Lazy Note: Hey there, Strangers. Episode 5 screwed me up and all I want is some cuteness and something funny-ish since everyone seems to be more on the angst side right now, which I completely understand and will be joining the club after this. But, for now, here's a little short-ish something for Halloween!
Enjoy!
Cute Geek Couple
by
xLazyxWriterx
She ducked under the thick, fake cobwebs with plastic spider rings that were strung between the aisles with an annoyed frown. Was that really the most appropriate place for those? The web of cotton was stuck to her jacket and some spiders fell to the ground when she tugged the stuff off. She didn't bother picking them up; whoever thought shielding the aisles of this place was a wonderful idea should be the one to pick them up.
And this wasn't even the aisle that she wanted. On the shelves were sets of decorations; foam tombstones, plastic bats, fake pumpkins, gross toilet seat covers, window stickers, lights that looked like jack-o-lanterns, little dancing vampires, skeletons and bones, fake blood and everything in between. As neat as they all were -and pricey, she might add- this wasn't what she was looking for.
Max reached over and pressed the button on one of the doll-looking vampires. Cliche horror sounds began to play as the vampire began to wiggle his hips around and threaten to suck her blood. Pulling out her camera from her bag, she bent down to the right angle before taking a shot of the ever so intimidating dancing vampire. Tucking the camera and her new photo back into her bag, she looked up at the signs that seemingly floated in the air above the aisles. Maybe if she actually looked where things were then maybe she could find what she was looking for: a costume.
Halloween was tomorrow, and so was the Vortex's -well, more like Dana's- Halloween party. Dana was pumped for this party back at the beginning of the month and asked Max to come as a "cute geek couple" with Warren. Since the beginning of the week she had Max about her costume, which she still didn't have. Of course, she had procrastinated getting a costume until the last minute, which was why Chloe dragged her to the next town over to go costume shopping.
It's not like she didn't want to go to the party or anything. It was quite the opposite, really. Max just had a lot of things going on in her life at the moment; school, her powers, homework, Chloe, photography, and Warren.
Warren was probably her biggest distraction at the moment.
It had only been a few weeks since the two went to the drive-in together to go see the Plant of the Ape's marathon, and it had only been a few weeks since Max kissed Warren in his car during the opening scene.
Sometimes Max still couldn't believe she did that and how far it went. Mind you, it didn't go "all the way," but it went farther that she ever thought to go on a first date. Warren had asked her out the day after she discovered she could rewind time and after his big fight with Nathan Prescott. Max had realized her feelings for her best guy friend after a long talk with Chloe. Of course, that talk had stuck in her mind through out the entire date up until the moment came when the movie started. She had told herself that if anything went wrong and she ended up embarrassing herself that she could always rewind and change it. Only it went so well that she didn't dare rewind.
Max sighed, fighting her way through the fake cobwebs to leave the aisle. She wondered if she should have asked Warren to tag along with them; he and Chloe were friends now and it would make picking out a couple costume much easier. She knew that he had some homework to finish up before tomorrow and that's why he had put her in charge of deciding their costumes. Well, sort of.
"Whatever you are, I'll grab something to match," was basically what he said. They had talked about some ideas, but then got distracted. Warren eventually had to "kick her out" so that he could get some work done, and so that Chloe didn't have to come in and drag her from the dorms.
Now, with only hours before the big day, Max was wandering a slightly packed Halloween shop looking for something that suited both her and her boyfriend.
Oh, and Chloe was no where in sight.
"Hey, Maxi Pad! Where'd you go?" a familiar voice called for the other side of the store. Max pushed past a group of preteens and webs of stupid cotton to make her way to Chloe. She spotted her friend sorting through a rack of costumes.
Pulling one out and hiding it behind her back, Chloe turned towards Max with a mischievous smirk.
"It's perfect."
Max frowned. " What?"
"It might be too perfect." Chloe was practically bouncing with excitement. "Are you ready?"
"I'm not sure-"
Chloe whipped the costume around from behind her back, revealing the perfection of the costume.
Sort of.
On the hanger she was holding looked to just be a sheet of leopard print, but Max quickly realized that it was actually suppose to be a dress. A very short, skimpy dress. Chloe held it up to herself as if to model it for Max.
"Oh yes! Ape boy won't be able to resist this!"
"You can't be serious." Max felt like face palming as Chloe held the dress up to her, studying her as if preparing her to model.
"C'mon, you wear this and he can wear this," Chloe grabbed the gorilla mask she had been hiding on the floor behind her, putting it on. "'Me like Jane! Ooh aah ahh!'"
"Tarzan wasn't a gorilla."
"He might as well of been." Chloe slipped the mask off. "Warren's practically an ape, too. Oh!" Chloe snapped her fingers and pointed at Max. "He could be King Kong and you could be the chick!"
Max couldn't help but laugh. "No way, Chloe."
"What? Why not? Dude, come on, you wear this and he'll go all alpha on you!" Chloe elbowed her, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Are you ever gonna let the ape thing go?" Max half groaned and half laughed.
"Dude, you jumped him during a Plant of the Apes marathon." Chloe wrinkled her nose. "You know, I was only kidding when I asked if you were into ape foreplay."
"I didn't jump him!" Max protested. Max took the skimpy dress and roughly put it back on the shelf as if to get her point across. "I'm not wearing this, and Warren's not going as any type of monkey." She snatched the mask away and Chloe gave an exaggerated sigh.
"Fine, deny your boyfriend the right to be who he really is!" Chloe drifted down the aisle, searching through the rest of the costumes with Max following suit. "And you totally did tell me that you got so into it that you jumped on top of him!"
Max reached out and planted her hand over Chloe's mouth. "Could you be any louder?" Max whispered, eyeing the preteens that were staring at her with interested expressions. "Okay, I admit that things did get a little... heated."
"Little bit?" Chloe snorted, pushing Max's hand away. "'Oh, Warren, ape with me harder!"
"You're disgusting! Stop it!"
"Okay, maybe you didn't say that, but still." Chloe turned around and sorted through the hanging costumes. "But you cannot deny that you were sitting on his lap at one point."
Well... she was right about that one.
Max sighed, choosing to actually face palm this time. "I was just feeling a little overwhelmed at the time. We were alone together in his car, it was dark and I was having all these weird feelings and he..." Max gazed down at her feet, her cheeks becoming a lovely shade of rose. "...he looked really nice."
"Just couldn't resist, right?" Chloe smirked, pulling a banana costume off the rack. "What about this one?"
"No," Max replied flatly.
"Are you afraid he would eat you up if you wore this?" Chloe teased. Max rolled her eyes.
"No, I just don't want to look stupid."
"Oh, c'mon! An ape and his banana? You'll be the hottest couple there!" Chloe laughed, putting the banana costume back. "Hey, I'm the one coming up with all the ideas and it's not even my thing. So much for helping a sister out."
"I do appreciate you coming with me," Max told her. "I just don't get why you think the ape thing is so funny."
"Dude, ape foreplay. 'Nuff said."
"You're ridiculous."
"Says the chick with the ape kink."
"Can we drop this now?"
Heading down a different aisle, they searched through the costumes. Chloe continued to throw more suggestions her way -usually monkey themed in one way or another- and the group of preteens continued to stare over at them and chuckle. They walked off after Chloe shot them a glare and spat some threat at them, which Max was kind of grateful for. They continued to look around, and were asked twice by one of the workers if they needed any help. Chloe spoke for both of them and told her no; she didn't like sales people breathing down her neck.
The store had some pretty cool things, but nothing had caught her eye yet. She didn't want to decide on something at the last minute and give Warren barely any time to find something to match. She would get him a costume while she was here, but she didn't know his size. Not only that, but what if he didn't like it? Hell, what if he didn't like the theme she picked out?
"Oooh, how about Mario and Luigi?"
Max checked through the various Mario and Luigi costumes Chloe was looking at. "...Uh, I don't think they have anymore in my size."
"Damn, alright...Um, Iron Man and Captain America?"
"Would that count as a couple costume?"
"Dude, have you seen that movie? They're in love."
Max laughed. "Right, I forgot." Max held up a cat costume. "Maybe we should just go as something simple, like cats."
"No," Chloe shook her head. "If you're going as a couple of simple animals, you're going as monkeys. End of story."
"Ugh," Max sighed, putting the cat outfit back.
Something blue caught her eye. It was at the end of the aisle, right before the make up started. Max reached and pushed back the other costumes to get a good look.
"Oh, yes!" She pulled it off the rack, becoming giddy as she admired the dress. "Chloe?" Max turned to show her friend the dress.
On the hanger she held was a TARDIS dress, perfect in color and design. She held it up to her, forming it to her body. It was long enough that it would reach her knees and classy enough to cover her.
"...Wait, what is it?" Chloe asked.
"Have you ever seen Doctor Who?"
"Maybe." Chloe looked at the dress. "'Police box?'"
"It's the Doctor's time machine! Think about it! I'm the TARDIS and Warren's the doctor!" Max smiled brightly. "I'm his human time machine!"
Chloe laughed at her reference and nodded approvingly. "Dude, this might be more perfect that my Tarzan and Jane idea." She ran her hand over the material of the dress before reaching for the price tag. "It's twenty-eight dollars, and it's your size. I say go for it."
"Yeah? You think Warren would like this?"
"Dude, you guys might not even make it to the party. He'll take one look at you and BOOM!" Chloe threw her hands up in the air. "Off come the pants!"
"Ugh, I thought I told you to stop!"
"You'll never stop me!"
Rolling her eyes, Max reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, handing it to Chloe. "Take a picture so that I can send it to him."
Chloe frowned. "What? You're not gonna try it on and strike a pose?"
"Nope," Max grinned. "It's be bad if his pants went BOOM! and I wasn't even there." As soon as the words left her lips, her eyes widened and she felt her face heat up. Chloe's brows rose and she bit her lip to stop her self from giggling. Max covered her face with the dress. "T-that's not-...ugh."
"Wow, Max," Chloe contained her laughter. "Please stop being gross, god."
"Just take the picture, please."
Chloe snapped a photo of Max holding the dress before handing back the phone. She typed out a message and sent the picture.
Max: Paging Dr. Graham.
Discovered something amazing.
Can you work with this? :)
Not even a minute later, he messaged her back.
Warren: Hell. Yes. I can.
Woman after my own hearts. :)
Max paid for the dress and Chloe bought some candy. They hurried out of the store and to Chloe's truck to try and avoid the harsh, cold breeze.
"Whew!" Chloe exclaimed as she slammed her door shut. She instantly tore into her bag of candy, popping a piece of chocolate in her mouth. She offered Max a piece, who took it and thanked her. "Sweet, you got your costume! See? Aren't you glad I dragged your ass down here?"
"Yes, actually," Max replied, tying the bag up and resting it on her lap. "You're coming to my dorm tomorrow and help me get ready, right?"
"Hell yeah, sista! You else is going to take pictures of you nerds?" Chloe started the car, but before she shifted into reverse, she remembered something.
"Oh, shit! I almost forgot!" She leaned over Max to opened the glove box on the passenger side. "I got you something, but it doesn't seem as funny now that I couldn't sell you on the Tarzan and Jane idea. Pulling out a yellow box, she handed it to Max.
Max picked up the strange little box, frowning at the pictures of bananas. She shot Chloe a quizzical look. Chloe sighed and pointed at the label. Max followed her finger, and froze.
In her hand was a box of condoms.
Chloe winked at her. "They're banana flavored."
"Flavored?" Max gasped out, frowning at best friend and fuming with embarrassment. "Why are they flavored!?"
"...Did you seriously just ask me that?"
When Max heard the music it was like liquid adrenaline being injected right into her veins; not so strong as to freak her out, but just enough to make her tingle all over and tighten her grasp on Warren's hand. Neon lights flashed everywhere like police sirens within the darkness of the gym. Max was almost overwhelmed by the number of people and the characters they had become; Minnie Mouse was dancing with a zombie, Cleopatra was sipping on her drink while flirting with Sweeney Todd, Mario and Luigi were making out on one of the couches, Team Rocket -who she instantly recognized to be Nathan and Victoria. Wonder who picked that out- were chatting and laughing over by the drinks, a fairy and an evil-looking clown were taking selfies together, and a group dressed as various Johnny Depp characters were dancing as if they were in a mosh pit.
Max glanced over at Warren to see the lights gliding over his grinning face. The noise around them was as harsh as thunder; it made the red solo cups and paper plates on the tabletops rattle.
The Halloween party was held in Blackwell's gym, and it was massive. Max had to admire the wonderful decorations that occupied the walls and hung in the air; Dana and the Vortex members did an amazing job. There were tables of food and drinks, balloons, a photo booth, couches, and a DJ with an awesome set up.
Warren stood by her side, holding her hand. He nudged her, leaning down so that she could hear him. "Damn! Didn't think it would be this wild! Wanna go find Kate?" Warren's breath tickled her ear, causing her to shiver. She nodded, and hand in hand they pushed through the crowd over to the refreshments.
She had been incredibly nervous for Warren to come pick her up. She was excited, sure, but the butterflies awakening in the deepest pit of her stomach made her anxious. Chloe telling her to calm down and hold still as she fixed her hair didn't help much either. But, she was glad Chloe came to her dorm to help her get ready and pep talk her... even if there was no use telling Chloe to stop with her dumb ape puns and jokes. Max didn't know what it was that made that so hilarious to her best friend.
When Warren showed up, he was dressed to match her perfectly: the 10th Doctor. She couldn't say that she was surprised; Warren had a man crush on David Tennant. Dressed classic brown pinstripe suit with a red tie and a billowing tan overcoat, it was easy to tell who he was. He even put some gel in his hair- which Max thought looked really good, and she made a mental note to mention that to him later when they were alone. He said that he tried to match David Tennant's sexy bedhead, but then realized that no one could match that and gave up. Regardless, Max liked it.
Warren was pleasantly excited when he saw her dressed as his human time machine. No, his pants didn't go BOOM! Although, that could just be because Chloe was there holding a camera, but Max liked to think that Warren was classy enough to keep his pants on during a second date. While he didn't show his extreme like for her costume in the way Chloe explained, he had complimented her on it in such a timid manner that it made Max's heart nearly skip a beat. The dress fit perfectly and was modest, thankfully. She was glad she had rejected the leopard "dress" Chloe showed her; she could only imagine Warren's reaction to her in that.
Chloe had taken a lot of pictures as though she were Max's mother on prom night. "Pose like this!" "Stand like that!" "Now, Warren do this!" "Max, stop being so stiff!" It was enough to make them late for the party, but at least they had lots of pictures.
They had invited Chloe to come with them, but she declined, saying that she had some shit to tear up on "Hellaween." Max had cringed at the pun, thinking that was worse than the ape puns, and Warren only laughed.
On their way to the gym, Warren told her about Twin Peaks, an old show that he had just finished watching. He was upset at the lack of closure due to them being cancelled so long ago. Max had never seen the show, but she could sympathize with endings full of loose ends.
Now, here they were, still hand in hand and talking to Kate, who was dressed as they most adorably bunny she had ever seen, and Brooke, who was dressed as a mad scientist- which was strange because Max could've sworn Brooke wasn't all that into science. What also surprised her was that Brooke supposedly came with Daniel, who was dressed as Brooke's test subject.
"Warren, what happened to your hair?" Brooke asked, voice raised so he could hear her over the music.
Warren reached up to touch his head, frowning. "I don't know," he replied, "you tell me."
"You look like you just woke up."
"That's the point!"
And it still looked good. Max didn't know what Brooke was talking about.
Daniel showed back up, greeting both Max and Warren.
"Dude! You look awesome!" Warren exclaimed. Daniel's make up and special effects were realistic enough to be scary. Daniel's eyes brightened at the compliment, obviously embarrassed.
"Ah, thank you, Warren! I did it all by myself."
"That's so cool!" Warren continued to study the fake scabs and scars scattered all over Daniel's face. Before Daniel could elaborate on how he did his make up, the music transitioned from erratic and fast to calm and rhythmical. Daniel seemed to forget about Warren's amazement and turned to ask Brooke to dance. She hesitated, but agreed.
Max watched them move onto the dance floor, silently telling Brooke to be nice to Daniel in her mind.
"I have to use the restroom, so I'll see you guys later," Kate said, placing a gentle hand on Max's arms and giving her a knowing look.
She was left with Warren, who was admiring her. She eyed him. "What?"
"What?" he laughed.
"You're looking at me."
"Yeah, how can I not? You're beautiful."
Her gaze slid to the side as a wide smile forced it's way onto her lips. The butterflies were bumping against her belly and pushing their way up to her heart. Her face flushed warm as she stuttered out, "G-geez,"
Warren was chuckling, but not in a way that was mocking. He brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss upon it. Still gripping her tightly, he asked, "May I have this dance?"
Max knew that if she tried to speak that her words would fumble and slur, so she settled for nodded her head. He lead her to a spot on the dance floor surrounded by several other couples, each trapped in a world of their own, unaware of their surroundings.
She rested her hand on the back of his shoulder while his slipped to her upper back. Her held her other hand in his, pressing it against his chest as they lightly swayed to the soft music. She was familiar with the song, but it was pleasing to her ears and seemed to block out the world that didn't consist of her and Warren.
They moved together, not a word spoken. She didn't know if she could speak.
Max could feel his heart beating strongly against her hand that she could've sworn their heartstrings had become attached. His forehead rested against hers, dark eyes focused in such a trance on her face. Whenever she glanced up to meet his gaze her nerves became engulfed in cool flames. She couldn't help the contact for too long; she was afraid of becoming too far gone.
He was close enough that she could feel his light breath against her face and giving her a new kind of sensation. She wasn't sure if it was the state of the gym and all the bodies moving around or if it was Warren himself, but she was becoming incredibly warm. The hand on his shoulder traveled to the back of his neck. His lip twitched, as though he were holding in a smirk. The tips of their noses brushed, burning her. She couldn't help but wonder if he was feeling the same warmth that was spreading through her fingers, down her spine, and to the very tips of her toes. Her fingertips found exposed skin between his suit collar and his hair, wanting her fingers to burn him. Warren, radiating with nothing but kindness and love, had her enthralled. He mesmerized her in every way.
His hand griped her back tighter, pulling her closer. She forced herself to look at him and the bright colors that washed over his features within the darkness. Warren's grin wasn't left at his mouth; she could see it in his dark eyes. The way he looked at her was enough to make the entire gym blush.
Even as the music rang in her ears, the voice telling her to close her eyes was the loudest.
Her lids fell shut and within seconds his lips were pressed lightly against hers. It was sweet, chaste, and yet she felt that if it were for the hand grasping at her back she would have fallen. Shocks ran over her lips and spread through her cheeks. How was she expected to breathe when she felt like this...?
This kiss was much different than the first they ever shared. There had been uncertainty, curious desire, and most of all, fear. She had repeatedly told her that if she messed up or if she didn't feel anything for him that she could rewind, take everything back and make it so that it never happened. That never happened, of course, and she was tasting his lips for the first time.
Now, Max had lost count of how many times her lips met his. But, what made this kiss different from the first was that she was certain about the boy the lips belonged to. The thought of rewinding wasn't even fathomed. She knew how she felt.
They had stopped dancing by the time their lips parted. When they did, Max realized just how crowded it was, and how warm. She let out a heavy sigh before speaking, "Warren...?"
"Yeah, Max...?" He was just as breathless as she was.
"Do you, um, happen to have your USB on you?"
"Always."
Max bit her lip. "Do you maybe want to get out of here and go watch some scary movies back in my dorm...?"
Warren beamed at her. "That sounds great," he replied.
The song ended, only to be replaced by something much more upbeat, making it much more difficult to maneuver through the crowd of trashing dancers. Warren made sure to keep his grip firm on her hand so as to not lose her.
They escaped outside into the fresh air of the night. Once free, Max stood on her tip toes to peck Warren's flushed cheek and ruffle his styled hair. This time, she was the one who grabbed his hand and lead him back to the dorms to prepare for a warm night of scary movies, and perhaps a kiss or two.
*Insert ape pun here*
Happy Halloween! :D
Thanks for reading!
xLazyxWriterx