Written for comment_fic on livejournal
The prompt was Max/Alec, lips, rain, springtime
When he kissed her, he was surprised. He thought of Max as so much more experienced, so much more sure and knowing and solid than he was. The sexier-than-sin badass who always did the right thing. The one who saved his ass when he did something dumb.
The one who always had her shit together.
But when he kissed her the first time, she was hesitant. Scared, even. Virginal.
Okay, not virginal. But confused and conflicted and kind of innocent. Like she had no idea what he was doing. Like she was shocked to find herself enjoying the taste of his lips.
And when she pulled back, she gave him a look that almost hid the "What the hell just happened? Is that what I think it was?" behind the typical Max veneer of "Don't make me mad or I'll put you down to the floor before you know what hit you."
Almost hid it, but not quite.
And as Max walked away, Alec locked in his memory of her face, lips flushed bright red so that they stood out from everything else in Alec's line of sight, like red petals that get blown onto a gray beach after a springtime storm. Or a gash on an injured body that gets washed away by the rain, disturbingly lovely to look at even when you know it means failure and pain.
It would not be the last time Alec noticed that she was most beautiful right before she walked away.