✔𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 ➳𝐌𝐚𝐱 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏

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𝐇𝐞'𝐬holding onto her hand. Sex is a powerful thing, she's more than aware of that and has used it to her own advantage before, but this is something completely new. Something else has to have happened. Max has done nothing but apologise since they woke up, made her breakfast and everything without her asking for it. It feels like something new but she's not quite sure it's the same as she had hoped for. He looks sincere enough, smiling as he leads her away from the car and down a street. But he looked sincere yesterday too. It's hard when she can't stare directly into his eyes, they're the only things truly honest about him.

He hasn't asked her about what she wants either. Hasn't pressed anything. He's treated her like a damn princess the entire time. Even last night, he washed her off and made sure she was completely clean before settling into bed. Cuddled up to her too. It's not that she dislikes this side of him, far from it, but she's not sure whether it's real or not.

"Where are we going?" It's the first direct question she's asked him all day.

"Seeing the guy who tipped me off about the dealer," he replies casually, "we have to give him his cut."

"What about mine?"

"Your cut?"

"Yeah," she speaks and watches his every move.

"See anything you like?" Max nods towards the store windows they're passing.

"Are you going to buy it for me if I do?" Her head tilts to the side and she walks a little closer to him, hugging his arm.

"Buying is relative," he grins with a shrug. "We don't use money on anything we don't have to."

"Like what?" She steps over a puddle of water. It rained last night but she couldn't hear any of it within their room — too bad really. She's always liked that sound.

"Rent or if we have to run," Max speaks, so nonchalantly that it takes a second for her to register what he said.

"Run?"

"From the police, people like you," he continues.

"Like me?" She can't hide her own amusement.

"Like the type of person, you were." He leads her down another street and chuckles, "knew from the moment I saw you something was off."

"How romantic," she huffs.

"Is that what you want, romance?"

It's another oddly sincere question as he stops to look at her, eyes curious and tilting his head to the side with a pout on his lips. Just like that, he slips through the cracks in her and crawls beneath her skin. She smiles softly and reaches up to cup his freshly shaven cheek. If she had any idea what to reply to that, she would, but all of that seems so far away and she hasn't really accepted it's a possibility. Romance is far beyond everything, definitely beyond this... isn't it?

He indulges her by leaning down when she gets on the tips of her toes to kiss him, softly sealing her mouth on top of his. She feels how his hands shift to grasp her waist, pulling her a little closer than she realistically needs to be. Grinning against his lips, she playfully sucks his bottom lip into her mouth, testing the waters but he only tightens his hold and she gently bites into it. It's so reminiscent of the first kiss he stole from her, but she doesn't break the skin this time. Max chuckles too. He gets it, gets her like no one else has.

When she pulls back, he's still staring at her and she's drowning. No ice. Warm water cascades over her body as she floats willingly after him down the street. He might be leading but deep down she knows it's not like that anymore. Maybe. Max guides her down the streets and into a bar below an overpass. The interior is cosy and coated in a dim yellow almost orange light with large leather chairs guarding the corners against the harsh and worn wood of chairs and tables spreading from the centre of the room.