It’s the first half of Max and Liz’s date, but before that, just wanted to dedicate this next part to:
Begonia9508, AznGurl87, Behrsgirl77, Roswellluver, PhoenixFlamez, BelevnDreamsToo, kittens, Eccentric One, snoopie13, Gigo, Earth2Mama
I didn't set out to write a fluff piece, it sort of just happened. I think my muse wants a break from all the oncoming agnst in my other fics, lol. I want this fic to be simple, not too complicated and definitely not too angsty.Smac wrote:Sometimes it's just so nice to read a story that isn't so dramatic and just good fluff.So far we have the fluff,but how long will it stay?Hurry back with the next part.
Thanks for all the bumpage guys, enjoy…
P.S. Crash Into Me belongs to Dave Matthews Band
****
The Good One
Part 6
****
Liz tucked her hair back as they continued to descend down the stairs. “So um, what movie are we going to see?” she asked in what she hoped was a casual tone.
She had gone up and down the stairs that led to her floor many times before, but never had she felt as exhilarated as she did at that moment.
Just being with Max, being on a date with Max, whatever they were doing caused her to smile uncontrollably and frequently. It was something she had heard about, read about, watched in movies and watched other people experience but never her.
And now my heart feels like it’s going to explode, I can’t stop from smiling and I’m loving every minute of it, she thought joyously.
Max paused as they reached the second floor staircase, “Um, I- I um actually didn’t think that far ahead,” he smiled sheepishly.
The sheepish look was absolutely adorable, Liz shook her head in amazement that Max’s embarrassed grin would be targeted at her.
I am on a date with Max Evans and he seems to be as nervous about it as I am. Wonders never cease, she chuckled.
“Um okay…” she began with laughter in her voice. She took a step down and he followed. “How about we just go and see what’s there?” she suggested.
“That sounds like a good idea,” he nodded grinning.
“Yeah, I thought so,” she retorted with a good-natured smile.
The nervous energy was still there, Liz didn’t know if they would have awkward moments of silences or if Max would lose interest in her but she decided to just enjoy it for what it was.
Who knows, maybe after tonight I might realise that it was just a simple crush and I might lose interest. Whatever happens, I’ll always have this tonight.
****
Max couldn’t keep himself from occasionally glancing at the girl in his passenger seat. It was as if he was afraid that she would disappear, that he would wake up and discover that it was all a dream. That Liz Parker wasn’t his date for tonight and that she wasn’t in the passenger seat of his car, shaking her head and humming along to Dave Matthew’s Band‘s Crash Into Me.
Touch your lips just so I know
In your eyes, love, it glows so
I'm bare boned and crazy for you
She’s beautiful! He thought in awe.
He watched her, as eyes closed with a dreamy smile shaping her mouth, she swayed to the music.
Max knew that he stared longer than he should, but the traffic lights were red and he had no control over himself. He had to stare at her because by drowning herself in the music, Liz had shown a little more of herself to him just through a simple unguarded facial expression.
When you come crash into me, baby
And I come into you
In a boys dream
In a boys dream
How could I not have realised beautiful she is, he chided himself. Where the hell having I been?!
It took him a few seconds to realise that she had been facing his direction with closed eyes, but now they were open and a little surprised to find him staring at her.
If I've gone overboard
Then I'm begging you
to forgive me
in my haste
Her face broke out into a self-conscious smile. Max quickly snapped his head in the direction he was supposed to be looking at - the road. The traffic light turned green and they resumed their journey.
When I'm holding you so girl
close to me
You fool, you probably creeped her out, he scolded himself. Not to mention embarrassed the hell out of yourself.
“I get a little carried away when it comes to song I love,” she explained in an embarrassed tone.
Oh and you come crash into me, baby
And I come into you
“You should see me in my room,” he joked. He chanced a quick glance and met her smiling face.
It was okay, it was fine. They were just joking around, talking.
Relax, he coached himself. Just be yourself and it’ll be fine.
“Not a pretty sight?”. Even though he wasn’t looking at her, he heard the laughter and amusement in her voice and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Sometimes a lot of head banging and general crazy dancing,” he retorted.
Hike up your skirt a little more
and show your world to me
In a boys dream..
In a boys dream
****
They pulled into a parking space and Max couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed that their time together in the car was over. It was a foolish thing to feel since their date had just began, but the drive had been fun. He had spent it in the presence of a girl he was beginning to realise he really liked. She was funny, smart, sweet and challenging. She made him nervous and self-conscious but at the same time, he felt as if he was really living.
The air was different, better.
His every sense was heightened.
He was loving every nerve-wracking moment of his night with Liz Parker.
And there’s plenty more to come, he anticipated as they crossed over the road and headed to the cinema.
****
“So what do you want to see?” he asked her.
Liz went over their choices again and bit her lower lip in indecision.
Picking a movie was key, she had vicariously lived through enough of her friends’ dates to know that.
Horror would be the obvious choice because that would guarantee some body to body contact, but however appealing the thought of hiding herself in Max’s chest, Liz wasn’t in the mood for any of the horror films showing. There were a couple of other movies she wanted to see but she didn’t want the stress of making the decision of what movie to watch in case Max found her choices boring.
“Um…” she looked up at him and shrugged carelessly, “whatever you want to watch.”
“I have no idea,” he responded with another sheepish expression.
“You really didn’t think this all the way through did you,” she teased.
“What can I say, Parker. The thought of going out on an actual one on one date with you left me incredibly disorientated.”
“Yeahhh okay.” Liz rolled her eyes in amused disbelief and looked away from him.
“Noo, really,” he countered.
She slowly looked up at him and to her surprise found that his expression was serious and reflected the blatant honesty of his statement.
The intensity and passion she saw in his eyes caused her to inwardly panic.
I have no idea what to say to that, she thought to herself, nobody has ever said that to me before.
Blushing under his scrutiny, Liz couldn’t control the shy, embarrassed side smile which escaped from her lips. She self-consciously tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ears and looked back at the screen of film showing times.
“Um how about, Torque?” she suggested, “It’s got Jay Hernadez, so some eye-candy for me-“
“Should I be offended that you’re on a date with me and yet you’ll be checking out some other guy on screen?“ he asked in hurt tone with dancing eyes.
“Yes you should be very offended,“ she replied in mock seriousness, “but then again there will probably be hot eye candy for you.“
Liz felt herself momentarily stop breathing as he lifted his arm and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You’re the only real life eye candy I need,“ he said.
Liz felt herself blushing and quickly looked away from him.
“Ohh that gets you major points,” she grinned at him, “but um ditto for me too,” she added shyly.
She had just told Max Evans in a roundabout way that she considered him to be her real life eye-candy and to top it all off, he was blushing profusely and had a huge grin on his face.
Just because I gave him a compliment? And he’s acting as if I’m the first person who has ever said that to him. I must definitely be in the twilight zone.
“Major points for you too,” he said.
Liz realised that his mouth was moving but his eyes weren’t looking into hers, they were focused on her lips.
They stood millimetres apart, if she tilted her head up and he lowered his, their lips would meet.
Max Evans could possibly kiss me!
The thought pulled Liz out of her Max Evans induced trance. There was no way in the world that she could kiss Max even if she wanted to.
“The um,” she cleared her throat and held back a smile when his eyes shot up from her lips to her eyes, “other pros of the movie are that there are a lot of stunts and action for you, plus I love action movies anyway and it’s a general fun no-need-to-think-much film.”
“That sounds great,” he replied.
Liz marvelled at the way one minute he made her self-conscious and flustered and the next they were relaxed and just hanging out like friends. It was strange and wonderful and she was enjoying every minute of it.
“Okay then, Torque it is,” she agreed.
A surge of wonderfully stimulating energy shot up from the small of her back to, first the rest of her back and then throughout her body.
They had made a move to join the queue and Max’s hand had come out of nowhere, it was completely unexpected but wholeheartedly enjoyed as he led her along.
Liz almost cried out in disappointment when his hand dropped away. Her back felt naked somehow without his arm there. The fact that her heart also felt the loss of his support suddenly made it starkingly clear that somewhere, during the days she had spent thinking about him, dreaming about him, looking at him and sometimes talking to him, she had developed deep feelings for Max Evans and not only that, she realised that she wanted him to like her as much as she did him.
How screwed am I? She thought despondently.
I knew it. I knew it couldn’t just be a simple date.
I should have said no, that way I’d have saved myself the grief of having a good time tonight and then going back to admiring him from afar, knowing that he doesn’t want me like that.
“Liz is everything okay?”. His voice broke through her gloomy thoughts.
Liz looked up at him, his face was a picture of concern. She had a flash of that concern turning into pity if she told him that she might possibly - no that she was quite sure that she was in love with him and then have him reject her and give that whole I-like-you-better-as-a-friend speech.
Maybe it wouldn’t happen now or tonight but she knew that it wouldn’t be long before that happened, maybe in a week or two.
“I’m fine,” she lied.
Whatever, she thought dejectedly, I’m just gonna enjoy this night, go back to pretending he’s just a friend and rule out the other thing. I don’t want the emotional hassle.
“Are you sure?” he asked. He had felt a sudden shift in her body language. He couldn’t quite pin-point what it was that triggered it yet, but he knew that she was back to being closed off from him again.
“Totally,” she assured him.
Maybe I came on too strong, he thought to himself.
He didn’t plan on placing his hand on the small of her back, but he had spotted a couple of guys checking her out and he had acted on instinct. It was an act which had shocked him too because it made him realise the extent of his feelings for her.
He didn’t want Liz with any other guy but him.
How can I feel strongly for someone I haven’t known for that long let alone built a very close friendship with?
He had felt Liz tense at first but then she had relaxed into him. It had felt right and special but when he had realised what he had done and how inappropriate she might think it was, he had quickly taken his hand away.
That’s when the change with her had happened he realised.
Maybe she thought that I thought that what I did was a mistake?
Maybe she thinks I’m not interested in her but how can she think that because I wouldn’t have asked her out if I wasn’t attracted to her?
The questions were driving him crazy, he wanted to know what she thought of him, he wanted to tell her how he felt about her, but fear of rejection drove him to convince himself that he would get some answers, after the movie.
An atmosphere of awkward tension descended on the pair, it persisted while the tickets, popcorn and drinks were bought, but by the time they entered the screening room, due to reasons neither Max or Liz wanted to analyse, their insecurities and uncertainties were soon forgotten and was once again replaced by their enjoyment of each other’s company.
****
don't leave me. 