Max saw Yue sitting by the pond near the Cherry Blossom Square, waiting for someone to come dance with her. She was wearing a new white qipao dress with light pink flowers etched in it. Her long black hair was up in a bun with her flower tucked in. She was gorgeous. Max took a deep breath, and tried to keep his heartbeat down so he didn't choke when he asked her to dance. "It has to be me she's waiting for right? Or will it seem like I'm coming on too strong? At first I just thought she was cute, then I realized she was a mature beauty, much unlike girls here… I know she said she wasn't interested, but maybe my talk of fairytales changed her mind. Don't choke Max you can do this. Just walk right up to her and say-"
"Good evening Yue, care to dance?" but it wasn't Max who said it. Max looked up from his hiding place behind the trees and saw Kyle, of all people, taking Yue's hand to dance with her! He stood only long enough to watch her walk away with Yue's hand in his. Rage burned in his heart as he sunk down the tree branch.
"Damn." he cried softly. Why would she go out with that jerk? What does he have that Max didn't? Max was a gentleman, romantic, sweet and handsome. Max left his hiding spot, and went to wait by Kyle's house to ask. Sure it may be a little forward, but he was only asking a simple question, how bad could it be?
Max waited for hours, and hours, and hours until finally Kyle showed up way past midnight. Kyle had picked up Yue at six… they couldn't have danced for that long could they? If they weren't dancing than what were they doing?… Max refused to think about it, Yue wasn't that kind of girl.
"Hey Max, whatcha doing out here?" Kyle asked. "You missed the party!"
"I came to ask you a question, and I want a straight answer." Max said, trying to sound big so that he didn't feel intimidated. "Why do girls like you?" He didn't mean it rudely. He just wanted to know why girls seemed to drool so much over one guy.
Kyle laughed as if it was the dumbest thing he had heard. "I think you mean, why don't girls like you."
"Every girl in town was miserable that you asked Yue to the dance instead of them, they came by here crying that you didn't dance with another girl the entire night. Why do they care? What makes you so much better than everyone else?"
"Look," Kyle said with a cocky grin as he stepped closer. "Girls like a mysterious tough guy, which is something this town didn't have until me. Sure you have the two classic jerks in the town, but both of them are sissies, all talk and no game. The rest of you guys are just a bunch of wussies that sit inside and work all day. Can you say BORING?!" Kyle laughed again, and then continued. "I bet you've never even seen a real monster. Wouldn't matter if you did, you couldn't even take the weakest monster for a battle. That's what you don't have Max. I've got it all. I have a job that shows off to girls how tough I am, I fight monsters, I'm smoking hot, I come from an unknown place and know nothing about my past and I can only remember by finding my 'one true love', and I am saving this town from falling into a dirt whole. I'm the hero of their mysteries, the Prince Charming of their dreams."
Max remembered what Yue said about fairy tales. "What about Yue, she doesn't believe in any of that. Why did you pick her to dance with over all the other girls you could have in a snap?"
Kyle leaned closer and Max could smell alcohol on his breath. "I like a challenge you see, I even told her that. Yue's been playing hard to get since day one, but I found her weakness." He leaned back and began to walk inside, "Nice girl, I can see why you're so obsessed with her." he put his hand on the door, "Too bad she'd rather go to bed with a real man." Before Max could grab him Kyle slammed the door and locked it. Max clenched his fists and sat there for a moment trying not to scream.
He had never hated anyone before, but he hated Kyle with every fiber of his being. He ran home and went straight to his room. "What can I do?" he thought. "Yue deserves more than that overgrown pig. She deserves a man who will love her forever and protect her, not someone who will use her for a one night stand. I'll never deserve her until I can prove that I can take care of more than just business. I can fight and I'll prove it."
The next day Yue's smile was even bigger than normal. She had had the time of her life last night! Kyle swept her away and complimented her on her dance skills. After a long day's work, Yue went to thank Max for teaching her how to dance. A newly wrapped present with Max's name was tucked away in her bag, but when she got to his house, she couldn't find him.
"Excuse me Cecelia," Yue asked. "Where's Max?"
"I'm afraid he hasn't been himself all day." Cecelia answered sadly. "He's been in the gym all day. He hasn't eaten since last night before the Festival, and he's never missed a meal before. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."
"I am his best friend. I'll try my best." Yue answered, not realizing that even Cecelia knew Yue was more than just a friend in Max's eyes. "But er- where's the gym? I don't think I've ever noticed that room before."
"It's one of the secret rooms." Cecelia whispered.
"Secret rooms?"
Cecelia nodded, "Haven't you ever noticed this house is much bigger on the outside than it is on the inside? That's because Master Herman's father designed it to hold secret rooms that could not be seen by everyday people walking in. There's hidden bathrooms, a gym, a ballroom and even 4 large walk in closets."
"There's all that?"
"And more, but I can't tell you them all. Why do you think I work such long hours? You don't think I spend all day cleaning this small portion of the house now do you?" Cecelia laughed. "The door to the secret hallway leading to the other rooms is behind this wall." Cecelia pointed to the far right wall, where she picked up a painting and inserted a key into what looked like a design in the wallpaper. The wall began to shake and Yue heard large things moving around the wall but saw nothing change.
"Where is it?"
"Behind the stairs in the cleaning supplies closet." Cecelia answered, leading Yue. Sure enough, there was a door that had seemed to appear out of thin air. Yue thanked Cecelia and after getting instructions on how to find the gym she left. She couldn't believe how many rooms were in the de Sainte-Coquille house. After a walk that seemed to last forever, she found the room with the blue door Cecelia had told her to find. Yue opened the door and saw a shirtless man fighting moving dummies with a sword. He had a blonde ponytail and a pale and slightly muscular body. It took Yue a moment to realize that man was—"Max!"
Max jumped and missed his dummy and was attacked by another from behind. He fell on his face as an overhead voice said "Level Failed."
"For the love of—" Max yelled. "Cecelia, I told you I don't want—" Max turned and saw Yue instead of Cecelia. "Yue!" he shrieked, falling back onto the pile of dummies. "W-what are you doing here? How did you find—"
"Cecelia showed me, she was worried about you." Yue said, putting down her things. "And I should ask you the same thing."
"I'm training."
"Why?"
"Does a man need to have an excuse to want to train?" Max said irritably turning to face the weapons rack.
"When that man is you, yes."
"Why is that?" Max asked as if offended, turning to face her.
"Because you're the brains not the brawn."
"Why can't I be both?"
Yue laughed, "Because I know that fighting isn't your style. You'd much rather talk things through professionally than with your fists."
"Well maybe that Max has changed."
"Well this Max needs to explain what he did with my best friend. What's going on? You're never like this."
"Look Yue," Max sighed. "If I want to find a girl then I need to show her that I can protect her from harm."
Yue stared repulsively at Max. "That's not what girls care about Max. Girls want guys to love them the way they are, it doesn't matter if he can slay a few beasts with his big muscles and flashy sword."
"It matters to you. You're into big muscular monster slayers."
"What? You mean Kyle?"
"No, you're other monster slaying boyfriend. Yes Kyle!"
"Kyle is not my boyfriend, he just asked me to the dance so I said yes, no big deal."
"No big deal? You don't dress up for a guy who's 'no big deal'. You don't take a crash course in dancing lessons the night before the Dance Festival for a date that's 'no big deal'. You don't stay out until midnight drinking, partying, and Lord knows what else with a guy who is 'no big deal', Yue."
Yue looked as though she had just been slapped, "What are you suggesting Max?" she yelled. "I don't go around and party with guys or drink. Who do you think I am? Why wouldn't I tell you of all people if I was dating someone?"
"You didn't tell me about your fabulous date last night. Did he sweep you off your feet with his marvelous dancing? Did he promise you the moon and stars if you'd only let him hold you for one more dance? Did you have the time of your life last night dancing only because I your best friend taught you how for your secret date with a guy I thought we both hated without telling me?"
Yue's face had grown bright tomato red with anger. She reached in her bag and threw Max's present on the ground. "Not everything is about you Max. You may have the big house, the rich family, the fancy clothes and the gentleman act, but you aren't fooling anyone. You're just a big, whiny baby and no amount of training could change that you jerk!" Yue stomped on the gift and ran out holding back her tears until she got to the forest. Inside the gym, Max stared at his present, inside the squished box wrapped in white ripped wrapping paper with a deformed red bow was Max's slightly cracked gift. It was a green and orange mask from a troll that was called a—proof of warrior, something Max had longed for since he was a child. Max held his head as he realized he had gotten what he had wanted but had lost his best friend in the process...
"Damn..." he cried. "What have I done?"
Yue ran without looking back. She fought to hold back the tears but soon tears began to run over and sting her eyes, flowing like waterfalls down her face. She just kept running and running, not paying attention to where she was going. He was right. She had betrayed him as a best friend. Why had she been afraid to tell him it was Kyle she was going to dance with? Why didn't she tell Max about how nice Kyle's been and how he's changed because of her. She had been a terrible person and a terrible best friend.
Finally she fell on her knees beside a river, she washed her face to try and hide the tears, but they came faster than she could clean them. She sat up and realized, she didn't know where she was. She heard a branch snap and looked around to see a Troll staring down at her. She reached for her daggers but couldn't find them. Then a gleam from behind the Troll caught her eye, she had dropped her weapons near the grape tree behind the monster.
"Yue!" Max cried at the Crossroads. He couldn't find her anywhere! "Yue!" Max walked towards the Trieste Forest where she usually camped. "Yue!" Nothing. He left and walked over to the Messina Valley entrance. "Yue!" He heard a scream, and knew it was Yue. He ignored his fear of running into a monster; all he could think of was finding Yue. He ran inside, and it didn't take long to find her.
She was by the river with a Troll blocking her from getting to her daggers. Her hand was over her shoulder, covered in a thick red liquid— blood. "Get away from her you-!" Max called out a series of names that instantly grabbed the Troll's attention. The Troll ignored Yue and began charging for Max. Max blacked out and his life flashed before his eyes, he would have been sliced through if Yue hadn't yelled, "Max lookout!" and woken him up. Max dodged the Troll's attack and ran towards Yue's daggers while it chased him. Max picked up the first dagger and threw it at the Troll, missing hitting him with the blade, but getting him in the head with the butt of the dagger rendering him dazed for just a brief moment. While the Troll sat in a daze, Max quickly used Yue's dagger's to close the portal the Troll had come from, to prevent more monsters from coming. He was almost finished when he heard Yue cry— "Max!"
Max spun around and stuck out two daggers, landing them right in the Troll's gut. Then he kicked the Troll down and hit the portal a few more times, finally closing it. Max didn't have long to celebrate because when he turned around to finish the Troll he was attacked. Yue shrieked in terror as she saw the Troll swing at Max with his claws, slicing a big X with 8 scratches on his chest. Max kneeled over and Yue ran to help when Max yelled, "No, please... I can do this." Yue obeyed, but she told herself she would save his butt and kill the stupid Troll before she let it hurt him again.
Max stood up, one arm over his stomach, the other with a dagger in hand. The Troll jumped to attack but Max avoided and hid behind the Troll. The Troll tried to turn to find him but it was obvious Max did have one point of fighting down- dodging. Max and the Troll turned to face each other at the same time as Max drove the dagger into the Troll's neck. The Troll staggered backwards as Max fell down to his knees again. The Troll hit the grape tree and dropped something, before the Troll had a chance to decide if he was okay, Max threw Yue's dagger and this time he landed it in the Troll's chest. The Troll fell over and died as Max fainted from blood loss.
"Max!" he heard Yue cry. Max woke up to a blurry vision. "Am I dead?" he thought. His blurry vision cleared up some and he saw a black haired girl sitting beside him, with big beautiful blue eyes. "Max!" His vision cleared a little more and he saw it was Yue, with her arm bandaged up and in a sling. "Max!" she yelled with excitement. "Dr. Natalie! Ray! Dorothy! He's up!"
Suddenly the room flooded with people and noise. Faces that began to blur together, questions that sounded like gibberish. His head was pounding... "Everyone!" he heard Ray yell. "Give him some space, he's not fully conscious yet."
Max was grateful that his friend recognized his pain and soon the room was quiet again. "Ray, change his bandages." Natalie said. "I'm going to go get some more medicine. Dorothy, get him some soup and Yue, you stay here and keep him awake."
Yue brushed Max's hair out of his face and said, "You can count on me." She checked his forehead and grabbed a rag from a bowl of cold water and cooled off his neck, face, and forehead.
"Thank you for saving me." she said. "Especially after I was so terrible to you."
"What?" Max asked.
"I'm so sorry, please forgive me, Max."
"Yue you don't have to be-" Max groaned as the pain shot through his body as he trued to sit up, but Yue quickly laid him back down.
"Don't move," she commanded. "You'll only make yourself worse."
Max obeyed but continued what he was saying, "You don't have to be sorry, Yue. It was my fault. I was a jerk." Yue tried to calm him down but he ignored her. "You were right, I was making your relationship with Kyle about me and it's not, it's about you and him and as long as you're happy, I'm happy. I value our friendship too much to lose you over something stupid like this."
"I agree." Yue said with a smile. "Now let's get over all this drama and get back to being best friends."
Max smiled, "I like the sound of that." Max stared up into Yue's beautiful blue eyes that seemed to hold the night sky within them, keeping the moon and the stars in a home better than their own. She talked to him and kept him awake, but he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was even after spending the night sleeping in a chair next to his bed.
"Max did you hear me?" Yue asked.
"What?"
"I'll take that as a no." she laughed. She had the cutest laugh. Sometimes when he got her laughing really hard she'd snort and then her whole face would turn red and she'd bury her face in her hands. "I asked if you saw what the Troll dropped after you killed him."
Max thought for a second and remembered seeing the Troll drop something right before he killed him. "Yeah- hey what was that?"
Before he could even finish asking, Yue held it out before him. His very own Proof of Warrior that he earned by himself, protecting Yue. "Guess you don't need my store-bought Proof of Warrior anymore." Yue said. "You have your own now, one you earned yourself."
Max smiled and said, "And it will look lovely hanging next to the one you bought me."
"Jeez," Yue teased. "You're such a kiss up."
"I am not! I just love the one you bought me as much as I love earning one myself."
"In other words, you're being nice or kissing up to make me happy." Yue said with a wink. Yue and Max laughed until Max groaned from the pain from his wounds.
A few weeks later, the hot summer days blew away and were replaced by the cool autumn. Max was fully recovered by the sixth of Fall and was able to leave his bed. He woke up, ate a big breakfast, and went down to the bathhouse to clean up, then ran into Yue on his way home.
"Happy birthday!" she said, giving him a big hug. "We need to celebrate! Not only are you off of bed rest but you're also twenty six now— woohoo!"
"Ah yes, a few more years and I'll be an old bachelor." he groaned, slightly from displeasure with his age and from minor pain where his scars had been.
"Come on!" Yue said excitedly. "I closed down my store today just so that I could spend the day with my best friend on his twenty sixth birthday!"
Max sighed. He never expected Yue of all people to close her shop down for anyone, "What did you plan on doing?"
"Let's go for a boat ride!" Yue said. "It's too cold to go to the beach and swim now, so I asked Mayor Byron if we could use the boat used to sail to Blessia Island for the day and he said it was fine."
"I have a better idea." Max said. "How about we take the de Sainte-Coquille private boat?"
"You have a private boat?" Yue asked, her eyes widening.
"Well technically it's called a yacht, but we don't really talk about it. We don't want people to think we're too rich."
"Oh I'm sure they'd feel quite hoodwinked if they found out you were that rich." Yue joked, but she knew what he meant. He didn't want people to mooch off them for their fancy things and money, just like their secret hallway. They wanted their privacy just like everyone else. Max went to his house to pick up his things and then took Yue to where they hid their secret yacht.
"What did you bring?" Yue asked once they were on the water.
"Oh just a few essentials for the perfect adult private party for two." Max said with his blonde ponytail flying in the wind. "Just let me get us far out enough in the water so I don't have to drive."
Yue was fine with waiting, the breeze felt so nice. She secretly wanted to go on the edge of the boat and hold out her arms as though she could fly but that would be childish. She was glad she finally coaxed Max to go with her, this was the first time they had gotten to hang out since he got hurt. "I hope he doesn't have any permanent scars from it..." Yue thought. "I'd hate myself forever if I knew I did something like that to him."
"Ah here we are." Max said waking her up from her thoughts. Yue looked around to see nothing but water and sky. It looked more like a painting than the actual ocean surrounded them. The blue waves gently rippled in the pleasant breeze. The sky held cotton white clouds with every shade between white and gray dancing around the silver lining. "It's beautiful out here." Yue said. "I'm surprised you don't come out here more often."
"Well I would," Max said, as be began to empty his secret basket. "But you know how busy our business can be."
"What does your family do exactly?" Yue asked, raising her eyebrow curiously as she stepped closer.
"The de Sainte-Coquille family collects wine." he said as he opened a bottle of wine. "My father travels around the world collecting different wines, visiting the stores, and making deals with wealthy buyers. My sister balances the books, she 's been our accountant ever since mom died."
"And what about you," Yue asked, leaning on the boat wall next to Max. "What is it that keeps you so busy?"
"Believe it or not, I do inventory. I research different wines to figure out the popularity, taste and age. I keep up with our worldwide store's inventory, and I am also in charge of marketing. Based off of local income rates, prices of nearby wineries and the worth of our own collection, I decide the prices. Honestly my father has been slowly putting me into the business since I was thirteen, in a few years I'll be doing most of the work."
"And you're not already?" Yue asked.
Max smiled and handed her a glass, "My father and sister do as much work as I do. I just have multiple jobs."
Yue took a sip of the dark red drink, "It's sweet." she said happily.
"My father keeps his rarest finds for himself." Max said as he took a sip. "This is his favorite, he and my mother drank this wine at their wedding. It took him eight years to find another bottle, now he owns the winery that makes it so we get all we want. Though he usually only keeps a few for special occasions."
Max and Yue sat on two chairs and sipped their wine and talked as they ate cubed cheese and grapes.
"I feel so fancy." Yue laughed.
"Now I know the world's richest merchant could afford a simple thing like this. You could probably buy my father's company for all I know."
"I'm not sure." Yue said getting lost in the beauty around them. "I own businesses all over the world, this is the first place I've stayed more than a few months. I know it sounds crazy but I just can't get myself to leave." They were quiet for a moment. "Can I ask you a question...?"
"Anything." Max said with the glow of the ocean dancing in his blue green eyes.
"Are you okay with your father forcing you to carry on the family business?"
"Forcing me?" Max asked, puzzled. "Well, I guess it wasn't really an asking matter but—" He sighed and chuckled, "Let's just say I knew he'd still love me if I decided to invest in another business. I can't say it didn't come to mind, but I found joy in wine collecting and selling if you can believe it. Not because of the money, though it is a bonus, but because I found the wine business fascinating. Wine is like snow flakes, no two bottles are completely identical. They all have different smells, tastes, ages, backgrounds... the possibilities are endless. I actually thought about moving to a large town where they had knight tournaments and becoming a trained fighter. I never thought I could love anything more than gripping a weapon in my hand. Fate has a funny way of finding us." Yue quietly nodded. "Why do you ask?" Max asked.
"Have you ever done something to someone you care about that you know would hurt them, but you were too selfish to see that all they did was out of love for you?" she asked.
"Yue, I've known you for a long time now, but you've never spoke of your past and I never asked because I knew it was none of my business, until now."
Yue sighed. "When I was little I never behaved like a normal child." she began, Max leaned back in his chair and listened intently. "I didn't play make believe or with the other children, I read. When I was nine, I redesigned my parents business and increased their income by 51%. I graduated when I was young and my father tried to do everything in his power to keep me from having to grow up. Back then I thought he was just being childish, but I didn't realize it was because his father had tried to force him from growing up too fast. He tried to set me up with one of his friend's sons, sent me on a two year trip around the world, he did everything in his power to keep his little girl. I got mad one night when he got onto me for being selfish and childish, and I told him he needed to grow up before pointing the finger. I ran away from home, and haven't seen or heard from my family since." Yue tried to fight the tears that tore at her eyes. Why was she crying? She had always thought of this moment as the start of her career, so why did it make her sad? "I've never cared about love or marriage, family, or kids. Kyle's the first guy who took me out on a date that wasn't arranged. So why is it that I think about them now, here with you?" She shook her head at this puzzle at hand. "I never felt like I was forced to be in my family business, but I never remember having that feeling you did about making your own choices. I felt like I did what I had to when I needed to, and that was all there was to it. I was good at being a merchant, and it's all I've ever known. I've never really tried anything else." She looked up at Max, who stared at her with his eyes full of pain. "What's it like to have a family that you know loves you? I never cared about it until I got to this town. This town is like one big family that would do anything to help their neighbor. I've never seen that in any other town I've been to."
Max and Yue sat quietly for a moment as Yue brushed away a teardrop. Max grabbed Yue's hand, "Talk to your parents." he said. "You said it yourself, they do care about you, even now. Our parents say that we can't understand how much they love us. There is nothing we can do to make them hate us forever. You're feeling this now, because you've buried your emotions and feelings from the world for so long, and this town is acting as a geyser, trying to push them out." Max put down his glass and grabbed Yue's chin and stared directly into her eyes. "You are a beautiful, independent, and talented merchant. People buy from you because you make them feel like they've known you for years. Your problem is that you don't know how to treat the people you have known for a long time. You like to move around a lot so that you don't get emotional connections with people. You fell in love with this town, you made friends." Max choked a little as he continued, "You found someone you care about, Kyle. You avoided emotional connections not just to avoid the pain of leaving but also to avoid the memory of leaving your parents behind."
Yue let the tears flow for only a second to relieve the burning sensation in their eyes. "Thank you, Max." she choked. She hugged him tightly, embracing the warmth she had become so familiar with. "You're the best friend I've ever had." Max smiled and hugged her, wishing she could know how much he really cared about her.
Yue left their embrace and dried her eyes. "Gosh, can't believe I'm bawling like a baby." she laughed. "Sorry for crying on your birthday, Max."
"No need for apology." he said. "Just watching the ocean with you makes this the best birthday yet. Even if I am getting old."
Yue wrinkled her nose. "But if you're getting old that means I'm getting old."
Max shrugged, "We are the two oldest unmarried citizens in town." Yue moaned and sunk into her chair. They both laughed.
"Well at least we can pluck out each others gray hairs while we watch everybody else get married." she joked.
"Well if I live to see a gray hair on your head, I'll save it and put it on display."
She wrinkled her nose, "Okay Max that's all levels of creepy." They laughed and Max drove the boat home as they watched the sun set on what they believed to be the best day ever.
"Good thing we didn't get wasted." Max joked as they walked home.
"Yeah, two drunk single best friends would have been the talk of the town."
"Nah, I'm sure Kyle's done something more interesting than that in the last twenty four hours." Max said bitterly. Before Yue could ask what he meant, Max opened his front door to hear a roaring, "SURPRISE!"
Max came home to find a large surprise party that included everyone from the town and some of his family's business friends. Max wore a grin that stretched from ear to ear, his eyes dancing with excitement. "Happy birthday Max." she said with a smile. Everyone came down to greet the birthday boy as they partied all night long.
The leaves had changed into a collage of colors and fell to the ground as the busiest season began to bustle. Max and Yue found themselves caught in the webs of work and hardly had time to visit. Other than the weekly business dinners with the de Sainte-Coquille family, they never saw each other. Fall busily breezed by, crops were grown and sold and people began buying and trading, getting ready for the winter that was quickly drawing closer. The warm breezes of autumn began to fade as winter started to nip at the heels of the villagers as the last day of fall came to a close. "Can you believe it's almost winter?" Max asked his friend Ray.
"I can hardly believe the seasons go by as quickly as they do." Ray laughed as he rubbed his shoulders. They walked through the town square to the beach as they continued to talk about business when Max asked, "How's your sister doing?"
"Just fine." Ray answered. "She and mother are still constantly arguing about her fortune telling abilities but I just try to resolve the fights rather than take sides." Ray fought back a smile as he asked, "How's Rosalind been?"
"Wonderful actually." Max said. "She's been oddly happier lately. She's been humming songs our nanny used to sing to us and smiling a lot."
"Really?" Ray asked, he laughed and his face turned red.
Max raised an eyebrow and smiled, "What's that look for?"
"Um…" Ray said he cleared his throat. "Nothing, nothing at all."
"I'm afraid I know you too well to believe that, dear friend." Max said, stepping in front of Ray to stop him. "Plus, I'd know that look anywhere."
Ray smiled, "Alright, alright." He laughed, "I didn't know how I was going to bring it up but…" He paused, unable to continue.
"You're in love with my sister." Max finished.
"Head over heels." Ray laughed. "Never thought I'd be so in love I'd lose the ability to speak properly." He chuckled then continued, "I wanted to ask for your blessing, since you are my closest friend and the brother of my beloved. I already asked for your father's blessing, but I wanted to ask for yours as well."
Max straightened his smile then asked, "Why do you love her?"
Ray saw the seriousness in Max's eyes, he took a deep breath and said, "She is everything I could ever want. I think about her when I'm not with her. The way she smells, the wrinkles she gets in the corners of her eyes when she laughs, how soft her hands are, how beautiful she is." He laughed in reverie, as if he were seeing her now. "I find myself getting lost in those gentle green eyes of hers… She's so kind and precious, gentle and sweet, romantic and divine in every way. If she were dirt poor and wore rags I would love her the same. I love her more than life, and if the situation arose, I would gladly die for her." Max nodded and Ray added, "That's the way you feel about Yue isn't it?"
Max blinked, his face flashed pink in shock. Once he gathered himself, he pictured Yue. It pained him to think about it. He found himself lying awake some nights thinking about her smile, the way she smelled, how her nose crinkled when she laughed and how she blushed when she laughed so hard she snorted. He believed her eyes held every star in the night sky. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. He had nearly given his life for her before, hadn't he? And he would gladly do it again. Ever since he had seen her, he never cared for another woman. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, he was head over heels in love with Yue. "Yes." He sighed.
"Then you understand." Ray said excitedly with a smile.
"Yes," Max said, smiling. "I thought you might be but now I know for sure. I have something for you. My sister and I grew up listening to our nanny tell us fairy tales, in one a prince gave his true love a bouquet…"
"The bouquet of a hundred roses, I remember that story." Ray said smiling. "If you know where I could find one I'd give you anything for it!"
Max smiled, "I think we have a deal." Ray smiled as they shook hands and began to discuss the trade. After saying good night they parted ways and Max decided to go visit his favorite merchant. He ran to the woods, he had to tell her. He couldn't hide it any longer. If she didn't feel the same then at least he could know that he tried. Finally he reached Yue's camp without stopping he said, "Yue I have something to tell you-"
He stopped dead in his tracks and saw Kyle with his arms around Yue, her face bright red. Max felt his heart shrink and plummet through his foot into the earth. He smiled weakly, "I'm sorry to interrupt. I guess I was just so excited-"
"Max was it?" Kyle said innocently with a snide look in his eyes. "If you don't mind we were kind of having a private moment." Max was flustered; he didn't know what to do. All he could think about now was Kyle's rap sheet. Did Yue finally give in like all the other girls? He than began to wonder if he had just interrupted simply a kiss or a hit for home run. "So sorry…" he stuttered. "I'll be leaving now." He turned to leave then Yue called out, "Max wait." Max just kept walking. "It's not what you think. Max!" He heard voices behind him but their words blurred together in his head as he slowly moped home. How could he have been so stupid? In his epiphany of undeniable love he had forgotten all about Kyle. He walked inside and went to bed without eating dinner. He laid awake all night wishing that he could tell her the truth, but his heart was so lost in love he didn't know if it was even his place to tell her.
"Get off me Kyle." Yue had said just moments before Max had arrived.
"Come on Yue, we've been seeing each other a while now, I thought you cared about me."
"I do…" she argued, her face bright red. "But this doesn't feel right…"
"Come on it's just one kiss."
Yue thought about it, but something in the back of her mind was nagging that it would turn into something more than just an innocent kiss. "I'm sorry Kyle I just don't feel right about this."
"Of course you don't, your lips aren't on mine yet." He said pulling her close. Luckily Max ran in and saved her, but as quickly as she felt relief by his presence she felt embarrassed as well when she saw the hurt look on his face. "Max!" she yelled as he ignored her and kept walking. Yue tried to run after him but Kyle kept his grip. "I have to go after him!" she argued.
"Max is a big boy, Yue." Kyle said. "He'll be fine. It's not like he's an emotional princess that just got his heart broke. It's just awkward to walk in on your best friend like that."
Yue watched Max's shadow fade into the trees. "I guess you're right…"
"Now come on, it's too cold out here for you to be sleeping on the ground. Until winter passes you need to sleep at my place okay?"
"Okay…" Yue said, not paying attention to what Kyle was saying. Max didn't look like that was all that was wrong with him. She saw something, a twinkle in his eye that was pushed out by pain when he saw them. She wasn't good at reading people's emotions but she felt that there was more to it than that. She was so lost in thought, she didn't even realize Kyle was leading her to his house, or that his intentions were not for her to sleep on his couch…