So perhaps Phoebe wasn't in the habit of sitting down next to him on his bed when she wanted to talk to him, and perhaps she had never sat quite that close to him before, but really that was no excuse for this! Never mind that he had done it – why had he even wanted to in the first place? One minute she was rambling on about Billy and her plan to cheer him up (or was it Nora who was upset?), and the next minute Max's gaze was transfixed on her lips and he heard even less of what she was saying than he usually did. When she stopped speaking, she turned those large puppy dog eyes up at him (he hated puppies, stupid puppies with their cuteness!) waiting expectantly for his response. Well, the response he gave was certainly not the one she had expected.
Her eyes were larger and puppy-doggier than ever but she was still sitting there next to him on the bed, close enough to share a breath, and even as Max ran a hand nervously through his hair (not a wise decision, now it was greasy with product) and tried to decide what to say to diffuse the situation he couldn't forget that she had kissed him back. Not frozenly, not politely, not automatically – but enthusiastically, exuberantly. She had kissed him back with abandon.
Her hair was down, dangling at her side and brushing against his arm. It had tickled him as she had moved her head, angling her mouth against his. Nothing had felt better than her hair sweeping across his arm, not even the flushed warmth of her skin underneath the hand he had lifted up to her cheek.
Oh God, he was going to kiss her again, wasn't he?
And apparently she could tell: Phoebe cleared her throat. "So I should probably…"
"Go?"
"You want me to go?"
"What? Well, not necessarily, I was just finishing your sentence for you," Max informed her, coughing awkwardly. "I didn't actually say one way or another."
"So you don't want me to go?"
"Well, I don't…I don't…I mean, I'm surprised you're still here, actually."
"So you definitely do think I should go then?"
Max groaned. "How about you say something that doesn't end in a question mark?"
Phoebe exhaled. "Well, what if I said that I wanted to stay, that I wanted you to…that I wanted us to…?" she stammered.
Max didn't wait for her to finish – he caught her lips with his and tipped her back onto the bed, tucking one arm underneath her back. Pulling his head up for a breath, he said, "You know, technically that was still a question, Phoebe." She rolled her eyes and kneed him in the thigh (careful not to hit anything too important), and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face back down to hers.