Winter 2015
Changing their relationship status from platonic to romantic had been a lot simpler than Max had expected. To Zoey's shock, it seemed no one in their life was all that surprised to hear she'd started dating Max. Maggie confirmed she'd known about Max's feelings for Zoey almost as long as her husband had. Then went on to say that she'd thought of Max as pretty much family for most of his life and was thrilled to consider him truly family now that he was with Zoey. Tobin and Lief had just given Max high fives once they discovered Max had finally 'got the girl.' Even Max's parents were happy about it though not quite as much as Maggie. Max knew Mitch would have been happy for them too.
After graduation, Zoey threw herself into apartment hunting. Rather than make things more complicated Max had just agreed to everything Zoey wanted since in the end all he really cared about was who he lived with, not where.
"By that logic maybe I should just rent us out a cardboard box?" Zoey had snapped back when Max explained why he wasn't really weighing in on the apartment hunting.
"Of course not," Max had replied easily. "You would never be happy in a cardboard box." Zoey had rolled her eyes and called him hopeless.
After a little more back and forth and a couple apartment tours, they managed to find a lovely little one bedroom apartment just a quarter hour drive from the downtown building where they worked.
Having lived up till now in the same house his whole life Max had found moving a bit of a strange concept. Still, moving with Zoey made it all worth it.
Max had believed he'd known everything about Zoey after a lifetime of friendship, but living with her had taught him otherwise. It amazed him how much you could learn about a person simply by sharing the same living space with them. Things like how Zoey never closed the shower curtain all the way or left the lid off the toothpaste. When she made tea she always squeezed out the tea bag before throwing it away and she never ever made the bed. Still learning more about her imperfections just made him all the more in love with her.
Their co-workers however did not see it this way. When the people at work had learned that they not only worked together every day but also lived together, they were quite surprised. Often asking questions such as: "How do you not get sick of each other?"
Max would reply simply that they'd been friends for so long before becoming a couple that they were used to spending all their time together.
Even with gossiping coworkers, his first six months living with Zoey had been the happiest of Max's life so far. When Zoey was with him all the little ways life tried to get ya down never seemed to stick. Waking up on the wrong side of the bed didn't seem to matter anymore so long as she was there. In the end it was a small thing, but having that low-key constant state of peace in his life felt huge to him.
After knowing each other so long and living together for months it was no wonder that Max could read his girlfriend like a book, having made it his life's work to learn to do so. When she was upset he could always tell. Every little thing she did slightly out of the norm would send off alarm bells in his head, telling him something was wrong. The bells were so loud and yet sometimes he was very aware that no one else could hear them.
"Nothings wrong," Zoey replied to his concerned inquiry.
"You see I know you a little better than that," Max said, moving closer to wrap his arms around her from behind. "This is me remember. Please tell me what's wrong."
"It's really nothing," Zoey said again. "Or at least it should be nothing." Max encouraged her to speak by squeezing her into a short but tight hug. "It's just I found out this morning, Simon's getting married."
"I see," Max said, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around her. It was the first time they'd been alone all day, having spent most of the day at work assigned to separate projects. They'd only just arrived home and started dinner moments ago.
"I don't want you to get the wrong idea," Zoey continued quickly. "I don't wish I was back with him or anything I just- I mean have you seen the woman he's marrying. She's gorgeous!"
"Not as gorgeous as you," Max argued.
"No like really you need to see the engagement picture he posted," Zoey continued. "She's insanely beautiful, like supermodel beautiful."
"So basically what you're saying is that she doesn't hold a candle to you," Max replied grinning. "Since the most beautiful woman in the world is all mine."
Zoey turned in his arms to glare at him. "Rose tinted goggles aside trust me if you had Jessica as an option you wouldn't look twice at me?" She gestured to herself and Max decided to really have a look. Since getting home from work, Zoey had changed into baggy pajama pants and an old oversized t-shirt. Her hair was looking the part of being up all day and showing signs of coming undone, bits sticking up in the back. It didn't matter to him if she wore a dress, her work clothes or just pjs, underneath she was always the same beautiful Zoey he'd loved all his life.
Max chuckled lightly as he stroked his girlfriend's cheek and said softly. "For such a smart woman you can be quite foolish sometimes." He paused to kiss her sweetly before continuing. "In my entire life, I've never looked at any woman who wasn't you, and you think this Jessica would tempt me now that I actually get to do this." He kissed her again, this time wrapping his arms around her. "And this." He continued as his hands found their way under her baggy t-shirt.
"But I'm a mess right now," Zoey tried to make her point, but he could tell she knew she was losing.
"A beautiful mess," Max replied. "My beautiful mess."
Neither of them spoke for a while while hands trailed over skin and lips parted then came together again.
"I am you know," Zoey whispered in his ear once they'd broken apart enough to speak.
"Am what?" Max asked, trying to pull his attention away from the feel of her skin and towards what she was saying.
"I'm yours," Zoey answered.
That did it. Max's attention was now fixed on her face, his thoughts of removing those baggy clothes of hers temporarily on hold.
"I probably should have said this a long time ago," Zoey began, looking down at her hands now. "Goodness knows it's probably been true for longer than I've been aware of it but..."
"Not really making a lot of sense here, honey," Max said when she didn't continue.
Zoey looked up at him then, slowly, purposely, her eyes making contact with his as she spoke. "I love you," she said. "I know I've technically said this to you before, but this time it's more than just a friend and- well yeah so that's out there now."
The more she fluttered the deeper her blush got and the more beautiful she looked. Max could feel the huge smile on his face as a fluttering feeling in his chest intensified. He reached forward to ever so gently hold her face in his hands. It felt like he'd waited all his life for her to return his love. When he kissed her Max tried to somehow express just how much her words meant to him.
As their lips mingled, his thoughts once again shifted to getting her out of those clothes and she followed his lead, working to unbutton his shirt. Dinner could wait.
Later they both laynaked on the bed, their breathing slowly returning to normal. Zoey's eyes were closed but Max was half sitting up, his gaze fixed on her. Reaching forward he began to gently stroke her beautiful red hair.
He couldn't help thinking that maybe she was ready now or at the very least ready to start the conversation.
"What are you staring at?" Zoey asked, clearly not as asleep as Max had believed her to be.
"The love of my life," Max replied.
Zoey groaned, turning to bury her face in the pillow. "You know I kinda understood all this stuff at the start, but it's been ages now and you are still as sappy as ever."
"Would you rather I was nonchalant?" Max asked, cheerfully. "Or maybe openly dismissive?"
"No I don't mean that I just-" Zoey turned to look at him though half her face was still obscured by the pillow. "It's embarrassing, saying stuff like that all the time?"
"It's just me and you here," Max replied confused. "Why would I be embarrassed around you?"
"Nevermind," Zoey said with a sigh as she buried her face in the pillow again.
Lifting his arm, Max placed his hand on the small of her back before slowly moving his fingers upward along her spine and over her shoulders. Her neck next needed attention and then along her hips and down her legs.
"You know there isn't a single inch of you that I don't love," Max said softly as his tracing fingers found their way to her inner thighs.
"That feels nice," Zoey said, readjusting her position so as to expose the underside of her arms to his exploring hands. Obliging, Max traced her skin for a while more as he gathered the courage to broach that certain topic that she might now be ready for.
"How are those anxiety levels?" Max asked gently. "Still worried we might have a horrible break up one day?"
"Why are you?" Zoey asked, turning quickly to look at him and dislodging his hand.
"No," Max stated firmly before leaning in to kiss her forehead.
"Good," Zoey said, laying back down.
"I'll take that as an affirmative on the anxiety then," Max replied.
Max couldn't help but think, maybe she wasn't ready after all. Still that was okay. He could wait, so long as they were together that was what mattered, not the how of it.
"I've had this feeling for a while now that you want to talk about something important," Zoey said after a moment. "So when you asked about my old worries I just I kinda-"
"Sometimes I forget how well you know me," Max replied. He focused so much on how well he knew her that it often escaped his notice that she could see through his expressions as well.
"So what is it you want to talk about then?" Zoey asked, sitting up in bed now like him.
"The future," Max answered. "Our future." Zoey didn't speak so Max continued. "This isn't me asking and you don't have to say anything, I just want to be honest with you about what I want our life to look like." Max took a deep breath and said calmly, "Not now, not tomorrow, but one day Zoey I do want to marry you, have kids with you, grow old with you."
Max waited, studying her face and wondering what thoughts could be behind those eyes. He tried not to theorize too much as he knew it would only make him worry.
"I just wanted to tell you," Max said when the silence dragged on. "And to add that even if you never want to get married, just this, us together, is enough for me. I promised to always be by your side and I will… I just-"
"You want to get married one day," Zoey finished his sentence for me.
"I want to marry you one day," Max corrected her.
"I love you," Zoey told him again. "And I think that one day I'll be ready for that too. All of it."
The smile that spread over his face, he felt sure gave her all the answer she needed. Grinning like he was, she could hardly suppose him to be unhappy. Max reached forward to pull her into a hug, holding her close to his heart where she'd always been and would remain for as long as he lived.
This chapters been done for a while but I had to get through my exams before editing it hence a whole week to wait. But I do hope to have the rest of this story all uploaded and marked complete before xmas. :) Since I have two new stories I want to start uploading and I make it a habit never to have more than two in progress at a time. (Which for the last 5 years has meant one story plus my main one that seems to never end.) Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Just fluff left guys. ^_^
Sneak Peek Chapter 15
"Zoey honey I love you but we really should be working, not gossiping," Max sighed.
"Oh right," Zoey said, sheepishly. "I just can't wait till the announcement!"
"You and the rest of the floor," Max chuckled. "Now help me with his code. There's a bug somewhere but the computer can't find it."
"Right work," Zoey said firmly. "Tasks to be done. Where's my laptop?"
"In the spinny sofa chair," Max told her, pointing. She moved away to collect it and rejoined him at the main table to go over the code together.
About two hours later, Max's eyes were starting to see blur and he decided they needed a break. Checking if Zoey wanted anything as well, Max got up and headed to the elevator.
Two floors down something quite extraordinary happened. A man got on the elevator. Max stared at him, then did a double take. It couldn't be?