Blue Funk (boyxboy)

IV

The day of the Christmas party was already upon me. Max came by after school with his suit in a bag. "I hate wearing suits to this thing." He said as he came inside and sat on the couch. "I know it's proper and stuff but, I really don't want to wear a suit."

"Why are you complaining? We usually just go up into the hotel room and change out of our suits after an hour." I laughed.

He looked at me and grinned. "I know? it's stupid right?" He said. "But at least there's good food at the party. I think that's the only reason I want to go every year." Max laughed and looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes.

"Yeah, the food is pretty good." I said turning away from him. I didn't want to get lost in his eyes.

"Hey what's wrong? You seem almost as down as me." He asked softly.

"It's nothing, just tired is all." I said shrugging.

"Wynter Joshua Hill I will not sit around and listen to your lies." He started, he sounded mad but I knew he wasn't. "That's a lie I tell myself daily but I know it's not true, and you know it's not true. I don't want you to turn out like me Wynter. I'm a seventeen year old who drinks a shit-ton and is lacking in happiness and I don't want to see you turn into me."

Max always said lacking in happiness. He believe there was sadness, you just had less happiness than everyone else. He always said everyone has a little flicker of happiness that can never be burnt out. "I know I'm sorry." I said looking away from him.

"So what's really the matter?" He asked his voice softening.

"If I told you, you would just..." I actually didn't know what he would do if i told him. What if I just blurted it out right then and there, what if I told him I'd had a crush on him for a long time.

"What would I do?" He asked his voice cutting through my thoughts. I struggled for words to describe what he would do. He just kind of stared at me waiting for an explanation.

"You would get... Um... Mad probably." I said looking at him. He raised and eyebrow at me.

"What did you do?" He asked me.

"I didn't do anything, I mean, I don't think you'd get mad, maybe upset." I said shrugging, "Maybe you wouldn't be mad at all. It's just s very tough situation for me okay?"

Max's expression changed and a smile formed across his face. "Okay, just be sure to tell me when you're ready, and not a moment later." He said. I nodded, I didn't know if I could even wait a moment later if I wanted too.

Max then walked across the room too the menorah and looked at it. "It it the sixth day of Hanukkah?" He asked me.

"It's actually the seventh." I said walking over. I light the seventh candle and smiled. "I just forgot too light it."

Max watched the candles burn for a moment then smiled. "We'd better get ready." He said looking at me. I looked away as if not too drown in his beautiful eyes.

＊＊＊

I was in a casino filled with middle age men and women that needed more clothes, with Max. The room seemed smokey and musty, Max hated it. He had made it very clear that he hated it too. We walked around the room sneaking food of buffet tables and talking to Max's dad's work colleagues. Max eventually grabbed my hand and pulled me into the elevator. "Sorry I just felt like I needed to leave."

"I could tell." I said laughing. "You made that very clear down there."

"I know." He said laughing softly as the elevator got to the twelfth floor. We walked down the hall to room eight and he opened the door letting us inside. I guess I never thought about it but we always shared a bed when we went to the Christmas party. It seemed different this year, I just had to not think about it.

"Look what I got." Said Max pulling a bottle of wine out of his dress coat pocket. "I snatched it when no one was looking." He said laughing. He opened the bottle and then smiled, "You take the first sip."

I did take the first sip, and it was good. It was sweet wine, not the bitter kind. "It's good." I commented hand it back to him.

"It's not the cheap kind." He said chuckling as he took a sip. He walked over and sat down on the bed. "I'm tired, but I don't want to be tired." He said. I watched him down half the bottle of wine before laying back on the bed.

"You really are a seventeen year old with a drinking problem." I said as I went and sat next to him on the other side of the bed.

"I know, but drinking is better than happy pills Wynter." He said softly.

"Max you know that... Well I want you to know that, I'm always here for you no matter what, okay?" I said.

He sat up and put his arm around me pulling me into a hug. "I know, thank you." He said resting his head on my shoulder as he hugged me. His eyes fluttered shut and I smiled, he was so warm.

"You're welcome." I said smiling. Max was always so open with his emotions, at least around me. I guess if you kept everything bottled up for so long you needed one person to talk to. I felt honored that Max chose me as that one person.

"Wynter?" He asked softly.

"Mmhmm?" I said as I looked at the brown shag carpet of the hotel room.

"I love you. You're the best friend I've ever had and you know everything about me, and vise versa." He said smiling as he took his head off my shoulder and laid back down.

"I know it's great." I said grinning, "I hope we're friends like this forever."

"Me too." He laughed, "Now I don't know about you but I'm tired as hell right now." He said.

"I'm tired too." I said smiling. He sat up and pulled off all his clothes down to his boxers and socks before crawling in bed. "You still do that huh?" I asked as I did the same to get into bed.

I crawled in the bed beside him and he smiled and laughed, "Sleeping with socks on is like wearing a coat on your feet."

"It's weird." I said laughing as I closed my eyes.

"Whatever, goodnight." He said as he reached over and turned off the lamp. I just laid there and thought about life and how awkward this was for me. I could feel Max's body heat radiating off of him, he was so close to me.

After about twenty minutes of sitting in compete silence and darkness Max snored softly. I guess that was another thing I forgot about Max, he snored. It wasn't loud but he still snored even if he didn't admit it, which he never did. I closed my eyes and smiled, one day I would get him to admit it.