Note: Uploaded this without my notes. Whoops. Shoutouts to AzikaRue394 for going over this with a fine tooth comb. Also thanks so much for breaking over 100 reviews. I go back to work on Tuesday after a bit of hiatus, but I still have full intentions of finishing Maybe before it becomes 10 years old.
Thanks to AzikaRue394, Player Zero and MidnightStarr for reviewing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade.
Wonder
Max bought it weeks ago. So many weeks ago, it could actually be considered months. He kept it in the top drawer of his dresser most of the time. Occasionally let it sit in his pocket, the weight of the world at his fingertips.
He recently brought it with him on a plane to Japan. It was an impromptu decision to see friends and check out the new BBA training facility. His mother tagged along, the invitation never extended. She was doing this a lot to him lately. Showing up or following him places to make sure he wasn't sneaking away or, God forbid, spending time with his girlfriend.
They arrived at the facility together, Mr. Dickenson greeting them in the lobby. While exhausted from travel, Max took the opportunity of his mother talking business with Mr. Dickenson to sneak away. It didn't take him long of roaming the halls to see another familiar face.
"Hilary!"
She had been looking through a window down to the first floor of students training when he called her name. She jumped, spinning on her heels to face Max, eyes wide at the boy who was standing in the doorway of the stairwell. She promptly screamed, making him smile.
"Max!" Hilary crushed him with a hug. "I didn't know you were coming. We would've picked you up at the airport."
"Wanted to surprise you guys." Max pulled away from the hug first, his hands on her shoulders. "Where are the guys?"
Hilary blew a raspberry, annoyance gracing her face. "I sent Tyson and Daichi away to do laps around town, far far away from me." Max chuckled as he turned his attention to the window. He watched a couple kids preparing for a match. "You would do the same, if you were me."
"What about Kenny?"
"Mr. Dickenson asked him to lead a research project, so he's out of town for a few days."
"Guess I should've planned things a little better," Max commented. The kids had just started their match. Hilary peered down beside him. "Hey, do you think we could go somewhere to talk? Just the two of us."
"Sure." Hilary nodded, giving him a quick look over. With a wave of her hand, she gestured for them to continue down the hall. "We can go to my office."
Max noticed the giant grin that accompanied that statement. "Your office?"
"I told Mr. Dickenson that I needed one as a coach," Hilary explained as they walked, eventually coming to a quieter end of the hall. A series of rooms with closed doors and name plates decorated the hall. "Also a much needed Tyson-free zone."
"What about a Max-free zone? Am I allowed in there?"
"I'll grant you access for the day." Hilary rolled her eyes. She used her access badge for the facility to unlock the room. Flipping the lights on she stepped in and held her arms up. "Tada!"
"Wow, I like it." It wasn't a huge office, but it was very Hilary. Reminded him of the little touches she left on his own apartment back in New York when she helped him move. He closed the office door behind him.
Hilary leaned against the front half of her desk. "So, what's up?"
"I wanna talk to you about something," Max started. He fidgeted in front of the office door under Hilary's scrutiny. Suddenly the weight in his pocket was ever present. "Well, I actually wanna show you something, but my mom is also here. Somewhere. Just, I need you to not make a scene."
Hilary bit her tongue. She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at the comment. She watched Max pull something out of his pocket. At first she thought it was his phone, but then realized it was too small. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at the small black box.
"Oh my God!" Hilary stood up abruptly from the desk. She looked from Max to the box and then back to Max. He had his eyebrows raised with a slight look of terror in his eyes. "She's going to kill you."
"I know, that's why I don't want to make a scene."
"Not your mom." Hilary held her hands to her face. "Mariam."
"Oh." Max looked at the little black box in the palm of his hand. "Probably."
Hilary cupped her face with her hands, palms meeting together just under her chin. "No, she definitely will. You told her you loved her and she fled across the world, remember?" Max's face twisted further in panic. "And when you got your own apartment you guys... oh. Sorry, I'm probably not helping."
"You're definitely not helping my confidence."
"Sorry," Hilary said sheepishly. She steadied herself against the front of her desk again, hands slowly dropping from cradling her face to rest against the wooden frame. "Can I see it?"
Max nodded, finally stepping away from the office door. He opened the little black box and studied Hilary's reaction quietly. He had spent a lot of time trying to find something traditional as well as something Mariam would love. He never imagined ring shopping would be so hard, but when he finally found it he knew. It felt right.
"Max, it's beautiful." Hilary swooned, hands jumping from the edge of the desk to her face again. Her eyes began to well up looking at it. "She's gonna love it."
Max watched Hilary blink furiously trying to get the tears to stop. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, it's just crazy. I mean, I always knew you were going to be the first one to settle down, but it still feels like yesterday that we first met. How did we go from being kids to you getting married?"
Max laughed, taking a seat on the tiny couch that decorated one of the walls in Hilary's office. He admired the ring in his hand. His eyes traced every edge before closing the box and placing it back in his pants pocket. Back where it was safe.
"Do you know how you're going to do it?"
"No idea," Max admitted. "I've been thinking about it for... forever. Different scenarios. I want it to be perfect. I thought with buying the ring maybe I'd have an epiphany or something."
"Wait. How long have you been carrying that ring around?"
Max carded a hand through his hair and leaned back on the couch, finding it surprisingly comfortable. "Since the last time Mariam visited me."
"Max."
"I know. But she's had some things going on at home, and that is her safe place. As much as it would kill me if she said no, I'd want her to be able to escape." Max smiled tightly at Hilary and she smiled back sympathetically. "And, like I said, I want it to be perfect."
"Mariam's always come back Max. She's not going to say no." Hilary took a seat beside Max on the couch and grabbed hold of his hand. She squeezed it tightly. "And I think one day you'll just look at Mariam and know exactly what to do. You'll get that epiphany."
Max had always valued his friendship with Hilary a lot and the discussion they had that day helped ease his worries. The ring had stayed in his pocket for the remainder of the trip. He hadn't even mentioned it to his other friends. But when he got back home to his apartment in New York the ring went from his pocket back to the safety of the top drawer of his dresser.
For a couple of weeks at least.
Max knocked on Rick's door. Slammed the side of his fist hard against the wood of the door every few seconds when there was no response. He knew Rick was home. He really didn't care how annoying he was being right now.
The door whipped open revealing a very pissed off Rick. He was drenched in sweat, a towel thrown over his shoulder, clearly in the middle of a workout. "What?" he snapped, but barely got the word out before Max shoved himself into the apartment, brushing past Rick in the process. "Please come in."
"Did you let my mom into my apartment?" Max ignored his sarcastic remark. He stood in Rick's kitchen staring him down, not that his irate friend looked phased by the accusation. Max's hands were in his jacket's pockets, one of them gripping the familiar little black box.
"Why would I get in the middle of that?" Rick used the towel from his shoulder to wipe his face down. Max was unconvinced. "Change your locks or call the police. This has nothing to do with me."
"You still have your key?"
Rick sighed loudly. He circled Max to get to another part of his counter and picked up his keys. "All present and accounted for." He shook them in Max's face. "Take it back, never wanted your spare in the first place."
"She found out my address because of you."
"Okay, well you can let yourself out now." Rick didn't have time to deal with Max and his drama. The thought alone made him retrieve a beer from the fridge. He noticed Max's unrelenting stare. "What? Do you and Mariam have a secret baby or something?"
Max ignored him. "I need you to hold onto something for me."
"I just said I didn't want your spare, what makes you think I want to hold onto something else? Get a storage unit."
Max took the little black box out of his pocket and set it on the counter between him and Rick.
"What the hell is that?" Rick shouted. He took a few steps back abruptly, almost spilling his beer in the process. He opted to slam the can on the counter and hold his hands up in protest. "That... that is not staying here! Mariah crashes here. What if she found that? Get that out of here!"
Max stared at his friend incredulously. "You know, for two people who aren't dating, you seem really freaked out about an engagement ring."
"I'm serious Max!" Rick quickly grabbed the small box from his counter. Acting as if the box was burning his hands, he forcefully pushed the ring back into Max's own. "I don't care how Judy reacted, that is not staying here."
Max cradled the box carefully after Rick's rough handling. "I don't know if she found it."
Rick paused. Further annoyance flooded his system. "What? You would know if Judy found it."
Max knew this was true. "She didn't find it this time, but I still have no idea how she got into my apartment." Coming home from school to find his mother snooping around his apartment had sent him into a panic and then into what his mother called a tantrum. "I can't keep it there anymore."
"Then don't, but it's not staying here." Rick grumbled grabbing his beer again.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Propose?" Rick shrugged. "Safer on Mariam's finger."
Max shot him a defensive look. He shuffled his feet as he pushed the little black box back into his jacket's pocket. "I'm working on it." He let out another low sigh. "Just wish I knew what to do in the meantime. Where I can keep it safe."
"Well," Rick said before taking a long sip of his beer. "Judy might know how to break and enter, but how do you think her pick pocketing skills are?"
Max took Rick's words to heart. The weight of the little black box remained either in his jacket or his pant's pocket no matter if he was at home or not. A reminder that he was still waiting on some sort of epiphany. But he was able to trace the outline of the box with his fingertips when he was deep in thought and it did feel safer that way.
For a couple of weeks at least.
"Can I talk to you Emily?"
Max poked his head into Emily's office. As usual, she was sitting at her desk, typing furiously at her computer. She paused what she was doing to peer up at Max. She was surprised to see him at the office so late, his own mother had taken off hours ago.
"Sure," Emily finally said. She rubbed at her tired eyes before readjusting her glasses. She watched as Max walked fully into the room and grabbed a chair. "What can I do for you?"
Emily found it extremely odd that he walked the chair around the desk to sit facing her on the same side. "Mariam's gonna be here tomorrow." Max paused. "Well, today I guess."
Emily let out a groan as her head hit the back of the chair. She truthfully, and honestly a little bit surprisingly, got along with Mariam well enough, but Judy was a whole other story. Whenever Mariam was around Emily's and everyone else's work became more difficult. "Thanks for the heads up Max. Would appreciate more than a couple hours in the future, maybe so I can use some vacation days."
"Didn't realize you knew what those were." Max laughed as Emily sat more properly in her leather computer chair. "Honestly, I didn't get much of a heads up either."
"Is that a problem?" Emily fixed him with a curious stare. "You usually fall all over yourself when Mariam is just talking about visiting."
Max's hand was in his jacket pocket, back to tracing the edges of the small black box. He returned Emily's stare leaning forward in his own chair so he was resting on his forearms. He held the box out for Emily to see. She didn't say anything. Unlike Hilary's reaction, Emily quietly studied the closed box with a very serious expression that Max wasn't sure how to read.
He decided to break the silence. "It's from Kenny."
Emily's gaze shot back up to Max with an expression that made him laugh. "Shut up," she decided was the appropriate response making him smile further. She perched her chin in the palm of her hand, her body weighing mostly on the arms of the chair now. Sighing, she continued, "I have so many vacation days."
"Well, don't worry about that right now." Max set the box on her desk making Emily confused. "Can you hold onto this for me?"
She eyed him unsure what to think. Curiosity got the best of her and Emily picked the little black box up from her desk and opened it. "Wow." Emily was never one for jewellery or fantasizing about weddings, but looking at this ring made her take a deep breath. It was beautiful. She silently praised her friend for being able to pick out a gorgeous ring that fit his girlfriend to a tee. "Judy definitely doesn't know about this."
"Surprisingly. I was keeping it my dresser until my mom broke into my apartment."
Emily snorted. "I still don't know how."
Max believed her. Much like Rick, she tried her best to stay out of the middle of his drama. "Tried to get Rick to hold onto it for me, but he's so terrified of commitment he didn't even want to be anywhere near mine." He sat back in his chair to be more comfortable, sighing in the process. "Been keeping it in my pocket, but with Mariam coming back it's going to be hard to keep it hidden."
"Well, it's very flattering that you thought of me second," Emily began. She closed the ring box carefully before setting it back on the desk. After some consideration she slid it back toward Max. "But I'm going to have to decline."
Max deflated at the news. "I only went to Rick first because he owes me."
"It's not because I was second." Emily couldn't believe how naive he was sometimes. She leaned back against her hand, index finger tapping against the arm of her glasses. "Kind of hard to propose when I have the ring, is it not?"
"I still have no idea what I'm going to do," Max admitted. He hated saying it. Some days he felt like he was going crazy rehearsing speeches and scenarios in his head. He let out a defeated sigh as he picked up the little black box again. Opening it, he looked down at the ring he helped design. "I just want everything to be perfect. I'm hoping it will just hit me and I'll know what to do."
"So what if it does hit you? The perfect moment happens and I have the ring." Emily didn't really believe the perfect moment could happen, but Max already look dejected. An ideal situation sure, but perfection when it came to him and Mariam seemed unheard of. "Are you just going to call a timeout and drive thirty minutes to see me?"
Max knew she was right. To her credit, she usually was. He closed the little black box and it went back into the safe home of his jacket pocket. Emily gave him a sympathetic smile as he stood up from the chair. It was almost time to go pick up Mariam.
"You're overthinking it, Max."
That was an understatement. It didn't make Emily any less right though and Max spent the entire drive to the airport trying not to think of the future. The weight in his pocket had never felt this heavy before and the worst case scenarios kept creeping in. Mariam finding the ring in his pocket and murdering him in the middle of the airport. It only got worse when he was waiting for Mariam at her gate.
Years ago they had opted for awful flight times to escape the paparazzi. Not that there were a lot of options available with China and the United States. It worked for them though. They also had a strict no kissing rule at airports in case there were any lurkers.
Max was ready to throw that rule out the window when he saw her again. Mariam looked exhausted and slightly perturbed until she finally laid eyes on Max. Her expression lit up as she headed straight for him and Max broke into a smile.
"Hey." Mariam barely got the word out when Max wrapped her up in his arms. He desperately wanted to pick her up and spin her around, but knew she frowned on that type of behaviour. Instead he stole a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey!" she warned, pulling back to point a finger playfully in his face, "don't tempt me."
"Sorry it just feels like it has been forever." Max suddenly remembered the little black box in his pocket and pulled back. He took her hand instead. "I've missed you."
"It has been forever." Max started to lead her toward the parking garage when she pulled him back with their linked hands. He threw her a curious look when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I just wanted you to know I do plan on sleeping all day, but I also plan on keeping you up all night."
And like nothing happened Mariam grabbed her bag and continued on the way to the car. He was frozen in place barely comprehending the way she smirked at him when she looked back.
"I told you not to tempt me."
The drive back to his place was fairly routine. Mariam balled up in the front seat, dozing off when they got stuck in traffic. Max's hand on her leg doing his best to not repeat past mistakes. He remembered the spare key incident that once marred their happy reunion. In his pocket, instead of a little black box, it felt like he was carrying a bowling ball.
It surprised Max to see Mariam awake when they finally arrived. Usually she shuffled in and crashed on his couch and he had to carry her to his room. Mariam even tried to grab her own bag before he stepped in.
"I'm sorry about the m—"
Max didn't have time to finish his thought. As soon as they stepped over the threshold Mariam had pushed Max against the front door, closing it in the process. Her hands cradled his jaw as she kissed him, her body pressed tightly against his and effectively pinning him in the process. Max let out a soft moan as he dropped her bag on the floor, his hands scrambling for some type of contact.
It wasn't until Mariam's hands started to roam Max's torso that he realized he should be concerned. One hand was tracing the outline of his abs through his t-shirt while the other pulled at the collar of his jacket.
Between very eager kisses, Max decided he needed to say something. "My mom broke into my apartment."
"What...?" It took a moment for what Max had said to sink in. Mariam tried to steady her breathing, Her hand trailed back up from his abs, slowly over his chest, to grab a hold of his collar. She pulled at the fabric. "You really want to talk about your mom now?"
"I... no," he decided. It wasn't a hard decision. Mariam bit at his lower lip, tempting him back into another heated kiss. Max invaded her space feeling her need to take off his jacket. She was pulling it back from his shoulders stubbornly, clearly it was getting in her way. He helped her discard the jacket, placing it carefully on the table before his hands returned to her waist. Now he could focus.
"Thank you." Max grunted in response now distracted by the way her hands were grabbing at his t-shirt. One hand found its way up his shirt, skin to skin and causing goosebumps, while the other pulled at him to follow her down the hall, their lips never breaking.
"I thought you wanted to take a nap," he said finally when they needed to stop for air. It was brief. Their lips found each other again intoxicated by the other's presence. Their time apart had been too long.
"Why don't you help me relax first?"
Mariam hated it when Max watched her sleep. He couldn't help it. She was gorgeous curled up in the blankets in his bed. Reluctantly, he quietly got out of bed and sneaked into the foyer. His jacket was balled up on the table. Unravelling it carefully, he pushed his hand into the pocket to feel the familiar shape of the little black box. Max let out a content sigh, leaving the ring to stay in the safe home of his pocket.
He crept back into his room, slowly laying himself back into bed beside Mariam. She stirred slightly as his body weight shifted on the mattress. He pressed a soft kiss to her bare shoulder.
"You better not be watching me."
Max chuckled. "Never."
Exhausted, Mariam quickly fell back to sleep and Max couldn't help but watch her as he propped himself up on his elbow. He still didn't know the perfect way to propose or have the perfect speech in mind, but an epiphany of sorts struck him as he watched Mariam sleep. All that mattered was this.
Max finally knew what to do.
