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It was Camp Half-Blood’s worst-kept secret that Max and George were both each other’s greatest enemy and greatest obsession.
Since the first summer the two shared at CHB, no matter the time, nor the day, it was probable that you would be able to find them throwing either words or swords at each other. There was no matter that was too trivial for them to argue about. Whether it be their stance in duelling, their chariot assignments or accusations of snack theft, it was a well-known fact throughout the Camp that George and Max's favourite least favourite past time was each other. Where Max fought with brute force like a bull, George would play an arena like a dance. Where George charmed all surrounding him, the only person who seemed immune was Max. The son of Aphrodite and the son of Ares were as unmatched as their godly parents were.
To other campers, George would swear that he just could not abhor Max's attitude. Max would say he just couldn't stand George's face. So, it was only natural that the spectating campers were readily placing bets on when they would kiss or kill each other. Lando had optimistically said one week into the new summer. Pierre and Yuki had agreed two weeks and three days. Alex hedged his bets on three.
However, what they had not accounted for was a sudden change in Max's attitude after a quest.
--
As George made his way between the breakfast tables to the one where his friends sat, he heard an unusually loud flurry of whispers for a bunch of teenagers at eight o'clock in the morning. When he scraped off a portion of his food into the fire, he felt the wind rustle his hair to sit just so and the sunlight rearrange to hit the highlights of his face. Behind him, he heard a gaggle of giggles from a group of Hermes kids and sighed inwardly. It was something he had grown accustomed to from a young age and certainly had its uses, but didn't change the weight of perceptions he felt.
As he sat down at the wooden picnic table, he was greeted with a collection of good mornings.
"Morning all. Why is it extra...peppy today?"
"Haven't you heard? Max, Yuki and Pierre got back last night from their quest. Apparently, Max stole the Golden Fleece beneath the never-sleeping dragon's nose and brought it back to camp." Alex replied a large grin adorning his face. "Thy man hath returned, Georgie."
"Oh, shut up Alex. He is not my man." Despite being a child of Hestia, Alex enjoyed tormenting George as much as possible. 'Someone has to keep you down here with us mortals' he would say. "In fact, I am only sad that the dragon did not succeed in getting him."
"Come on, George you don't mean that." Lando leaned over and speared a piece of toast off of his plate. When he looked up he was met with George's glare. He quickly pulled back, taking the toast with him, before sending George a sunny smile to match the blue sky and sunshine of the day.
"Careful, George, your face might get stuck like that." Charles laughed as he lazily strummed a lyre. "Besides, even you have to admit it is impressive."
George sniffed and averted his eyes, instead choosing to look at the blooming sunflower field in the distance, painting the landscape with tiny dots of yellow against green. "I don't see why I have to be impressed. Jason did it before him."
At that, even Oscar looked up from a sleepy daze. As a son of Hypnos, the mornings did not really agree with him. "Jason took years and had help from Medea and other heroes. They've been gone for a week." He then promptly reclaimed his spot on Lando's shoulder and fell back to sleep. The rest of the group stared at his behaviour bemused.
"See, even Osc agrees." Lando said proudly. "Now will you admit you're just a teensy-weensy but impressed?"
"Fine. Impressed? Yes. Sad that my week's peace and quiet will be disturbed? Also, yes."
Alex once again laughed. "Please, piece and quiet. You've been bored out of your mind without Max around. I saw you sparing by yourself yesterday. No one to taunt you?"
"Face it George, you two are obsessed with each other." George felt a hot flush spread across his cheeks at the implications of Charles's statement. Despite his protests to his friends, he had missed talking to Max for the last week but would never admit that out loud. Charles's strumming stopped as he looked at something over George's shoulder. "Speaking of. Here he comes now."
Max was marching through the glade, his shoulders pressed back and his eyes scanning the crowd before locking onto their table. His orange t-shirt stretched taut over his broad shoulders and his messy hair was swept off his forehead. Tucked under his arm was a glittering ball of golden wool that shone each time the light touched it. The glade fell silent as all eyes locked on Max making his way through the crowd and eventually stopping in front of George.
"Hello Max. I see you made it back in one piece. What a shame."
George waited for Max to fight back with his usual aggression, but Max merely stood tall in front of him, before moving the Golden Fleece in front of him.
"George. This is for you." He passed the Golden Fleece into George's lap before opening his mouth again and hesitating. "I-I hope that it will keep you warm. I know that you are often cold. It is good to see you again."
With that, Max turned and rushed out of the area, as the surrounding bystanders burst into whispers. Never before had they witnessed such an abnormal normal interaction between the pair. George watched Max's retreating form with his mouth hung open and stared down at the fleece in his arms. He stroked over the wool with his hand and, oh, it was so soft.
George slowly spun in his seat to meet his friends shocked expressions. "What the hell just happened?"
Alex was the first to speak, grin already curling back into place. "Well, he's right about you always being cold, Georgie. I bet you could get some of the Apollo kids to weave that into a blanket for you. But, I won't lie, I'm a bit surprised."
"A bit surprised? This is mental, you realise that right!" Lando had jumped up and was now perched like a frog on the bench and erratically waving his hands about. "What in the name of Zeus happened to him? Did he hit his head or something?"
George stared back at the almost-gone figure of Max in the distance. "I have absolutely no idea."
--
"Lewis, I'm serious, I think he might've been cursed or put under a spell or something!"
"George, I checked them all over when they arrived yesterday and I can promise you Max is not under any spell." Lewis had been a Camp Councillor since he completed the famed twelve labours, only ever done twice before him, and was now looking at his camper with barely concealed mirth. Despite being a son of Zeus, he had taken to the son of the goddess of love and had easily stepped into an older brother role to him.
"Don't laugh! This is serious. He was nice to me! He gave me an incredibly special and valuable and soft, so soft, fleece from ancient mythology. Something has to be wrong."
Lewis let out a small chuckle before rising to his feet and resting his hands on his charge's shoulders. "George, I swear to Zeus that there is nothing wrong with Max. If he wants to explain why the switch up, he will, but that is only for him to tell." George stared down at his feet and fiddled with the jewellery adorning his hands before feeling himself being pulled into a side hug by Lewis. "It's ok, pearl, I swear. It's all ok."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure it will all go back to normal by tomorrow."
--
It had in fact not gone back to normal by tomorrow. The situation had somehow grown more bizarre.
George's first activity of the day was archery and he was surprised to be accompanied to it by none other than Max. In fact, George didn't think Max stood more than five feet away from him during the entire session, hovering close behind with a new arrow or to adjust his grip. After a particularly unfortunate round of shots, Max came up behind George and plastered himself along George's back.
"Here, just move your hand a little," Max's breath whispered in his ear and his hand blanketed George's own. George felt a familiar rise of heat course through his body at the contact. As the arrow flew straight to the bullseye, he felt the curve of Max's smile against his burning neck before he pulled back. "There you go."
George cleared his throat before subtly shaking his head to clear his mind as he loaded the next arrow. He didn't know what Max was playing at but he didn't like the way it made his heart stutter in his chest. Stupid Max.
As George made his way to pegasus flying, Max continued to walk close to him, his shoulders draw tight up to his ears and his eyes relentlessly scanning all surrounding them. "Uh, Max? Are you ok?"
"Hm? Yes, why wouldn't I be?"
"You just- you seem a bit tense and your sticking quite close is all."
"Me? Tense? No, no, not at all. I'm perfectly relaxed, completely normal. Come on now. We'll be late to Pegasus Riding." With that, Max pressed his hand to the small of George's back and directed him through the crowd of other teenagers changing activities, not slowing at the call of George's or his own name from others.
--
George's personal escort hadn't let up by the time lunch rolled around and had quickly become the only thing anyone could talk about.
"He's been following him around all day!"
"He's like a very intense, very scary, very battle-ready puppy."
"Did you see the way he was looking at Carlos when he was speaking to George? If he glared any harder, I swear he would have sent him straight to the underworld."
Reunited with his friends, George was being subjected to much teasing and many questions. "So he whispered in your ear? Then what, Georgie?" Alex peered over at his friend from behind his glass.
"Nothing! He just pulled back. I'm so confused guys. None of this makes any sense." George promptly threw his head onto his arms resting on the table.
Lando cackled before reaching over and ruffling George's hair, causing him to immediately sit back up and scowl as he tried to rearrange his caramel curls. "Maybe he's finally realised that you two would be better off as lovers instead of enemies."
"Lando, be serious please."
"I am being serious! I mean, with the amount of time you both spend on each other."
"He has a point, George." Oscar chimed in.
"If no one's going to properly commiserate with me, then I am going to go train. Enjoy the rest of your day." With that, George promptly spun on his heel before marching off in the direction of the training grounds.
As he watched his friend depart, Alex let out a heavy sigh. "Face it guys, there's no way they're getting together soon. Might as well start counting out the money now." As soon as he spoke those words, the group watched as Max dislodged himself from where he had been sat and started walking in the direction that George left.
Lando grinned again. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."
--
George felt adrenaline coursing through his veins as he dodged another of Carlos's attacks. The older boy had been kind enough to train with George in the week that his usual duelling partner was away and was currently making sure he was staying on his toes.
Another swing of Carlos's sword sent George dancing sideways, feet kicking up sand in the area, to avoid the hit before he counted back with his own parry. Their blows grew in intensity as their fight continued, blades clashing with metallic tangs, sweat dripping off of both of their brows, dancing around each other before slashing in wide arcs-
"Hey!"
Stood at the top of the area was Max, his face looking thunderous. As Carlos and George drew back and fell out of hold, breaths coming in quick huffs, Max scaled down the steps to the fighting ground.
"Ah dios mio, aquí viene el perro guardián."
George cast a sideways glance at Carlos's Spanish murmurings before turning his attention to Max, who had arrived in front of them.
"Have you replaced me already? What, not able to keep up, princess?"
"As if. You couldn't match me if you tried. Besides, you're the one that left and Carlos has been so good as a training partner."
Max's face set with barely concealed anger focused at the older boy. Carlos held up his hands in surrender. "Ok, don't get me involved in whatever's going on here. Good work today George - it'd be nice to duel again if your ever released by el perro guardián." With that, Carlos grabbed his bag and scaled the steps out of the arena, leaving Max and George stood in the settled sand.
Max stood back and unsheathed his own blade. "Come. You want to train, then we'll train."
And so the dance resumed. Max slashed with intensity as George held his defensive stance, moving away with footwork like lightning. When George went for his own attack, Max block each move with power, as the sound of metal clanging filled the arena. They kept trading blows and circling each other, each thrust delivered with a greater force and lesser accuracy as tiredness crept into their muscles. George lunged forward, only for his blade to be parried away and found Max's sword held lengthways at his throat and its owner immediately in front of him. Their heaving breaths was the only sound that filled the arena till Max spoke.
"You've grown sloppy whilst I was away."
"Oh, please. You were away for a week. And you're forgetting that I had been training before you arrived, fresh as a daisy."
"Ah, yes, 'training' with that stupid son of Athena."
"I don't understand what you suddenly have against him. Besides, it's good to practice against other people; it widens the variety of opponents. Also, his strategy is better than mine so there's something to learn from him."
"Well, now that I am back, we can resume our training schedule and you won't need to bother with him. See you soon, George. Don't forget to put layers on, otherwise your body temperature might drop too quickly."
George fought the urge to scream.
--
As a child of Aphrodite, George was used to being gifted presents. He knew that he was good-looking, all right? He was used to coming back to his room and finding a gift left for him. Of course, it was exceptionally flattering and George was eternally grateful. What he would never tell another was how he sighed inwardly when he saw the things that were left. They were exceptionally typical: chocolates, flowers, bath items. In theory, all perfect for a son of the goddess of love and beauty. However, after receiving the same thing ten times, one could grow a bit tired of such tokens. Though, whenever George did think that, he would immediately feel a big rush of guilt at his arrogance.
That being said, it made the surprise delivered by Kimi later that day all the more memorable.
Kimi was a small fawn-like child of Hermes, who had quickly decided that George was his 'mama' at Camp, despite it only being his second year there. George had found himself somewhat thrust into the unusual position but wouldn't complain - he liked the little curly haired boy, even if he liked to be as much of a nuisance as his father.
Just as George was about to enter the Aphrodite cabin, he heard someone call out his name and what sounded like a stampede approaching him.
"George! George, George, George!" Kimi ran up to him, his little legs working overtime to catch up.
"Hi, Kimi. You all right there? Looking a bit puffed out."
"I have a delivery for you." Kimi proudly pulled a brown paper package out from behind his back and held it out to George, a proud grin gleaming on his face.
"A package, huh? Wow, you really are taking after your dad."
"Yup." Kimi loudly popped the p at the end of the word. "I was given strict instructions to make sure you got it and I did that. Are you going to open it?" Kimi peered at the package in George's hands and started prodding the paper.
"God, you're terrible. Right then." George gently pulled at the string holding the paper together and uncurled the wrapping. Sat inside was a black box, which he popped the lid off. There sat on black tissue paper was a curved dagger, glinting deadly in the light, with an iridescent pearl handle that scattered the light. George felt his heart stop in his chest at the beauty of the item.
"Woah! That's so pretty. It looks so pointy. Is it sharp?" Kimi reached out to touch the blade before George quickly lifted the box above his head.
"Woah, woah, woah, don't touch it. Honestly, do you have any survival instincts?"
"Nope." Kimi again popped the p, whilst grinning up at George like an innocent little angel.
"Ok, that was rhetorical." George pinched the bridge of his nose and felt his brow crease in exasperation at the reckless but enthusiastic child in front of him. "Kimi. Who have this to you."
Kimi opened his mouth about to speak before a smirk took over his face. "Who do you think?"
"Andrea."
"Max! It was Max," Kimi answered immediately. "He told me to give it to you. Said it was a present. That you needed a new dagger for the next time you duel."
"I need a new dagger? He- that's so- ugh!" Confusion rose in George, as he swung open the door to his cabin, stormed in and slammed it shut behind him.
Kimi stared up at the shut door. "George? Are you still gonna help me with my footwork?"
--
George did indeed help Kimi with his footwork. Rather ironically, on the way back to the cabins, George tripped over his own feet, which left him where he was now; laying on ground with a sprained ankle. Despite being renowned for his grace and poise, George was still just a fast-growing teenager.
"Oh my god, what do I do, George?" Kimi stood over George, fretting, whilst bouncing about in place.
"Kimi, it's ok, all I need is some nectar and I'll be fine. There's some back in my cabin. Just need to get there." George felt twinges of pain in his ankle when he tried to move it, face scrunching up in discomfort.
"Ok, ok, how do we do that? You're so big."
Ouch.
"Cheers Kimi, that makes me feel so much better about the situation."
"I'm sure he meant statuesque."
George tilted his head back and locked eyes with Max, who stood with one brow raised and stared down at him. Well, this was just going marvellously. "Oh, hello there. I suppose statuesque will have to do."
Max knelt down next to George's side. "Well, I could easily think of some other words to describe you." Max started moving down and prodding George's ankle.
"What, a two-faced snake- hey, that hurts!"
"I was thinking more along the lines of beautiful, but I have called you that as well. It's just a small sprain, all you need is some nectar and to rest it and you'll be fine."
Ok, weird. This was all so weird. Outside, George's face remained stoic as he watched the other boy poke him whilst he felt like his mind was melting. Before he could say anything in response to that, Kimi stepped forward from where he was hovering by George's shoulder. "You'll be ok, George." He then flung his arms around George and hugged him tight. George patted Kimi's head of brown curls from where his head was buried in the crook of his neck and caught Max staring at them with clear amusement on his face.
"Come on, let's get you back to camp." George held out a hand to be hauled up, only to find his body suddenly being lifted from the ground as though he weighed no more than a feather duster.
"MAX! PUT ME DOWN!"
George was slung across Max's arms bridal style as he walked steadfastly through the field back to the cabins. "Mm, no. I think it is much faster this way. More efficient, no?"
"No, no, not more efficient! I can still walk, all I need is a crutch for my side."
Kimi bounded in step by their side, grinning as though Christmas had arrived early.. "No, Max is right. It is much faster this way. Besides, it's like watching my parents' wedding day."
As they passed through the central dining area, George felt the stares and whispers of other campers. Many had stopped their conversations completely and were just openly gawking at the strange sight in front of them. From the side, George heard his friends cry out. "Having a nice time there, Georgie?"
"No, I am not, I am being taken against my will! Alex, come help me, for god's sake!" George felt Max's arms tighten around him as he bent his head back to shout at his friends.
"Come now, I am not so bad?" George looked up from where his head had been pillowed against Max's chest to find Max gazing down on him, stormy eyes seeming to rage behind his eyelashes. George fixated on the tiny crease formed between his brows and felt the sudden urge to reach up and kiss it away and recoiled in shock just as quickly
"-orge? George?"
George mentally shook himself before focusing on what Max had been saying. "Yep, wait, I mean, no, no, not so bad. It's just I can walk."
"Yes but it would hurt, so no need if this works right."
George leaned back into Max's hold, finally relaxing into him. "Has anyone ever told you you're very stubborn?"
"Maybe once or twice. Runs in the family I think, like many other things."
"Max, I have to ask. What's happened? What is this all about? Why the sudden change?"
Max's lips pressed into a straight line but before George could get any reply, a voice called out to them.
"Max! George! What happened?" Lewis strode over to the pair, concern etched on his face and hands planted on his hips.
Max quickly looked away from George, seemingly eager to avoid the awkward question. Damn.
"He twisted his ankle during training." Max said, gesturing to George sprawled in his arms. "He just needs some nectar and it should fix itself."
"Ok, well that's easy enough. Do you want to put him down Max and I can sort him out." Lewis looked at Max, with a slight smirk on his face, as if he knew something George didn't. Weird. Everyone was so weird.
Max gently placed George back onto his feet, almost somewhat reluctantly, before he was redirected towards the medical tent by Lewis supporting his weight on his shoulder. As George looked over his shoulder, he saw Max standing rather casually, his hands jammed in his pockets, the picture of nonchalance, till he looked at his eyes. Max's stare was fixed on George's retreating form, intensity burning through him. "Feel better soon, George."
Later, as George left the medical tent on his own two feet, he turned and asked Lewis a final question. "Why were you smiling like that at Max earlier?"
Lewis let out a heaving sigh, a mix of fondness and exasperation mixed in tone."You'll figure it out soon enough, pearl." He patted George on the shoulder as he moved past him and exited the tent.
George felt confusion rise in him as he waved his hands in front of his face. "Wait, what do you mean?"
--
Before George fell asleep that night, he determined that the next morning he would figure out exactly what was going on with Max. Absolutely nothing would stop him. Unfortunately for George, his plan was interrupted by being rudely awakened the next morning to a commotion outside his window.
As George woke up to the sunlight on his face, instead of the usual birdsong or music that accompanied his mornings, he heard shouts from below. As he pushed himself up from his bed, the door to his room suddenly burst open, Kimi running through, looking mildly crazed.
"George! You have to come outside. There's a fight."
"What? What do you mean a fight? Between who?" George rolled out of bed, feeling very disgruntled at his surprise awakening. He pulled on his feathered robe over his pyjama set and slid his feet into the slippers by his bed, moving with a greater haste than he would ever prefer.
Kimi stood in the doorframe, vibrating in place as the story spilled from his lips. "Max is fighting this guy outside. Like a full on fight, they're on rolling around on the floor and everything."
Kimi ran out of the room and out the door, as George stuck his head out of the window to look at the brawl happening outside. On the ground, a circle of people had formed around the action occurring at the centre and George craned his neck to try and get a view of Max's sandy hair at the centre. From his viewing position, Alex noticed him and shouted out. "George! Get your problematic arse down here right now!"
"What the hell did I do?" George yelled back, waving his arms around. He had just been minding his own business in his bed, asleep like a normal person at this ungodly hour of eleven o'clock.
Alex grinned as he replied. "Existed! Now, get down here!"
George ran down the stairs in a flurry to the gathering in the middle of the cabins. He pushed his way through the masses to reach his friends, people parting for him and whispering into each others ears and casting glances at him. Weird, again. As he reached the inner border of the circle, he finally saw the rambunctious scene. Max had the other boy pinned beneath him as they rolled around on the dirty floor, swinging fists at him as the boy tried to roll out from under him. Alex leaned over, yelling over the crowd.
"Max overheard him saying some not so nice things about you because you turned him down last year and kind of took it to heart, clearly."
Just as George was about to try and get closer to stop Max turning the boy beneath him into pulverised meat (more than he already had at least), Lewis, Nico and Sebastian, other councillors, broke through the crowd. "Hey! Stop this at once!" Nico's voice rang out across the clearing as Lewis whispered in his ear before he grabbed Max by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him off, flailing. Lewis dragged Max away, just overwhelming the younger man in strength as Sebastian hauled the limp boy up from the floor towards the medical tent.
"Ok, everyone, disperse, nothing to see here, kids. George, wait a minute." Nico strode over to George as lingering campers slowly started to break away, already gossiping about the morning's events.
"Nico, I wasn't involved in this, I literally just woke up, I-" George spoke quickly, the words spilling out of his mouth, as he gestured to his state of disarray.
"George. Breathe. I know you weren't involved, at least directly. Indirectly, though, you were exceptionally involved. I wanted to talk because your and Max's relationship reminds me much of Lewis's and mine when we were your age."
The 'silver war' that had occurred between the elder son of Aphrodite and the son of Zeus was infamous among Camp Half-Blood before the pair mended their relationship. But George struggled to see how it related to him and Max.
"That's nice Nico, but I don't really see the correlation."
Nico stared at him as though he had grown a second head. "So, you've not noticed how Max has been acting recently?"
"Well, of course, I've noticed, but, I don't really understand it. It all feels like one big joke, like the curtain's about to fall."
Nico paused and looked at the ground as he considered his thoughts. "Max is...emotionally constipated. I think we can both agree on that. He's come back from his quest and seems to have redirected his energy from trying to annoy you to trying to win you over. But there is no difference in just how obsessed he is with you from before and after - it is only that he is showing it differently."
George felt a sense of panic and teenage hormones rise flood through his body. "Nico, you cannot truly be saying what I think you are. Max didn't like me before. I mean, he would barely even look at me useless it was to glare at me. He hated me!"
"Or maybe you just didn't notice. Besides, hate and love are not that far apart. Apathy, yes. But not hate and love. The two so easily intertwined. What can start as one can quickly turn into another or even exist at the same time. Believe me, I would know." At that, Nico looked over to where Lewis had disappeared, an expression that could only be described as smitten overtaking his face. "I do not know what happened to Max on his quest. But I do know that he is now unashamedly acting as though you strung the moon and that your about to disappear just as the moon does each night and I don't think this is new to him. His feelings for you are not a question to me. What is, is your feelings, George?"
George felt the overwhelming urge to sink to the floor, blood rushing through his cheeks, as his heart hammered in his chest. "I- he- he annoys me. He drives me insane but I can never get him out of my mind. Even before, when he went seemingly out of his way to drive me up the wall, he was always the only one who was able to do so. No one else can pick me apart like him. Everyone else just does what I want and that's fine. It's great in fact. But he's different. I never knew if I wanted to push him into a wall or kiss him. And now that he's acting so...sweet, I just feel even more confused."
George looked up from where he had been pacing to see Nico looking at him with a soft smile on his face. "Well now I'm certain about how you feel too. So, what are you going to do about it?"
George felt a well of determination rise in him. "I'm going to go find Max and force him to talk to me about this. No more running. In fact I'm going to find him right now. No waiting."
"George."
"Hm?"
"You might want to get dressed first."
George looked down at the bunny slippers on his feet. Maybe a quick change was in fact needed.
--
It wasn't until much later in the day that George finally found Max.
Green vines hung around the opening, obscuring it from outside view, as the afternoon sun hopped on the calm surface of the water. Max was sat on the end of the pier by the lake, legs dangling lazily into the blue water. His head was bowed forward and shoulders hunched as George approached him, looking as though he hadn't moved in hours. He remained still as George sat beside him, long bronze legs spreading out beneath him.
"You didn't make it easy to find you." George spoke forwards, avoiding looking directly at Max. He dropped his gaze down to where Max's hand rested. The knuckles were ugly and cracked, purple bruises tracing across them like shredded lavender with open wounds marring the skin. George gently traced a single finger across the broken surface. "You didn't need to start a fight this morning."
Max scoffed, his eyes still trained on the ripples of the lake. "He deserved it. He was talking absolute shit." The 'about you' went unsaid.
"I bet Lewis had a few choice words about it."
Max laughed to himself. "That's one way of putting it."
George continued to trace gentle circles around the bruises as Max held himself as still as a rod at the touch, as if to avoid disrupting George's movements. "Max, what- what is this? What is going on? And please, please don't leave this time. I just need to know."
George watched as Max's shoulders deflated as he let out a heaving sigh. "George, it's not for you to worry about."
George felt a sense of incredulity rise in him, as his hand pulled away. "What do you mean it's not for me to worry about, Max, when you are quite literally acting as if I am about to disappear off the edge of the Earth! Clearly, whatever's going on does concern me and I'd like to know what it is."
Max clenched his fists by his side as his eyes remained trained on a single point of the lake. "No, George, there is no problem, I just care-"
"What do you mean you care? Since when? What happened on the quest to make you care-"
“I’ve always cared about you!"
Max's head finally snapped up and his eyes locked onto George for the first time, filled with unshed tears and red rimmed. His Dutch lisp grew as emotion thickened in his throat.
"I've always cared. Even when we acted like idiots, I cared. You- you're you, George. You are bold and you are kind and you are beautiful. In every way you are beautiful. You are beautiful in how you fight, you are beautiful in how you speak to the kids, you are beautiful in your mind, you are beautiful in every possible way." Max flung his hands up as he finished his tirade. "Not a day goes by when I am not reminded of how much I love you."
Oh.
Oh.
"And the quest, it changed everything. When we were fighting the Furies, they made us all see our greatest fears, greatest torments, things like that. Pierre and Yuki said they both saw usual things, like monsters, darkness, the sea. For me, I had just one thing looped. I watched you bleed out in front of me before I could tell you how I truly felt. Just, on repeat." Tears trickled out of Max's eyes as they stared off into the distance, a vacant expression on his face. "It- it switched something in me. I couldn't let it happen, I couldn't let you get hurt, I needed to tell you. But I'm no good with words."
George felt the week of confusion clinking into place. "So, that's why you were acting like that."
Max's gaze refocused onto George. He looked as though the weight of the sky was pressed onto his shoulders. "I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable. But I couldn't bear the thought of not telling you but I also couldn't bear telling you. So, I was a coward instead."
George instinctively grabbed a hold of Max's wrist before he turned away. "No, no, you are not a coward. You showed me instead. Admittedly, a fairly indirect route but I've got the message."
Max pulled himself out of George's grasp and stood with his back turned, gazing out onto the lake. "Well, I'm sorry. I've made it weird now. I can try and go back to how we were before but I get it if you want me to just buzz off."
"Max, at what point did I say I wasn't interested?"
Max spun around as though he had been electrocuted, hope shining on his face for the first time.
"Look, I know I spent ages denying it, but I think it's fairly obvious I'm obsessed with you too. You are the only person who can properly get under my skin. Even when you were away I was thinking about you and y'know maybe I didn't completely hate all the attention you've been giving me." George sheepishly scrubbed the back of his neck as he looked down with pink cheeks. "So, yeah, I like you too-mm."
Max cut off George by sealing their lips together.
He wrapped the other boy in his arms as though he were about to disappear and cradled George's face in his hands, as his lips stayed slotted against George's. Absently, George though that this was rather nice, sparks fluttering through his chest.
When Max tried to pull back, George let out a soft sound of protest and held him closer. They rested their foreheads against each other, eyes meeting. Max's cheeks has been washed with a brushstroke of pink and he stared at George with wonder. "You know, sometimes you scare me."
George let out a startled laugh, as Max immediately tried to backtrack. "No, no, not like that, but sometimes you are so beautiful that it is scary. Your eyes look like they could cut me with how blue they are."
"Well, if you think I'm scary, wait till you meet my mother."
--
"Hey George, have you finally- OH MY GOD, GUYS, THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS, ALEX YOU OWE ME!"