Sweaters & Cigarettes (33 page)

He cocks his eyebrows suggestively
at that last part, making both Cassie and Riley cringe, on their side of the
table.

"Really, guys?" Cassie
says, squinting in disgust. "Here?"

"What?" Max says lightly,
leaning back slightly in his seat, just as entertained as usual, at their
reactions. "We're all adults."

He glances at Riley, and makes a
face.

"Well," he says.
"Close enough."

Riley just raises his eyebrows and
looks at Theo, who just shrugs as if to say,
isn't he adorable?
Riley
really doesn't seem to think so, however, which is funny, in itself.

"What did he get?" Cassie
asks Riley, turning to him, and Riley glances at Max and Theo. He looks at
Cassie.

"I'll tell you later," he
says.

"But it's good?"

"It's good."

Cassie seems satisfied with that
reply, and takes a sip of her tea. Both she and Theo have been sitting here for
a little while, so they've both got something to drink.

"What about you?" Riley
asks Cassie, and she glances at Theo pointedly.

"Yeah," she says, looking
at Riley, nodding. "His is good, too."

Riley nods in return, and Theo just
watches the two of them, for a moment, before turning to Max, who gives him a
look of bemused suspicion, which mirrors Theo's.

"Well, that was weird,"
Max says lightly, before shrugging out of his coat and dumping it on the seat.
"I'm gonna get some coffee. Anybody want anything?"

Both Theo and Cassie decline, but
Riley requests some hot cocoa, which Max says is his treat, and he goes off to
get some. By the time he comes back, they all end up sitting there for the
better part of an hour, just hanging out. Max half-heartedly tries to peek
inside Theo's bag, where his purchases are, but Theo stops him and hands the
bag to Cassie, who skillfully hides it by her seat. As a pre-emptive measure,
Riley does the same with his bag, which apparently holds his gift for Theo, as
well as Max's, and soon, Cassie starts asking Riley about Ellie, making him
blush slightly in discomfort. But he talks about it anyway, and it's obvious
that he really likes Ellie, making Cassie smile and give him some girl-tips.

Theo is just smiling to himself,
slightly unfocused, when Max plants a kiss on his cheek, and he turns to him.

"What?" Theo says dumbly,
mostly in surprise, but Max just smiles at him. It's a small smile, an
unusually soft one, and he lightly brushes his fingers against Theo's hairline,
as though he just wants to touch him.

"Nothing," he says, blue
eyes sincere. "You just look happy."

Theo doesn't reply. Instead, he
just leans in and kisses Max slowly, softly, in a way that undoubtedly proves
that he really is.

♦

By the time Christmas rolls around, Theo is sad to
learn that Max will be going away for the holidays. Apparently, he and his parents
are going to visit some cousins, as they do almost every year, and he'll be
gone until New Year's Eve.

"But then, I'll be back,"
he promises. "And we can at least spend New Year's together."

He narrows his eyes slightly.

"Unless you've got
plans?" he says, and Theo smiles at him.

"Now, I do," he replies,
giving Max a kiss.

They're at Theo's house, for once,
sitting on his bed, and Max is going away tomorrow. Theo's parents aren't home
from work, yet, and the two of them are taking this opportunity to exchange
Christmas presents, in privacy.

"Now, bear with me,
here," Max says, as he hands over his gift. "I barely ever give
presents, and I've
never
gotten a present for a boyfriend or anything,
before. So... Just keep your expectations low."

Theo looks at him pointedly, and he
wants to say something that reprimands Max for putting himself down, like that.
But he doesn't, because he knows that Max knows that. And if nothing else, he
knows that Max's view of himself has gradually started changing for the better,
and comments like that from Theo isn't going to help.

"I'll try to reign myself
in," Theo says dryly, handing over his own Christmas present, and Max
gives him a small smile of approval, at the blatant sarcasm. "I'd say the
same thing, too, by the way. I've never really done this, before."

It's odd how gift-giving puts one
under enough stress, as it is, and yet getting a gift for a boyfriend can be so
much worse. But Theo wants to give Max something, and he knows that Max
realizes that, which kind of takes the pressure off.

"Moment of truth, then,"
Max says in a low voice, with a melodramatic edge, and Theo huffs a small
laugh, as he eyes Max's gift. Max looks up at him. "I'll go first."

Theo gives him a small smile, and
watches as Max opens his present.

As the paper goes, he gets to the
small box inside, only to open that and find the bracelet, and Theo finds
himself practically holding his breath, awaiting a reaction. He suddenly
realizes how nervous he feels about the whole thing.

But Max doesn't make him wait long.
Instead, he eyes the bracelet for a moment, turning it over in his hands,
before smiling, and he looks up at Theo.

"It's so colorful," he
says, with obviously joking concern, and Theo rolls his eyes, making Max lean
in and kiss him. Theo kisses him back, and when Max pulls away, he looks so
happy, somehow, that it takes Theo almost by surprise.

Max glances at the bracelet.

"It even has wings," he
says, without an ounce of sarcasm, a smile still on his face. He looks up at
Theo again. "I love it. Thank you."

Theo is slightly taken aback by
Max's expression, and he feels those butterflies in his stomach, making him
smile.

"Well," he says quietly.
"You're welcome."

Max just keeps smiling, and it's only
after a few seconds, that he takes a steadying breath and nods at the gift in
Theo's hands.

"Alright," he says,
sounding oddly tense. "Your turn."

Theo obliges, looking at the gift,
while Max puts his new bracelet on.

It's rather small, the package about
the same size as the one Theo gave Max, and he resists the urge to shake it,
like one spontaneously wants to do with every wrapped thing. Instead, he
carefully peels away the tape and the wrapping paper, as opposed to Max, who
used the different approach of simply tearing the paper off, and eventually, he
gets to a box, inside. He turns it over, eyeing it, before opening it.

There's a ring inside. It's a
rather plain ring, rather wide and heavy-looking, the color of pewter, and Theo
looks up at Max, who is worrying slightly at his bottom lip.

"It's not a
ring
ring,
or anything," he blurts, suddenly coming off as very nervous and
uncomfortable. "It's just a... It's a ring."

He shrugs awkwardly, glancing away.

"Riley said you'd get
it," he mumbles. "That you wouldn't freak out, or anything."

Theo just stares at him, before
looking at the ring again. He turns it over in his hand, eyeing it, before
deliberating, and deciding that his right ring finger is probably the best fit.
And so, he slips in on, and he can see Max glancing at him, apprehensive hope
on his face.

Theo looks up at him, and he
smiles. Max barely has a chance to smile back, before Theo has attacked him,
pushing him back onto the bed, and before Max can object, he's kissing him,
with impatient, adoring determination.

"Thank you," Theo
murmurs, making Max chuckle against his lips.

"So, not freaking out?"
he says, and Theo shakes his head, with a small sound of confirmation.

"Definitely not," he
says, and Max smiles, moving his hands up to Theo's face, to pull him closer.

"Good to know," he
murmurs, and Theo shifts his weight a bit, so that he's lying half-on-top of
Max, allowing him to smooth his hand up underneath Max's shirt and feel his
skin. It makes Max inhale deeply, small goosebumps prickling underneath Theo's
fingers, and he lets out a small groan.

"You know," Max says
against Theo's mouth, hands trailing down along his body, "I'm gonna be
gone for a week."

"That's a long time,"
Theo murmurs absently, planting a few kisses by Max's jaw.

"Yeah," Max agrees.
"Not sure how I'm gonna manage."

Theo quirks a small smile.

"That makes two of us,"
he says against Max's skin. "Not much we can do about it, though."

"Oh, I'm sure we've got time
for a quickie," Max says conspiringly, and Theo almost groans.

"I'm sure we don't," he
says, his voice betraying just how badly he would want said quickie, but that
they simply can't. "My parents are gonna be home any minute."

"So, we'll make it under a
minute," Max says, sliding his hand in underneath Theo's jeans and down
over his ass. "It's been forever."

Theo can't argue with him on that;
they haven't really had the chance to do more than make out, these past couple
of weeks. With the lack of time, due to schoolwork, and Theo's dad still not
being entirely comfortable with the relationship, restricting their time
together a bit, the two of them haven't really been able to hang out as much.
And they haven't been able to spend the night together, either, not since the
motel, so all they've really been able to do lately is enjoy the occasional
handjob and very heavy makeout sessions. Once or twice, they've gone further,
but every time, they've been interrupted, and it has started driving Theo
insane.

In other words, Max
definitely
isn't
the only one feeling frustrated.

"I know it has," Theo
says, breathing slightly heavier, as he feels Max getting hard underneath those
black skinny jeans. "And I really want to, you have no idea. It's just not
a good time."

"It's never a good time,"
Max says, his breathing matching Theo's, and Theo is barely surprised when he
feels Max grind against him roughly, his hand still underneath Theo's pants,
grabbing his ass.

Theo lets out a low moan, and he
can't help himself. He
needs
Max, needs him like oxygen, and it's enough
to make him press down against him, his own hard-on straining against his
jeans. It just feels so good, and he relishes the way Max's pierced tongue
slides into his mouth, making him groan and grind against him roughly. It feels
so
good...

It's the distinct sound of the
front door opening that makes Theo freeze and snap his eyes open. He listens
for a moment, before realizing, with a heavy, disappointed sigh, that it is
indeed his mother, who's come home from work. And for once, Riley was out of
the house, over at Ellie's, giving Theo and Max the privacy they never manage
to get in this house. So much for that.

Theo looks down at Max, who's
practically panting underneath him, and those dark blue, black-lined eyes are
looking right at him, shining with aroused impatience. And then, Max lets out
something between a heavy sigh and a bitter laugh.

"Longer than a minute,"
he says, and Theo chuckles, dropping his head to lean it against Max's shoulder.
He feels Max pull his fingers through his hair, and he exhales deeply.

"I'm gonna miss you,"
Theo says, his tone a mix between sad and frustrated, and Max lets out a small
huff, smiling.

"I'm gonna miss you,
too," he says, and he kisses Theo's hair. "Merry Christmas."

♦

The week goes by faster than Theo thought it would.

Ellie really liked her gift,
apparently, and she got Riley a
Hellboy
graphic novel, which Theo is
pretty impressed with, seeing as how Riley doesn't exactly flaunt his fanboyish
love for the comic book in question, and therefore she must really know him and
what he likes.

Both Amy and Eric liked their
gifts, as well, and Riley started playing the videogame Theo got him almost
immediately. Theo is glad to have made such a good choice, since Riley was
immersed in it within the first twenty minutes.

Riley got Theo the special edition
Blu-ray box set of Christopher Nolan's
Batman-
trilogy, and Theo is
thrilled to be able to add it to his collection, despite having seen all three
movies a bunch of times, already.

Theo doesn't see Cassie for the
holidays, but she sends him an e-card, depicting a very disgruntled-looking
cartoon version of Loki, from
the Avengers
, dressed up as Rudolph the
reindeer, by a very amused Tony Stark. It definitely makes Theo laugh.

Missing Max is nearly unbearable,
and only made manageable thanks to the very frequent texts and pictures being
sent back and forth between him and Theo. Most of them detail how much they
miss each other, and how sick Max is of hanging out with his relatives, none of
whom he really likes, but it doesn't matter. Theo just needs to know he's still
there, and that he's coming back, so that he doesn't have to go completely out
of his mind.