Chapter 9

When Phoebe opened her eyes, she was distraught to learn her little fantasy was short lived.

"Its still a bit weird though if you think about it."

"What's weird?" she blurted out automatically, gathering her wits to see Max picking his nose and looking bored while doing it.

"You and Link. Not together anymore. I'm used to the idea of you two being girlfriend and boyfriend that it sounds…farfetched you aren't together anymore."

Phoebe was certain Max felt good about himself using that particular word but put it behind her. She still had trouble discarding the image of kissing him out of her mind regardless of her body screaming to make it a reality.

"When I spoke to him about it he sounded a bit relieved." said Phoebe, grimacing when he kept picking his nose. "He admitted that sometimes he felt we are more friends than partners."

"He was really into you," Max pointed out, finally pulling his pinkie finger out of his nostril.

Phoebe nodded.

"Does that mean you're curling your fingers for the fishing rod again?"

"I could easily tell you that it's none of your business but no." To her credit, he visibly beamed and straightened. "I've had more boyfriends than I can count and I think it's time for a little self development, so I decided I'll keep my nose down for now."

After her determined declaration, she yelped as Max pulled her on her feet and started twirling her while smirking with glee.

"Welcome to the singles club where our status is a refreshing sense of irresponsibility!"

She was immediately dizzy and unable to stand on her own two feet until she felt her head lean against his chest fluttering for a firm hold onto his frame.

"M-Max stop spinning!"

He did but her mind was disoriented that a thousand blurry images of his handsomeness didn't stop the reckless notion of sloppily planting an innocent smooch on his lips from invading her mind. He was grinning from ear to ear prompting her to slap him. He didn't even flinch. Idiot.

Stepping back, she rubbed her temples. There was only so much she could do to keep herself from rendering their questionable relationship to disaster.

"How about dinner? I'm starving."

"I always suspected Link was stingy."

She stopped short from entering the kitchen, glaring at him suspiciously. He raised his hands.

"I meant nothing by it. Promise."

"I don't get it. Why go through all this trouble to make these if you're never going to use them anyway?"

"It's a hobby, Phoebe. I'm trying to perfect my ingenuity by creating a multitude of inventions in my pursuit for world domination."

"But they never work." she countered, skimming her eyes over a magnitude of 'junk' sitting and collecting dust in his lair.

"A little practice goes a long way." He was a bit offended. "besides, most of them are failures because I never got to work around them."

"Most of them." she scoffed under her voice, picking up a badly designed blaster from the scaffold. "What does this do?"

"You'll grow a beard within seconds at such a proximity…but do go ahead and press the button to your left. I'm curious as to what happens. It's like you said, most of them tend to malfunction anyway, so no harm done."

She didn't take his word for it so she placed the atrocity back to where it belonged.

"What about this one?"

Max frowned, his memory was a bit hazy but if he remembers correctly this particular invention didn't undergo a thorough trial due to an unforeseen-

"It says resplendence blaster?" she read slowly, squinting her eyes to read the inscriptions more accurately. "To my understanding, it's supposed to be some sort of beauty enhancer."

She sent him a look that inquired an explanation. He had one but decided he wasn't entitled to give her one so he shrugged and grabbed another empty box. Partially miffed at the rude gesture, she proceeded to put the device back but as fate would have it, she fumbled with her own hands and managed to nudge the large red button. The next thing she knew her vision was assaulted with a pink mist that crept down her throat.

Max rolled his eyes and stood to his feet. He lazy pulled her out of the pinkish plume towards the open arc at the kitchen. Swallowing his pride he pat her against the back not impressed at the weird coughing fits.

"I-I think it's fine now." she said finally, rubbing her throat. Max leaned her slightly against the wall. Unconsciously using his powers as a glass of water hovered between them. Phoebe muttered a thanks and made quick work of hastily drowning the content down her throat, messily.

When she finally freed the glass from her mouth, she opened her big chocolate brown eyes and granted him a half lidded gaze that prompted him to focus on that drop of water that journeyed down to her chin, dangled a few seconds then ultimately landed on her top.

"See what happens when you mess with things you have no comprehensive cognition about?"

"You're blurting big words that I'm having a hard time trying to distinguish whether you're seriously upping your vocabulary or…" the pause was silencing as their eyes met. "you're trying really hard to impress me."

"Can't it be a bit of both?"

"Any specific reference?"

Max quirked an eyebrow until realization dawned on him, understanding the hidden innuendo behind her words. For a second he had nothing to say to that.

Phoebe bit her bottom lip and pressed her forehead to his. She always imagined this type of proximity would creep him out and send him running for the hills but here he was playing right into her hands. She leaned so close until their noses where touching.

"Tell me,"

Max could tell that the tugging at the corners of her lips were the beginnings of a serene smile.

"Did it work?"

"Did what work?"

Phoebe hid the disappointment. Max would in all and all still be Max.

"Have you ever had the urge to do something…what's the word, extraordinary?"

"A million times. Only, they never amount to this and at best they feel plainly wrong."

He was trying to scare her away. It wouldn't work. She knew all the ins and outs of his tactics of dealing with confrontations especially when the ball wasn't in his court. Her arms were slacked and lagging that she decided to rest them atop his shoulders.

"You're a coward. You know that, right?"

"I tend to be one when I want to be."

"A little while ago, we both established that I am your Empress," The conversation was straying and this bullet point would bring things back on track. The uncertainty in his eyes didn't affect her. "therefor I like to believe I am entitled to a few privileges and rites of passage that you sir, are wrongfully prohibiting."

She poked him for good measure. He grunted. Good.

"Pheebs-"

"Look," she interrupted a bit sternly. "I'm a little uncomfortable too..and I hate begging. It doesn't suit me. It doesn't suit you ~ and so is pretending."

This was a game to them. She had just broken up with her boyfriend and has her eyes set on him. Max wasn't oblivious. He just didn't know how to get the proper feel of the horns. Phoebe had the bad habit of being impatient and usually getting what she wanted.

"You just put the lid on Link, Phoebe. Are you sure you're supposed to be talking this way?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're going off script, hun. And Link had it coming. I was too much of a duty for him. I did him a favour in my opinion."

It didn't take much to learn she was delirious. The amount of aphrodisiacal gas she inhaled was enough to render her logical neuronic network to mush. Her eyes fluttered momentarily and she swayed unsteadily on her feet.

Max, being the responsible twin brother he is swept his arms under her knees and hefted her bridal style much to her amusement.

"Yours or mine?"

The way her suggestive tone was accommodated by the wiggle of her lengthy brows was enough to creep him out and motivated him to help get her some serious sleep before she did something she would end up regretting.

Max had pride in great amounts that he didn't settle for the prop chair at her bedside but instead chose to snuggle shy inches away from her in her own bed. Phoebe undid her braids and splashed them across his face. His face scrunched up but resumed his light breathing.

She repeated the action again until he was too annoyed to pretend he was asleep so when she yelped in sudden pain, he grinned and stretched his arms.

"Good morning."

Phoebe pouted and shoved him. He chuckled and realized he was shirtless. Hm. Funny. Phoebe didn't seem bothered by it. Her glances were not savoured by her social graces.

"I have a funny feeling telling me I skipped dinner last night."

She cupped her bare stomach in such a way he ought to suspect he was to deal with another title added to his-

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Max."

"Wh-Whats that supposed to mean?" he sputtered, wondering if the effects from last night still lingered in her system. Phoebe smiled, creative all of a sudden as she took his hand and splayed them across her tummy.

"What do we name her?"

"Him. What do you name him."

"Agree to disagree." she protested. "pointless though since it's a well known fact that a mother's intuition is superior."

Max stared at her in suspended shock at the casualty of the subject.

"So, breakfast?"

"It was a unanimous decision."

"Yes, Max, we both decided it's best we remain friends." Phoebe enunciated for the hundredth time, resisting the satisfying urge of introducing his shin to her foot.

Jessica shook her head.

"That wasn't nice of you, Max."

"What? Is it a crime if I'm being a little curious about this? Don't you think it's a bit ridiculous they break up and immediately start being buddy-buddy to each other the next day?"

Jessica disapproved of this theory with a slight shake of her head. "Let them be Max. Not everything needs to be looked over twice. If they're comfortable being around each other as just friends, then so be it."

Phoebe stuck out her tongue at him and high fived the dark braided girl. Link hid a small smile. A splat of fries crash landed onto their table and Max pulled the bowl all to himself, flashing a dangerous glare at the sight of their twitching hands. Jessica rolled her eyes and leaned over the table to kiss him on the cheek. His features softened as he cleared his throat and slowly edged the bowl to the middle.

Apparently not all gestures were welcoming when his eyes drifted over to his twin sister who with great effort decided to avoid his exploring gaze. He felt his fingers collide with Jessica's. There was a tug at the corners of her lips. She was beautiful making it an excruciating task not to compare her to Phoebe who's underlying imperfections were sticking out like sore thumbs.

He didn't know the implications of this undetermined relationship with Jessica but much was obvious of its unsavouriness to a select few. His jaw felt weak and chest heavy when she abruptly excused herself.

"Is everything alright?"

Link and Jessica shared a glance when they simultaneously asked the question and for once Max Thunderman didn't seem to have all the answers.

"Phoebe. Open up. I know you're in there."

She groaned frustratedly into her comforter. What was the deal with her idiot of a brother? Was he that tactless not to pick up the most subtle of hints? Currently, she wanted to be left alone to wallow in her own misery.

"Phoebe." he repeated in that monotone drawl that seemed to irritate her.

Their little games were harmless at home with no one around to witness their taboo affiliations but one look at her brother enjoying the company of another woman set reality in stone. Despite her wayward feelings for the boy pathetically exacting her audience at her bedroom door, facts were still facts.

Max was in no manner obligated to return her feelings. It was an irrefutable fact. A sudden click and she ploughed her face under her comforter. The door closed, hurried footsteps and she steeled her nerves and waited with bated breath.

Max reached her bedside, kicked his shoes off and slithered his fingers under the comforter. Phoebe shifted quietly, offering no resistance as he tucked his body next to hers. It wasn't bright, but the proportion of amethyst hue was enough to make her unreadable face visible.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I sensed disturbance in the force."

"False alarm."

"Is it?"

He was the pioneer behind this ruse, concocting an alluring level of enticement she couldn't help but feel drawn to. She flinched when a hand made its way to the small of her back. An unspoken conversation and Phoebe felt herself drawn to his masculine presence. Every little umbrageous thought she had regarding what happened earlier vanished in the matter of seconds.

He was a bit preoccupied thinking he was taking things a bit too far but she reassured him when she placed a hand to his chest and clutched the front of his shirt. Inhale. Exhale. His fingers lightly treaded on her face. Wiping. Was she crying?

They respectively pondered the little culminating truths about their hesitant affair as she quietly sobbed against his chest.

Phoebe froze when he ran a hand through his wavy brown hair, detangling a very rebellious swoosh. Squinting his eyes, he looked at her through narrowed eyes.

"You feeling any better?"

"I'm sorry..." she said instead, her voice laced with emotion, deliberating how she was to explain the reason for her disruptive behaviour.

"Don't be, we all have our moments." he reassured. They were still in her room and by the looks of things they haven't slept for that long considered the light outside. Max exhaled and saw she was looking at him. How was he to put this? Relationships weren't his strongest suit and looking at things from this perspective only heightened his initial fear of confronting the early rhythms of incest.

"We both know this is going to come and bite us in the butt, right?"

"Hm, funny, I am thinking of butts but mine is not one of them."

"Max!"

She liked that they had a cordial relationship but ultimately her brain was hardwired to relegate him as her twin brother. After cooling down her frigid sentimentality, she had chased him around the house for his perverse antics.

"Ouch, ouch, Max be careful."

And had snapped her ankle down the staircase in pursuit of her twin brother. Phoebe winced and counted the number of times she futilely tried to brush off his alleged help but inevitably gave in.

"The swell will lessen after adequate rest. Try not to push yourself too hard, ok."

"This sucks."

"Come on, you have me."

"And you isn't the one dealing with a swollen and probably misplaced ankle." she replied irritably, softly nursing the red bump with a finger.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad." he piped up, rerunning through his cache of memories. "Remember in third grade when I broke my arm climbing the long tree next to Horatio's class?"

Phoebe lifted her head with a look of confusion. Max groaned and reached an arm under her neck.

"You brought your cat to school and it got stuck in a tree."

Her eyes lit up. That day marked her sprout of rebellion. She knew her parents would forbid it and her conscience was too guilty to carry out the act so she asked Max to sneak the feline out of the house to school.

The first few gasps soothed her ego but when the cat sprung out of her arms and up into a dangerously high tree with no intentions of ever coming down, she feared the worst which included the unholy earful she was to get from her parents for lying to them which was unlike her.

Max took it upon himself to play hero and scrambled up the odd looking tree with thick branches that etched against the sky. He did save the cat but at the cost of a broken arm.

"I remember," she said, barely able to hear her own voice. "You bled so much the first thought to enter my mind was you dying."

"I have never seen you cry that much."

"I thought I was gonna lose you."

"Scoff!"

"Alright, fine, if Mom had found out I had taken Puffy to school she would have grounded me for life," she explained as honestly as she could be. Their competitive streak had started early but there were times she was reminded of how much he often sacrificed to keep her out of trouble. "and what kind of sister would I be if I wasn't worried for my brother who saved my cat and broke his arm for his troubles."

"You have a funny way of showing it."

"So you mean to tell me you forgot about all the cookies and candy I snuck into your ward? The Get Well postcards and balloons I tied to your bed?" she listed in a challenging monotone.

Max glanced at her ever so remotely. Being confined to a bed was mind numbing and didn't lessen the feeling of being isolated from everyone. He was certain Phoebe's niceness was fed by her guilty conscience. He didn't mind it but he never forgot the vilest parts of her personality either.

Phoebe shifted closer to him.

"I know I didn't visit enough but I tried sneaking out as much as I could but you know Mom…" Phoebe mentioned in passing, aware of how the proximity wasn't on his list of things to be cautious and curious of. "Max, I care about you,"

Max held her gaze, Phoebe was determined to get the point across. Her eyes were a dark brown, chocolate with a tinge of vermillion riveting around her pupil. Was she always this beautiful with her hair pulled back? With her neck exposed? With her pale arms clinching for a rest on his own?

"I'm sorry it took this long for me to realize it but I seriously care about you - more than I should." she paused, their faces were dangerously close now and it seemed the universe was on board with the lining at play. "I love you, Max."

Before Max could say anything Phoebe kissed him. It was more like a peck considered she retracted immediately but her actions had the desired effects.

"Pheebs."

"That, was the first thing I did when they told me you were going to be ok, don't you remember?"

"I was-"

"Unconscious, right."

A moment of silence was the opportunity to collect their thoughts. Phoebe's hands twitched but couldn't herself from examining the tingles on her lips. It wasn't much of a kiss but it counted for something. The erratic beating in her chest wouldn't go away and she was sure why. She finally gathered the strength to look at him. He was still looking her way. Her cheeks felt unusually warm all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry for…doing that."

"You don't look sorry."

She had the decency to look sheepish. His tone wasn't upsetting nor did it betray a suggestive dose of disgust so she presumed all was well.

"It was a spur of the moment. I was feeling nostalgic." Her ankle still throbbed but that was the least of her concerns. Fantasy or not, she would make the most out of it. She was bored of the pretending and the humour to divert away from what was really at play. Phoebe turned her head and met his confused and intimidated eyes. "and I think I still do."

Her twin's eyebrows lurched when she planted her lips against his. It was slow and hesitant but she didn't pull back as fast as she did the first time. It would take some getting used to but Phoebe showed enthusiasm when she tucked his bottom lip. Her face realigned slightly. Their noses brushed and she wasn't far off to learn he was reciprocating her actions if only slightly.

They broke apart in seconds, the first being only experimental. Her hands were holding onto his frame, her face was intimately close to his. Max nudged away his rambunctious passions when his eyes flickered down to her wet lips. Phoebe caressed his cheeks, speaking in baseless whispers.

"I love you."

"I know."

Hormones were stimulated and their eyes simultaneously shut but a shuffling and a distinct gown of long braids belonging to a very wondrous individual standing at the kitchen doorway prompted them to recoil apart.

"Sorry for coming in uninvited but the door was open and I tried knocking but no one came. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"