For Schermionie's 5, 10, 20, 50, 70, 100 Fandoms Challenge.
Linden is good for Max. He's sweet and sensitive. He's your standard knight in shining armour and intent on making sure that she knows that, no matter what, he thinks she's beautiful. He's calm, collected and fiercely loyal. Moreover, he loves her to pieces and would break her guarded heart.
He balances her out. He's able to deal with her wild mood swings and doesn't blink an eye when she moans about slime-covered dresses and snapped heels. He doesn't even flinch when she cries in front of him for the first time. He just hugs her, kisses her cheek and holds her until she comes back to earth.
Linden and Max. It makes perfect sense to everyone except Toby.
Oh, he sees how they're good for each other. He sees how Max is able to coax Linden out of his quiet shell and how Linden is able to bring Max down a couple of notches. Toby won't deny that the two make a picture perfect couple. They're something out of a fairytale.
But Toby never did much like fairytales. And while he knows that Max and Linden were always going to be and are always going to be, he can't help but think that this particular story could have been slightly better written.
In his opinion, Max didn't need someone to balance her out. She doesn't need someone to coddle her when she's upset or to simply understand when something doesn't go her way. She doesn't need someone to mellow her out. She needs someone who is able to push her and lets her be as crazy as she wants. She needs someone who can laugh outright at slime-covered dresses and roll their eyes at six-inch heels.
Max, Toby thinks, doesn't need (or possibly want) a knight in shining armour or a fairytale. She needs (and most probably wants) someone just as crazy and irrational as her and a book that's more action than romance.
Linden's good for Max, Toby knows that. He just thinks that she maybe needs something—someone—more. He thinks that maybe she needs someone a little less like Linden and a little more like him.
Linden and Max. They make good sense to everyone but Toby.