handling it

part one

    a/n- hey everyone! i know this fandom is pretty dead but i love the show so much and wanted to write something for it. this will be a multi chapter fic!! please comment and leave a kudos if you enjoy <3

this of course doesn't represent nev or max as real people, and i don't mean any harm by portraying them in this story. this is a work of fiction <3

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    "I think we've got enough footage for today," a crew member announced, shutting off his equipment. The rest of the crew murmured agreement and said their goodbyes to Max and Nev.

    "See you guys tomorrow," Nev replied cheerfully, while Max waved goodbye. Max flopped down on Nev's bed after everyone left, exhausted from their day of traveling from LA to North Carolina. They couldn't get a direct flight and had to visit two other airports before finally making it to their destination, not to mention how long the flights were.

    "Aw, Maxie," Nev laughed, watching him bury his face in a pillow. "How can you be tired? You slept on the plane for hours."

    "It's a gift," Max replied, his voice muffled.

    "Go sleep in your own bed!"

    "I'm already comfy, you can go in the other room."

    "I called this one!"

    "They're the same fucking room," Max said, exasperated, sitting up. Nev couldn't help but giggle when he saw Max's hair messed up by the pillows.

    "Don't make me carry your ass to your own bed," Nev threatened playfully. "I'll do it."

    "No you won't," Max replied, pulling down and crawling under the covers.

    "Alright," Nev said, "Here we go." He opened the door that separated their joint rooms and scooped his friend up, pulling him out of bed and carrying him bridal style.

    "Put me down," Max yelled, laughing and trying to squirm out of Nev's arms, to no avail.

    "Fuck, man, you're heavy," Nev gasped, dropping Max on the other bed.

    "That's not nice!" Max said dramatically, throwing a pillow at him.

    Nev pinched his cheeks lovingly. "Aw, you're like a big soft bunny."

    "Get your hands off my face," Max whined, "and let me sleep. I'm tired."

    "Seriously? It's, like, seven o' clock. I thought we could go grab dinner or something," Nev said. "You've gotta be hungry, since you refused to eat airplane food."

    "'Cause it's nasty," Max mumbled. "I'm sorry, Nev. You can go without me."

    "You feeling okay?"

    "I'm fine," Max reassured. "Goodnight, bud."

"Goodnight," Nev said hesitantly, shutting the door behind him softly. Max sighed and rolled over, a migraine growing behind his eyes.

He knew Nev didn't realize he was struggling. He couldn't expect him to. A huge part of their show was helping people through their emotional problems, and advising them to get help. And yet, he was so ashamed. What kind of adult man struggled with-

Max wouldn't call it an eating disorder. He didn't have an eating disorder, of course. He didn't look like a goddamn skeleton. He didn't want to look like one, either. It would be disrespectful to actual anorexics to say he struggled with that.

He told himself it was just an anxiety thing. Eating just provoked his anxiety, or something like that.

And now he was on MTV, with millions of people watching him, millions of people that could find out his secret. The thought of it made his heart race.