Max takes a breath, lounging back on the couch and scrubbing his good hand through his hair, squinting down at his phone as it rings from its spot on the table in front of him. Sighing, he leans forward and scoops it up, answering it. "Hey, baybay."
"Hey, Max," Adam says warmly. "How are you doing?"
"Oh, you know," he sighs. "Hanging in there."
"Your appointment was earlier, right? I tried to call when I thought it was over."
"Yeah, I've been home about fifteen minutes," he says. "Just taking it easy."
"I'm glad you are," Adam says. "You deserve it. What'd the doctor say?"
"The verdict hasn't changed," Max says, rolling his eyes ceiling ward. "Surgery or rehab. I'm hoping for rehab, but you know. One thing they did change was my pain meds. Since I said I'm on hiatus from traveling and wrestling, they gave me something a little stronger. Mostly to try to help me sleep easier."
"I'm glad to hear that," Adam says. "I know you've been struggling with all of that. Are you in bed right now?"
"Nah, I'm hanging out on the couch. But I'll go lay down soon. It really does kick my ass pretty quickly after I take it," Max sighs, slumping back into the cushions a bit more.
"Ok," Adam says, sounding a little distracted. "Sorry, Max, I have to go deal with a couple of things before Dynamite starts." His tone turns apologetic. "I'll try to call again later, ok?"
"Yeah, sure," Max says. "Talk to you later."
"Yes, you will," Adam says. "Bye."
"Bye." Max drops the phone and exhales, gingerly pulling himself upright. Once he's got his balance steady, he makes his way through the apartment to the bedroom and drops down into bed, cocooning himself up in the blankets. Piper joins him eventually and he pets her for a few minutes before finding his remote and flicking the TV on, adjusting the volume so he has a better chance of hearing it, even in his sleep. Dynamite's still a couple hours away, but he figures he'll fall asleep long before that and hopefully the general sounds of the show will wake him up so he can at least catch some of it.
-x
Max hadn't sounded great on the phone call. Once the members of Undisputed Kingdom finish their time in the ring, Adam hangs out for awhile longer, watches part of the show. Talks with a few of the other wrestlers, enjoying being back to some level of normalcy after the last few months of very little to anticipate but surgeries, rehab and video calls with his friends. His original plan had been to spend a little more time at the arena, but he really just wants to go back to Long Island and check on Max.
He's leaning against a wall, trying to take some of the weight off of his ankle, thumbing through various car services, when he hears, "ADAM!" echoing back at him from closer to the arena.
He looks up. "Roddy?"
"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Roddy walks quickly over to him, rubbing his hands together. "Man, it's cold."
"I'm trying to get an Uber that'll take me to Long Island," he explains, scrolling through the list on his phone.
"Oh, you don't need an Uber," Roddy says, waving a hand dismissively. "My rental is just over there. I can take you."
"You didn't share with the Kingdom?" Adam asks, quirking an eyebrow at him.
"Not this time, they wanted to go to Massachusetts after the show, I think. So what do you say? Road trip, pal?" He beams and throws an arm around Adam's shoulders, shifting his balance precariously.
"Sure," Adam says, part of him dreading the next couple of hours already. But it'll be the easiest way to get to Max, so he'll accept it.
-x
Max stirs a little, squinting around at the barely lit room, the TV droning on across from him. He's still groggy, but he hears part of Dynamite. Adam's voice, talking about him, about how he had turned on Max before Max could stop having reasons to keep him around and turn first. Had said a lot of other things that digs into Max's thoughts as he lay in the dark and stares up at the ceiling, still groggy from the medicine but unable to drift back off.
Finally things quiet down, and he doesn't hear Adam any longer, so he slowly gives in to his exhaustion, too worn out to move back into a more comfortable sleeping position. He's not sure how much time has passed wen he slowly comes to again, the TV still on, but other noises attract his attention this time and he winces, trying to sit up.
"Hey, hey," Adam's voice greets him, warm hands brushing against his shoulders, easing him back down against the pillows. "No, no, don't get up."
"Adam?" he asks sleepily, reaching out towards him. "You're here?"
"Yeah, Max, I'm here." Adam reaches over and turns the lamp on low. "I wanted to see you after our phone call earlier, so I got a ride here."
Some things begin clicking into place and Max squints up at Adam. "Did I hear Roddy?"
"You did," Adam says, looking a little uncomfortable. "He drove me here. Don't worry about it, though. Everything's fine. He's going to stay in the living room because I told him you were resting."
Max is about to say something, not sure how much he trusts that, when- sure enough-
"ADAM!" They both wince and then the door is pushed open and there's Roddy, a curious look on his face. "I heard voices, is he awake?"
"He is," Adam says, "but Roddy, I-"
"Hey, Max, how's it going?" Roddy asks, walking the rest of the way into the room. "Did you see our promo tonight?"
Adam scrubs at his face and turns. "Roddy, please-"
Forcing himself into a sitting position despite Adam's attempts to stop him, not wanting to show any kind of vulnerability in front of Roddy, Max blinks over at him, sluggish and still feeling the lingering aftereffects of the pain meds. "Yeah, some of it," he manages, stretching as best as he can while Adam subtly rests a hand on his back to support him.
"So I guess you caught the part where Adam finally admitted it," Roddy says with a grin.
"Admitted what?" Max asks, although he's pretty sure he doesn't care at all about what Roddy found to be the most important about what they said or did on tonight's show.
"Roddy," Adam says, sounding exhausted. "You-"
"He told the whole world I was his true best friend tonight." Roddy looks extremely pleased with himself, his grin turning smug as he looks from Adam to Max.
"Oh my god, Roddy," Adam exclaims, finally losing his patience. "Shut the hell up."
Roddy's expression drops immediately, looking like he's about to snap back, but he freezes instead, his frown growing when he looks down at Max, eyes widening.
Adam glances down to find Max almost thrumming with tension under his hand, fingers digging into the blanket, a look unlike anything Adam's ever seen on his face before, not even the night of Worlds' End. His jaw is tight, teeth grinding together as his eyes stare blankly ahead, and Adam sees immediately he's close to falling apart. "Roddy," he says, grabbing his crutches and moving quickly. "Go on. Max doesn't need to hear about this, just-" He continues around the bed and pushes at him as best as he can, frowning hard as Roddy leaves the room, hands held up in supplication.
"I didn't know-"
"Of course you didn't," Adam says through gritted teeth. "Look, I appreciate the ride, but I'm pretty wiped out and Max needs to rest too. So you should go."
Roddy looks like he wants to argue, but he takes one look at Adam and agrees, backing up towards the door. "Sure, man, we'll talk soon. Take care of yourself. And tell Max-"
He doesn't wait. Adam gets ahold of the door and swings it shut as soon as Roddy has stepped into the hallway, ignoring whatever Roddy is still attempting to say through the wood as he locks it securely behind him, regretting accepting his offer for a ride. "Next time," he mumbles into his hands, exhaling sharply. "Next time, I'll just wait for the damn Uber."
Securing his crutches once more, he makes his way back to the bedroom and finds Max leaning back against the headboard, head tilted back as he stares up at the ceiling, breathing shakily. There are tear tracks down his cheeks and Adam's heart aches to look at him.
"Max," he says quietly, making his way over to the bed. "Hey, Max. Look at me."
Max does, reluctantly, then sniffs. "Oh," he says wearily. "I thought you were going to go spend more time with Roddy."
"What?" Adam asks, reaching over and resting a hand over Max's. "Why would I do that?"
Max shrugs. "You left with him, I just." He shivers a little and Adam moves to wrap the blankets back around him, taking the time to also find the remote and finally shut the TV off so he can put his full attention on Max. "I just thought you were going to..."
"No," Adam says, not sure what Max is about to say, but needing to quit that train of thought before Max can fixate on it any further. "He was only here because he drove me. I just wanted to get back here and see how you were doing, maybe spend some time with you before we both crashed for the night. I would've taken an Uber, but I thought he might get me here sooner. I see now it was a mistake."
Max nods. Then looks away for a few moments before turning back to Adam, a strange look in his eye. "Am I..." He exhales. "Am I..."
"What, baby?" Adam asks softly, beginning to rub slow circles against his knuckles.
"Am I really a narcissist?"
Adam's breath catches in his lungs and he has to take a moment to stop hating himself enough for what he chose to say, what Max had heard, had probably been fixating on the last few hours, only made worse by what Roddy barged in to inform him of. Finally his heart stops racing loud enough for him to think, to find the words. "No, not at all," he says, shifting closer to Max. "You are... you are so far from being that." He reaches out and cradles Max's face, brushing away the lingering tear tracks. "I think sometimes you even care a little too much about other people, and not enough about yourself." He gently rests a hand on Max's shoulder, as if to prove his point, and stares deep into his eyes. "I told you not to believe anything I might have to say on Dynamite tonight."
"I know," Max says, sounding miserable. "But, ... sometimes... I think there has to be something, right? Something fundamental about me, that-"
"Shhhh," Adam says, resting his forehead against Max's. "There's not. You're..." He shrugs, a wry smile crossing his lips. "You're amazing, Max. I'm so glad we've gotten closer these last few months. It's been a hell of a journey, some of the funniest times I've ever had, and I can't wait to see what happens next."
"Really?" Max murmurs, eyes wide and wet as he searches Adam's face. "But Roddy said-"
Adam shakes his head. "Roddy might be one of my best friends," he admits. "Even though he really pisses me off sometimes. But you, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, are the most important person in my life. Alright? Don't ever doubt that."
"Yeah?" he asks quietly.
"Yeah," Adam says, smiling at him. "Now, do you need anything? Something to eat? Water? More pain meds?"
"I..." Max shifts a little, winces. "Yeah. I guess."
Adam nods. "I'll be right back." He shuffles through the apartment, collects what he needs and returns to Max's side, relieved to see Max looking more relaxed, less like he expects Adam to have left and stay gone. "Here you go," he says quietly, handing over a packet of crackers. "Figured you should get something food wise in you before you took anything else."
"Thanks." Max fiddles with the wrapper for a minute before looking up, his lips twitching up into a small smile as Adam settles in next to him on the bed, settling his crutches to the side. "So you're really staying, huh?" he asks, almost sounding shy.
"Yep," Adam says, nudging him lightly. "I'm really staying."
"Good." Max's smile grows.