Chapter 23 - Dating

"We should go out on a date."

They had been doing school work together in the living room when Max suddenly blurted it out.

"Pardon?" Emma asked.

"A date. You and me. I think that's what we need," he explained.

Emma stared at him, intrigued. The last week had been pretty solemn after Roy had gotten expelled. She couldn't help but feel guilty about it, as much as she realized he had deserved it in the end. She just had this gloomy feeling about the whole thing and worried about how he would end up. Would he be able transfer the credits somewhere else and graduate from another school? Would he seek counseling? She still hadn't made an appointment with the school counselor herself. She still felt like she needed time to process her own feelings before being able to talk to anyone else. She couldn't imagine Roy of all people going to therapy at all.

Then there was Max. She had also noticed a change in him. He seemed...distant. Perhaps distant wasn't the right word, but during the last week he hadn't looked at her the same way he had before. He usually had this glint in his eye that told her he wanted her, but now it just seemed to be gone. His seeming lack of interest in her only made her want him more, but she didn't know how to approach the subject. Did he no longer see her the same because of what happened? Or maybe he finally had time to rethink this whole thing and belatedly realized the colossal mess he had gotten himself into.

"A date...as roommates you mean?"

"No. Like a date, date. As in two people who like each other and go out and spend time together as awkwardly as possible."

"We've done that before," she pointed out. "Like when we went to the market that one time, or when we went to the movies in New York."

"That was different. This time it would be a date that could potentially mean more dates and eventually lead somewhere else."

"You would want that with me?" she asked, scrunching her forehead.

"Of course, sweetheart. It's all I've ever wanted. You know that," he said very seriously. "Look, I know things are really complicated and I feel like now we're stuck in this place where we don't know how to act with each other or move forward. I think if we just tried to start over it might be easier this time around."

"That makes sense," she said suddenly feeling better than she had all week.

"So are you in?"

"Yes," she tried not to nod too enthusiastically. "What do you want to do on our first date?"

"I don't know. We could go get ice cream," he suggested.

"Okay, so something casual to start."

"Yeah, isn't it how the kids do it these days? Do something easy like a cup of coffee or something?"

"Ice cream sounds better. It'll be cuter...I think. Sprinkles and all."

"Done," Max said getting up.

"Oh, you mean right now?"

"Yeah, when else?"

"Okay, let me just get my purse," she said going to her room excitedly.

When she got back into the living room, Max was strangely no longer there. She checked his room and the bathroom but they were both empty.

"Max?"

She suddenly heard a knock on the door and she curiously went to open it. Did he try to leave and forgot his keys?

"Hey, Emma," he said, pretending as if he hadn't just seen her, and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "You look really beautiful today."

She laughed, feeling inexplicably giddy. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? Picking up my lovely date."

"Oh, okay. Well I guess you're not getting the full experience of me making you wait in the living room a good 15 minutes while I finish getting ready and you're forced to have a little chat with my father."

"Maybe we can arrange that next time," he smiled. "Ready?"

Two caramel ice cream sundaes and an hour later, they walked back to the apartment innocently holding hands. Max stopped at the entrance of the building.

"I should drop you off here," he said. "I uh, had a really nice time Emma. Thank you for coming out with me," he said, getting in character. "Unless...you want to invite me up for a cup of tea?" he asked hopefully.

"Maybe next time," she smiled. "I'm kinda busy tonight. I need to go reorganize my sock drawer," she joked.

"Socks. Of course. I can't think of anything more important than that."

"Yeah. Well, I better go then," she looked up at him shyly.

He stepped forward and slowly leaned into her. He grabbed her cheek and dipped his head to whisper in her ear, "This is by far my favorite part." He stole a kiss from her lips that took her breath away. "I'll call you, beautiful."

She made her wobbly way inside the building, and looked back to see if he was going to come inside too. Instead he stood there in place, a grin on his face, and a small wave coming from his hand.

He walked into the apartment 15 minutes later, while she was reading a case study on the couch. He sat down next to her with a dreamy sigh and then looked at her intently. "Homeland?"

"Yes, please," she answered laughing.

He stepped up the ante on the second date, where they also very casually ended up going to watch the twins at a coed soccer practice. They weren't kidding when Emma had been told how adorable they were. Max was definitely trying to score some major brownie points by showing them off.

"Emma is pretty," Sofia suddenly announced on the car ride back to the Durant residence. "She's pretty like Mia, but different."

Max reached for Emma's hand from the driver's seat and kissed it. "That she is," he said.

"Are you going to marry her, like Leo married Mia?" Nico piped up afterwards.

"If she'll let me one day, yes," Max quickly answered. "We already have one person confirmed on the guest list," he winked at her.

Emma's cheeks turned pink and she looked out the window.

"Does that mean I get to be the flower girl again?" Sofia asked excitedly.

"Um, sure princess."

"I can carry the rings!" Nico added proudly.

Max just laughed. "Sorry I should have warned you they tend to ask a lot of inappropriate questions without noticing," he whispered to Emma.

Once they got home and they each retired to their separate rooms, he decided to torture her by sending her countless text messages detailing their supposed upcoming nuptials. She gasped innumerable times and simply wanted to murder him every time she heard his laughter echoing from his room.

On the third date, Emma proposed to cook him dinner.

"Wow, this is getting pretty serious, huh?" Max joked. "Meeting the twins, cooking dinner...I'd say this is working out very well."

"Don't get your hopes up just yet cowboy," Emma said looking through the fridge. "Okay, looks like we'll need to go the supermarket soon. All we really have is yoghurt, granola, and bananas," she said turning to face him.

"I thought you liked bananas," he said winking down at his shorts.

"You scoundrel," she gasped, and continued her search through the fridge.

"Sorry baby. I can't help it when you're bent over like that. I swear your ass could win best derriere and special effects at a motion picture award."

"Wow, you're really loose tonight," she said immediately standing back up in mock offense. Secretly, she loved when he was playful like this. "Did you take a double dose of cough syrup or something?"

"No, just a double dose of you. Check the freezer, there should be some frozen food in there at least."

"Looks like it'll be pizza tonight. Sorry Max, I'll cook you something nice once we get more groceries. Sound good?"

"Sounds delicious. I'll get the wine."

They ended up on the couch after dinner, finishing up the bottle of wine and listening to indie music.

Max started playing with her hair, an occurrence that was becoming more and more usual. It had almost become a habit for him.

"You know you do that a lot," she smiled.

"I know. I can't seem to get enough of these silky strands. It relaxes me," he confessed. "It doesn't bother you, does it?"

"No, I love it. It feels good."

He smiled. "I never thought it could be like this," he said, bringing down his fingers to her neck. "I would see Leo and Mia all the time, how they were together, and it just didn't seem possible to ever feel that kind of intimacy. But now I know what it feels like...because of you."

"Are you trying to get lucky tonight? Because it's working."

He chuckled. "Well, it is our third date. Isn't it some rite of passage?"

His smile suddenly turned serious as he looked intently into her eyes. "How about a kiss and we call it a night?"

"That sounds...appropriate," she said suddenly feeling nervous and biting her lip.

He traced her mouth with his thumb, releasing the hold of her teeth on her bottom lip. "You make me feel like a green teenager," he whispered.

"Just kiss me, Max," she breathed.

As soon as she said the words, his lips were on hers. They were as soft and delicate as she remembered them. He coaxed her mouth open with his tongue and she could taste the faint scent of Tempranillo on him. He gently deepened the kiss, taking his time to explore her mouth, until their tongues finally met. She almost purred in satisfaction.

"So good," Max murmured, as he tilted his head. "Your mouth is so fucking sweet. You taste so incredibly good, baby."

He nipped the side of her mouth before moving to her neck and continuing his sweet torture. Her breathing rapidly increased as he brought her closer to him. She found her legs placed over his lap, almost sitting on him. It was as if he had lured her just to the edge and left it up to her to take the next step to wrap them around him.

She couldn't help remembering the last time they had been in a similar position and how that had escalated so quickly. Especially her embarrassing mini orgasm. As he continued kissing her, she worried that there would be nothing to stop them this time if they took it further.

Max seemed to feel her hesitation and slowly brought the kiss to an end. He still planted soft kisses around her mouth and finally rested his forehead against hers.

Emma closed her eyes, only their fast breathing filling the otherwise silent room. She knew she should move away from him soon, but wanted to stay in that position forever.

"I should go," he finally whispered.

She nodded, even though she was still clinging on to him around his neck. He chuckled and slowly removed her hands from his shoulders, pressing soft kisses at her wrists when he released them. He gave her one last chaste kiss on the lips before moving her legs back and standing up.

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, Max."

She watched him walk straight back to his room, the door clicking quickly behind him. She immediately fell back, laying on the couch and letting out a deep breath in frustration.

She was such a chicken.