Mm-hmm. Yep. Yes. I have returned to the Max/Jude fandom.
For those of you reading "Free as a Bird" (start counting the number of plugs) I'm sorry I haven't updated in a trillion, gazillion years. I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a writer's block, and my only solution seems to be to crank out a million one-shots or chapters of "Eleanor Rigby." (that's two.) Don't worry, they have all been thoroughly edited.
This is filling in a missing scene from the movie.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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"So, I know you're a limey, your name is Jude, you hang out in janitor's basements, and you make adorable faces when you're wasted. What else do I need to know?"
Jude blushed furiously. Whether it was out of embarrassment or the American's blunt charm, he wasn't sure. Perhaps it was a little of both. He couldn't deny the fact that his new friend was attractive. Yes, he was good-looking, but when Jude meant attractive, he meant it was impossible to stay away from him for too long. The last twenty-four hours had been an amazing whirlwind of bars, booze, and golf clubs.
At the present moment, they were lounging in the fraternity house living room. The other boys were at class, and Jude was starting to wonder why Max didn't have to join them.
"Well…" he started, biting his lip a little. "I wasn't 'hanging out' as you so rudely accused me of. The janitor's me dad."
"Whoa. Really? How'd you get the accent, then?"
Jude sighed and took a drag from his joint. "'S a long story…"
Max swung his legs gracefully from the couch to the coffee table, bouncing his feet on top of each other. "We've got time."
"Alright, so it's actually not that complex. He met me mum, who's English, during the war…World War Two, that is. And they, you know…"
"Got it on?"
"Yeah, but he left when he found out me mum was pregnant, the bastard. So, I came 'ere to find him."
"I guess I'm glad I dropped my books…or at least glad I looked like enough of a dumbass for you to help me."
Jude grinned. Max could even pull-off self-depreciation and still be maddeningly suave. He couldn't help but find that trait simply irresistible.
"So…do you only take a few courses 'ere or somethin'? Or do you not have class today?"
The blonde's striking blue eyes, Jude didn't notice how beautiful they were until about five milliseconds ago, grew to the size of dinner plates.
"Shit," he muttered, flying off the couch gracelessly and therefore smacking his knee into the corner of the coffee table.
"FUCK," he moaned, voice cracking with pain. Jude bit back chuckles as Max grasped his knee with one hand and limped, hunched-over to, the coat rack in the other room. He managed to, with one free hand, grab his Chemistry book and tuck it under his arm, balance his cap on top of his head, and swing his scarf around his neck. He started to make his way towards the door, still crouched and grabbing his aching knee-cap.
Once Max came in view from the living room, Jude just about lost it. He put his joint in the ash tray, got up, and made his way over to the hallway. He watched in great amusement as the American shuffled pitifully towards the door.
"Look at you, not helping the poor and crippled," he grumbled. His scarf slipped from his neck, but he caught the colored fabric between his teeth.
"Would you like some help?" Jude asked after a while, approaching him.
"No, no, I can manage." Max tried to say through his scarf, but it came out more like "Nmph, nmph. I cmph mmphnge."
"I suppose the least I can do is open the bloody door for you." Jude gestured grandly towards the large, mahogany door and opened it with magnificent fashion.
Max's knee had stopped hurting ages ago; now he continuing the act because it was thoroughly entertaining the Englishman. Once he was out the door, however, he figured Jude had shut the door and stood up straight, adjusting his cap and scarf.
"Thought you were poor and crippled, mate." He turned, and sure enough, Jude was peeking expectantly behind the door.
Max flipped him off, but was grinning ear to ear while doing it. Finally, he shut the door, and Max returned to his mission of getting to class on time.
Although, Jude was running through his head as he scampered through campus. He knew he was being a flirt, and was happy that the feeling seemed to be mutual. Despite the wild happenings of the night before, Jude seemed like a pretty mild-mannered guy, which was perfect for Max. This sounded conceited, but it pleased him when his sardonic remarks and frat-boy adventures were found amusing. The other boys in the house were used to it; Jude was fresh meat.
And what handsome fresh meat he was. When he had said the brunette made adorable faces when he was wasted, he wasn't kidding. Of course, Max realized, he made adorable faces even when he wasn't wasted. Those sparkling brown eyes and lopsided grins were starting to drive him crazy.
Rarely did such things on a male drive him crazy. He liked women, particularly ones with pretty faces and nice chests, which men obviously lacked. However, he had come to the conclusion long ago, that he would fuck anything if it were attractive enough.
Finally, the spiraling brick building came into view, and after weaving through a few hallways, he arrived to the room. Much to his dismay, the lecture seemed to have already started.
He pushed the door open cautiously, tiptoeing in and shutting the door behind him. The teacher and the class did not seem to notice this disturbance, except for one student in one of the back rows who had turned around. Max did a double-take, not believing his eyes, but as he squinted, the male who was smirking at him deviously was, in fact, Jude.
"How'd you get in here?" he mouthed. Jude motioned his head towards the back door. Max nodded slowly, then continued his silent inquisitions.
"How did you get here before I did?" The Englishman balled his fists and pumped them back and forth in an imitation of running. Max scowled at the fact that he got the head-start but was still beaten out. Must have found another route, he thought to himself, shrugging a little.
Jude pointed vigorously to the empty seat in front of him, and Max realized he had just been standing there for quite some time. He made his way down the steps to the row. Now, if only he could get through before the teacher turned around…
"Mr. Carrigan?" No such luck. All eyes were now on him. "Care to explain why you are late for the fifth time this semester?"
"Uhm…" He scratched back of his neck absently, trying to give the best bullshit answer he could. He was starting to run out of those. "Late night…studying?"
The entire class tittered. The professor shook her head and curtly pointed to the seat in front of Jude. "Please take a seat."
Max stumbled through the row and plopped into the seat. Jude stretched to poke him with the end of a pencil he had found.
"Nice save, mate," he whispered.
"Shut up," Max growled in response.
The lecture continued, and it wasn't long before Jude found himself bored out of his mind. He had followed Max to class simply because he didn't want to be all alone for a few hours, but he found this wasn't much better.
He asked for a piece of paper from the student sitting next to him, and began to doodle. Then, a bright idea crossed his mind. He ripped off a little piece of the paper, and wrote:
Hey.
Crumpling it into a ball, he aimed and shot so that it landed right into the dip of Max's lap. He looked down in confusion, un-crumpled the paper, read it, then wrote this response:
Hey. Why'd you follow me?
The reply was:
Cause I figured I'd be bored. This really isn't any better.
Jude could practically hear Max's drawling baritone telling him:
Welcome to Princeton University, the school for your everyday, droning ass-kissers.
He responded with:
Suppose I should've noticed that on the brick sign out front.
By the way, that professor…does she need to bathe or something? She keeps scratching that large ass of hers.
Max snorted loudly, causing a few students to glare at him disapprovingly. He raised his hand in apology, then went back to his note.
I don't know, she does that a lot. But is there any particular reason you're staring at my Chemistry professor's butt?
Jude's reply sent him into silent hysterics.
You know I'm secretly enamored by it. The way her hand glides across the smooth surface of her behind just really turns me on.
Unfortunately, Max's giggles, despite them being somewhat inaudible, did not go unnoticed. The professor had stopped her lecture a while ago and had been watching this unfold, much to the class' confusion.
"Mr. Carrigan," she began tersely. Max snapped his head up, looking like a child who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "May I remind you that you attend an Ivy League college, not an elementary school, and that elementary school behavior is not acceptable in my classroom. If you continue to disrupt the lecture, I will have you sent out and you will receive a failing grade. Do I make myself clear?"
"...yes, miss. So sorry for the disturbance. My eyes will be fixed on you for the rest of the period," he assured her falsely. She nodded and returned to her lesson. Max rolled his eyes and slid halfway down into his seat, his long legs coming close to kicking the chair of the person in front of him. He wished Jude would bother him again, but luck was against his side today; Jude kept quiet for the rest of the period.
When the class filed out, he grinned at Max good-naturedly and fell instep with him. They walked in silence; though they had known each other for twenty-four fours or so, give or take a few, rarely would a moment pass where they would not be talking. But it was a comfortable silence.
He had a few more classes to go to, and much to his dismay, Jude would wait outside instead of following him in. Every time he came out, he would assure him it was fine to come in, but every time, Jude would shake his head and shrug.
"Honestly, Jude, I don't give a shit about my grades. I fail, I fail." Jude chuckled and shook his head in wonder.
"Did that bloody big head of yours ever consider that maybe I'm the one who doesn't want to get kicked out? 'S not like I'm allowed to be in there. I had my reasons for sneaking through the back door."
"Oh. Right. Got it."
By the time they returned to the fraternity house, it was at least six or seven in the evening. Jude collapsed into one of the couches, itching for a good joint. Max had gone into the kitchen to look for something to eat.
"Those motherfuckers," he mumbled as he returned to living room, a small note in one hand and a beer in the other.
"What is it?"
"Figured you were with the Brit, so we didn't wait up for you. Thanks for letting us borrow the clubs!" he read off the note, rolling his eyes as he plunked down next to Jude. He popped off the lid of his beer, and took a long swig.
"I swear to God if those sons of bitches mess with my clubs one more time…" He sighed and left his sentence unfinished.
"You got anything to eat?" Jude grumbled.
Max shook his head. "Nope. And I'm broke as shit, too. Normally, we mooch off free food from the girls at the bar."
"That's not a bad idea."
"Yeah, but I'm beat. If you want to go, be my guest. The girls'll flip for that oh-so-sexy accent." He pursed his lips and tossed imaginary curls over his shoulder, giggling girlishly.
"Shut it." Jude gave him a shove, but was grinning nonetheless. "So…what classes do you have tomorrow?"
"None. I'm going home tomorrow." Jude sat up straight and looked over at him dubiously.
"What?"
"Yeah, man! It's Thanksgiving, remember?"
"No…I live in Liverpool…remember?"
"What does that matter-oh…" Max gave himself a smack on the forehead. "That's right."
"You know, for a bloke who goes to Princeton, you really can be a dumbshit sometimes."
"Har har. It's not like I had a choice. My mother was basically like 'Look at that beautiful campus!' 'Look those happy-looking students!' 'Look at those classes!' 'Look at this!' 'Look at that!'…and three months and a huge donation in our name later, I found myself at orientation."
"So…you're going home?"
Max nodded. Jude groaned and sunk further into the couch cushions. He figured he would have to go back to Liverpool eventually; but he felt like he fit in here. At home, he was practically invisible; You were either rich and a business man, or poor and a dock worker. Nothing in between. In America, he was foreign and different, yet he mixed right into the melting pot.
And Max was reason enough to stay here. Never had one night been so entertaining, and he had actually been sort of a saving grace to him. He didn't know where he'd be at the moment if the American hadn't taken him in. Not to mention Jude was eager to get to know him better, in more ways than one.
"Jude? JUDE." While Jude had been thinking about what to do next, he hadn't realized Max had been trying to get his attention for the last few minutes. He shook his head a little, coming out of his dazed state.
"What?"
"I said, do you want to come home with me?"
"Home?"
"Yes…"
"Where?"
Max shot him a quizzical glance. "…in New Hampshire. Does it matter?"
"No…I just…not many people take home blokes they've known for about a day."
He shrugged indifferently. "Whatever. My mother will probably eat you up, with your British-ness and all. Don't be surprised if she asks you a million questions about your 'posh living.'" He said in exasperation, air quotations and all. "She has this notion that everyone from jolly ol' England is filthy rich."
Jude snorted bitterly. "I'll be sure to mention that working in the yards is hardly 'posh living.' You probably live better than I do, if you can manage such pricey education."
"Yeah, well…" he trailed off, shaking his head and leaving the rest for the imagination. "So, you'll be ready to head out tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Sure."
Max nodded, gave him a pat on the back, and was about the head-off to his bedroom. He was stopped by the brunette once more, however, who had been so thrown-off by Max's sudden invitation, he hadn't even expressed his gratitude.
"Thanks for…for everything, mate."
"No problem. You're not so bad to drag around."
"You're not too bad yourself."
Max grinned crookedly at him, then wandered off to his bedroom. Jude stretched his limbs on the couch, adjusting the pillow so that he'd be more comfortable. But he could simply not doze off. He didn't understand; he had be able to yesterday. Of course, he had had gallons of alcohol pumping through his veins and God knows how many joints. He groaned as he rolled over for the fourth time, wrinkling his nose and scowling at his inability to sleep.
And part of him was longing to…yes, snuggle with his crazy new friend. The night before, Max had eventually fallen off the couch, landing almost directly on top of Jude. While the Englishman had yelped in pain, Max had barely noticed in his unconscious state. Apparently, he thought Jude was the couch and had nestled into his chest, the two staying like that for the rest of night. Despite his bony hip jabbing him in the gut a few times, Max's warm body was undoubtedly comfortable against his own.
Jude sighed. Earlier, he thought that this was just a mild crush of some sort. Now, it was more like an infatuation. He simply could not go ten minutes without thinking about the American. He was falling, and falling hard.
He let his longing mind get the best of him and got up from the couch. He shuffled quietly down the hallway, and walked into the bedroom. Though the room was dark, he could clearly see him sound asleep in his bed. He sat down on the bed carefully, doing his best not to wake him. But as he relaxed into the mattress, it gave a loud creak, therefore awaking Max.
Though, to Jude's relief, he did not seem to mind at all. In fact, he looked downright glad he had joined him as the blonde smirked sleepily at him. Then he did something that Jude definitely didn't see coming. He propped himself up on his elbow, leaned over, and kissed him.
Jude pulled back in surprise, but after the initial shock, kissed him back with full force. It was much too short for his liking, but dear Lord, was it wonderful. When they broke apart, Max smiled and rested his head against the brunette's chest. Jude grinned widely; Max had, in fact, realized some time in the night that the comfortable thing he was sleeping on wasn't the cool leather, but Jude. And he sure as hell didn't mind.
Perhaps luck was on his side today.
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Not my favorite bout of Max/Jude, but I still had fun writing it.
Hopefully, you had fun reading it!
Please review!