with the caption, "You set me up for this." All he got in return was a wink-face emoticon.

"We've got this charity concert coming up," Mike was telling him. "It's Thursday. You're gonna come." Max blinked.

"Sure, if my job says I can," he said. Mike rolled his eyes and Max's expression soured. "I can't keep living on your charity, Mike, someday you're gonna move out and I'm gonna have bills to pay."

"You don't have to," Mike said in a soft voice. Max paused, eyebrows raising, and he said hastily, "Pay bills, I mean. You could come with me." Max's expression blanked, and he stared at Mike in surprise. "I mean, I'm gonna start touring again, and I'll have Otis and the new baby to take care of, and I wouldn't want any old stranger taking care of my kids..."

"For the kids," Max mumbled, nodding, still shocked.

"I mean," Mike said hesitantly, "having you around would be as much for my benefit as it would be for theirs." Max stared at him and he said haltingly, "I like having you around, Max, it's always been easy being around you."

Max looked down, picking at the dirt in his fingernails.

"We could be out as soon as this weekend," Mike said quietly. "And with me giving you rides, you wouldn't have to worry about getting to your classes." Max sat back when the waitress appeared with their food and Mike said, "Just think about it. Give me your answer after the concert, yeah?" Max nodded briefly and Mike directed the conversation back toward lighter topics.

By the time they finished eating, Max was nearly crying with laughter. Mike smiled endearingly and paid the bill before leading them to his car. After a while of aimless driving, he drove them back to Maxwell's apartment and led him upstairs, switching on the television and sitting on the couch.

Maxwell stepped into the kitchen briefly, checking the cupboards. After checking everything, he stepped out into the living room, hands on his hips, glaring playfully at Mike, who fixed him with an innocent stare. "What did I do?"

"You lied," Max said. "There was too food in that kitchen. You get me all used to your morning cooking, then you send me to class starving." Mike laughed, standing and moving over to Max, taking his hands.

"I apologize for lying to you," he said, a smile on his lips and laughter in his eyes. Max pouted, prompting a laugh from the older man. "If you'd eaten this morning, you wouldn't have been hungry at the time of our date."

"You could've taken me out later," Max mumbled.

"That would've ruined the surprise," Mike said, hands moving up to hold Max's face. "I didn't want it to be obvious. Then you would've made a fuss." Max gave him that one. Chester taking Otis later in the day would've been a lot more obvious than Chester's obnoxious pick-up and drop-off.

"Yeah, okay," Max mumbled. His hands fluttered about and he realized that Mike was holding his face, not his hands, and he readied himself to pull away but Mike could sense it and one of his hands moved to his neck. When Max didn't move to pull away again, Mike pressed their lips together.

His hands found places on Mike's chest, and Mike's other hand fell to his back, pressing him closer. It wasn't hurried, and Max felt himself relax into it, the way it felt normal and familiar. Mike held him like he wasn't planning on letting go any time soon, but he didn't protest when Max pulled away.

Max chewed on his lip for a second, and Mike simply took his hand, leading him to the couch. They sat down, Max leaning into Mike like he was a senior in high school again, and neither of them said a word.

*

The group Max was working with had resolved to meet up the next night after Maxwell got off work, at a small pub just down the street. Max sent a quick text to Mike to let him know he was heading over there as he stepped out of work and headed down the well-lit street, then tucked his phone into his pocket.

The air was cold and stung his face a little, and he stepped into the warmth of the pub and gave a grateful sigh. After looking around, he spotted Jace, who stood and made his way toward him, a drink in hand. He offered it to Maxwell and Max drank it down, grateful for the alcohol. He wasn't exactly looking forward to the project.

Jace led him back outside and he gave him a confused look. "Andrea had to cancel," he explained, "so Melody decided to head home. We didn't have any way to contact you, so I figured I'd wait for you and let you know."

Maxwell nodded, face feeling numb from the cold. "Thanks," he mumbled, rubbing his arms. He was already beginning to feel numb and sluggish.

"Don't worry about it," Jace replied with a smile. "You don't live far, right? Let me walk you home. This town's gotten dangerous lately." Maxwell thought idly about the phone in his pocket, but Jace was already steering him around the corner. He'd be fine walking home, right? It wasn't like he was walking home alone.

Jace asked him what street he lived on, so he told him. The blond nodded before mentioning that he knew a short-cut that would get them out of the cold. Maxwell followed him behind the buildings gratefully.