“Having another party tonight. You should stop by,” Ash said, leaning over Max, using his elbow to brace himself on the lunch table. 

Max felt the familiar ache in his chest as he looked up to see Ash’s smiling face beneath the dramatic swash of black hair he kept over one of his eyes. This was it. He’d been hyping himself up for at least a month now, the beginning of senior year having spurred him on rather abruptly. 

He remembered the end of summer, the moment when it hit him. Ash had been lying upside down on Max’s bed, a controller in his hands, a smile fully visible for once as he hung his head off the end of the bed. And Max had been struck with a powerful feeling, one he still couldn’t quite name. It was the feeling of time moving, ticking away with every second. The feeling of knowing they’d never be in this moment again, him and Ash. 

So then and there Max had given himself an ultimatum- confess to Ash by Christmas, or… or… okay, so he wasn’t sure what the “or” was gonna be yet, but it was going to really suck. It was September now, and Max had already skipped out on the first four of Ash’s parties. This wasn’t a big deal in and of itself- because Max always skipped Ash’s parties, despite being his best friend, even though Ash always invited him. At first it was just from social anxiety, but now Max was very aware that he just didn’t want to have to see other people flirt with Ash, which happened more often than Max would have liked (of course, Max would have liked it to be never, so his account can’t really be trusted). 

But not this time. No, this time was going to be different. 

Max drew in a quick breath as he glanced away from Ash’s bright eyes, rimmed in eyeliner, making a split-second decision before he could chicken out (again). “I will!” 

“Wait, what? Really?!” Ash’s initial tone and expression had clearly conveyed confusion, but it quickly morphed into sheer excitement, and anyone watching would have noticed the obvious lovestruck look on this idiot’s face. But, unfortunately, Max wasn’t looking, and even if he had been, he would have been the only person to miss it. 

Max’s heart was racing from the commitment he’d just made. He had to tell Ash tonight. Unbeknownst to Max, Ash was actually thinking the same thing about him. Ash had been in love with Max for years now, and even though he’d steadfastly kept his feelings to himself for fear of ruining their friendship, the end of senior year scared him, and with an unknown future leering in front of him, Ash knew he had to tell Max how he felt, while there was still time. 

“Y-Yeah, I’ll come. What time should I show up?” Max looked back up at Ash, blinking in such a way Ash was sure he was going to have a heart attack on the spot. 

“It starts at seven, but you can come as early as you want, obviously. Would never deny your company,” Ash added with a wink, which was incredibly unsubtle, and Max’s complete and total obliviousness was almost painful to watch. 

“Yo, Ash!” Ash was going to say more, but a group of people called his name, causing him to look away. “We gotta go to the fieldhouse early, remember? Come on, dude!” Several of the guys, sports guys, Max thought, gave Max a wave as Ash reluctantly stood up. 

“See you after school, ‘kay?” Ash mussed up Max’s hair, a guilty pleasure of his (he found it impossible to resist the soft, brown mass of fluff), then gave Max a smile before heading across the grass towards the group of what Max was pretty sure were football players. 

Max waved, rolling his eyes to himself and pushing up his glasses as Ash loped off to the fieldhouse. Not, Max knew, to do anything remotely related to sports, but to deliver some orders from his “private business”. Max knew it wasn’t exactly great to have an illegal business making and selling fake IDs, but, he reasoned, what was life without some excitement, right? 

And Ash had always been the excitement in Max’s life, from the moment they met on the playground when they were six years old. They were polar opposites, Ash and Max, from looks to personality. Ash had always been tall, but next to Max, who was a stunning 5’3, Ash’s height of 6’4 was almost comical. Ash was tough, and never backed away from a challenge, while Max was more likely to play the pacifist. When Max had first met Ash, he had anger issues, bad anger issues, that caused problems. But over time soft-spoken Max rubbed off on him, and he mellowed out slightly. And it worked both ways. Through Ash, Max had started to stand up for himself and hold his ground. They were quite a pair, the two of them, and upon discovering they lived within a block of one another, their friendship only grew. At this point in their lives, they walked in and out of one another’s houses as if they were their own, and it was common for their parents to randomly see one of them (whichever one wasn’t their child) hanging out in the kitchen. 

Max had gone with Ash for all twelve of his facial piercings, because despite wanting to look emo and metal, Ash had a rather embarrassing fear of needles. The next day during lunch, Ash would loudly proclaim to those listening that his snake bites, two eyebrow piercings, and eight ear piercings hadn’t hurt a bit. But he would wink at Max, who was almost always sitting beside him, reading or drawing. 

Ash was extremely charismatic, despite the anger issues that had plagued him, and most people enjoyed hanging around him. So, by default, they all knew who Max was, too, though he rarely said anything to the crowd of people surrounding him. If he did, it was denying whatever Ash had said, or a witty remark that always made Ash laugh loudly. You had to like at least one of them, and even if you didn’t like the both of them, you had to appreciate their dynamic, and what was obviously a very close friendship. 

Max could be caught wearing one of Ash’s leather jackets or flannels at least once a week, and every time he does everyone gets a little more certain they’re dating. It doesn’t help that Ash stares unabashedly at Max, with what are practically heart eyes, even if Max himself hasn’t noticed. Oh, and Ash’s constant flirting is a rather telling factor as well. 

To cut Max some slack, if Ash had started flirting recently, he definitely would have noticed. But considering Ash had been talking that way to Max since the seventh or eighth grade, Max didn’t find it unusual, and just assumed it was how he liked to talk. This was mildly frustrating to anyone who laid eyes on them, and there were several betting pools floating around the school about when they would finally get together. After all, they’d been glued together since the second grade, and at some point surely one of them had to realize. Right? 

Technically, no. They’re both idiots. 

But let’s not worry about that, and get back to Max, who was not even remotely paying attention to his calculus teacher, instead thinking deeply about what he was going to do that night. What was he going to wear? What was he going to say? Should he wait until the end of the party to tell him, or should he do it before the party even started? 

After would probably be better, Max thought, because he’d hate to do it before and then end up ruining the party for Ash. And he didn’t have to worry about Ash being drunk, because he knew Ash never drank (or smoked) unless he was alone. Max wasn’t entirely sure why, but he’d pieced together enough to know Ash didn’t want people to find out any of his secrets. Max dismissed what could widely be considered a clue, and thought about how he wouldn’t have to worry about Ash being tired either, because Ash was an insomniac, and rarely slept during the night. 

Yes. So he’d tell Ash after the party. Perfect. So now… what was he going to wear? Max mentally went through his closet. There were… sweaters. Some XL sweaters. Some XXL large sweaters (really, he shouldn’t even have those, because they’re so big on him it looks like he’s drowning in fabric). Some stolen flannels. Skinny jeans that were still kind of baggy on him. And vans. 

This is exactly what Max wore every day, and he realized with despair that he had nothing nice to wear, and that the only feasible solution was to go shopping. The bell rang, signaling the end of school and interrupting Max’s extremely important train of thought. Max grabbed his things then headed to the student parking lot, going straight to Ash’s banged up jeep. 

He leaned against the door, waiting as he continued to think deeply about what the hell he was supposed to wear to a party in the first place. 

Ash eventually appeared, unlocking the doors and slinging his mostly empty bag into the back. Max jumped into the passenger seat, silent as he continued to ponder his intensely challenging question. 

“Max? Max! Dude what’s on your mind, you’re off in space.” Ash glanced at Max with a crooked smile, which made Max go redder than he would have liked to admit. 

“Sorry, I was trying to figure out what I should wear tonight,” Max admitted, so used to automatically telling Ash everything it didn’t occur to him until too late that it was probably incredibly lame to say that. 

Ash laughed. “You can just wear what you usually wear, you goofball.” 

Saying the word “goofball” is incredibly corny, but Max found it rather endearing, unfortunately.

Ash pulled up to Max’s house, and ruffled his hair before Max got out. “I wanna look nice, though,” Max said, leaning forward on the car seat, standing on the pavement and leaving the jeep door wide open.

“But you always look nice,” Ash said, leaning over the console. He blinked his eyes in a way a girl once told him was sexy, and Max gave him a quick stuttering goodbye before walking into his house. 

As Max was opening his door, he got a call from his friend, Mindy. They were in several of his classes, and the two of them hung out a couple times a month. They were one of the most energetic people Max knew, and an extremely social one. 

“Hey, I was actually just about to call you,” Max answered the phone, struck by a sudden idea. 

“Ooo! Why?” The sound of bubblegum popping came from the speaker. 

“I was uh. Well, I’m going to Ash’s party tonight-” Max was cut off, and he winced as he held his phone away from his ear when a very loud squeal sounded from the other side. 

“HOLY SHIT I’M COMING OVER RIGHT NOW THIS IS WAY TOO IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT OVER THE PHONE!” Mindy yelled, and Max heard honking in the background.

“Are you driving right now?” Max asked, slightly panicked. 

“Oh yeah, for sure, but I just turned around and I’m heading over to your house. Bye!” The phone cut off before Max had a chance to say anything, and rolled his eyes fondly as he went to drop his school stuff in his room.