Shifted #Wattys2016

XIII

Maxine

"How about you come over tonight. Meet the family. Have some dinner?" Felix asked, turning to me on the piano bench.

"Meet the family?" I asked, taking my hands off of the keys.

"Yeah. I mean, I live with Emmett and Bloom and their father."

I stood up and shut the piano case. "What about your parents?—I mean, if you don't mind..." I sat down on the couch and patted the cushion beside me.

Felix stood up and sat down. "Uh, a few years back I left the family because my brother was an ass and my parents weren't much better." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Your brother?"

"Uh, yeah. Twin." Felix said. "So would you like to come over?"

I smiled. "Sure. Just Bloom and Emmett and their dad?"

Felix nodded. "Yeah. Just them and us."

I walked behind Felix up the sidewalk. He opened the front door and held it open for me. I stepped inside, taking a long look around.

There was Indian art everywhere, pottery and paintings. The floor was all tile, the walls a warm and welcoming color.

"I'm home." Felix called into the rest of the house. "And I brought a friend!"

Bloom came into the living room from the hallway. "Felix!" She wrapped her arms around his neck. "And Max!" She wrapped her arms around me.

"I invited Max over for dinner." Felix said when Bloom let go. "I hope that's okay."

Bloom smiled. "Of course it is."

"Okay. Well, I was going to give her a tour..."

Bloom smiled. "Okay. Yeah, sure. I'm going to run to the store and pick up some things. Be back in five." She smiled and walked out the door.

Felix smiled. "Okay, so this is the formal living room. Right there is the kitchen and the living room." Felix pointed to the island by the kitchen. The house had an open floor plan and you could see the kitchen and the living room from the front door.

Down the hall was two bedrooms and a bathroom, and the master suite. In the basement was a bathroom and two other rooms—"This is kind of Emmett and Bloom's space"—and then there was the garage.

The garage was Felix's room. His bed was placed against one wall, the sheets messy and unmade. The floor had a huge area rug in the center. There was a couch and a dresser.

Felix tossed me a jacket. "Come on, it'll get cold pretty soon."

I nodded and slid the jacket on. I followed Felix outside. We walked around the back of his house and down a path towards a huge shed—more of a barn really. We passed it, heading towards a small pound. We followed a path that didn't quite reach the pond, but stretched around the whole property.

It was a nice walk.

Once we got back up to the house, Felix offered to help with dinner. I sat at the island and chatted with Bloom. Felix would add in a comment and Bloom would brush him off as "drama queen".

I really liked Bloom.

Felix was so comfortable around her they might as well have been family. They acted like one.

Emmett came home once dinner was almost finished with an older man. Emmett helped the man sit down at the table and then came over to Bloom. He hugged her and kissed her cheek. They were cute together.

"Max will you help set the table?"

I nodded and started to bring food to the table. Felix helped too while Bloom cleaned up a little.

We all sat down at the table. Emmett and Bloom beside each other, their father between Bloom and Felix, and then me, sitting between Fe and Emmett.

"Oh, Father, this is Max." Emmett said. "Max, this is my father, Wane."

Wane smiled at me. "It's nice to meet you, Maxine."

I smiled. "You too, Wane."

"Let's eat!" Bloom said, passing food around the table.

We had grilled lemon pepper chicken served with rice and vegetables. It all tasted amazing.

After the meal, Felix and I did the dishes then retreated to his room. I sat down on the couch, looking at the things on the end table. There was a picture of Felix when he was younger, shirtless, shoeless, his arms held above his head in triumph. He was grinning wide, the smile taking up his whole face.

I picked up the picture and smiled at it.

"What's that?" Felix asked, noticing the picture. I showed it to him. "Oh, that."

"Oh come on, there's got to be a good story behind this one." I said, sitting the picture back down.

"Naw, that day got overlooked for me. It's no big deal."

I frowned. "Tell me the story. Come on," I tugged at his shirt sleeve. I realized I still had on his jacket.

Felix sighed. "It's a long story, one that I'm not really supposed to tell."

"Tell it!"

Felix took a deep breath. "How about this," he began, looking down at his jacket on my arms, "if you don't figure out what I am by the end of next week, I'll tell you, okay? But please, please try hard to figure it out. I bet you're already thinking it."

"Felix?"

"Just know that whatever you're thinking, it's not crazy. You're not crazy. And I'm not dangerous."

"Felix what are you talking about...?"

He stood up. "I'm not sure." He started to pace and mess with his fingers.

I stood up and grabbed his hands, stopping his pacing. I stood up on my tip toes and pressed my lips lightly to his.

There. That shut him up.