"So, what is it?"
The 19-year-old turned his back on his elder, so Bobby couldn't help but inquire further, "You said that I guessed wrong about you two?"
"There is nothing going on between us, just the same old rivalry as usual."
Max had taken great care not to raise his voice with each passing syllable. When it was safe he turned his head over the shoulder, "What the hell makes you think that I'm 'having an affair' with that guy?"
The redhead crossed arms and swiveled his body to face the dorm's entrance, anxiously awaiting the return of the third musketeer. A wandering hand latched onto his scalp under the mini-side mohawk and stayed there, hoping to avoid a sudden migraine. He just wasn't used to addressing this issue. He shook his head for the fourth time as the Goof smiled, "Are you gay or something, Bobby?"
The other's focus suddenly sharpened, "What the hell?!" Removing the eclipsed sunglasses—The black pit of his orbs threatened to sink more into the exotic shade. "Why would you think that, Max?" The boy finally turned around,
"It's the same answer I gave you earlier, yeah? So stop asking if it's not your business!"
Sputtering, disturbed to the core by such a misguided accusation, "I'm just looking out for you, Max! I thought we were friends! I want to help!"
Something tugged and pulled at Maximilian's heart, still malleable even as it hardened like steel; he had a certain senior to thank for that. The face remained like stone with that strange smirk. Robert felt chills go down his spine at this lack of reaction. Since the beginning of September, he had noticed something was wrong with his once-closest friend. Back then, during the summer, the particular depression was dismissed as a phase. The sudden elation during the following months after the "jumping incident" gave rise to chronic suspicion. Those suspicions were confirmed after Halloween night; Max had deliberately harmed himself! He saw the gash on the kid's side and the shallow cuts circling his wrists as clear as day…
But the answer to the question "why?" remained forever suspended in the air. Bobby had a gut feeling to share with a reluctant PJ that their best friend trying to strangle the Gamma jerk in a classroom was no isolated incident.
He found himself just gawking in growing disbelief, all with an air of concern that Max readily took note of… He was nearly moved.
Despite the label that had just been slapped on him, the Pauly Shore canine went in for a tight hug, sighing, "Look, I just want you to be okay." As a gloved hand brushed through messy black hair, Max convulsed and broke away from the embrace; something in him was screaming! A forbidden thought seeped its way into his split mind. He hoped that the color wasn't draining from his face at Bobby's alarm, or worse—if he was going red.
He was pacing back to the bedroom, with the other calling behind him, "Max!" The door was pushed into place as another weight pressed back, "What is wrong with you?!"
He never planned on telling him. Or anybody else.
"Leave me alone! Please!"
"Yeah real mature, kid!" Out of sight, the 'kid' bit his lip long enough to make it bleed as suitable punishment. After several frustrating attempts at barging into the locked room, Bobby threw his arms up and stomped out of the dormitory, slamming the door behind him, "You stupid freshman!"
Unknown to Mr. Zimmeruski, this would be the same day that Max would really attempt to end his life.
A girl peered into the glassed hole through rounded lenses and caught a severe fish-eye view of a fidgeting Goof reaching for his keys—
"Psst, he's here! He's back!" Stacey sprinted back to her seat, evermore excited now that the Troop was almost back together, save her good friend from another campus…
Bobby was feeling more distant than ever before. He continued to look down at his gloves, speculating on their existence again. He stood up from his seat about ready to avoid contact at all costs, tugging at the collar of his black-and-white striped sweater feeling guilty of so many things. The Beret Girl looked up at him from PJ's cuddle with a questioning look. Her boyfriend had only scratched the surface of the tension between Mr. Zimmeruski and Maxie, who was beginning to turn the knob.
It looked at this point that he would have to fake it until he made it—
All in unison at his arrival, "Welcome back, Goof Boy!"
Bobby leaned over her with a weighty hold on her shoulder. An annoyed motion with her head, go talk to him. The guy pursed his lips a little after Stacey reintroduced herself, "Hey there, Max Goof! Long time no see!"
".. Hey, Stace." Hand motionless in the air as everyone got in a loose circle around him to give their share of affection. Something that he had to get used to—after his encounters with the senior whom he shared a strange, fulfilling weekend with…
PJ slapped his hand into Max's palm in a bro-type of way, making up a new handshake on the spot as the third of the musketeers approached, clearing his throat, "Hello, Maximilian." Much to his surprise, the 'boy' smiled in gratitude. Max was taken aback with yet another embrace, making his heart race. Not much thought was put into it as the last time. The girls snatched him away from Zimmeruski after respectful request to show him that he was dearly missed.
After the weekend at his "old man's" house, he didn't feel so isolated in this world as before. But still.
Bradley.
It wasn't until after the girls were gone that Bobby tried to speak to him again. PJ was taking his sweet time escorting his girlfriend home. Stacey tagged along, chatting all the way through about their high school lives. She even mentioned a certain redhead whom Max was once "deeply in love with" to the point of putting on a show for her…
Robert tiptoed into the room after a soft rap of his knuckles on the panel. It was dark; the light from the living room revealed a slumbering creature hidden underneath a cotton comforter.
"Hey, Max." Shaking shoulders gently; the other groaned, "What is it?" Now awake, he stared into the sparkle of his friend's orbs, "Bobby."
He's still pressing on you ain't he, Maxie Boy?
He preferred that he wouldn't sit so close, "move over," shoving him to the other end of the mattress—"What's the matter with you?" The boy finally sat up, draping his legs over the edge.
The guy laughed nervously, "I can't help it; you're like a little brother or cousin to me sometimes, you know?"
"By two measly years!" Max had never thought of his friend viewing him as a brother, much less 'little'.
Now being half serious, "It doesn't matter to you if it's Uppercrust, though."
The kid curled his lip, mind wandering to the beginning of the conversation on the way back to the college campus…
You're kidding me, right?
.. No. Max, I'm not. There's something, that... I..
… Bradley. Wh-Why?
The young man focused on the road ahead, jaw jutting in and out in obvious internal conflict, gripping Max's hand to the point where he could almost crush it.
"You miss him already don't you?"
Goof Boy looked at him, feeling betrayed, "Are you still going to talk about that?"
Hesitant, "I need to know what happened that day—
On the defensive, "He insulted me, that's all!" Max wished he would get up and leave, but to no avail.
Pondering, the other was almost smiling at an inside joke, "Not a smart idea following him around—
A brow raised, "What?" Bobby's train of thought changed tracks to not reveal that he and PJ had been spying on the kid for a while before the classroom incident happened.
"You're not involved with him in that way, then?"
In uncanny confusion, Max scratched at the back of his head, "… No, I'm not." Not anymore, as Mr. Uppercrust said at least. Eyebrows then scrunched together in response to his current life events, "Would it matter if I was?"
"I don't want to see you getting hurt," not wanting to answer a crucial question. Max's frame nearly collapsed. Bobby rested a hand on his shoulder hesitantly, knowing what the sudden embrace did before, when they were alone, "Just to let you know I don't swing that way, man—so don't expect any favors!"
In the way he said it, he was trying to get his friend to crack a smile. In a weird way, Max felt relieved—a bit safer than before from the last vision he had of them in heat... Max taking him over indefinitely. He couldn't understand why this would show up with all of the other "bizarre attractions" poking all around.
Still, there was a question in his eyes, starting with Bobby's persistence of wanting to be so close, especially when no one else was around. The canine picked it up, "Ya know how parents and siblings get real close at home? They can't do it around strangers, because they get the wrong idea…"
Mulling it over, biting his tongue in bitter anxiety. "Especially when they look unrelated."
Max's body suddenly tingled with a strange emotion that had nothing to do with a stray licentious thought. "That's why guys can't express their feelings out in the open."
This still wasn't enough to answer questions nagging at the back of the Goof's strange mind, but for now this was something to consider for the long run.
Pulled into a warm, strong hold, the kid held on tight, trying to erase the last vision from his memory to replace it with something that seemed better… "I don't want to take advantage of you, Max. I can't stand seeing you hurt; none of us do."
Not that he really fuckin' cares, Mr. Zimmeruski.
"Hey you two!" Eyes snapped back open. PJ turned on the bedroom light, grinning, "I'm glad the fight's over."
Bobby let go, a bit flustered; PJ laughed, "It's okay; my mind's clean." Max nearly put on a face like a sad puppy abandoned by its owner, partially in a way to make himself laugh out loud, but that never happened,
"Hey, Peej. It's good being back." A rare genuine smile appeared on his face.
His best friend offered a hand to him, "Wanna watch a late night movie, since you're up?"
Bobby gave one last glance directly into the Goof's reddened eyes. He rubbed at them to get rid of the lack of sleep, and then some—
"Sure… only if I get to choose it, that is."