A/N: I can explain...okay actually I can't. Ever since Are you afraid of the park, I've been a mess and I need to write down what is going on in my head or else I'll never forgive myself. I'm not gonna sugar-coat it, but I think they're in love with each other. I've always wondered how the show makes them have all these close and sometimes intimate moments and then pretend like they never happened. Well, here's my take with a series of one-shots based on a Tumblr prompt. Enjoy!
If there was anything Max Thunderman hated more than being second best, it had to be chores. Why was he doing them you ask? Well it seemed nobody in the Thunderman's household found replacing chocolate ants with sprinkles for dessert was funny, whatever, and so he was grounded for two weeks and had to do all the chores in the house.
Which was something he wasn't really good at.
"Ow," He grumbled a curse, before sucking on the tip of his thumb. Nursing a stab wound from reaching for a fork that was right side up.
He heard the pleasing sound of soft laughter, it would have been pleasing had he not known who it was coming from. Of course, he mentally sighed and quickly glanced behind him, Phoebe was there in her pajamas, leaning against the kitchen island.
"Aw, Maxie T got a wittle boo boo." She walked closer, loving the way his shoulders stiffened. "Don't tell me the world's greatest super villain is scared of a few dishes." She pulled her lips in between her teeth, careful to stifle the smile playing on her face.
He never turned to look at her, but he could still see that infamous quirk of her lips in his mind. Annoying. "Buzz off Phoebe, I'm working here."
"Oh, I see, but sadly, the dishes are supposed to go into the 'Magic Chore Machine' not through your skin." And she was by his side now, pushing dangerously into his space. She wasn't even waiting for an invitation, she had a strong feeling he wasn't going to ask for the help he so desperately needed.
She wordlessly pulled a plate out from the soapy sink water and began rinsing it before placing it into the dishwasher. Max's eyebrows furrowed skeptically, as he watched how carelessly she was handling the task. Maybe he was a little agitated that she was good at something he wasn't, but in his mind he rolled his eyes.
Girls were known for being good at this kind of lame stuff anyway.
"I'll rinse, you put them away." Phoebe ordered, and in less than a moment they fall into a pattern.
They didn't talk about how their sides were brushing together or how the contact warmed up the skin from their forearms to the base of their necks.
They were never really good with the whole 'personal space' thing.
Max turns to look at her and study the way her dark brown hair falls over one shoulder, spilling across her chest in waves. Long eyelashes brushing against her cheekbones and her lips pulled into a small pout as she focused at the task at hand. Phoebe was definitely beautiful, and he started noticing it maybe around twelve years old, but it didn't start bugging him until he hit fifteen.
There's a small smile on his face, because how could he have not known she would love doing chores. In his mind, he's forced to think it's because she loves spending time with him. It helps him cope with the guilt of loving her.
The word 'Thanks' hangs heavy on the tip of his tongue, and he's too caught up staring to realize she's staring too.
"...What?" She pulls a lock of her hair behind her ear, embarrassed and suddenly Max is hyper aware of every movement she makes.
"-Nothing." He says and pulls the spoon from her fingertips.
Besides the occasional clanking of plates and bowls. A comfortable silence falls back upon them. They were doing the chores –well his assigned chores together, in a strangely domestic way, but they were the perfect team.
Seriously, it wasn't his fault that Billy thought it was a good idea to play "Hide and Go Ouch" with Nora inside of Phoebe's closet. So what if they singed nearly half of her entire wardrobe, they apologized already, all of which had nothing to do with him.
So he begged and pleaded, all things that he considers are for the weak hearted, not to go with her, but she insisted it was his fault because he gave them the idea.
Okay. That was a little true.
Phoebe pulled on his wrist and dragged him into yet another department store. Shopping. This was the fourth place today, and his only use was to carry her bags and meet the glances of respect and admiration from guys all because he's with a girl like Phoebe. It would and should have bothered him, but they had no way of knowing she was his sister.
He didn't like telling people they were related anyway if that meant none of the cashiers would try to hit on her in front of him then so be it.
"I have to try these on!" She jumped on the balls of her feet with a handful of outfits and accessories and scurried off into one of the dressing rooms.
Great. Now she was trying on clothes. He watched her walk off, shooting daggers into the back of her head. There was nothing else to do except sit in one of the lounge chairs and just wait. His eyes wondered around the notably colorful store with their hefty prices and catchy pop songs playing in the background. All things he couldn't stand.
Oh, how he couldn't wait to get out of here.
"What do you think?" Phoebe called out, before stepping into his field of view, pulling her hair over to one side of her shoulder and spinning slowly.
He's paralyzed for two seconds, mind circling around and around coming up with nothing. She's wearing a blue and white crop top that showed off the skin of her slim stomach, accompanied with a short white skirt that makes him question his sanity. There's a strain in his chest and an unfamiliar burning in the lower pit of his belly.
Since when did Phoebe dress like this?
"Uh, earth to Max?" Her eyes squinted, face tight with anxiety.
Any nerves he was feeling he was definitely sweating them out. "You look...not terrible," He said with that face he always makes when he was lying.
"Not terrible...?" She repeated in what his mind thought hurt. She shook her head, quickly shutting the mirrored door behind her. Apparently those weren't the words she was looking for.
He thinks he has a serious problem, it's not something like an embarrassing itch or puberty. No. Those days are long gone, but this isn't something he can tell anyone. For a split second he actually thought his sister looked hot. Oh God, he pinched the bridge of his nose. It was obviously his mind playing tricks on him, there was no way in hell he was attracted to Phoebe -
"How about this?" She said, and came out in the next threads of torture. A light blue dress that clung tightly to her body with a very low-cut neckline.
He looked for a long moment and Phoebe looked back, trying to gauge his stone-faced expression. With this particular outfit leaving little to the imagination, it was in that very moment Maximus Octavius Thunderman knew he was all sorts of screwed.
About five outfits and a half an hour later full of Max's complaining they finally stopped off for frozen yogurt -Phoebe had promised- at the food court, after what she put him through he felt he deserved it.
"I can't believe you didn't like a single outfit," Phoebe said head cocked to the side while licking idly at her delicacy.
"I paid for them didn't I?" Max let out gruffly. But then there's mischief in her eyes, making them darken and his mood dissipates into thin air, but his skin is still hot. "I thought you-they looked...good."
Oh, if only she knew.
"Aw, thanks, Max." Phoebe murmured with a tender softness that had the air lodged out of his throat.
"Yeah, yeah..."
They stare at each other, warm doe eyes meeting hard brown ones, breathing quietly as they catalogue each other's features. Waiting. It's almost like a challenge, to see who'll break first. Both too chicken to do anything the other was silently hoping for...
He shifted his gaze to his plastic spoon and Phoebe's eyes followed, and she watched him stick it into her strawberry yogurt, scooping some and popping it into his mouth.
Tonight was going to be absolutely perfect. It was she and Link's 6th month anniversary. He had dinner reservations for the fanciest restaurant in town. The whole night he had been showering her with gifts and surprises, an onslaught of magic and fireworks, but for some reason...something didn't quite feel right.
"You having a good time, Phoebe?" Her boyfriend asked while putting his suit jacket onto her shoulders.
The perfect gentleman.
"Huh? -Oh yeah, things are...things are just great."
She'd be lying to herself if she thought that were true. In fact things, we're not great at all because on her perfect night she just had to get into a fight with he-who-shall-not-be-named.
"Quit acting like he's some knight in shining armor."
"Why, because he's the perfect gentlemen?"
"All I'm saying is guys like him usually have secrets, dark secrets. Watch yourself."
She didn't understand why their conversation kept replaying in her head. Of all times, Max shouldn't have even been on her mind. Her focus was supposed to be on Link and how amazing he was for going through all this trouble to surprise her.
But her brain really enjoyed messing with her and suddenly she's wondering what would it be like if she were here with Max?
She scoffed to herself.
He'd probably forget to pull her chair out, or order something they both couldn't afford, or forget to tip the waitress, or stick straws up his nose, or-
What was even the point of thinking this? Link was everything Max wasn't, and it doesn't even dawn upon her that she shouldn't even be comparing the two in the first place.
And suddenly something in her lap is vibrating, shaking her out of her thoughts.
Beware of the Evilman
Speak of the devil. She rolled her eyes, of course, he would text her. He had nothing else better to do on a Saturday night. She looked across the table and Link has his head buried in a menu, a quizzical expression on his face. Which made sense since half the menu was in Italian.
How about you focus on your lack of love life
She smirked triumphantly at the bright LCD screen and she added the broken heart emoji, for good measure. Take that Max, instead of worrying about nothing, he should be wondering why no girl in their school would stand within ten feet of him and his band dorks.
"...breadsticks?"
"Huh?" She quickly dropped her phone in her lap and looked up startled.
"I said, should we order the Mozzarella sticks or the breadsticks?"
She looked uncertain but nodded, trying to ignore the quick buzz of her phone and quickly put in. "Yeah, that sounds fine." She signed off and stared down at her phone screen again.
On a date with Courtney right now so ha!
A short pain shot through the pit of her stomach as she reread the text and she wanted to think it was because she was hungry, and not because of anything else. There was no reason to believe her brother, there was no way he could find a date last minute with the prettiest girl in school, and he said his plans were to watch Wrestle Face until morning.
What would a senior want with you?
"Phoebe, is everything alright?" Her head snaps up. "You haven't stopped checking your phone since we got here."
"Uh, yeah...? I was ju-just checking in on Chloe." She lied, unconvincingly.
The minute he had addressed it was the exact same minute that she realized, that was exactly why she was upset. Link didn't deserve someone who was angry (jealous) that her brother was on a date with some girl who was practically a supermodel in her hometown.
Her phone buzzed once more. Honestly, she didn't understand why she couldn't shut it off. She pulled her lower lip in between her teeth and gave Link an apologetic glance before looking down into her lap once again.
Maybe she has a thing for bad boys ;)
Unconsciously, she types out. Maybe I do too.
But she never hits send.
She collapsed, half-dead on Max's bed. "I feel so dizzy." She groaned.
Max had stopped rubbing it in about twenty minutes ago, now he rubbed her back occasionally and told her all sorts of lies like, 'you'll be alright.'
It was just another party. Moving to Hiddenville meant a lot of them. Nothing she couldn't handle, at this point she considered herself an 'experienced partier' but still, Max had warned her this wasn't some illegal party on the roof, this was an unsupervised party just outside of town which usually meant booze...and lots of it.
"Am I gonna die?" She asked for the thousandth time.
"No, Pheebs, not from a mouthful of alcohol." She wasn't particularly drunk, he had seen drunk girls before, with their giggling and falling over, but she was considerably tipsy, and she had an epic headache. "It's only because it's your first time. It gets easier after a while, and you get used to the taste."
"Doubt it," She mumbled through a face full of mattress.
"Who knew a Supe like you had a weakness for spiked punch? I could use that to my advantage..." He joked, but he was seriously considering it.
She started to chuckle but stopped when a stab of pain pounded through her head. "I can't laugh. Don't make me laugh."
This time he grinned, and patted her back again, lingering a little longer on the exposed skin of her neck, she moaned and he pulled away as if she had burned him.
"Sorry." It must've been the alcohol in his system too.
"No…it's ok," She reassured him, loving but refusing to admit that his touch sent her stomach into a riotous whirlpool.
There was a pregnant pause before his hands were on her skin again, just the fingertips against the sweaty, overheated flesh. He rubbed slow circles into her muscles, an act that did a lot less to calm her nerves. Eventually, her heart had started pounding so wildly in her chest that she made herself roll over onto her back.
"I don't want to hog your bed." Phoebe tried to smile, but her head still throbbed and the act came out like a grimace. She watched him watching her before he finally caught the hint and laid down in the space beside her.
Bed sharing wasn't something the two usually did all the time -if ever- but neither of them seemed to mind. After a minute or two, Max turned onto his back and urged her onto her side, so that her head was propped against his shoulder.
"What if I told you I knew the punch was spiked?" Feeling gutsy, Phoebe cleared her throat. "And that I just wanted to live dangerously for once."
"I'd give you your Dark side t-shirt back, but we all know your drinking days are over."
She chose to ignore his comment. "Lately I've been feeling like," She gulped for air. Whoever said alcohol made you courageous was definitely wrong. "...Taking risks is a part of life."
When he caught on to the direction this conversation was going, his face heated up and his heart thumped a new beat. It was then he noticed how dangerously close their faces were while she stared back expectantly at him.
He'd turned the lights down after she begged him to, something he was beginning to regret now that the soft shadows in the room made everything seem so sultry, heady, and overwhelming.
Suddenly, Max sat up near the edge of the bed, elbows rested on his knees.
"I think...you should get some rest." He mumbled, and left the room, left her in the blink of an eye.
She could have his bed. He would sleep on the couch tonight.
Their youngest sibling Chloe had gotten her oldest siblings to spend the afternoon with her and play tea party. Of course, they would rather be spending their time doing something else, separately, but how could they say 'no' to that cute little face?
"We used to play like this all the time when we were kids." Phoebe tries her best to get Max to stop making the face where she can see all the lines in his forehead.
He sighs heavily and pulls back the curtain hanging in their baby sister's room.
"More tea?" Chloe's sweet little voice breaks through their lackluster tension.
Phoebe smiled brightly while holding out her toy cup for Chloe to pretend pour into.
She was the princess of Hiddenville, trapped in a castle waiting for her 'knight in shining armor' to save her. She thought it was incredibly cliché since they lived in the twenty-first century and women were very much capable of taking care of themselves, but for her little sister's sake she would play along.
Max came out from behind the curtain, dragging his feet, world domination was being put on hold for this nonsense. "Ma'am." He shoved his hand out in front of Phoebe's face for her to take.
"Be nice, Max…" Chloe warned, hugging her teddy bear closer to herself. It was like she was directing some kind of play, and if she wasn't so adorable he wouldn't have cooperated.
He rolled his eyes, before clearing his throat. "M'lady." He got down on one knee and took Phoebe's hand in his own, before sitting beside her.
She tried to hide the blush that crept across her cheeks when she saw the tenderness in his stormy brown eyes. This was all an act. She told herself.
Chloe smiled while she watched them silently. "Kiss her," She commanded in all her naiveté.
What?!
Both their heads snap towards her. Max blinks and tries to comprehend the meaning of her words, several emotions –namely all that relate to shock surge through him and he can't think of anything to say.
"…N-now Chloe, sweetie, Max and I are brother and sister, we can't kiss." Never in a million years did she think she would be having this conversation, and if she could, she would have just died right in this spot.
"No," she said, certainty clearly on her young face. "He's a knight and you're a princess." Her hands fly up over her head in celebration, as if coming to terms that this is exactly how it works in fairy tales.
Which in a way was very much true, but…
Phoebe could only turn to Max, silently pleading for help with her eyes. Usually, he finds some way to make everything worse. But not this time.
He whispered loud enough for only her to hear. "Just a kiss on the cheek," His words make him stop. He didn't mean to say that, not that way. He falls silent, thinking and not thinking about it in equal measure.
But Phoebe is seriously giving this idea the green light. She turns to fully face his side.
"Thank you for saving me kind sir." She saved faced before placing her lips onto his cheek. Besides the subtle scruff of his facial hair, his skin was really soft against her, and she pulled back thankful it was finally over, even if her lips did linger for a moment.
But Chloe simply shook her head, "Real kiss or no happily ever after." Then she began crying, her hands covering her face.
"Oh God, make her stop crying, please." Max's whined.
In Phoebe's mind everything has slowed down and her lower stomach twists in knots, thinking that their best option would be to just kiss each other and get it over with, all so their sister would stop sobbing. She doesn't want to do this, and she has to constantly remind herself –that's normal, right, that this is all so Chloe can be happy again.
It's just pretend.
She places her hand gingerly onto Max's bigger one, it gets his attention. She looks into his eyes and nods.
"Are you serious…?" His tone isn't in complete surprise, but still he does feel guilty for something he can't put a finger on. All he knows is she's telling him it's okay to kiss her, and there's nausea and delight running through him.
"Just kiss me." Her words sounded foreign to her own ears. Every inch of her body humming with anticipation.
There's a brief pause before he even attempts to do anything.
"Wait." Max stares at Phoebe. "Why do I have to kiss you, why can't you kiss me?"
Typical Max. Honestly, she has no clue why he would want to start an argument on who should kiss who first, but she should have known he was going to make this difficult.
"Because it's the 'Knight in Shining Armor's' job to kiss the princess," She said through gritted teeth, eyes big because her brother really could be a dunce at times.
"Fine, whatever." He mumbled, and pulled her towards him gently and she stumbled, her hands landing against his chest.
She gasped nervously as she looked up and her forehead bumped his nose. Max stared deeply into her brown eyes, and slid a hand to her hip, the other cupping her face. Phoebe's eyes fluttered shut, leaning in as she felt Max's breath tickling her face.
"Chloe?" They both sprang apart. "Time for your nap!" Their mother called from beyond the door, before entering. "Oh, hey kids. What games were you guys playing?" She asked, eyes drifting between her two oldest while she moved to scoop Chloe up into her arms.
But Max and Phoebe, didn't answer.
They didn't say anything.