THE ONLY EXCEPTION! | elmax

eight

jane woke up and rubbed her eyes with her petite hands, stretching out her legs tiredly. she quickly remembered the events of last night, her cheeks heated up at the thought. she turned over to see an empty space next to her. was it all a dream? did she dream of max cuddling her throughout the night?

she rolled over in bed and looked down at the make shift bed on the floor, max wasn't there either. did she leave already? jane really hoped that she hadn't. she quickly hopped out of bed and made her way down the hall. "max?" she called as she entered the living room. suddenly, there was a crash in the kitchen, jane let out a small screech. she turned her head to see the redhead making breakfast. "jane? are you alright?" max smiled and walked over to where jane was standing.

"i'm fine, you just scared me. gosh." she laughed it off as she made her way into the kitchen.
jane sat down at the little kitchen table and turned her head to max. "so, what are you making me, miss?"

"a surprise." she smile smugly, simply shrugging her shoulders. max slid her socked feet against the wood of the kitchen floor. the hopper's home was nothing special but max thought it felt very at home but nothing like her house. her own home was decorated to follow trends so when their neighbors came over they would focus more on the perfect decor rather than the screw up of a daughter that lived there. she hated all the fake smiles that hung on their fridge, the pictures of her older stepbrother with black eyes, ones their parents told company that he got playing baseball. the worst part was the bright yellow wallpaper that her mother hated but would never take down because it was 'trendy'. in this kitchen where she sat alone with jane, she felt more at home than she did having silent dinners with her family every night.

suddenly, max's thoughts were interrupted by the pop of the toaster. two crispy golden waffles had just popped up, steam still rising from them. they were obviously still hot but max didn't really think about that, she reached out and grabbed one, quickly throwing it down on a plate and bringing her hand up to her lips where she blew cold air onto her pointer finger and thumb where she had just burned herself. she waited a minute to grab the second waffle, so it could cool down.

max put both plates on the table  with a toothy smile. "breakfast is served!" she sat down across from jane. "how'd you know these were my favorite?" ,the smaller girl asked while shoving her mouth full of waffle. "mike told me" max bit into her waffle slowly.

"really? he did?" jane still had a mouthful so she quickly swallowed it down. "nope i just saw a shit ton of waffle in the freezer so i assumed. it was like twelve boxes what the hell?" max laughed and continued to eat. jane glanced down at max's hand around the waffle, the same hand that she remembered laying on her waist, thinking about that gave her a funny feeling in her stomach. she thought that feeling was supposed to make her smile but at the moment she felt sick. how could she think like that? "i mean i just assumed he did because, we ate them the first time i slept over at his house, we kissed a bunch so were all like lovestruck you know? so he probably just assumed that's why i love them." jane spat quickly before taking another big bite. max simply glanced at her plate with a small nod, taking another silent bite. "i wish i was in love like you and mike."

jane listened, she wasn't sure if replying was a good idea or if it would even make sense. her brain and heart were far too confused right now to make sense of anything. "do you have a crush on anyone?" she took another bite. max sighed out and looked up at jane "maybe? i mean lucas is kinda cute but i'm not sure, we haven't talked much."

jane nodded quietly, she felt like she was on a stairway, about to reach the top when she misplaced her feet and stumbled back down to the bottom. she wasn't sure what the sinking ache in her chest was but she didn't like it. "a-after this you should go talk to him, he totally likes you." max smiled with a mouthful of eggos and suddenly all the ache in jane's chest had disappeared. "really? you think he likes me?" she giggled happily, and jane nodded "totally! he's always staring at you and when you and mike are flirting he gets all jealous it's funny."

max's smile dropped slightly, "me and mike don't flirt we're just friends.."  she trailed off then suddenly realized who she was talking to. "because i would never do that to you, plus mike is like brother to me." she nodded sincerely. jane just shrugged "it's not like we're dating. you could be with him if you wanted" jane signed out with an accidental sour tone. "well you should date him! if you want to of course, you have no idea how much he would love that."

jane simply shrugged. "i don't want him to have all this power over me. it's not fair." max suddenly slapped her hand against the table "is that what you're worried about? the only power he gets over you is what you give him which shouldn't be any!" max's eyebrows were knitted together and she looked very serious, it worried jane a little. "okay, i'll talk to him when you talk to lucas." max smiled and jumped up out of the wooden chair she sat in.

she began humming a tune and dancing around happily. it was messy and she looked so dumb but jane loved every second of it. she pretended to debate joining the redhead. she already knew the answer though, there was no way she could say no to max. she slowly sat up and pushed in her chair. max mimed pulling her closer with a giant smile on her face.

"oh yeah i'll tell you something"

the redhead moved to the beat and jane tried her best to mirror her actions, failing terribly. she came to the conclusion max looked cute and dumb, she just looked plain stupid, but in this moment she didn't care.

"i think you'll understand, when i say that something"

max quickly grabbed a spoon off the kitchen counter and pretended it was a microphone. she acted like she was singing a big solo and that she had hundreds of people watching when in reality it was just the one, but max really wouldn't have it any other way.

"i wanna hold your hand! i wanna hold your hand! i wanna hold your hand!"

max held out her hands and jane quickly grabbed them. the two girls swung their arms together in time. max smiled and kept singing. jane felt like she had died and this was heaven. sure, max wasn't the best singer ever but her voice was so beautiful, it only led on her died and went to heaven theory because max would've obviously been an angel.

"and when i touch you, i feel happy inside. it's such a feelin' that my love.. i can't hide!"

max pulled jane in and spun her around. jane couldn't stop smiling at how incredible this all was and laughing at how dorky this girl was.

max stopped singing and cleared her throat, joining jane in the giggles. "thank you so fucking much! for you know telling me to talk to lucas and just being my best friend!" she squeezed jane's hands happily before releasing them.

max had already changed back to her jeans and thanked jane for letting her wear her shorts. max slipped on her shoes and hurried out the door. "bye jane-y!" jane scrunched her nose and shook her head "that will not become a thing!" the redhead just shrugged "sure thing jane-y"

then max was gone and jane was left all alone with her feelings, she wished she hadn't told max to go for lucas but at the same time seeing max that happy gave her butterflies so strong that she couldn't frown about them.  but there was no way she would leave herself alone with her confused mind. off to mikes.

hi if there are errors
i'm so sorry i'm very tired
so i might've missed some. thanks for reading!
i'll try to update again soon!!