This innocence is brilliant
I hope that it will stay
This moment is perfect
Please don't go away
I need you now
And I'll hold on to it
Don't you let it pass you by
–"Innocence" by Avril Lavigne
I hate the rain.
It makes my suit wet, it makes my hair a mess, and if I happen to be carrying any papers while walking through it, they instantly become a ruined mess. This is to speak nothing of the terrifyingly loud noises that cling to rain's side like a brother, or the awful flashes of electricity that blaze through the sky whenever it's around.
Rain frightens and annoys me, needless to say. I don't think there's much I dislike more.
"I love a good storm! Don't you, Leo?"
In response, I can only moan. I am curled up on the couch of Max Bialystock's office with a large, itchy blanket pulled over my head and my precious blue one pressed tightly to my face. I hadn't heard Max come in, so consumed had I been by my fears. Hot disappointment shoots through me at this knowledge. I don't want to miss one second of the time I could be spending with him, rain or no rain.
"Leo?" Max inquires softly, upon not receiving a response from me the first time. I feel my makeshift bed creak slightly under me as Max presumably sits down on the end. As a slight pressure, Max's hand, rests on my right shoulder, I think my heart has literally stopped beating.
"Leo," Max repeats, his voice completely calm and understanding.
"Ma… Ma… Max," I gasp, my heart jumping back to life with a roar as it starts beating loud enough for one of Max's deaf old lady friends to hear. "Max." The comfort I get simply from saying his name is unexplainable. If I could only see Max's beaming face, this moment would be perfect. But as a loud clap of thunder reverberates around the room, my eyes clench themselves tighter shut than ever.
I want to see Max so, so badly.
How can I let my stupid fears get in the way of that?
"I guess you don't like storms as much as I do, huh," Max says jokingly, though his voice has taken on a rather serious tone, unusual for this sarcastic man. "I'm sorry about that, Leo."
Speaking Max's name aloud is nothing compared to hearing him speak mine. In those two syllables alone rest my entire life's share of happiness. Only Max can present me with such pure joy. And only he would understand.
"I… I hate the rain," I choke out, my eyes clamped painfully closed, but my mouth able to move once more. The words feel like a confession and suddenly, as I tell Max of my fears, I am removed of them. A huge weight has been lifted off of me by entrusting Max with my secret.
We sit there in silence for a moment, together. The feel of his hand on my shoulder is a nice one, and when thunder strikes again, my shudders are just a little bit smaller knowing that Max is by my side.
"Leo…"
Max, to my surprise, breaks the silence before I'm ready to let it end. In his unfinished sentence, however, I find the message I need to hear: When you're ready, come out, and we'll look at each other, and it'll all be okay.
Slowly, I open my eyes.
As I sit up for the first time in hours, instead of stretching my stiff limbs, the first thing I do is turn to Max, whose face bears a smile wide enough to easily stretch across the world and back again. His eyes, however, are troubled still. Frowning at this, I meet his gaze.
"Max," I state simply, giving a name to the miracle I see in front of me.
And then suddenly, in one single, fabulous moment, it all becomes clear to me. In that one tiny instance of time, my entire existence is changed forever more.
Max's eyes aren't troubled.
They're determined, because there's something he has to do.
Max leans forward and his lips brush mine, and I want to put the movie of my life on pause and never have it leave me.
But as the kiss grows deeper, more passionate, I realize how very wrong I was to wish it, because this moment is so much more magical than the first.
"I love you, Leo," Max mumbles through my lips, his eyes fixed on mine as if the second he looks away, I'll turn to dust before him.
For the first time in my life, I know what I want and I'm going to head forward bold and strong. For the first time in my life, I'm truly not afraid.
"I love you too, Max," I reply.
After those five words are put into open air, nothing much matters but me, Max, and us as a whole. I barely notice the brilliant flare outside the office window, and the crash of thunder that follows is completely lost on my ears.
Love is a magical thing, after all.
As Max and I lean in towards each other, all I can think about is his smile, and all I can imagine is his touch, and the feel of his name on my lips, and just how right everything is in my life whenever Max and I can be together.
I love the rain.
It's the state of bliss, you think you're dreaming
It's the happiness inside that you're feeling
It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry
It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry
–"Innocence" by Avril Lavigne
INSPIRATION:
– "Innocence" by Avril Lavigne, and the entire playlist I created to use for writing this fanfic
– the rain outside my cabin window
– my dear friend Christie and her AU Deidara/Sasori fic, which I shamelessly stole the plot from (but only a little bit)