Golden Heart - 6. Chapter 6 - Another winter day

Aaron took him home after that, they all had asked Max a lot of questions about his “new” family, but Max could not answer most of them. Aaron was quiet the whole ride, letting Max think. Max asked him if he could stay for the rest of the day with him.

“I think I can, let me call my mom.”

He left the library with his phone, while Max closed his eyes and relaxed on his bed. However the peace was broken by his phone vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and swiped it to answer the call.

“Hello?”

“Max? Hi it’s Marie.”

“Hi, how are you?”

“I’m doing great, I was just wondering if you had anything planned today, my husband, my son and I were going to go to the mall, would you want to join us.”

“Sure! At what time will you be there?”

“We’re leaving so in about an hour I’d say.”

“Ok, do you mind if I bring Aaron along? We were going to spend the day together.”

“Please do Max, I’d be delighted to meet him.”

“Great! Well, see you in an hour!”

“Perfect!”

Aaron came back in the room just after that.

“So?” Max asked him.

“My mom is ok, I just have to come home tonight.”

“Then does the mall sound like a good idea for you, Marie called me and asked me to meet her there.”

“Really? That’s great! When do we have to be there?”

An hour later they were parked and were in the mall on the lookout for Marie and her family.

“Max!” he heard at some point.

He turned and saw Marie waving at him, next to her stood a tall, thin man with dark green eyes. He had an arm around Marie’s shoulder, and he was smiling. Next to them walked a boy, Max’s age about, taller than him, but shorter than Aaron, with dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes like Max’s. Max stopped in his tracks, unable to take one more step for some unknown reason. Aaron gently pushed him forward towards Marie and her family.

“Max! Good to see you again, this is Luke my husband, and Will.”

“Nice to meet you Max!” said Luke.

“Nice to meet you too sir.”

“Please, call me Luke or Uncle Luke!”

Then it hit Max like a ton of bricks, for the first time in his life he had an uncle, something everyone except him seemed to have.

“Ok Uncle Luke.”

Luke smiled at him.

“Hey Max,” Will greeted him, his hand out.

“Hey,” answered Max, timidly shaking his cousin’s hand.

Max then remembered Aaron standing behind him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, this is Aaron.”

“Hello everyone.”

“Nice to meet you Aaron, Max has told me a lot about you, all of it good don’t worry!”

Aaron chuckled then playfully squeezed Max’s shoulder.

Will was exuberant, but in a good way. He made them laugh a lot, if not too much, during that afternoon. He had a way to look at the world that was different, anything and everything could be laughed at if you listened to him. At lunch they all went to the food court to order what each wanted before finding a table for the five of them. Max had his lover to his left, a cousin that felt a lot like a brother by their sheer resemblance to his right, and an aunt and an uncle that had seemed to have adopted him already. Max felt safe, at ease, and peaceful. Long gone were the days of Maximilian and the frozen barriers of ice. The warmth, the food, the sense of family around him made Max drowsy and he unconsciously put his head down on Aaron’s shoulder. He caught a glimpse of something in Will’s eyes, a hint of jealousy? After some time the adults left the teens alone, and the two groups went their separate ways.

They explored the mall as a trio, stopping in a few shops, buying nothing, but enjoying the view. Though Max did stop at a bookstore, he, for once, did not buy anything. The man there knew him well, and was as surprised as Aaron when his favorite and most loyal customer left his shop empty handed.

It was getting late when they all gathered one last time before saying goodbye. Will gave Max a big hug before leaving with his parents.

“I hope to see you soon,” he had whispered in his ear.

Aaron drove Max home in silence. Max was pensive, going over his day with his newfound family, and his boyfriend knew better than to interrupt that train of thought. Max was still a quiet pensive person, that, and almost only that, he shared with Maximilian, though he did try to open up more. It had happened a few times that he had turned Aaron down from a date night to be alone with his thoughts. At first that had been hard for Aaron to understand, but, after Max had explained himself, Aaron happily let him be from time to time.

“You sure you can’t stay tonight?” Max asked Aaron as they faced each other on his door step.

“No babe, I promised my mom that this evening I would spend with her.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” Aaron promised, sealing said promise with a sweet kiss.

Max stayed outside until the car was long gone in the snowy woods. Finally he sighed and went inside. In the kitchen he found a note from his aunt:

“I’ll be gone for a few days Max, an emergency in New York. Call me when you read this message!”

And so he did.

Elizabeth apologized, and promised to return soon. Max told her not to worry, and that it was fine, it wasn’t like she had never left him before… Though he didn’t mean that in a bad way! In the last few months, once she was sure Max was alright on his own, she had started to travel again, much less because of her stroke, but from time to time she would leave for a few days. Unlike the past times Max almost felt sad, and lonely. This was one of those times. She had promised to be home for New Year’s, which was to be spent with Aaron and his mom, just the four of them.

Max drifted to his room, rummaging through his piles of books, putting a few away, but mostly trying to try to fight the boredom. He slumped in his bed, relishing the smell of Aaron on his sheets. He tossed in them, still fully dressed, sleep creeping up on him. It almost tempted him, but he pushed it away and got up, took his phone out and dialed a number he knew would cheer him up.

“Hey Max!”

“Hey Alice.”

“What’s up? Aren’t you with Aaron?”

“Nah he had to go home, and well I was just bored and a little lonely.”

“Wait, the great Ghost is lonely, now that is a first!”

“No it isn’t!!”

“I’m joking Max! but seriously though you ok?”

“Yeah, my aunt left on an emergency trip so…”

“Let me guess, you want company?”

Max didn’t answer.

Alice sighed.

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes,” she finally said before hanging up.

A smile crept on Max’s face.

He cleaned up his room, as dirty pairs of underwear had the tendency to gather in piles with the rest of his dirty clothes. Despite what most people thought of him, Max was pretty lazy, and that showed in the upkeep of his room, whereas Aaron was much neater on that subject. Alice was bound to snoop around as usual, searching for something that she could use to tease him. He would not give her the chance to mock his sex life with Aaron again! Not after the last time he had made the mistake of letting her in his room unprepared. That time he had not picked up his boxers, nor those of Aaron, or the towel drenched in cum, or the bottle of lube, or the condoms, you get the point! For two days straight he had endured her cheeky comments, for example: “Max did you guys do it where I’m seated?” or “You sure there are no bodily fluids on this chair?”

He was finishing up when she barged in his room unannounced, as usual. She hurried over to wrap him in a hug worthy of a bear.

“I see you cleaned up this time! Wouldn’t want me to find any leftovers eh?” she teased him, making him blush.

“How about dinner?” he proposed to divert her attention.

“Nice try, but sure let’s go for dinner, if you promise not to cook in anything you two might have used for your… late night activities.”

She laughed on her way to the kitchen as Max strode his cheeks flaming.

He cooked them a small but delicious meal, and she helped in return with the dishes. They then went to the living room to watch a movie on TV. They spent most of the movie talking though, and barely paid any attention to what was going on on the screen. Max could always talk to Alice, about anything, more than with Aaron for some strange reason. Some things are just not meant for your lover’s ears, but they are meant for a friend’s most of the times. Alice was always there to listen, comfort, and help. For that he really thanked her from the deepest depths of his heart. Sometimes though it would be the other way around, and he would listen to her, though he could not provide as much advice as her, not that she cared. Most of the times talking about it helps in itself.

Around midnight, they went to bed, each in a different room. Max had just dived under his covers when Alice knocked on his door lightly.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course,” he answered.

The door opened and she came in quietly.

“Mind if I sleep on the couch?”

“Of course not, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just… feel lonely as well…”

Max understood, Alice didn’t have a boyfriend, and he had never seen her with anyone to be honest. He understood how lonely she must have been when all her friends were dating. She probably was a bit jealous of Mara and of him, though she didn’t show it.

Max got up, told her to stay there for one second as he went upstairs to get more covers from his old room. He came back down with an armful that he set down on the couch. He helped her make herself a bed, as he did before his aunt had someone bring down his bed in the library.

They then both ducked under the covers seeking warmth in the chilly air of the night. They talked a bit more before calling it a night and drifting off to sleep.

In his dream, Max was atop a high tower above a bustling city, he was looking down at all the cars passing by under him, all the ant people that drifted on the sidewalks. Suddenly he wasn’t alone, another him stood a few feet behind him. They stared at each other, before, in an inhuman movement, the other Max pushed him out of the window and into the air. The broken glass following Max down towards the pavement. As he twisted in midair to see his doom, Max could not see the city anymore, all he saw was darkness, infinite nothing.

He woke with a start, panting, and gasping for breath. Alice stood beside him, worry in her eyes.

“It was just a nightmare,” she told him.

But what did it mean?